Master of Destruction

Chapter 7

When you woke up that morning, you first felt surprised to open your eyes "that" early; usually when you were on tour, you never got up before midday. You blinked at the fluorescent numbers of the alarm clock indicating eleven a.m., but you quickly remembered tonight events. A light headache took you, but it would certainly disappear after eating.

It was weird; you had had a fight with Axl, and it usually prevented you to sleep well – but there, you had fallen asleep as soon as you had touched the bed, and spent a good night in your five stars suit that you were enjoying alone.

After taking a long shower, you got out and went to have breakfast – more dinner, since it was midday now.

You directly noticed Slash, alone at a table in front of a coffee. His head was resting on his hand and threatened to fall in his cup at any given moment as he seemed to be falling asleep. You joined him after serving yourself and let your plate fall on the table in a porcelain noise, which made him jump and nearly lose his sunglasses in the process. Suddenly out of breath, he took some seconds to remember where he was and recognize you.

"Oh, y/n, I.... Good morning."

You laughed: "Good morning. How was the night?"

He sighed: "Bad. I think I'll have to need two days to get used to that again. But don't worry, I'll soon be the king of heroin again."

You huffed: "I believe you."

Seconds passed where he seemed to remember tonight's events little by little, and you asked: "Hum, you know where Axl is?"

He shook his head no: "I think... I think I saw him in the corridor when I got back in my room tonight, but he got out right away, like he had changed his mind."

You hummed. He certainly went back to the club after.

The next one to join you was Duff, that you saw arrive from the hall after trying to make two girls leave him the best he could, but they didn't seem very happy to not being able to stay there. You hadn't seen him all night long at the club, but got what he was doing now.

He eyed you when he sat: "Wow y/n, you look... good?"

You cocked an eyebrow: "Why the tone of surprise?"

He rolled his eyes, but you got what he meant; it was true you kinda didn't mix with them, eyes still puffed and barely opened while you were wide awakened now.

The three of you were chatting when your manager met you. He didn't sit and told you you had ten minutes to finish eating before getting to the airport. When you all got up, you noticed James and the band were eating further. A weird feeling crossed you when you first laid your eyes on him after what happened tonight – feelings you quickly swiped off your mind. When they spotted you, they joined you too. Lars shyly went next to you and asked: "Are you alright?"

You hummed, smiling: "I am. I found the bed very comfortable."

He didn't know how to take your light tone, and added: "I mean, Axl..."

You sighed: "I don't know. I don't know where he slept." You were about to say "And I don't really care" when you saw him enter the hall. He wasn't alone; a girl was accompanying him, and when he spotted you, he did his maximum to make you see him touch her back, arms and hair, and bent toward her to whisper in her ear tender things. Well, in fact, you knew he was just telling her he had to take the plane and leave and that they would probably never see each other again.

Lars threw you a look, and blinked when he saw you were grinning. You told him: "Look, he just wants to make me pay. But this won't work."

He wasn't really playing well, to be honest; he features had tensed when he saw you weren't taking this bad – and that Lars fucking Ulrich was next to you again.

The trip happened without any feud though; in the taxi you shared with Duff, Slash and Axl, he remained silent while you were chatting with the others; he relaxed a bit when you stayed next to him when you had come out of the car and he was back to normal when you sat next to each other in the plane. He even let his head drop on your shoulder during the flight. Your mood wasn't at the confrontation, and both of you passed above that night's events.

After another journey by car, you stepped into your hotel room with Axl. You would stay there for three nights, and the hotel room was even bigger than the previous one.

Your stay in New Jersey started well. Axl's afterparty after performing at the Giants Stadium was fire; you didn't sleep that night and didn't want to know how much you drank, afraid that only would make you throw up. No concert was planned on the 19th and the 20th, and you spent the whole first day in bed with Axl. No afterparty was organised that night and everyone spent the evening and the next day on their own.

They had to play in Pontiac on the evening of the 21st, and it's on your own too – but the way you used happily paid by the company, of course – that you entered Michigan.

When you woke up on the 21st in the early afternoon, Axl wasn't next to you. You remembered you had gone out the night, and vaguely reckoned you had come back alone at the hotel. You weren't worried though, and after painfully getting up and have a shower, you decided to go at the Pontiac Silverdome, where they would be performing in some hours, and there were chances everyone would be there.

You were partially right; you ran into Slash in the corridors, a towel tied around his hair and saluted Kirk in his opened changing room. You heard laughs further and pushed the doors of a meeting room; James, Lars and Duff were around a table filled with French fries and hamburgers. The singer scoffed when he saw you and nearly chocked on what he had in his mouth; "y/n! Come here and eat with us!"

You greeted them and felt something weird when you hugged Lars. It had been two days that you hadn't seen him and... did you miss him? You shook your head and swiped those thoughts. No, it couldn't be.

You dragged a chair and sat, soon joined by Slash, hair still wet and strongly smelling shampoo. Around thirty minutes later, Kirk joined you too and sat behind James and Lars, a bit in retreat. You don't know how much time passed, but the atmosphere was good and cheerful; James was in the middle of a thrilling story about the time when he and Lars shared an apartment when-

"WHERE IS AXL?"

You all turned; the band's manager was walking towards you furiously. His gaze swiped you all, but stopped on you longer. He was frowning, and weirdly red. You shrugged: "Why are you looking at me?"

He hissed, on a condescending tone: "Because you, y/n, are his damn girlfriend, that's why."

Your eyes narrowed. In front of you, Lars found a fly flying near the ceiling suddenly very interesting.

"And so what? Because I'm... I'm his girlfriend I need to stay with him all the time? He's a grown-ass man, he can handle himself, no?"

The manager cocked an eyebrow, a bit taken aback by your reaction but carried on on the same tone: "No. No, he cannot manage himself alone." He looked at his watch, pissed. "I want everyone in the wings in half an hour." He left, pestering under his breath.

James shrugged: "The wings are just next door, we're large. Lars, can I finish your fries?"

The drummer didn't answer, but James didn't wait for him though before grabbing his paper. Duff nudged at your side: "Hey, y/n."

He bent towards you and you pricked up your ear. He was talking on the tone of confidence: "What is going on? With Axl?"

You hummed: "Why is everyone asking me wh-"

He cut you. "No, not that." He shrugged, apparently finding this a bit funny: "When the manager talked about you being Axl's girlfriend... y/n, it was like he was insulting you."

He laughed and took his glass that he finished all at once. You faked a laugh too for the good measure and got back straight on your chair. You suddenly felt guilty and moved back: "Guys, I... I think I need to look after Axl."

...