FicWad

Slash continued to practice the notes to Paradise City. It had been atleast three hours already, and he really didn’t need all the practice, but this was better then having Axl storm off the stage at one mistake like last time. Honestly, Slash thought it was completely unfair. Axl didn’t even sing- scratch that, scream- half the words, yet he was expected to hit every note.

Snap! Slash yanked his finger back on impulse as the guitar string snapped. “Damn it…” he muttered, getting a fresh string out from the small box.

As Slash took off the curled up string, Axl poked his head through the door. He seemed to stand still for a minute, then ran in and crouched down by Slash.

The guitarist tried to ignore the annoying figure squatted by him, but it was pretty
difficult with his head inches away from the guitar, blocking his view.

Finally, Slash laid the guitar down and glared at him, “Yes?” he said impatiently.

Axl took a minute to notice that he was talking to him, but then he looked up, “What?” he asked cluelessly.

Slash sighed, this wouldn’t be easy.

“What do you want?” he asked blankly.

Axl stood up straight now, casting an evil glare at Slash, who was about three inches taller than him, “What? I can’t come and visit you?”

Slash crossed his arms, “You’re trying to tell me that you came here just to annoy me?”

Axl mimicked him, crossing his arms as well, ”Well, I suppose so.”

It was a good thing Steven walked in at that moment, because Slash was starting to lose his patience. His patience, which it seemed only Axl could wear out.

“Oh god,” Steven muttered. He turned to the side and yelled, “Izzy, Duff! You guys are missing out on a great catfight over here!”

Duff ran down the hall and peeped his head through the doorway, “Really? What’d I miss?”

Izzy walked in the room slowly, not seeming to have as much humor as Steven and Duff, “Again? Guys, really. How many times can you fight in a week?”

Slash simply shook his head, walking out of the room.

Axl glared as him as he left, then turned to the rest of the group, all glaring at him accusingly, “What? You think I started this?”

Steven rolled his eyes, “We know you started this.”

“Axe, can’t you lay off the poor guy?” Duff asked.

“Personally, I’m completely baffled that you’re accusing me for this.” He replied innocently.

Izzy walked over and put his arm around him, “Bill, I’ve been with you for 13 years, every time you’ve started the fight, what makes this time any different?”

Axl glared at him and shook him off, “Stop calling me that. I got my name legally changed.”

Izzy smirked, ”I still can’t believe you went through all the trouble just to change your name.”

“Look,” Duff started, “Our point is, stop picking on Slash. He needs to focus to be able to play to your standards.”

Axl glared to his side, “Fine. Whatever. Give the sissy mad-hatter his space. Got it.”

Izzy rolled his eyes and left, followed by everyone else.

**

The crowd erupted as Axl through down his mic and turned to Slash in rage, “The hell’s wrong with you?!” he screamed.

Slash tried to remain as calm as he could, but it seemed like his voice was busting out of its seams, “Axl, for the last f*ing time, my string snapped, there’s nothing I can do.”

“Well, what the hell!? You just ruined the whole song!”

Slash glanced at the rioting audience behind the angry singer’s face and grunted.

“I swear, Slash! Your such a usless, lazy, asshole!” he screamed.

That was it. Slash turned in rage to Axl, “Axl! I can’t deal with you anymore! This happens every damn concert! After tonight, I’m out of the band!”

Izzy and Duff glanced at each other nervously.

“Fine then! See if I care!” Axl screamed back.

Duff quickly jumped in, “Slash! You know he doesn’t mean that! He knows we’d be screwed without you!”

This only made Axl madder, and he turned to Duff, screaming at the top of his lungs, “Yeah right! I wouldn’t care if he died for god’s sake!”

The crowd had gotten slightly quieter when they had seen Slash blow up, as that was rarer. And most of them were trying to figure out if he really said he was leaving the band.

“Don’t be so vain, Slash!” Axl started, Look who’s talking! Slash thought, “You think we can’t do this without you?!”

With that, Axl turned to the silent crowd, “Let’s finish the song, with or without Slash!”

Duff looked back at Steven and Izzy, as if to say “Sorry.”

Slash sat down on the risen floor where Steven and his drums were. He waited patiently for the song to continue without the lead guitarist.

The song started, and seemed completely off without Slash leading away almost every part.

In the middle of it, Duff dropped his guitar.

Most of the crowd had stayed, interested in seeing how it sounded. And besides, it’s not like Slash had left.

Axl stopped in the middle of a line and swung around to face Duff, “The hell do you think your doing?!”

“Face it, Axe, we can’t do this without Slash. There’s no point in pretending this doesn’t sound like crap.” He replied.

Izzy carefully set his guitar down, “Agreed. Bill, come on, give it up and apologize.”

Slash looked up, interested.

Axl’s face was basically red with anger. Never being one to apologize- ever- he turned to the audience and picked up the mic to his mouth, “I’m outta here!” he screamed, throwing the mic down.

This time, since the concert was almost done anyways, and the music wasn’t very good without Slash, the crowd just yelled and grumbled.

Axl stormed off the stage angrily as Slash’s eyes followed him amusingly. It’s not like he had expected him to apologize, anyways.

***

Slash practically passed out on his bed, too tired to even change.

While he was about to doze off, he saw a shadow in the doorway.

He looked up, exhausted, to see Steven standing at the entrance to his room.

“Hey man,” he said, walking in and sitting himself down, “Hey, Slash, I was just wondering....were you serious about leaving, or just pissed?”

Slash sat up a little, “I don't say things I don't mean. I mean, unless, by some miracle, Axl magically apologizes, I think I am.”

Steven looked down, “Oh. Ok, well, good night, I guess...”

Slash watched him leave. Suddenly, he didn’t seem as tired anymore.

He rolled over on his bed, noticing how sweaty he was. I may be a guy... he thought to himself, But I have limits...

He stood up and walked to the bathroom, taking off his wet shirt.

As he stepped into the cold shower, he thought about Axl. He couldn’t even remember the last time he had lost his temper. Axl and him hadn’t talked the whole way back. Slash tried not to let his kindness get to him, pushing back the thought that maybe it was his fault for not putting the new string on right.

But of course, Axl didn’t know that it was hard to readjust the tight strings on electric guitars perfectly. He didn’t know how annoying it was trying to deal with him. He didn’t know what it was like to be bullied when you were younger because you didn’t fit in anywhere.

As he rinsed off his soapy body, he remembered what it was like in middle school. Though schools were no longer segregated, the white kids still hung with the white kids, and the black kids still hung with the black kids. Since he was mixed, nobody really wanted to hang out with him. The black kids thought he was a snobby, rich, vain kid, while the white kids thought he was a dirty, tough kid raised in the slums.

When he came home, he usually went straight to his room. At least his pet snakes didn’t care that he was a “half-breed”, as some of the crueler kids at school called him.

Axl didn’t know about that. He didn’t know anything about Slash. Really, it wasn’t his fault. It wasn’t like Slash really tried to open up to him.

He stepped out of the shower and dried off, putting a shirt and boxers on. He shook the depressing thoughts from his head and looked at the clock. Whoa! Had he really been in the shower for an hour?

He lay on his bed and tried to go back to sleep, but it was harder now. He looked out the window at the starry sky. Everything was quiet. Axl was probably sleeping carelessly right now.

He turned over on his bed. Suddenly, he heard a sound from the rehearsing studio, where all the instruments were kept. He tried to stay as quiet as possible as he stood up and walked out of his room.

There it was again.

After the third time, he could make out what he was hearing.

It was the sound of something snapping...

It sounded familiar, like...like...a guitar string snapping.

Of course, that’s what he was hearing,

Followed by every snap, he heard a soft moan, like someone wanting to scream in pain, but trying to keep it in. That sounded familiar, too.

He tiptoed down the hall to the dimmed room. All the other lights were off, but a soft, orange light was drifting out of the crack of the door.

Slash walked in the room, opening the door all the way.

He stood there in anger, what was Axl doing to his guitar? Was he snapping the other strings of it, because he was mad?

In anger, Slash’s words came out as more of a demand of an answer than a question, “What the hell are you doing to my guitar?!”

Axl turned in surprise. His mouth was hanging open in shock, but no answer came out.

Slash stomped towards him, “Axl! You ungrateful assho-“

Slash stopped in mid-sentence as he took in what he was seeing.

It seemed like Axl, who had no idea how to put a new string on a guitar, was trying to replace the string that broke during the concert. He had obviously tried it many times, considering the generous amount of snapped strings in the pile by the guitar. Slash noticed Axl’s fingers, bleeding from all the scrapes and cuts the snapping strings had given him. He had no idea how to change a string, yet he tried and tried, even as the frustrating stubbornness cut at his fingers.

He went through all the trouble, after Slash and him were both extremely pissed at each other, why?

Suddenly it hit Slash, this was his way of apologizing.

Axl Rose, who could be the most selfish man on earth, had done this all for him.

“I...” The unusually quiet singer started.

He looked at the ground, thinking Slash was completely and utterly pissed at his efforts.

After all, he had used up most of his fresh strings, and who said it was ok for him to mess with Slash’s stuff?

Axl looked at his fingers, which hurt so bad they were starting to numb.

Suddenly, Slash knelt by Axl and put his arms around him, squeezing him.

Axl was completely shocked. Slash always talked about how he couldn’t stand anybody getting close to him, much less touching him. And here he was hugging Axl.

He was right, Slash wasn’t big on hugs, but at the time, it seemed like the only thing to do. And extremely surprisingly, it didn’t seem nearly as awkward as he thought it would.

Maybe, Slash thought,-the reason we fight so much is the same reason best friends fight so much.

Slash was completely shocked as Axl choked out, “I-...Sorry.”

Slash pulled back and looked at him in surprise.

“Please don't leave the band...I know we’d be screwed without you.”

Slash, despite himself, started laughing.

“Wow, you guys sure make up fast.” They heard Duff say.

They turned to see Steven and Duff standing in the doorway.

“What- What the hell!?” Axl yelled.

“What, you didn’t notice us walk up?” Duff asked.

Steven turned to him, “They were too busy in there moment of friendship.”

Steven grabbed Duff’s shoulders playfully, “Slash, I couldn’t live without you, please don’t leave me.”

Steven smiled as the background sparkled pink, “Axl, you know I couldn’t ever leave you.”

Axl twitched angrily, “Why you-!”

He was interrupted as Izzy showed up behind them, smiling for once, “Don’t get mad, Axe, there just happy you guys are cool now.”

“And that Slash isn’t leaving, of course.” Steven added.

“So, you think that means I’m not still pissed at you for sneaking up on us?” Axl asked.

Steven and Duff looked at each other, “Well, we were hoping...”

Axl stood up, grabbing one of Duff’s bass guitars.

Duff and Steven’s eyes grew, “Whoa, Axl, your not seriously going to-“

Axl immediately started chasing them through the halls with the heavy instrument.

As they ran through the halls, screaming, Izzy turned to Slash, “Any particular reason why his hands were bleeding?”

Slash pointed to the guitar.

Izzy nodded, “Maybe he’s a better friend then we thought...”

Slash smiled, “Maybe.”