FicWad

We kissed for a long time. Time seemed to have slowed and stopped. Suddenly, a voice from deep inside my voice seemed to call out to me, "What are you doing? You don't even know who this person is!" I ignored the voice and shoved it into the back of my mind. During this moment, I didn't care who it was who was kissing me.
He was kissing me gently, but passionately and he held me tenderly in his arms like I was his prized possession. I just wanted to stay here forever in this man's arms and never move. But of course, we had to move at some point. A thunderous roar rose from the audience behind us. The show had finally finished. I knew in the back of my mind that I should move. After all, we were blocking the exit and that was never a smart thing to do unless you wanted your life crushed out of you.
The man kissing me must have had the same idea because he took me into his arms and crossed the parking lot to a remote area where we could have some more privacy. Finally, the moment came to open my eyes. I wasn't sure who I wanted this stranger to be. Well, actually, I did know who I wanted the stranger to be. But of course, it couldn't be the man who I had laid awake last night fantasizing about. He had a girlfriend...or at least, I assumed the brunette was Axl's girlfriend.
Hesitatingly, I slowly opened my eyelids. As soon as I caught a glimpse of the man's face, my mouth fell open and my eyes widened with shock. In a surprised voice, I gasped, "It's...you?"
"You weren't expecting me, were you?" the man in front of me laughed. "Who were you expecting?" I shook my head, still mystified, "I don't know...I don't know anything anymore." The man's gray eyes looked pained and he replied, "Aw, don't start with that shit now. You're one of the smartest girls I know. And that's saying something as I've met a lot of girls in my life."
"I'm sure you have," I managed a little smile even though tears still splashed down my cheeks. The man took my hand and pulled me down next to him so that we were both sitting on the pavement together. I stole a glance at him out of the corner of my eye. His black hair shimmered in the sunlight and his chest seemed to sparkle almost. He wrapped his arms around his knees and turned his full attention to me, "Alright, now tell me what you're upset about."
"Uh...it's a long story," I started, unsure if I really wanted to explain my pitiful tale right now. But the man's voice was firm, "Aw, c'mon, Amy! Talk to me." Feeling resigned, I took a deep breath and began, "Well, to start, do you know Eric from Kiss?" The man nodded and his lip seemed to curl with disgust at the name, "Of course I do. Who doesn't know Eric? Kiss is so shitty."
I nodded with agreement, "Anyways, he caught Nikki and Tommy having sex with his girlfriend in Scottsdale." His eyes sparkled with interest, "Ooo, bad boys! I guess they certainly know how to steal someone's girl. Anyways, go on." I continued, "Well, Eric wanted to get revenge on them. So he grabbed me at the end of the Crue's show and started forcibly kissing me for the whole world to see." I shuddered at the memory. A hand crept around my waist and rubbed my back comfortingly, "God, fuck him! How did everyone react?" I gulped; this was the hardest part for me to talk about.
"I dunno, the Crue just seemed kind of stunned. But...um...Axl was there. He saw me kissing Eric and then he scowled and me and left. I followed him...and then...and then..." my voice started trembling again and I wasn't able to go on because of my sobbing. Luckily, the man next to me finished my sentence for me, "And then he drove off with Erin Everly, right?"
I looked over at him curiously and questioned between sobs, "Well...yeah. I guess the girl was Erin. How did you know that?" He laughed, "Well, Axl left in a rush. Said he was meeting Everly or something. He was in a bad mood though." I sighed loudly, "Hm. Well I'd say I'm in a worse mood right now." The two of us laughed together for a few minutes before shouting voices reached out ears, "Amy? Amy, where are you?"
"I'm over here guys," I called out as loudly as I could. Vince could sight of me first and waved the Crue over to where I was sitting on the pavement. Nikki took one look at my face and grimaced, "You look terrible, Amy! I'm so sorry about Eric. Believe me, he's gonna pay next time I see him. Are you okay now?"
I nodded and muffled my tears, "Yeah, I'm okay I guess." Tommy's eyes lingered on the man next to me and he asked, "So Amy, who's your friend? I haven't seen you before." I looked at the man next to me and then turned back to Tommy, "This is Izzy Stradlin. He's Axl's best friend." Izzy got to his feet and shook all the Crue member's hands.
"So are you a part of the LA Guns, Izzy?" Mick asked in an attempt to start conversation. Izzy laughed and shook his head, "Nope. I'm waiting until Axl forms his own band. Well, he said he was going to, but you never know with Axl." Vince's eyes narrowed and he inquired, "Axl's gonna start his own band?"
Izzy nodded, "Supposedly. He said I could be a part of it, but first we've gotta find other members first." Vince scowled darkly and kicked some stones that were lying nearby. Izzy looked at Vince curiously with those dark eyes of his. Suddenly, Izzy seemed to recognize Vince as the one Axl had challenged to a fight at the hotel.
"Wait, you're Vince Neil, aren't you?" Izzy exclaimed with sudden realization, his eyes lighting up. Vince looked down from the pile of stones at his feet in the dirt road to take a better look at Izzy. He stared blankly at him for a moment before recognition dawned on him as well, "I've seen you before. You were the one who took Amy on a date with Axl last night, weren't you?"
My cheeks flushed at the words "date." We certainly hadn't gone on a date as nothing romantic had happened between any of us that night. To my surprise, Izzy didn't correct Vince, "Yeah, I was. And you were the one who was trying to drag her out the door against her will, weren't you?" All six pairs of eyes spun around to look at Vince questioningly.
Obviously feeling uncomfortable, Vince muttered in a low voice, "I was only trying to protect her." Izzy raised an eyebrow at Vince, "Oh really? I never would've guessed that dragging a girl out of a room and threatening to hurt her if she didn't do what you wanted was protection. As a matter of fact, I would've guessed the opposite."
Vince was looking really sheepish now. Tommy's mouth had formed a thin line and his eyes were wide with concern, "Vince, what the hell did you do to Amy?" Vince glared at Tommy and retorted, "Absolutely nothing! Like I said, I was only trying to protect her. You don't have to make me look like the criminal here." A light bulb seemed to light up in Vince's eyes and he added, "Wait a minute...Amy said she found a hotel room with someone last night..."
Everyone turned to look from me to Izzy and back to me again. Why did Vince have to be so much of a troublemaker lately? Couldn't he just mind his own business and stop pointing fingers at Izzy and me? Nikki finished Vince's previous sentence with shock in his eyes, "Oh my god...you slept with her?" The question was definitely directed at Izzy.
To my surprise, Izzy went right along with it, "Of course I did; who wouldn't want to have sex with a pretty girl like Amy?" I shot Izzy a you-are-so-crazy look out of the corner of my eye. He returned the look with a casual smile. For a long moment, everyone just stared at us in silence with their mouths gaping and their eyes opened wide.
The silence was starting to get to me so I added, "Okay, this is getting awkward now..." Vince finally found his voice and stuttered out, "You fucked her? Amy was mine..." Everyone turned to Vince in surprise. My heart seemed to have twisted upsidown. What was Vince talking about? He and I had broken up ages ago. He really shouldn't still have feelings for me after all we had been through together. But the shock and hurt on Vince's face was unmistakable.
Izzy broke the silence and slapped Vince on the back, "Tough luck, man. Although, I'm curious, how many girls do you refer to as 'yours'? I happened to notice that you had three girls with you in only one night." Flustered, Vince gasped, "How do you know that?" Izzy grinned back, "Cuz I'm smart? Just kidding, I saw you in elevator with three of them. You really can't deny that."
Vince didn't reply and stared back at his feet. Suddenly, I felt like laughing. Vince, a man who had fucked hundreds of girls in his lifetime, was jealous because he hadn't been the first to fuck me. God, what was wrong with the man? The situation was so ironic that I couldn't repress a little giggle. Before I knew it, Izzy and I were laughing until tears streaked down our cheeks and our ribs hurt. The rest of us just watched us, shaking their heads.
"Okay guys," Nikki finally said, getting tired of our laughter, "Time to share the joke." Izzy wiped a tear from his cheek and managed, "I didn't really fuck Amy. Seriously though, Vince, did you have a claim on her or something? For all I know, you looked like you were abusing her or something. If you're really trying to win her heart, you've gotta be less forceful."
Nikki nodded, "Yeah and you need to lighten up with the drinking." Tommy stared at Nikki with dismay, "You're telling him to drink less? What a hypocrite! You yourself got drunk last night and slept with two girls!" Nikki shot Tommy a warning glance, "Shut up, Tommy! Nobody wants to hear about that!"
By this time, the whole Crue was arguing amongst themselves. Izzy wrapped an arm around my shoulders and whispered in my ear, "I have no idea how you put up with them. If Axl ever gets a band started, I'd love to have you travel with us instead." My mind spun at Izzy's offer. I had been with the Crue so long now. They were closer to me than my own family. Despite our arguments and their craziness, I truly loved them all. But traveling along with Izzy and Axl...now that was an irresistible offer! It was just the opportunity I needed to get Axl away from the Everly girl.
"I'd love to go with you," I smiled up at Izzy and stroked the side of his cheek. Suddenly, in a loud voice, Tommy called order, "Okay, people, enough! We'd better head out now if we're planning to make it back to Los Angeles before dark. Are you gonna travel with Amy, Nikki?" Nikki threw a strange expression towards me and merely shrugged.
"I'll take that as a yes," Tommy replied. "The rest of you, follow me! I've got some things I have to do at home before dark." With that, Tommy turned and marched off towards his car. Vince stalked after him, blonde hair flying in the breeze. Mick waved to us with a smile before following the other too.
Nikki clucked his tongue impatiently at me and motioned me towards his Porsche. Reluctantly, I turned to gaze up into Izzy's dark eyes, "I guess I'd better go." Izzy looked deeply into my gray-blue eyes and leaned down to brush his lips gently against mine before whispering, "I suppose so. Take care of yourself." Then he slipped a little piece of paper into my right hand and gave me an evil smile, "Call me." I let myself look at Izzy for one more long moment before turning toward Nikki.
The two of us walked in silence to his Porsche. We still hadn't spoken a single word fifteen minutes later when we were speeding down the highway. I wondered if Nikki was angry at me. I couldn't figure out what I had done to offend him though. Oh well, if he wanted to be this way, then fine! He wouldn't have to speak to me the whole way back to Los Angeles.
But of course, an hour later, he finally did speak to me. Through clenched teeth, he muttered, "So it's Izzy now, hm?" My head jerked up. I had almost forgotten I wasn't alone in the car by that time. A little confused by the question, I responded, "What do you mean by that?" Nikki gave an almost harsh sounding chuckle, "God, you are so stupid girl! I obviously meant if you were dating Izzy now." I felt like screaming at Nikki; out of everything we could've been talking about, he chose to talk about Izzy.
"You know, I don't really feel like answering that," I responded coldy, feeling a little put out at being called "stupid." We rode in a stony silence for another few minutes before Nikki took control of himself and apologized, "Sorry, maybe I'm being a little to obtrusive. It's just that...nevermind..." Nikki trailed off into silence.
Unable to stop myself, I asked the obvious question, "It's just that?" Nikki shook his head, "Don't ask. You don't want to hear what I'm going to say." By the time, I most certainly did want to hear what Nikki was going to say. I hated it when people started to say something and then refused to tell you what they were going to say.
"I don't care," I replied bluntly. "Tell me." Nikki sighed, "Remember that you asked for it!" I shrugged and waited for him to speak. Finally, he did, "It's just that I don't think you're truly in love with Izzy. I know you like Axl, anyone in their right mind can see that. You're just faking all this to get closer to Axl, aren't you? Izzy is like a pawn in your chess game. You're using him."
My eyes flashed angrily at Nikki, "Shut the fuck up! Just...don't talk to me on the rest of the way home." Even though I was acting indignant, my heart was verifying Nikki's accusation. I did love Axl more than anyone. Well, maybe it was more a feeling of lust, but regardless Izzy wasn't my heart's top desire. But Izzy was nice and handsome. He was much better looking than any of the Crue members and he always found a way to make me laugh. Besides, it wasn't like we were officially dating. True, we had kissed, but that didn't necessarily mean anything.
I glanced towards the clock. We still had over thirty minutes left until we made it back to Los Angeles. I was regretting agreeing to drive with Nikki. Next time I went on a tour, I would definitely be driving myself in my own car. I returned to my sulky silence and gazed unseeingly out the window, trying to will time to pass by quickly.



A week later, we were all gathered at Tommy's house. The Crue was practicing their show plan for the Three Day US Fesitival that was going to take place in a week. In the meantime, we still had another Kiss support show on Thursday. Doc had insisted that the Crue went over their show plan every single day. Luckily, nobody from the Crue minded.
I was sitting on the couch with Lita and Linda. Ever since a month ago, there always seemed to be another girl at the house. I didn't really mind it, but I didn't especially like these girls. Linda had made a few efforts to be nice at first, but I had merely brushed her off because I was still mad at Mick for dumping me for her. She had given up attempting to speak to me and we sat in silence.
Lita Ford was a completely different story. I wouldn't have minded talking to her. I wasn't the least bit jealous of her, but Lita had made it clear that she didn't want to talk to me. She was arrogant and seemed to be above talking to a lowly girl like me. The atmosphere was getting so uncomfortable that I finally whipped out my phone from my purse and flicked it open.
I was going to call Izzy. The first day after we had arrived home in Los Angeles, I had debated about whether or not I would call Izzy for hours. Part of me said that Nikki was right and that I was only trying to use him. Another part of me told me that I was lonely and Izzy would give me the comfort and company I desired. So I had called him and to my surprise, he had been overjoyed to hear from me. From that day on, we had constantly been calling each other.
I punched Izzy's phone number in the speed dial and pressed the phone to my ear as I listened to it ring. Lita, who had been making an effort to ignore me, turned ever so slightly to give me a digusted look. Spontaneously, I flinched and looked away from her. In a threatening tone, Lita hissed, "Don't you think talking on the phone might be a little distracting?"
I frowned at her; the Crue's music was so loud that it overwhelmed any other noise. Tommy had given me permission to talk on the phone before. I was about to reply to Lita, when another phone rang from somewhere in the living room. Mick set down his guitar carefully before racing into the living room, "I'd better get that. It might be important."
Mick opened up his phone and said in a cheerful voice, "Oh, hey Doc!" That was surprising. I wondered what Doc wanted from us. My contemplations were cut short though by an answering voice on my phone, "Hello?"
"Hey Izzy," I greeted, "It's me, Amy." A moments silence passed before Izzy continued, "God, it's good to hear your voice! It feels like forever since I've talked to you." A little giggle escaped my lips and earned me a condescending look from Lita, "Izzy, I talked to you just last night!"
"Oh really?" Izzy asked in a distracted voice. "It still feels like a long time." I rolled my eyes and pressed the phone closer against my ear. There was some sort of background noise going on...but what was it? After a few minutes of careful listening, I recognized the sounds of laughter. There was also a strange, distant sucking noise that I couldn't identify.
"Izzy, what's that weird noise?" I questioned interestedly. Another long pause went by and Izzy replied, "What was that, Amy? I couldn't quite hear you." In a louder tone, I yelled into the phone, "I said, what's the weird noise?" Izzy answered, "Oh...that's just some people...doing stuff." Izzy pulled the phone away from his ear and yelled, "Shut the hell up guys! Can't you see I'm trying to talk to someone here?" A distant voice replied to Izzy, "Geez, this is my own house Izzy. I can do whatever I want here."
Izzy sighed irritatedly and apologized, "Sorry about that, Amy. Just ignore them." I immediately wanted to know who "them" was. Wasting no time, I asked, "Who's at your house?"
"Oh...that's just Axl and Erin," Izzy replied casually. My heart seemed to catch in my throat and I couldn't speak for a moment. Axl and Erin where together at his house right now? Ugh, I had totally blown my chance with Axl. He had probably completely forgotten that I even existed at this point.


I didn't speak for a whole minute. If I did, I was sure my voice would crack. That was something I most certainly didn't need right now. It would only make Izzy suspicious and earn me another dirty look from Lita. Izzy's concerned voice broke into my depressed silence, "Uh...Amy? Are you alright?"
Swallowing back the tears and disappointment, I managed to say in a fairly casual voice, "Yeah...I'm fine." Izzy's voice was filled with compassion when he answered me, "You don't sound fine. Do you want to talk about it? Oh wait...I know what it is. It's Erin and Axl, isn't it?" How in the world did he know that? Was my attraction to Axl that obvious? I had done my best to hide it, but apparently the disguise had not tricked anyone.
As I contemplated what to say next, Mick's voice rang out from the living room, "No way! Are you serious?" Everyone swiveled to look at Mick. Mick slowly lowered the phone from his ear and slammed it shut with dismay. Nikki gave him a quizzical expression, "What's up, Mick?" Mick, still looking stunned, answered, "Doug is canceling all the rest of our support shows with Kiss." Completely forgetting I was on the phone with Izzy, I gasped, "Oh my god, why?"
Mick rolled his eyes and muttered, "Gene Simmons complained that we were a nuisance. Doug said that he thought Gene wanted kicked us off because Motley Crue was upstaging Kiss, but that seems like a stupid excuse to me." Mick, Tommy, and Linda exchanged bewildered looks while Tommy and Nikki looked at their feet guiltily.
Vince looked at the guilty twosome and squinted at them, "You two know something about this, don't you? Spill the beans!" Nikki glanced nervously from Lita to Vince. Mick started tapping his foot impatiently, "C'mon guys, it's obvious you know something. We deserve to know what it is since this is influencing the whole Crue."
Finally, Nikki admitted in a barely audible voice, "Uh...Eric caught us having sex with his girlfriend." None of the Crue looked very surprised at Nikki's confession, as a matter of fact, Mick nodded knowingly, "I should've guess it was something like that. Well, it's too late to do anything about that now. There's still the Three Day Festival in a week though. So I guess we should start preparing for that instead." Suddenly, rapid breathing sounding from next to me.
Lita stood up and approached Nikki indignantly and pointed an accusing finger at him, "Why, Nikki, I just thought of something!" Nikki gulped and took an apprehensive step away from Lita, "Uh, yes dear?" Lita's eyes narrowed and she took another step closer to him so that they were barely inches apart, "I know why you didn't want me to go on the last tour with you! You wanted me away so you could go and sleep with as many of your fan girls as you wanted. I'm right, aren't I?"
Nikki stared at Lita regretfully. It was obvious from the expression in his eyes that he had certainly made out with several girls on the last tour. Lita cried out hysterically, "I knew it!" She stalked towards the door and disappeared through it without another word. Nikki looked longingly after her for a moment before dashing towards the door himself, "Be right back in a little while guys!"
Mick shook his head sadly and called after him, "Don't forget that the US Festival is in only three weeks, Nikki!" It was too late though because the door had long slammed behind Nikki. Suddenly, I was reminded I was still on the phone with Izzy. I quickly apologized, "Sorry, Izzy, I was a little distracted."
"I noticed," Izzy commented sarcastically, "What's going on over there?" I quickly summarized the events of the last few minutes, "Well, the rest of our support shows with Kiss are canceled. Gene Simmons kicked us off. But to be honest, I'm slightly grateful because at least I won't have to see Eric anymore."
"I'm not grateful," Izzy retorted, "How do I know when I'm going to see you again now?" Hm, I had no clue when I was going to see Izzy again. But truth be told, I was anxious to see him. I missed having a friend like Izzy to seek out in real life. Suddenly, an idea lit up in my head, "Do you know about the US Festival a week from today?"
Izzy immediately caught onto my idea and replied, "Yeah, I do. I'm pretty sure LA Guns is going, which means I'll be going too." In the distance, I could hear Izzy yelling to Axl, "Hey Axl, are we going to the US Festival show?" There was no answer. Izzy sighed in annoyance, "Axl's apparently too busy for his best friend! Geez. Anyways, yeah, I'm pretty sure we're going. And even if LA Guns isn't going, I'll make sure I'm going. So I'll for sure see you there?"
My spirits lifted slightly and I agreed excitedly, "Definitely. I've really missed you, Izzy. I can't wait to see you then." Izzy agreed, "I've missed you too." Feeling that it was a good time to hang up before things got too sentimental, I tried to wrap our conversation up, "Well, seeya then!" I was about to hang up, but Izzy's voice stopped me, "Wait a sec, Amy."
"Yeah?" I asked curiously, returning the phone to my ear. In a low voice Izzy continued, "I'm really sorry about Erin and Axl, Amy. I know from the beginning you liked him. Believe me, I'm used to it! All the girls over her are crazy about him. I just take what I can get." My heart immediately went out to Izzy and guilt washed over me. But at the same time, pain seemed to jolt through me. After all, Izzy had just confirmed my suspicions that Erin Everly was indeed Axl's girlfriend.
I knew I should try to say something comforting to Izzy, but my throat had gotten tight and all I could manage out was, "It's okay, Izzy. Thanks for being such a good friend." With that, I bit my lip and slammed the phone shut. Immediately, I felt everyone staring at me. I was in no mood to be questioned about my conversation.
In a stiff voice, I asked sharply, "Why are y'all staring at me?" Tommy shrugged and looked at Vince and Mick. Mick tried to restore order, "Well, I guess we can continue practicing for the Festival without our bassist. Are you ready, guys?" The other two nodded and the music soon resumed. I barely noticed it though; my head was filled of visions of Axl and a beautiful brunette beauty lying in bed together.



The next week seemed to fly by. The Crue had rehearsed for the US Festival Show every single day until every song was perfect. Now it was actually time to perform! The Crue had left on a helicopter yesterday to get to San Bernardino, where the big event was to take place. I had decided to travel alone to the show. There was a slight bit of tension between me and the rest of the Crue members. I wasn't quite sure what had caused it, but everyone seemed distant to me. Vince seemed upset about the whole incident with Axl at Izzy, Nikki was still acting cold, Mick was in another world with Linda, and Tommy mostly kept to himself.
This had definitely been a change for the worse. I missed those days where we would all get together and just have fun. I checked my watch as I pulled into the big parking lot outside of the stadium. This was a huge show. There were already three thousand people in the audience. The US Festival lasted three days. Today, which was Day Two, was heavy metal day. The Crue would play second after Quiet Riot. I couldn't wait to see how the audience reacted to Crue. This would be a huge opportunity for Crue, hopefully they wouldn't blow it.
I parked as close as I could get to the stadium...which wasn't very close at all. There seemed to be a sea of cars in the parking lot. Feeling as if I had parked a mile away from the stadium, I exited my car and tucked my keys safely away in my purse. Big shows like this were always a draw for crime. As I walked stiffly towards the stadium, my thoughts turned to Izzy.
I wasn't sure what my reunion with Izzy was going to be like. We weren't officially a couple, but we had kissed. My feelings for Izzy had seemed to grow during the last week. Maybe feeling so isolated from the Crue made me crave him more than ever. I wondered if it would be okay to date Izzy even if I was truly in love with Axl. I really did believe that I loved Izzy in a sense now. If I had feelings of love for him, then I wouldn't be using him like Nikki had accused, right?
As I hurried along the busy parking lot, my thoughts started to darken. There was always a possibility that Izzy didn't have feelings for me. I remembered the scene at the restaurant with Izzy and Axl...and the waitress. Izzy had fucked her for the night and then he had ditched her. What if it was like that with me as well? Perhaps Izzy had forgotten that he had kissed me and maybe he wouldn't even want me around. There was also a possibility that Izzy might have a new girl with him as well. Knowing Izzy, that was quite likely. My stomach started to twist with nerves. This business with Izzy was so confusing!
Finally, I reached the backstage and cautiously entered the turmoil within it. It was crazier than any other show I had been to. People were pushing, shoving, and yelling. Trying to shield my ears from the noise, I clapped my hands over them. I tried to scan the crowd for the Crue, but it was nearly impossible to see with so many people around. Plus, it didn't help that I seemed to be at least a foot shorter than everyone else here. Well, maybe not quite a foot, but it sure felt like it!
I stood by the back wall and tried to come up with a plan for finding the Crue. Luckily, they found me first. A loud voice called my name, "Amy! Over here!" My eyes roamed over the crowd anxiously, trying to find the familiar voice. After a few minutes of searching, my eyes rested on a figure with platinum blonde hair and sky blue eyes. Keeping my eyes on Vince, I squeezed through the massive crowd of people until I reached him.
Vince grinned at me through his full, highly glossed lips, "Hey Amy. I was wondering if you were going it make it. We're on stage in twenty minutes!" I glanced at my watch curiously. I hadn't thought Crue was playing for at least another hour. Before I could ask about it, Tommy came over to us. His face was paper white with a tinge of green and his hands were shaking nervous.
"Oh my god, what happened to you, Tommy?" I asked, unable to keep the shock out of my voice. Tommy attempted to smile at me, but the smile turned out more like a grimace. Vince gave Tommy a nervous look and whispered in my ear, "Tommy's pretty scared. He's never played in front of a crowd this big before. I told him that he'll do fine, but he doesn't seem to believe me."
I turned my gaze back to poor, trembling Tommy. My heart instantly went out to him and I took a step forward so I could rest my hand on his quivering arm, "Aw, Tommy, don't be nervous! The crowd isn't that big." As soon as the words were out of my mouth, Tommy gave me a dubious expression. I could tell he didn't believe my lie.
I tried again, "Okay, well maybe it is kinda big. But Tommy, what is there to worry about? You've always done a flawless job at shows. Nothing will be different this time, just go out there and do your thing! Just try to forget about the audience." Tommy nodded without opening his mouth. Vince uncapped a bottle and took a long swig from it.
I frowned at him and tried to steal the bottle away. The last thing Vince needed was to get drunk before the show and make an idiot out of himself. Vince scowled at me and tried to yank the bottle back. We stood there, both yanking on the bottle for about five minutes. Neither of us were willing to give it up.
Finally, Mick came over with Linda trailing behind him. He looked from me to Vince then said, "Okay you two, break it up! We've gotta get onstage in about five minutes." Vince still didn't let go off the beer bottle, "It's my bottle! I should be allowed to drink from it if I want, don't you agree Mick?"
Mick rolled his eyes, "No, I don't. You can drink after the show, not before. Quiet Riot has been doing an excellent job and I don't want us to be acting like crazy bastards onstage. Give Amy the bottle, Vince." Ever so slowly, Vince released the bottle but still glared at me. All of a sudden, a loud thud sounded from behind us.
We all spun around to see what had caused the noise. Immediately, my eyes were drawn to a ghostly white figure lying on the ground. Vince and I gasped, "Tommy!" in unison. He had clearly passed out and was gazing at the sky with glazed over, unseeing eyes. I panicked, "Oh god, what are we suppose to do? Help!"
Luckily, a security guard was hurried over through the crowd to where Tommy lay motionless on the ground. The guard sank to his knees and pressed an oxygen mask to Tommy's mouth. By this time, Nikki had come over with his bass guitar slung over his shoulder, "Hey guys. What's up? We need to be onstage in a few minutes so we need to get going."
"We won't be playing if Tommy doesn't wake up," Vince snapped without bothering to look behind him at Nikki. Nikki froze and peered over our heads to get a good look at Tommy. He gasped loudly when he caught sight of poor Tommy lying unconscious on the ground, "Whoa, what happened?"
"What do you think happened?" Vince shouted almost angrily at him. I could tell an argument was beginning to brew between the two. I knew I had to stop it before it turned into something serious so I interjected, "All right everyone, just stay calm. Tommy will wake up in a few minutes and then you guys can go on with the show just as you had planned. We just need to be a little patient for a few minutes." Vince and Nikki shut up, but they continued to shoot each other nasty looks.
In my head, I prayed for Tommy to wake up. My fingers were crossed and I shifted from foot to foot anxiously. What would the Crue do if Tommy didn't wake up? I didn't want to think about it. As if answering my prayers, Tommy's eyelids started to fluttered and he sat up jerkily, "W-where am I?"
"Oh thank god!" Mick sighed with relief and a big grin formed on Nikki's face. Vince hauled Tommy to his feet as he answered the question, "We're at the US Festival, goddamit! And we're about to play so you better get your ass onstage right this minute!" Without waiting for a response from Tommy, Vince pulled him forcibly through the audience.
I held my breath as soon as all the Crue members were onstage. Tommy couldn't pass out again...right? Suddenly, the loud screech of Mick's guitar sounded and Shout to the Devil engulfed us all. I exhaled with relief; the show would go on after all. Glad to have been relieved of the stress, I settled in a corner and prepared to listen to the show.
After about twenty minutes, I could feel my legs getting stiff and restless under me. I decided to get up and walk around for a little bit. I knew that now probably wasn't the best time to go around taking a walk, but I really needed to get a break from the blaring music and masses of people.
Without really paying attention to where I was going, I put my head down and pushed through the crowd of people. Normally, I tried to be polite and say excuse me, but it was impossible to hear backstage and the only way to get where you wanted was to push and shove. Suddenly, I ran into something hard and solid.
I stumbled backwards, tripped, and landed hard on my back. Bolts of pain went up and down my spine. After the pain had subsided, I opened my eyes to look at what I had run into. To my surprise, someone was bending over me with a pearly white grin. My heart fluttered and I instantly forgot about the pain.
"Izzy!" I called out joyful. Izzy smiled from above me and leaned down to kiss my lips. Our reunion had gone smoothly and naturally. I could feel my body relax under Izzy's gentle touch. He hadn't forgotten me after all, and better yet, he didn't have another girl with him. Izzy's lips traveled up and down over mine. Neither of us could seemed to get enough of each other. We kissed and kissed until all my oxygen was gone and I felt slightly dizzy.
Izzy finally managed to unglue his mouth from mine and he rolled over onto his side next to me. I wheezed for air for a minute before catching my breath. Izzy noticed his mistake and grimaced, "Sorry, Amy. I didn't mean to suck your breath away like that. You're going to start thinking of me as a vampire at this rate!"
I laughed and sat up, "I'd never think that, Iz. You're much too sweet for that. C'mon, let's get out of the way before someone tramples us!" Izzy nodded with agreement as someone's foot almost crashed down on his hand, "Yeah, good idea. You won't need me to suck your life away if you're already dead." I rolled my eyes at Izzy as he pulled me to my feet.
We meandered leisurely through the crowd, no longer noticing all the people surrounding us. We only had eyes for each other. Finally, we reached a secluded area where we had a little room. Izzy turned back to me and sighed, "Finally, peace and quiet!" But of course, it wasn't exactly quiet. Crue's new song, Hotter than Hell, was blasting at high pitch from the stage.
"Uh, I wouldn't exactly say quiet," I corrected Izzy, "Maybe peace though..." I slowly lifted my eyes to him. Immediately, Izzy was bending over me once more and holding me in his arms. I rested against his chest peacefully...but only for a minute.
Loud, angry voices from somewhere behind us broke the serenity. A loud male voice said, "So what the hell are you trying to say? The band wasn't even allowed to play at this show; it's obviously no good. We can do so much better; go so much father!" A musical female voice answered, "But you've been doing so well in the band! I'd hate to see you all throw it away for nothing."
"So you doubt my ability, hm?" the first voice retorted, "You're starting to listen to all that fucking shit out there, aren't you? And to think that I thought you were smart!" He laughed sardonically. The woman's voice sounded again, "I don't doubt your ability at all! I never said that. Please listen, you're taking this all the wrong way! I just thought that maybe you'd want to settle down now that you have a stable career. Hasn't that thought ever run through your brain?"
"I don't settle for things," the first voice snarled. "I believe that ever single fucking person has a purpose in life on this goddamn planet! I'm not gonna settle without fulfilling my purpose. So just fuck off and go away before someone gets hurt." The woman's voice pleaded, "I didn't mean to offend you-" Her voice was cut off by a slapping sound.
There was a little muffled cry and then the sound of loud, angry footsteps approaching us. Izzy and I separated from our embrace and exchanged apprehensive looks. What should we do now?
"Uh, maybe we should get out of here, Izzy," I suggested nervously. The footsteps were approaching us at a rapid speed. Izzy frowned, "We don't have time. Don't worry; I'll protect you. There are a lot of drunken fools at big shows like this." I nodded. That much was obvious. The fear in my heart didn't go away though even at Izzy's reassurance. I hadn't liked that slapping sound. Had the man who had been arguing with the woman hit her?
Suddenly, a figure appeared from right behind us. He didn't even bother looking at us, be we most certainly looked at him. His long, straight hair had fallen in his face, his arms were crossed, and he was looking downward with a stony expression on his face. Before he could get away from us, Izzy reached out and grabbed the sleeve of the man's black jacket, "My god, is that you Axl?"
Axl froze mid step and whirled around to look to see who had stopped him. His brown eyes were flashing angrily and his cheeks were flushed. But after seeing Izzy's concerned face, he sighed and tried to turn his mood around, "Oh, hey there Izzy."
"Hi to yourself," Izzy responded sarcastically. "What's up?" Axl shrugged, "Not much, how about you?" Izzy rolled his eyes at Axl and released him, "Not much. But do you honestly expect me to believe that nothing is going on with you? I heard that whole argument you just had. Now you better start explaining it to me."
Fire filled Axl's eyes at Izzy's question. He took a deep breath before answering, "Izzy, it's none of your business. It's between me and Erin. So just stay out of it, alright?" Izzy raised an eyebrow curiously. Clearly, he wasn't going to let the topic go. Just as I had predicted, Izzy continued, "Between you and Erin, huh? Just tell me about it, Axl! Otherwise I'm gonna bug you about it until you tell, so you might as well just fess up now."
Axl's eyes drew dull and he shrugged resignedly, "Okay, fine. Just don't go blabbing about my private conversations, okay?" Izzy nodded quickly, "Of course not. Now on with the story!" Axl sighed, "Well, LA Guns auditioned to play here today, but we got rejected. The band is shitty like I've said loads of time. It's time to start a new band and move on. We have so much potential, Izzy, don't you see? We could be even more popular than bands like Kiss if we set our minds to it!"
Axl's mood had suddenly changed and now his voice was filled with excitement as he spoke. Izzy replied, "Well, we could be. But like I've said before, we need to find band members first. That's the first step. Anyways, continue." Axl's face clouded over again as he continued, "Right. Anyways, Erin doesn't think I should form a new band. She thinks I should just stay with the LA Guns and settle for that. She doesn't believe that I can start my own band. Crazy woman."
"She's gotta have some reason that she wants you to stay with LA Guns," Izzy assumed logically. "Didn't she give you any reasons why she wanted you to stay with them?" Axl nodded darkly, "Yeah, she wants me to 'settle down' whatever that bullshit is suppose to mean. She forgets that the band is my life."
"Yeah," Izzy agreed understandingly. "Well, just give it some time. She'll understand eventually. Sometimes it just takes people a little while to cool down and think things through a bit. Speaking of Erin, where is she now?"
Axl ran a hand through his hair that was shining in the bright sunlight, "How should I know?" Izzy and I exchanged nervous looks. Izzy insisted, "Well, you were just talking to her a moment ago. You didn't...erm...do anything to her, did you?"
Axl turned to look Izzy in the eye. His eyes were wide with innocence and his full lips were giving a little smile, "Of course not! Why would I do anything to her?" Up to this point in the conversation, I had remained silent. But I couldn't keep silent anymore. I stepped forward next to Izzy and spoke in an accusing voice, "You didn't hit Erin, did you?"
Axl looked over at me with surprise. An easy smile formed on his lips and his eyes crinkled slightly as he smiled that gorgeous smile at me, "Hey Amy. I didn't know you were here. Is Crue here or something?" Axl was obviously changing the subject, but I didn't care. I just wanted to stare at his body for forever.
"Uh...yeah," I answered his question through my dreamy haze. "They're performing right now actually." Axl cursed and shot Izzy a I-told-you-so-look, "See, Izzy? Even Crue made it to this show and they've not been playing very long. LA Guns has gone to hell." Izzy shrugged at Axl, "I never said I approved of the LA Guns now, did I?"
Axl started to reply, but his words were lost in an eruption of deafening cheers from the crowd. I flinched at the loud noise and tried to bury my head against Izzy's chest to help block out the noise. To my delight, Izzy ran a hand through my hair and held him close to me. When the cheering finally died down, Izzy slowly relinquished me.
As I turned back to face Axl, I saw an expression on his face that I had never seen before. His brown eyes seemed to be lit with a fire and he was staring at Izzy and me with a somewhat dubious expression. An awkward silence started to form as Axl continued to stare with surprise at the two of us.
Finally, he said, "So...you're Izzy's girl now, aren't you?" I had to think a moment before answering that question. Was I Izzy's girl? Like I had mentioned before, the two of us hadn't ever officially been a couple or discussed our future plans together. For all I knew, Izzy could just be messing around with me.
Uncertainly, I turned next to me to gaze up into Izzy's dark, kind eyes. Immediately, I could see the answer in them. I turned back to Axl and answered, "You could say that." Axl chewed his lip, still eying the two of us doubtfully. Trying to avert the subject from Izzy and me, I exclaimed, "Well, I guess all that cheering meant that Crue has finished their performance. Shall we go congratulate them?" Izzy nodded and followed me cheerfully through the crowd.
Axl, on the other hand, trailed after us with a belligerent expression on his face. It wasn't hard to see that Axl didn't like the Crue much. I knew for a fact that he disliked Vince, that was certain. I tried not to think of that as I approached the four familiar figures at the opposite end of the room.
"Hey guys!" I called out. "You did awesome out there!" I slapped Tommy on the back and gave him a half-smile, "Are you okay now?" Tommy still looked slightly green, but he was smiling and seemed to be full of energy. Grinning back at me, he replied, "Oh yes, I'm fine now. Just some first time nerves I guess, hm?"
To Tommy's right, Vince was making out with a pretty blonde girl who I had never seen before. Not wanting to interrupt their intense makeout session, I turned to Nikki instead and questioned, "Who's that girl that Vince is with? I've never seen her before. Have you?" Nikki frowned and filled me in, "That's Tom Zutaut's date. Apparently, Vince has taken an interest in her."
"Obviously," I replied, rolling my eyes. "Wherever Vince goes, he collects women. But who's Tom Zutaut?" Nikki started to reply, but was interrupted as a dark haired girl with a flushed face strode over to us. It took me a moment to realize that the girl was Linda. All the Crue, except Vince who was oblivious to everything except the girl in his arms, watched in interest as Linda approached Mick. I could tell from the beginning that something was wrong.
The girl was walking stiffly and her normally smiling lips had formed a tight line. Without a word, Linda strutted right up to Mick until she was merely an inch away from him. She paused for a moment before raising her hand in a swift motion and slapped Mick hard on his left cheek. Without so much as a backwards glance, Linda tossed her glossy black hair over one shoulder, turned on her heel, and was gone without seconds.
Everyone stared at Mick. Poor Mick looked as if the girl had just slashed his heart in half. Misery and incomprehension clouded his gray eyes as he stared after Linda. Nikki gulped uncomfortably and went over to put a hand on Mick's shoulder. In a gentle voice that Nikki rarely used, he questioned, "I'm so sorry, Mick. Did something happen between you two?"
Mick shook his head in bewilderment, "No! I mean, I didn't think so. Everything had been going so well. I have no idea what turned her against me..." Mick trailed off. Vince had finally managed to separate himself from the girl he had been kissing and turned to glance at the rest of us, "What's going on guys?"
Nobody bothered to answer Vince. If he wasn't going to pay attention, then he didn't get to know what was going on. We all agreed silently that Vince was much too concerned with his personal life and girls. Axl coughed restlessly from behind me. For the first time, the Crue glanced behind me to see Axl and Izzy on either side of me.
"Oh hey guys," Tommy greeted with a polite smile. "I see it didn't take Amy long to find you two." Izzy laughed, "Amy didn't really find me...she ran right into me." I blushed and slapped Izzy playfully, "God, did you really have to let everyone know that?" Mick was actually smiling now, "It's common knowledge that Amy never looks out where she's going."
"Oh, just shut up all of you!" I said exasperatedly. Izzy's eyes wandered over the Crue and I could see he was contemplating something. After only a few seconds, I could see in his eyes that he had made a decision. Izzy cleared his throat and commented, "I live pretty close to here...about ten minutes away to be exact. What do you think about all coming over to my house for dinner? We could order pizza or something. It might be fun. Unless, are any of you in a hurry to get back?"
Nikki looked behind him at Lita. Lita nodded her consent and Nikki shrugged, "Lita and I can go." Mick and Tommy exchanged glances before adding, "Sure, why not?" Vince was the only one who seemed like he didn't really want to go. He was chewing his lip irritatedly and his gaze kept flashing to Axl who was scowling darkly at him.
Finally, Vince agreed in a reluctant tone, "Well...I guess I'll come along since the rest of you are going." Izzy flashed him an easy smile, "Great! So what about you, Amy? You're coming too, right?" I was slightly caught off guard by the question. Of course I was going too! There was no way I was about to miss a party with my best buds and my new lover.
"Geez, do you even need to ask that?" I asked Izzy indignantly. Izzy stroked my hair as he gazed down at me, "Probably not, but I always want to make sure. A party probably wouldn't even be worth having without you around."
"Bullshit," I muttered as I reached up and placed a hand on Izzy's chest. Axl, who was really getting irritated at this point, coughed loudly for a third time. Izzy drew his hand away from my hair and turned to face his best friend, "And of course you're coming too, Axl." Axl started to protest, but Izzy slapped a hand over his mouth, "Don't give me that! You're coming whether you like it or not. And you're bringing Erin with you."
Axl sighed forbearingly and answered, "Fine. There's just no arguing with you, is there Izzy?" Izzy shot him an evil glance, "Alright everybody, just follow me. Let's get out of here as quickly as we can. I'm starting to think I'm claustrophobic." Izzy grabbed my hand and started maneuvering his way through the crowd. Loud footsteps behind me told me that Axl and the rest of the Crue were following me.
After about five minutes, we finally made our way to the entrance. Izzy stopped at the bottom of the stairs to let all of the Crue catch up to us. Once everyone was gathered on the sidewalk, Izzy gave Axl a meaningful look and pointed to a figure about a hundred or so feet to our left. The figure was hunched down and long, brown curls spilled down her back.
"Okay Axl," Izzy commanded resolutely, "Go get your girl." Axl hesitated for a moment. Izzy pushed him roughly forward in the figure's direction, "Really Axl! Don't keep us waiting!" Cursing under his breath, Axl strode with his head held up high in the direction of the girl on the ground. I was watching him approach the girl with eagle eyes. I wanted to see how their interaction would go. After all, Axl had said some pretty mean things to Erin earlier.
But of course, I was interrupted as usual. A small shape about my height was hurriedly descending the stairs behind us with two steps at a time. She reached the bottom of the stairs breathless and tried to make her way around our group. I didn't give her a second glance notice, but Tommy reached for her hand as she was about to escape, "Why, is that you, Candice?"
The girl immediately stopped short in her tracks to peer up at Tommy. A look of amazement crossed her face, "Oh my god, Tommy Lee! How have you been? I haven't seen you since high school!" Ecstatic at recognizing an old high school friend, Candice leaned up and gave Tommy a kiss on the cheek with her eyes sparkling.
Tommy turned slightly pink at the kiss, but replied, "I've been okay. How about you?" Candice smiled excitedly, "Great now that I've seen you again! I didn't know you were in a band. And...is that you, Nikki Sixx?" Candice's gaze traveled from Tommy to where Nikki was standing with Lita by his side.
"Yep," Nikki replied, but I could tell by his expression that he didn't recognize Candice. Tommy cleared his throat and introduced Candice to the rest of us, "Everybody, this is Candice Starrek. We haven't seen each other since high school, have we?" Candice shook her head regretfully, "I'm afraid not. It's great to meet all of you though!"
Tommy gave Izzy a puppy-eyes and pleaded, "Izzy, can Candice please come to your party too? I'm sure she won't take up much space." Izzy sighed loudly, but agreed nonetheless, "Alright. Now everyone's got a date!" I glanced around the group to verify Izzy's statement. He was almost right; there was Nikki with Lita, Vince with his new blonde, Tommy with Candice, Axl with Erin, Izzy with me, and then there was Mick. Poor Mick who was going to spend the night all alone.
I tried to catch his eye and give him a sympathetic look. Laughter and footsteps sounded from behind us as Axl and Erin approached us. Axl looked around at the ground to see that everyone was staring at him. Axl quickly introduced Erin, "This is Erin Everly. Erin, meet the group from Motley Crue and Izzy's girl, Amy." Erin looked over the Crue before turning her gaze to me.
There was no mistaking it; the girl was gorgeous. She had high cheekbones, flawless skin, beautiful cerulean eyes, and rich brown hair. I uneasily met her gaze. For some reason, I supposed she was going to be another Lita because of her good looks. But of course, I was wrong like usual.
"Hi there, Amy," Candice greeted in a light, musical voice as her pale pink lips formed a smile. "It's very nice to meet you." For a moment, I was paralyzed by her beauty and kindness. This was obviously the reason why she was Axl's girlfriend. There was no way I could ever stand a chance with Axl with her around.
Trying to throw those thoughts out of my mind, I replied, "It's nice to meet you too, Erin." Izzy waved his hand towards the parking lot impatiently, "Okay, okay, enough of the introductions. There will be time enough for that later. For now, we don't we all get in our cars and head over to my house before it gets dark so we can order some food? I'm starving."
Everyone nodded with agreement and started heading back to their cars. Izzy kept a tight hold on my wrist as he dragged me to his car. Finally, I broke in, "Uh, Izzy?" Without bothering to stop, Izzy looked sideways at me, "Yeah?"
"Well, what about my car?" I pointed out. "I can't drive with you and let it sit her all night." There had been a lot of crime at the stadium the last few days. The last thing I needed was for my car to be stolen. Izzy frowned and scratched his chin thoughtfully, "Good point. I guess you'd better take your own car. Just follow right behind me and you won't get lost. Okay?"
"Okay," I agreed before giving Izzy one last smile and headed towards my familiar jetta. As I popped the door open and slid into the front seat of the car, a tingling feeling seemed to run through my body. It was definitely a feeling of excitement and slight nervousness. Little did I know how wild and crazy the party was going to be. If I had known, maybe I wouldn't have gone at all.


After revving up the car engine, I pulled up behind Izzy's truck. I could see him waving at me through one of the mirrors. Suppressing a little giggle, I waved back. Behind me, a line of cars followed Izzy and I out onto the highway. It must have looked funny to see six cars following each other's exact movements.
Izzy was right; it didn't take more than ten minutes to reach Izzy's house. The house was rather small, but it had a friendly look to it. It was painted a dark shade of brown and there were a few bunches of flowers planted on either side of the house. That surprised me. I didn't think it would be like Izzy to take the time to plant flowers.
I pulled up into the driveway next to his truck while the remaining six cars parked on the side of the street. Izzy swung out of his truck and hurried over to open the door of my car. I laughed as he pulled the car door open and yanked me out, "Always a gentleman, hm Izzy?" Izzy's eyes glinted mischievously, "You think? I'll have to tell that to Axl; he'll laugh himself to death!"
Footsteps sounded behind us as the rest of the group formed a circle around his. Vince tapped his foot impatiently with his arm around his blonde beauty, "So...are we going in, or what?" I could tell Vince was a little on edge tonight. It was clear that he was only here because everyone else was. He didn't trust Axl or Izzy.
"Yeah, duh," Izzy nodded as he pressed a button on his keys that released the garage door. Izzy shot a regretful look at the little house as the garage door went up, "Sorry about the house...it's not much. I've been planning to fix it up a little, but I've never really gotten the time to do it." Axl laughed sarcastically, "You've never gotten the time to do it or you've never really felt like doing it?"
Izzy blushed as we traveled through the garage to the door, "Uh...maybe both?" I put a hand reassuringly on Izzy's shoulder, "I don't think you need to fix it up at all. It's perfect!" Izzy shot me an appreciative grin, "You really think so? It's just a cheap, old thing. It's the only thing I can afford since I don't have a steady job. Which means," Izzy turned to give Axl a meaningful glance, "You'd better get started on creating that band you're always talking about. I need a job...fast."
Axl's face froze at Izzy's words and he turned ever so slowly to look at Erin. It was only then that Izzy realized he had brought up the topic that had caused Axl and Erin to argue earlier. Izzy looked as if he'd like to take back his words, but of course, that wasn't possible. Erin seemed to stiffen slightly, but didn't comment. Axl seemed to let out an inaudible breath of relief as Izzy pushed open the door. The last thing we wanted to do was to start out our party with a fight.
As I stepped inside Izzy's house, four shiny motorcycles caught my eye. They were all lined up at the other end of the garage. They were spotless and seemed to have been well taken care of. As the rest of the group tromped inside Izzy's house, I turned to him and questioned, "You've sure got a lot of motorcycles there, Izzy."
"Oh yeah!" Izzy's eyes lit up at the mention of his motorcycles, "I've had those Harleys for a few years now. There are two more I'd really like to get, but I need to get the money first." I could see the longing in Izzy's eyes as he talked about the Harleys he had coveted. Axl must have been listening in on our conversation because he added, "Izzy LOVES his Harleys. He's always off traveling somewhere with them. One minute he'll be in Washington and the next he'll have traveled down to New Mexico!"
Izzy laughed then turned to the rest of the group, "So I'm going to order pizza. What kinds of toppings do you guys like?" Lita and Nikki conversed for a minute before decided on cheese with pepperoni. Mick, Tommy, and Candice decided to share a vegetable one. Izzy leaned down and asked me, "What kind of pizza do you like, Amy? I'll eat whatever you like."
I bit my lip, unsure of whether or not I wanted to tell Izzy that I was a vegan. Most people thought vegans were crazy animal rights fanatics. Izzy must have sensed my discomfort because his eyes filled with concern and he added, "Amy, is everything all right?" I nodded and decided to confess, "Yeah, it's fine. It's just that...I'm a vegan."
Izzy's face went blank and he asked, "Don't hate me for it, but I don't know what that is. Is it some kind of vegetarianism or something?" I nodded, face flushing, "Yeah. Being a vegan means that I don't eat anything that comes from animals. So I don't eat dairy and things like that." Erin glanced over her shoulder at me, "Oh, that's neat! I'm vegetarian actually."
I smiled back at Erin. To my surprise, I was finding out that I liked the girl more and more by the minute. Izzy cut through my thoughts and suggested, "Well, do you want to just get a pizza with sauce then?" I shook my head, "Oh no. I'm fine, order whatever you want." Izzy's eyebrows knit together and he leaned down to whisper in my ear, "Amy, I know about the whole anorexia thing...but it's got to stop! The last thing I want is for you to starve yourself to death. Promise me you'll eat at least something tonight? It doesn't have to be a lot...just something."
Looking into Izzy's concerned eyes, I found that I had no choice. Impassively, I shrugged, "If you say so." Izzy stood back up and reached for the phone, "Okay guys, I'm ordering now so be quiet for a few minutes. You can go into the living room if you want." Izzy motioned to his right as he punched numbers in his phone.
Following Izzy's suggestion, all ten of us started towards the direction he had pointed us in. Izzy's living room was very comfortable looking. There was a big, cushy brown couch against one side of the room with two matching chairs on either side of it. There was a large, oak table in the center of the room. I figured that was probably where Izzy ate most of his meals. On the walls were ginormous posters of bands Izzy's apparently liked such as Kiss and Ac/Dc.
Gazing around the room, I knew this place felt like home to me. Mick's words brought me out of my contemplation, "Hey Amy, where are you going to sit?" Nikki and Lita and Tommy and Candice had already taken the two chairs which left only the couch open. Unfortunately, there was still five of us and there were only three seats on the couch.
"Uh..." I looked around the room to see if there were any other places to sit. Seeing none, I finished my sentence, "Well, I guess I can sit on the floor if you three want to take the couch?" Polite as ever, Mick protested, "Nah, it's okay. I don't mind sitting on the floor. Why don't you sit on the couch with Axl and Erin?"
Axl and Erin had plopped down on the couch while Mick had been talking to me. Erin flashed me a brilliant smile and pointed to the spot next to her on the couch. That surprised me; Erin actually wanted me to sit by her? Apparently, she wasn't stuck up at all like Lita. Knowing that it would be rude to sit on the floor after Erin had offered me the spot on the couch, I shrugged and answered Mick, "Well, okay. You don't mind, right?"
Mick shook his head as I hesitantly perched on the far right seat of the couch. Mick tried to smile at me as he sat down on the floor, but it wasn't his normal smile. This smile was tense and didn't seem to reach his eyes. I felt a pang of sympathy for him; I knew what it was like to be rejected by a boyfriend. The breakup with Linda must be hard for him. But what had really surprised me was how Linda had broken up with him. She hadn't even said a word! Poor Mick. He never had deserved to be treated in this manner. My thoughts automatically ventured back to the time when Mick and I had been dating.
Mick should have stayed with me. After all, I would never break up with a guy by slapping him on the cheek. I couldn't be that cruel even if I wanted to be. Mick and I had been happy together too. I remembered what a nice time we had had at the 7th Veil together. That thought instantly brought back guilty memories though.
Maybe Nikki was right about me taking advantage of people. Part of the reason I had invited Mick to the 7th Veil was so that I could get revenge on Vince and Jessica. But I had still loved Mick...right? Oh well, it didn't really matter now. Mick hadn't wanted me after I had showed interest in Axl anyways. Damn Tommy for spilling the beans about that.
But what good had Mick accomplished in breaking up with me? All he had gotten was his heart broken by an uncaring, unsympathetic bitch. And of course, Axl could never be mine. It was clear now that Erin Everly had been his girl for a long time. I shot a glance towards their direction. Axl was lounging back on the couch with an easy smile on his face and a arm casually wrapped around Erin's shoulders. Erin was smiling serenely. It was obvious she had forgotten all about their argument from earlier. I couldn't help but wonder how many times the two had argued. Did they argue like this quite often?
After thinking all this through, I was starting to think Mick and I had made a wrong turn in our relationship by breaking up. Mick was clearly miserable now. Even though he tried to mask his pain, I could see him enviously eying all the happy couples in the room. There was no doubt in my mind that he was probably envisioning himself with Linda tonight as one of those couples. Also, breaking up with Mick hadn't made me any happier. As a matter of fact, I was feeling much worse now than I had been earlier. I couldn't keep my eyes off Axl and Erin and my jealousy of them seemed to grow every minute.
Was there a possibility that maybe Mick and I should get back together? We were both lonely and in need of love. Suddenly, my conscious seemed to be reminding me of something. It was that feeling you get when you know you're suppose to remember something but you can't think of what it is. I closed my eyes and tried to zone out the blabber in the room to try to decipher whatever my conscious was trying to tell me.
Then it hit me; Izzy! God, how could I have forgotten about Izzy? Even without us talking about it, I knew that we both agreed that we were a couple now. The truth was that I did find myself in love with Izzy. He was so attractive with that long, shiny dark hair, twinkling eyes, and easy smile. But the best part was that he was kind to me and had such a unique sense of humor.
So everything was working out perfectly now that I had Izzy, right? Wrong. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't stop looking over my shoulder and Erin and Axl. Axl had pretty much captured my heart since the moment we first met. This reminded me quite a bit of my situation with Nikki and Vince from last year. I had loved Nikki and I could've had Nikki if I hadn't blown my chance with him. But the problem was, I had loved Vince too. Vince was a man I could never have. So while I was trying to make both of them mine, I ruined my relationships with both of them beyond repair.
This was a mistake I was determined not to make a second time. This time, I was going to choose one man to be mine and concentrate on him only. Nobody else was going to interfere with that. Not even my own throbbing heart that kept crying out to Axl. I didn't need Axl; he had Erin. Izzy on the other hand, was essential to me.



A half an hour later found me still mulling the subject over. Finally, the living room door burst back open and Izzy came in. He was attempting to juggle six pizzas in his arms, close the door behind him, and not drop any of the pizzas. I quickly leaped to my feet and crossed the room to help him out. After grabbing three of the pizza boxes from his arms, I commented, "Guess you've got your arms full! Anyways, those pizzas sure came in fast."
Izzy shrugged, "I guess so. It's been forty minutes since I ordered them though." I frowned; the time had seemed to been only five minutes. Uh oh, maybe I was starting to lose it! I did feel slightly sick now that I thought about it. I felt slightly light-headed and everyone's voice seemed to come from a mile away. Deciding to ignore the pain, I forced my lips into a smile and set the pizzas down on the oak table in the middle of the room.
"Okay, dig in everyone!" Izzy announced as he flipped the pizza boxes open. Immediately, everyone was scurrying towards the pizza boxes like ravenous animals. I suppose the Crue most be pretty hungry. After all, they had performed in a really large show today. I looked up to see where Izzy was going to sit, but to my surprise, he was gone!
My smile was instantly replaced with a frown as I scanned the room for Izzy. He was no where to be seen. Where could the man have gone? He had been standing right next to me only a second ago. It was as if he had disappeared. Getting a little worried, I leaned down to where Mick was sitting on the floor and whispered, "Mick, where did Izzy go?"
Mick thought as he chewed thoughtfully on a piece of pizza, "I didn't notice actually, Amy. I'm sure he'll be right back though." Mick gave me a reassuring smile that made my heart leap. Geez, this was not what was suppose to happen right now. I was suppose to have been over Mick a long time ago. He had gotten over me easily enough. I should get over him just as easily. I just needed to concentrate on Izzy and forget about Mick. But that was rather hard to do when Izzy wasn't around.
Luckily, the living room door popped open a second time and Izzy reappeared in the doorway holding eight large bottles of whiskey, beer, and wine in his arms. I bit my lip apprehensively. I didn't really think drinking was the best idea at a party like this. Vince definitely had a drinking problem and whenever he got drunk he got either love crazy or violent.
Izzy dumped the bottles on the table before coming over to sit on the floor by my feet. He looked up at me and seemed to read the anxiousness in my eyes, "Amy, are you all right? You looked worried about something. Is there something I can help you with?" I met his concerned gaze and shook my head. Izzy didn't need to know that I was against drinking at late night parties. To change the subject, I said instead, "Why don't you sit on the couch, Izzy? It's your home after all."
Izzy laughed, "I would, but there's not enough space. Just stay where you are. You're a guest in my home. Sitting on the couch is the most I can do to make you comfortable." Erin overheard the conversation and suggested, "Axl and I can scoot over to the left a little bit. If we all move down, I'm sure we can fit one more person on the couch. We might be a little squished, but I don't mind it. What do the rest of you think?"
Axl rolled his eyes and said sarcastically, "Great, now I'm gonna be squeezed next to my girl and my best friend." Izzy pushed Axl over and settled down on the couch next to me, "You know you like it Axl, so quit pouting!" With that said, Izzy turned and piled up his plate with several pieces of my sauce-only pizza that we had agreed to split.
My eyes instantly roamed over Vince. To my annoyance, he had already downed three glasses of whiskey and was now starting on the wine. As a matter of fact, everyone in the room seemed to be drinking some sort of alcoholic drink and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it. All I could do was cross my fingers and pray that nobody would get drunk tonight.
Feeling that I should at least eat or drink something, I got up from the cushy couch and examined the contents on the table. The pizza looked greasy and disgusting. It would definitely be better to get something to drink instead. I poured myself one small glass of the whiskey and told myself that was all I would drink tonight to avoid getting drunk.
I settled back on the couch and rested against Izzy's chest. He took a quick sip of his wine and looked at me out of the corner of his eye. He extended his right hand and started playing with my hair. Normally, I hated it when people messed with my hair. But with Izzy, it was different. I trusted Izzy and I wanted him to touch me.
I slowly sipped my whiskey and closed my eyes. I felt so relaxed sitting on this cozy couch next to my lover. Much more relaxed than I had felt in weeks. I tried to take another sip out of glass, but surprising enough, it was empty! Feeling annoyed, I went over to the table and refilled my glass before returning back to Izzy's side.
There was lots of chatter and jokes being cracked around the room, but I didn't pay attention to them. I seemed to be drifting off in a remote, isolated world of my own. I snuggled closer to Izzy's chest and felt him wrap a protective arm around me. His voice interrupted my peaceful relaxation, "Want something more to drink, Amy?"
Without even bothering to think of side effects, I answered in a placid voice, "Sure, why not?" Izzy filled my glass back up and handed it back to me. I thanked him and started slurping it up. It was weird because the more I drank, the thirstier I seemed to get. Suddenly, a scorching pain seemed to hit me straight in the forehead.
I stiffened and spontaneously lifted a hand to my forehead. I could almost feel it throbbing under my touch. Izzy noticed my discomfort and slurred, "Hey, are you sick?" Not trusting myself to speak, I simply nodded. Izzy frowned, "Hm, maybe we should start wrapping up this party. The only problem is that I only have one guest bedroom."
Candice groaned from where she was sitting in the brown chair with Tommy, "Aw, we can't go to bed yet! This party has just begun! Let's play a game or something. How about truth or dare?" Everyone turned to Candice to give her a have-you-completely-lost-your-mind look. Candice blushed bright pink and asked, "What?"
In a gentle tone, Tommy answered the question, "Uh, that's sort of a game for young kids, Candice. There's gotta be something better we can do." Candice shook her head and protested, "We won't play it the little kid way. Come on guys, just give it a try. Please?" Everyone exchanged looks and Tommy eventually nodded resignedly, "Okay, fine."
"Great!" Candice cheered excitedly. "We'll all take turns, but we'll play as couples. Sorry, Mick, you won't be able to play. Tommy and I will start by asking Nikki and Lita a question. So guys, truth or dare?" Nikki turned to Lita and shrugged. Both of them were pink in the face and Lita slurred out, "We'll take a dare. I'm up to the challenge, how about you, Nikki?"
"Only if you are," Nikki replied. Candice grinned, "Okay, dare then. I dare you two to run outside and yell out to everyone in the neighborhood, 'Fuck you all motherfuckers!'" Lita laughed, "Are there actually people out there?" Izzy nodded uncertainly, "Yeah, mostly old people. Uh, I dunno if that's such a good dare, Candice. Maybe we can stick to stuff inside the house?" Candice waved off Izzy's protest, "Oh geez, Izzy, have a little fun for once!"
Izzy gave in but muttered grumpily, "You'll be paying for my next house if I get kicked out of those neighborhood." Candice merely laughed. Nikki grabbed Lita's hand and they exited the house. I gasped; where they actually going to take a stupid dare like that? Anyone who would do something like that was obviously very drunk. I raced over to the window to see if they would do it. Two minutes later, a loud shout came from outside. I froze and shook my head as two elderly people going on a walk turned to stare at Nikki and Lita with wide eyes.
The door reopened and Lita and Nikki came back in laughing their asses off. Candice joined in the laughter, "You two are so funny! Okay, Axl and Erin next. Truth or dare?" Erin quickly replied, "Truth," before Axl could get a word in. Candice frowned, "Aw, wimpy tonight? Oh well, here's a good question for you two. How old were you when you lost your virginity?"
"Uh, sixteen," Erin replied with a little blush. She was clearly uncomfortable with the question. Axl practically spit out his answer, "Two." Everyone turned to look at him with shock. The angry look on Axl's face kept anyone from asking questions though. Next, Vince's date suggested, "How about we give you a question now, Candice?"
Candice nodded excitedly, "Okay. We want a dare." The blonde girl's mouth twisted into an evil smile, "I want you two to go outside, strip down, run around the house twice and then come back in." Tommy frowned, "But there are people out there! We could get into big trouble or something." The blonde girl merely laughed, "Are you refusing the dare?"
Candice shot Tommy an angry look and shook her head, "Of course not! Don't be a chicken, Tom! Of course we'll do it." With that, Candice stood up and hauled Tommy out the door with her. This time, I stayed exactly where I was sitting while all the other drunkards in the room rushed to the window. The pain in my head seemed to be increasing and the agony was starting to obscure my vision. For the first time, I was starting to wish I hadn't agreed to go to this party.
Only a few minutes later, Candice and Tommy raced back into the room with sheepish expressions on their faces. Nikki turned to Tommy with a curious glance, "Did anyone see you?" Tommy shook his head dubiously, "I have no idea. Hopefully not!" Candice then turned her pink-cheeked face eagerly to Izzy and me. I gulped and wished I were invisible.
Candice gave us a sickly sweet smile and asked us, "Izzy and Amy, truth or dare?" I looked over at Izzy, he was looked over at me with a mixed expression on his face, "Whatever you want to do, Amy." I wanted a truth, but it would make me seem like a loser if I did, right? The last thing I wanted to do was to look like a loser in front of Izzy and Axl. Taking a deep breath, I replied, "Dare." Candice's face lit up, "Hm...let's see..."
She took a long time scrutinizing us. My forehead continued to throb against my skull. I felt as if I were going to go insane if Candice didn't hurry up and tell us what the dare was! Finally, she snapped her fingers, "Got it! I want you two to stand up on the table here. Then Izzy takes off Amy's shirt and licks her breasts in front of all of us. Can you two do that?" I didn't answer. My fucking god; the woman was insane!