April 1981
Apil went by in a blur. Harley was constantly doing something, whether it was with the band or work, she was always hustling across the Strip. Nikki and Tommy worked on flyers for their upcoming show, and Vince had found a manager for the band, and Harley felt kind of bad for the guy, knowing Mötley Crüe came with high demands.
Although Doc McGhee seemed like he had the strength to take care of them, with how he's managed bands such as Kiss and The Scorpions before them. But the Crüe were a different breed of rockstars.
As a bonding move, Doc had bought them an apartment to hope that they would grow closer as a group. Mick had refused to live there right away; while Tommy was instantly on board, enthusiastic to get out of his parents' house. Vince and Nikki were quick to agree afterward too.
Harley wasn't sure, despite Tommy constantly begging her to come with them. She did see the benefits of living with them; cheaper rent, cheaper bills, the bonding experience and not being lonely were very appealing. The only thing she would be missing was the closeness of locations to her apartment and the privacy, although she hoped they'd respect it with her being the only girl in the group.
Even though she eventually agreed to live with them, the only downside she realized upon moving in was the living arrangements. Tommy and Vince ended up sharing a room, while Nikki had his own for the time being, which meant that when Harley moved in, she got to live with Nikki.
She was nervous about that, just because any knowledge she had about a guy and girl living together never turned out well. Especially with Nikki's sleazy attitude, she expected girls to be frequenting in their room. She also didn't want to deal with how he acted as if he were better than everyone constantly.
They had just finished practice, and Harley had retreated back to their room for some rest. Of course in the apartment, you never got true alone time, someone was always there too. Nikki walks in a few minutes later, looking over at her as he made his way to the bathroom.
"You're on my side of the bed," He says, and without looking up, Harley flips him off. "Jeez, okay. I'm technically right, we did agree that I got the left side."
"Are we gonna tape the room down so we're sure I don't cross the line?" She asks, sarcasm dripping from her voice. "You have the bigger closet anyway."
"That's not my fault, you lost the coin flip for it."
Harley rolls her eyes. "What are we doing today?"
"We're hanging posters for the show around town. I mean first, we'd have to schedule one. If you want, we can go do that before so we can come back and put the dates on the flyers." Nikki tells her.
"Is Mick coming?"
"I dunno. Probably not."
She hums in response, leaving the conversation and getting up to head into the main room. The kitchen was connected, the only boundary being the couch in the center of the room. The balcony was closer to the left side of the apartment, with a few scattered trash bags with everyone being too lazy to take it out properly. Also in the living room, they had a TV and a stereo, which Tommy had brought over from his house.
The kitchen wasn't as clean as the living room, since they didn't hang out there. It was full of dirty dishes since with the chore chart, Vince lacked in doing his hand of chores. The other major issue was their roach infestation, which Harley was certain was due to the dishes. Anytime they wanted to use the oven, they had to leave it on high for ten minutes to burn them. If they were outside the oven, they met the unfortunate fate of Tommy's hairspray can and a lighter. With a hatred of bugs in her food, Harley always made sure to keep food tightly sealed in the fridge and that things were clean as they could be, but she guessed it wasn't good enough.
The rest of the boys come out to the living room as Harley finger picks random notes on her guitar, and Nikki starts to mention how he wanted to check at the Whisky for a showtime. Harley being the only one willing to go, they set out to head to the Whisky for a showtime.
"How long have you been playing guitar for?" Nikki asks her, feeling awkward with the silence.
"Uhm, high school-ish age. 16? 15? I had to use the school's guitars for so long because my mom hated any kind of music. On a good day, we could listen to country music, but it was usually Christian or Classical music."
He gives her a horrified look. "Are you serious? That's awful."
She nods in agreement. "I had to either listen to other things when she was gone or go to my friends' houses to listen to rock."
"I would say our moms would be friends but then again at least mine liked music," Nikki says.
"What was yours like?"
"Long story short, she'd trade me off to my grandparents whenever she was bored with me, never paid attention to me, and when I was 16 I got her arrested 'cause I pretended she attacked me," Nikki explains.
"That's rough. My mom was only bad in the name of religion - she took everything too seriously and everything at home revolved around it. I don't know why she was surprised when my brother and I left as soon as we could." Harley tells him, leaving out the fact that Nick - her older brother - had run away instead of simply leaving by the legal age.
"People like that scare me. There's no full-proof that any god exists, and they even go so far to hurt their families over it."
"Yeah. It's whatever though, at least it doesn't affect me anymore. When did you start playing?" She asks, changing the subject as the Whisky comes into view.
"I think 13ish for me. I stole a guitar from the shop and was self-taught, and I didn't really learn the bass until later on, but that's easier to learn if you've already played guitar." Nikki tells her.
"Wait, you stole it?"
"I had the case, so I just threw the guitar in and left. They didn't even notice."
She snorts at that. Harley never dared to steal anything, even if she really wanted it.
Reaching the Whisky doors, they walk inside. A band was up on the stage since they had constant shows playing. It was packed for a Monday, every seat at the bar table filled. She follows Nikki closely, not wanting to get lost in the crowd. Heading to the bar, Nikki asks where they can find the manager to ask about shows, and they're led into the backroom.
"So. You want a show." The man starts, looking suspiciously between the two; and they nod in agreement. "We don't do couple bands, they never make it."
Nikki scoffs at that, and Harley only smirks slightly, finding it funny. "We're not a couple band, no one else wanted to go."
"Well, then you're the only two to put effort into the band. You got a tape to play? We ain't got all day."
Glancing at Harley, Nikki looks back at the guy and hands them the tape they brought, with an assortment of pre-recorded songs on it. "Live Wire" starts, and Harley grins as it plays. She couldn't read the manager's expression about the quality, she could only hope he was enjoying it. They listen through all the songs, ending with the cymbal roll of "Merry-Go-Round."
"We're still working on them since we want to make it perfect. We have a few more songs to add." Nikki adds in quickly.
"I'll give it to you guys, you're better than most of the bands we get in. Usually, we have to give it to them just to not get shitty reviews; but you guys seem to have natural talent. "Take Me To The Top"? The best one on there - I can already feel the energy from the crowd. What works best for you guys?"
Attempting to hide his enthusiasm, Nikki sets one up, going for Friday. Getting the tape back, excited to go back and put up flyers.
"Tommy!" Nikki shouts when they get back, tossing the tape onto the table and grabbing the stack of flyers. "We need to get to writing, we got a show for Friday."
With enthusiasm, they get the show dates written in under an hour before they're back on the streets to hang them up. Deciding to make it easier to cover more ground, they split the Strip in half. Tommy and Nikki take one street while Vince and Harley take the other.
They were halfway down the street when Harley decides it was Vince's turn to tape, handing him the stack and taking the tape from him. "You're taping now, it's my turn to hold it."
"Why do I have to?"
"You haven't done shit since we started." She responds, looking over at him.
"Okay, and? Since when is that my problem?" He questions, despite peeling a piece of tape off and taping it as Harley holds a flyer against the wall.
"You have a job, do you just stand around all day and do nothing?"
"No, only sometimes. I won't get fired though, they don't care. Besides, you guys can't fire me, I'm the singer." Vince tells her.
Harley rolls her eyes. "You're so full of yourself, bands can fire singers. It happens more often than you think." She moves further down the line, holding a poster against the wall again.
"Yeah, and bands fire guitarists too. Y'all aren't special, it's the voice that makes a band unique. And we already have Mick, who's definitely better at it." He says, taping more signs.
"I was here first. They picked me first, not you. Every part is just as important." She argues, halting on the taping now.
"You're defensive now - that usually means I'm right."
"I'm not fucking defensive, okay. I just don't like people overstepping their boundaries. Which you are."
"Listen, sweetheart," Vince starts, turning to Harley and leaning against the wall. "It's not my fault you're so insecure about your place in the band. All I'm saying is that if you were naturally better, you wouldn't have to worry about this. But then again, you're most likely only in the band cause Sixx thinks you're hot, or that you'll attract more guys to the band. But keep having this false illusion about it, it's cute."
She scowls, shoving the papers into his hands. "Have fun finishing this by yourself." Harley turns on her heels, leaving him being - his words repeating in her mind. She chose to ignore the latter of the sentence, not wanting to think about that now.
Crossing the street, Vince joins Nikki and Tommy. He pulls out a cigarette from his box, lighting it as he walked alongside them.
"Where's Harley?" Nikki asks, looking at him.
"I dunno, she was being a bitch and left." Vince shrugs him off.
"Did you say something to her? She wouldn't be a bitch if you weren't a dick to her first." Tommy tells him.
"It doesn't matter what happened. Why are you two so far up her ass? She's a big girl; she can handle herself."
Nikki makes a face at him. "Alright, let's just go back."
The walk to the apartment is quiet, everyone splitting off to their own rooms. Nikki knocks before entering, sitting on the bed next to Harley, who lay on it in a starfish position.
"Hey."
"Oh, you're back already?" She asks, turning her head to look at him.
"Yeah. You okay?"
Harley quirks an eyebrow at him. "Why?"
"Vince told us you were being a bitch so I assumed you guys were arguing about something."
She purses her lips together, turning away slightly. "I'm fine. He's right anyway."
What'd he say?" Nikki asks.
"Nothing, it's fine. It's done anyway and isn't bothering me anymore." She lies, even though it still deeply bothered her. It felt weird now talking to Niki - did he really like her?
"Alright, well, I'm probably gonna go hang out with Tommy if you wanna come with."
"I'll think about it." She mutters, curling into the bed slightly as he gets up, leaving the room and closing the door behind him. Harley sighs, closing her eyes.