Lies

Tattooed

I look around the room at the people around us. All of them are dressed elegantly in expensive designer gowns.

Duff and I look seriously out of place here, but I could care less.

Just the fact that Duff planned all of this out for us makes me happy.

It isn't long before the waiter shows up and offers us a selection of four different complementary breads and hundreds of different wines. We were on a tight budget, and considering the price of everything here, Duff and I better stick with just an entree each.

I order a chicken dish whose name I can't even try to pronounce and Duff orders oysters on the half shell.

"So, are you excited to be going home?" Duff asks me as I butter a slice of fresh bread.

"Of course. I can't wait to just relax for a few days. Then we can finish up the midwest leg and have that nice month off before we go on with Mötley." I tell him, popping the bread in my mouth. It has a taste that is both different and familiar at the same time.

I notice Duff is watching me very carefully. "Well, about that." he says, and I stop buttering my second slice of bread.

"What?" I question when he doesn't answer. He has this stupid smirk on his face that tells me he's about to tell me something I probably won't be happy about.

"What if I told you the break is going to be a lot shorter then originally planned." he says, looking quickly to the ground.

Did I just hear him right? A shorter break?

"What do you mean?" I want to know.

"As soon as we're finished this tour with The Cult, we have a week or two off and then we're heading overseas to headline a few shows over in Europe."

Shit. There goes my hopes and dreams of relaxing with Duff in our own bed.

I put on a smile regardless, because I realize what this means for Guns--they were headlining their first real show. This was a big thing for them.

"That's great, Duff. That's so exciting." I say honestly, offering him my best smile. I really was excited for him, just not so excited to have my break cut short.

"Yeah, it's pretty fucking crazy." he chuckles. "Faster Pussycat is opening for us. There's gonna be two shows in Germany, one in Holland, and five in England." he says excitedly

"That's so great, Duff. Honestly, that's such an amazing opportunity." I say again.

I wasn't sure if he was trying to tell me he was going alone, or if he was trying to say I was going, too.

"When do you come back?" I ask him. I needed to know how long I would be without him, because if he was trying to tell me he was leaving me here, I didn't know how long I could handle being alone.

"We leave for Germany on September 30th and come back on October 10th, but you are coming with us, aren't you?" he says to me.

So he wasn't going without me.

Thank god.

"Of course. I don't know how long I would have lasted at home without you. I guess the nice break will just have to wait." I smile and sigh in defeat.

Duff reaches for my hand across the table and takes it in his.

"Listen. I know you were looking forward to being at home together, like a normal fucking couple-- and trust me, I was looking forward to it, too. But it'll all pay off in the long run. This is huge for us." He says.