Lies

Halted

"I don't think I'll be able to sleep. I'm too excited. And this hotel is beautiful." she says. "I told you not to make it anything special."

"You deserve it." I tell her honestly. "Just be careful. A pretty girl like you all by yourself in the middle of the city can go wrong real fast."

"God, Axl. If I can live in the middle of LA without getting raped and pillaged, don't you think---"

Erin's voice is cut off by yelling from the hall, and it doesn't sound good.

"Hold on one second, baby. I gotta go see what these fucking idiots are doing out here." I tell her.

I put the phone down carefully and get up from where I'm sitting, walking over to the door. As soon as I open it, I hear the yelling.

"--I didn't say anything to her! I have no problem with her at all! She's fucking great, Duff." A woman's voice sounds from around the corner. Must be one of Duff's sisters. I decide to stay in the doorway so I don't interrupt.

"Then where the fuck is she? She doesn't just up and leave like this! You had to have said something to her that pissed her off!" Duff yells back, slurring his words slightly.

"I told you I didn't say a single thing to her! All we talked about is how you get piss fucking drunk every god damn day! I didn't say one single thing rude to her! In fact, I told her how great I thought she was for you. Maybe if you weren't so fucking drunk you'd listen to what I'm saying!" Duff's sister screams back.

"Why the fuck would you mention anything to her about that? No wonder she fucking left! She probably thinks I'm some fucking alcoholic or something!" Duff responds.

Duff's sister scoffs. "LOOK AT YOURSELF DUFF! You can't go a day without drinking! Your either drinking, tipsy, or drunk 24/7. You reek of alcohol and cigarettes. Look at you right now! You can't even speak without slurring your words let alone walk a straight line! I'm surprised you can even get on stage!" she yells.

"This isn't about me! It's about what you said to Ana! " Duff yells. "What her and I do every day is none of your business. Stop acting like my fucking mother like you always do. I'm not a kid anymore. I'm a grown fucking man. I can take care of myself and Ana. I don't need you snooping around fucking things up"

"Whatever, Duff. A real man doesn't need alcohol to live." She shoots back, and I hear the footsteps of what I can only assume to be Duff walking away.

______________________________________________________________________________

Duff

I'm scrambling around the back stage area frantically, trying to find Anastasia.

"Have you seen Ana?" I ask Slash, but he just shakes his head no.

I walk over to the side stage where Steven is chugging a bottle of jack.

"Steven have you seen Ana?" I ask him.

"Nope" he responds.

I go backstage to the area just behind the curtain, where Axl is talking to one of the techs.

"Has anyone seen Ana?" I ask them.

"No, but we gotta get on stage. We're already late." Axl says.

"Just give me five minutes, I gotta find her." I tell him.

I go back to the dressing rooms and knock on Izzy's door. He's always the last to come out.

"Izzy, I need Ana. Have you seen her?" I ask him.