Wild Side || N.S.

★ thirteen ★

     The drive to the next show didn't take too long realistically but when trying to sober Nikki up, it felt like an eternity. He was sweating it out in the van, complaining about being uncomfortable, and I even had to pull over so he could hurl outside of the van. 

"Are you alright?" I asked, as he finished up and slammed the door shut. 

"Do I fucking look alright? What kind of stupid question is that?!" he snarled as he settled back into his seat. 

"Fair enough" I muttered, getting back onto the freeway. 

The rest of the drive was incredibly uncomfortable and spent in silence. The only sound was other cars on the road and the radio, playing at a lowish level. 

We finally got to the arena and I parked the van next to the tour buses. Nikki couldn't seem to get out of the van fast enough. He slammed the door behind him and took off. I let out a sigh at this. "you're welcome." I said out loud. 

After fixing up my appearance, I hopped out of the van. I locked up the van and headed over to the backstage entrance. Before I could even walk in, I saw some familiar faces smoking outside. 

"There she is!" Duff cheered as soon as he saw me. I waved at him with a wink, making the two of us laugh. Axl was standing next to him lost in his own world it seemed, and Slash; well, he wouldn't even look at me.

Okay then?

We all were shooting the shit for a bit and when Slash still hadn't said anything. I stood next to him and nudged him with my shoulder softly. "You okay?" I asked. 

He looked at me, nodded and shot me the most fake smile I had ever seen. And then he walked inside. 

Axl let out a low whistle at the scene. "Harsh." he chuckled. 

I looked over at the boys, confusion in my eyes. "What's up with him?" I gestured to Slash.

"Mick said something that got his panties in a twist" Axl waved away my question. 

"Wait, what?" I asked, still confused.

"He told us that you said Nikki was really hungover and that you would drive him here later when he was feeling better. But no one really believed him. Tommy said that you guys were probably fucking again, and Slash has been having a pissy fit ever since." Duff informed me. I couldn't help but pinch the bridge of my nose in frustration. For fucks sake Tommy! 

"Tommy's such an idiot" I shook my head. 

"So, have you?" Duff asked, curiosity in his eyes. 

"Have I what?" I asked, playing dumb.

This made Axl laugh. "You're cute when you play dumb, Ria. He's asking if you and Nikki have ever fucked." he said, as bluntly as possible. 

I tried not to blush. Was there a point in lying to these guys? Not likely. Ah, fuck it.

"Yeah but only when we were wasted out of our minds. I'd probably fuck any guy at that point." I admitted, Duff ended up choking on his drink at my words. Axl looked like he was trying not to laugh.

"Well, that's good to know and I'll keep that in mind" Axl winked down at me, making me roll my eyes with a smile. Don't get me wrong he's hot; but he's probably got every STD in the book, judging by the women he hangs around. 

We made our way into the arena and found the rest of the guys. Tommy pulled me in for a bear hug immediately, kissing me on the cheek. 

"Oh gross" I muttered, making him laugh loudly. 

"You love me Ramone, we all know it" he gloated, Vince and Mick just rolled their eyes at his childish ways. 

"Yeah yeah T-Bone, whatever you say" I smiled up at him. 

Nikki stared at me with a look I couldn't quite read. It looked like he wanted to say something but he was too pissed at me to say anything. Like really bitch? After those hours of trying to calm him down because he thought people were coming to kill him and he's MAD at me? What an asshole. 

Remembering about the lyric sheet, I grabbed it from the pocket in Slash's jacket. I walked over and handed it over to Nikki. He just stared at me unimpressed. "What's that?" he asked, sounding bored. 

"I don't know, I found it in my jacket and it looks like your handwriting so here" I put it in his hand and walked away, not wasting anymore of my breath and time on him. 

I walked over to Slash and Izzy. He seemed to be actually talking but once he saw me, he tensed up again. Izzy nodded at me and I smiled back at him as he left Slash and I alone. 

"Look, if you're mad about Nikki and I, there's nothing to worry about. He seriously wasn't sober enough to go anywhere and that's why I offered to bring him in the van later." 

Slash looked a little relieved when he realized I wasn't lying. Well, I had left out certain details but that was more to benefit Nikki. I'm assuming no one really knew about him shooting up heroin and I didn't want to be the one to break the news. It wasn't my place. That, and Slash didn't really need to know about Nikki kissing me. 

"You shouldn't have to explain yourself. I mean, we just met. I guess, I just got.. uhm..." he trailed off, avoiding my gaze. 

I smiled softly at him, a knowing look on my face. "You got jealous?" I asked in a teasing tone. 

"Stop it Ria" he tried to scold me. 

"Why? I think that's kinda-"

"What? Dumb? Yeah I know okay, can we just drop it?" he sighed. 

I hooked my index finger under his chin and titled his head so he was looking at me again. "No baby. I was gonna say, that's kinda hot" I purred. His eyes widened at my words and then he seemed to relax.

"Oh really?" he smirked, wrapping his arm around my waist, pulling me closer. I just nodded. He leaned down to kiss me, and I kissed back immediately. I lifted my hand up to run my fingers through his hair on the back of his head and rested it on the back of his neck as the kiss got more heated. 

Moments later, I heard something smash. "God dammit Nikki, we just replaced that bass!" Vince shouted, trying not to laugh as he scolded Nikki. 

It didn't take me too long to tune out the Crue boys and continue kissing Slash.