Book 2: Nothing Seems to Please Me (Duff McKagan FanFic)

Ch. 6: You Gotta' Want It

"One more stop guys, I promise."

I heard a chorus of groans coming from behind me and I whipped around. Axl and Slash were clinging to each other just so they could stand, Izzy seemed to not know where the hell he was or what was going on, Steven was dozing against Duff, who was staring intently at me.

"You call yourselves rockstars?" I demanded. They snapped to attention and stared at me. "I'm not even in in a band and I've got more stamina than all of you combined. How the hell do you plan on throwing wild parties and touring and shit if you can't even handle one night out on the town?"

All of the guys were gawking at me.

"What's so important about these parties?" Slash finally asked. "Why can't we just go home and sleep?"

Because my father is a stupid drunk. Because I have had to take care of him for as long as I could remember. Because if I didn't make enough money tonight, I'd be paying for it later. It was the question I wanted to avoid the answer to.

"Look, if you guys can't handle it, then just go home. I've got some coke to sell."

I turned towards a nearby brick wall and began to climb up the pipe.

"What the hell is she doing?" Steven shouted.

"Holy shit!" I heard Izzy gasp. "She's Spiderman!"

"And Axl is Mary Jane," Slash gasped in between laughs.

I rolled my eyes and continued up the pipe, silently thanking myself for wearing pants instead of a skirt tonight.

"Max," Duff called up to me.

I paused, huffing and puffing from the effort of pulling myself up. "What?"

"Seriously, what are you doing?"

"This is how you get into the club!" I shouted down to him, continuing my climb.

"What the fuck kind of club is this?" Steven demanded.

"It's called 'You Gotta' Want It'," I explained, hauling myself onto the roof of the building and looking down at them. "And, as you can see, if you want in" I gestured to the pipe I'd just climbed "you gotta' want it."

"You're crazy!" Axl shouted, whistling as he looked up and down the length of the pipe.

"I'll see you inside," I said sarcastically, blowing them a kiss.

"Fuck!" I heard Slash yell.

I stepped back onto the roof after about a half an hour inside. I felt like a complete fool. I should've known better than to go to this club. Barely anybody but crazy ass holes such as myself actually climbed up that damn pipe. Still, I made just enough to meet my quota for tonight.

I looked over the side of the building and what I saw had me dying with laughter. There was Steven, inching slowly up the pipe, his face beet red. Below him was Axl, pushing Steven up by the butt, yelling at him to go faster. Slash was being hoisted up by Izzy and was sitting on his shoulders, reaching for the pipe.

"What the hell you guys!" I laughed.

"We were trying to come find you."

I jumped and swung a fist at the voice, punching Duff on the cheek. He reeled back, gripping his face in pain.

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry!" I held my hands over my mouth in horror. "Why'd you sneak up on me like that?"

"I'm sorry!" Duff cried in pain.

Steven hoisted himself over the ledge and onto the roof beside me. "Whoa! Did he try to cop a feel?"

I turned to Steven and said, "Go back down!"

"You're kidding right?" Steven raised an eye brow. "We have been climbing that thing for-"

"Go back down!" I roared.

"Okay...damn. You on the rag or something?"

I turned and gave him the death glare. "Excuse me? Do you want me to throw you over that ledge?"

Steven held up his arms. "Okay, okay. I'm going now."

He rushed to the side of the roof and called down.

"Alright guys, let's go home!"

"You're fucking joking."

"But I just started climbing!"

"Max is about to Hulk out on us! Let's go!"

I watched Steven's poofy blond hair disappear as he began to descend back down to the street below. I turned back to face Duff and saw that his cheek was now red and swollen.

"Lemme' take a look," I said, inching towards him and gingerly touching his cheek. He winced and sucked in a breath through his teeth.

"I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to," I said. "Honest."

"I know," he nodded his head and smiled. "It's okay."

"Well, I don't think I totally rearranged your face..."

He chuckled. "I appreciate it. This is my money maker, you know."

I snorted and rolled my eyes. "Right. Okay."

He grinned down at me and I began to feel uneasy. We were alone on the roof top, under the stars, he was giving me that weird smile again, and I was inches from his face.

I pulled away and walked back towards the pipe.

"Can I go down first?" He asked.

I shot him a look. "Why? So you can check out my ass?"

"Well, no. But if you're offering..."

I shook my head and began to climb down. "I'm glad I punched you in the face."