FicWad

I wasn't really hungry, but I was in the mood to do something to distract myself from my throbbing toe, so I agreed readily, "Yeah, let's go down to the hotel lobby and get breakfast." The three of us meandered into the hallway and down to the elevator where Mick pressed the button for the main lobby.
Covering a yawn with my hand, I asked, "So where's everyone else?" Nikki looked at Mick and shrugged his shoulders, "I really don't know. They're either still in their room sleeping or they're already downstairs getting breakfast." The elevator let out a loud ding as the elevator came to a halt at our desired floor.
"I guess we'll find out soon enough where they are, hm?" Mick asked as he let the way out of the elevator door. Nikki and I followed him into the main lobby. We had barely taken two steps out of the elevator when two figures already sitting at a table on the opposite end of the room started waving at us vigorously.
I squinted into the distance and recognized Tommy and Vince. Tommy was smiling over at us with his hair flopping in his face. Vince was trying to smile, but he still looked half asleep. Nikki, Mick, and I made our way around the other tables arranged around the floor until we approached the table where Tommy and Vince were sitting...with Beth Lynn.
I could feel a little monster filled with anger rising in my chest as Beth smiled calmly at us. Sometimes I just wanted to punch her pretty, little perfect face. Clenching my fists, I took a seat in between Tommy and Vince and tried not to look at Beth. Nikki and Mick took seats on the other side of Tommy.
As soon as I was sitting, Tommy apologized, "God, Amy, I'm so sorry about our room! I had no idea Ozzy would've played a mean joke on us like that. I guess he had a little too much to drink last night." I scoffed and raised my eyebrows at him, "A little too much to drink? Are you crazy, Tommy? He had way too much to drink last night!"
Tommy nodded resignedly, "Okay, I guess you're right. Anyways, the room is getting cleaned up this morning. It should be fine for tonight." I made a face. After last night, I wasn't sure if I ever wanted to step back into that room again. A puzzled look crossed Tommy's face and he added, "Why didn't you just come in our room last night? You shouldn't have spent all night out in the hallway. That's not very safe. Especially in Nashville."
I opened my mouth to blab about Beth Lynn, but Beth was faster. In a movement faster than lightning, she shoved the platter of butter that was sitting in the middle of the table towards me. It went whizzing across the table, slammed into my chest, and then smashed onto the ground. I looked down at my butter-inflected shirt and then at the smashed glass pieces on the ground.
"Oh god, I am so sorry!" Beth apologized melodramatically. "I meant to pick up the butter tray, not toss it at you. Are you alright, Amy?" I bit my lip to keep the string of profanities that were forming on the tip of my tongue inside my mouth. I hated how Beth Lynn was playing this little game and I hated even more how everyone seemed to believe her.
Well, maybe that wasn't true. Mick, Tommy, and Nikki all were looking at Beth suspiciously even though they weren't saying anything. Vince was the only one who seemed unfazed by the whole scenario. He merely glanced down at the smashed platter than picked up a napkin from the table.
Vince began to whip the chunks of butter off my shirt. I tossed him a funny look. I wasn't sure if I really wanted him touching my chest like this. But in this situation, I was too busy fuming over Beth Lynn to worry too much about Vince. My eyes narrowed as I looked at the woman giving me a perfect angelic smile from across the table.
In that moment, I knew I was going to do whatever it took to get revenge on her in one way or another. By this time, a waitress had come over to our table and had carefully swept the pieces of broken glass away from our table and into the dumpster. Vince took his hand away from my shirt and looked back at me, frowning.
It appeared that all he had done was squished the butter into my shirt, not gotten rid of it. I sighed. I would just have to change later. At least this wasn't one of my favorite shirts. Beth gave a little laugh and pushed a fruit dish over at Nikki to help avert the subject, "Want some fruit? This honey dew is really good!"
Nikki shrugged and took the plate from Beth Lynn and scooped some fruit onto his plate. I was feeling really irritated at Beth Lynn. It took all my strength to keep me from getting up and smacking her as hard as I could. Finally, I decided I could no longer stay at the table without being a hazard to everyone else's safety.
"I'm gonna go change my shirt," I stated as I stood up and pushed my chair back in. Tommy nodded as the ringing of a phone sounded nearby. All the heads in the hotel lobby turned to stare at us as Nikki blushed and ferreted around in a bag by his feet for his phone. A minute later, he retrieved it and flicked it open, "Hello?"
The five of us stared at Nikki with curious expressions as we watched him talk. Nikki's face had fallen and he look disappointed. I could hear him saying into the phone, "Hm, I guess we have no choice." I wondered what we had "no choice" about. I turned to look at Tommy to see if he understood any of this. From his blank expression, I could tell he was just as clueless as I was.
"Alright. See you then," Nikki replied into the phone before flicking it shut again. He was frowning slightly and looked upset about something. Before he had a chance to explain what was going on, Vince burst out, "Who the hell was that? And who are you seeing later?" Nikki gave Vince a little smile, "Calm down, Vince! Just let me put my phone away first and then I'll explain the situation to all of you." We all tapped our feet and waited impatiently as Nikki nestled his phone back into his bag.
"Apparently, Ozzy injured himself on the set shooting the video for his song 'So Tired' so the concert for today is canceled," Nikki explained somberly. Immediately, there was an outburst from everyone. Vince cursed, Mick looked like he had been slapped in the face, and I muttered, "I'm not surprised; that asshole was drunk as hell last night."
For once, nobody defended Ozzy from my ridicules. Vince, looking pretty angry, stood up from his chair next to me and sighed loudly, "So what are we suppose to do today now? There's nothing to do in this fucked up city." A few people around us in the lobby turned and shot Vince disapproving looks.
"Be a little quieter, will ya?" Tommy asked, looking nervously at the people ogling us. "We could get kicked out of the hotel if you don't watch your language!" Nikki quickly cut in before Tommy and Vince could get into an argument, "There is some good news though, guys! We're gonna do a radio interview with Ozzy in town later today. So it's not like we're gonna be bored all day."
Everyone's spirits seemed to lift slightly. Mick actually smiled, "Oh, that's okay then. What time is the interview at?" Nikki pulled back the sleeve of his black jacket to look at the watch on his wrist, "It's at eleven this morning which means we've got about an hour to get ready and get to town."
Tommy and Mick exchanged incredulous glances. Finally Tommy asked, "How are we possibly gonna get all our makeup and stage gear on in less than an hour?" It did usually take the Crue over an hour to get ready. It was crazy just how long it took to get their makeup to perfection and comb all the knots out of their hair.
"I don't know...you somehow manage it?" Nikki told Tommy with a shrug of his shoulders. "But I can tell you that sitting here isn't gonna help you get ready any faster so get off your asses and get a move on!" Tommy and Mick jumped to their feet and rushed towards the elevator. Vince was already in the elevator and waving for everyone to join him inside.
Not wanting to be left alone with Beth Lynn, I quickly shadowed Nikki's footsteps as he turned the corner and headed up the stairs instead of taking the elevator like everyone else. Without turning around to look at me, Nikki requested, "Amy, can you help Mick and me with the makeup after you change your shirt? We're a little pressed for time today as you can see."
"Yeah, sure," I said, panting as we rounded the corner and emerged onto the third floor where our hotel rooms were. The door to the room I was sharing with Tommy was ajar. Tommy must've beat us upstairs. I gave a little wave to Nikki and disappeared inside our room. I ran straight over to my suitcase and dug around for another suitable shirt.
My hand fell onto something that felt like one of my tank tops. Without bothering to see what it was, I yanked it out of my suitcase and rushed over to the bathroom. I pulled on the handle, but it wouldn't budge. Tommy must already be in the bathroom. I yelled through the door, "Tommy, don't come out for a moment, okay? I'm changing in here."
"Whatever," Tommy yelled back through the door. He sounded flustered and irritated. It would be best to stay out of his way. Praying that Tommy would keep his promise, I whipped off my shirt and replaced it with an olive green tank top that had lace around the neckline. I pulled it down over my hips and ran back out the door and pounded on the door to Nikki and Mick's room.
"Just come on in," Nikki's voice sounded from the inside of the room. I popped the door open and stepped inside. To my surprise, Nikki was already changed into his Crue gear and was sitting on the bed with a pile of makeup at his side. Uncapping a tube of lip gloss, I remarked, "You can sure get ready fast, Nikki."
Nikki smiled as I dabbed the lip gloss on his dark red lips, "I can do anything when I'm in a hurry." I applied Nikki's makeup as fast as I could and then did Mick's. By the time we were finished, we only had ten minutes left. The three of us tore down the hallway and stampeded down the stairs. The others emerged from the elevator just as we reached the lobby. There couldn't have been any better timing. All six of us rushed outside and into my car and Vince's Porsche.
Nikki automatically took the front seat while Mick and I tumbled into the back. Nikki swerved out of the parking lot and pulled out onto the street, glancing at his watch nervously. Vince followed us with Tommy and Beth Lynn. Were we going to make it on time? We could only wait and see.



Somehow, even to this day I'm not sure how, we made it to the building where the interview was going to be hosted in less than five minutes. After we were parked on the sidewalk, we scrambled out of the car and pushed open the heavy glass door to the interview building. Vince, Mick, and Beth Lynn were right behind us. Wasting no time, we plunged inside and looked around hurriedly to see where we were suppose to go.
A pleasant female voice to our left rang out, "Ah, there you are! Motley Crue, right? Well, you're just in time. Come have a seat next to Ozzy here and we'll get this interview rolling!" A simultaneous sigh of relief sounded from the Crue as we realized we had made it. Nikki gave me a big, relaxed smile and towed me over to where the pretty blonde interviewer was already sitting with Ozzy. I didn't even want to look at Ozzy so I kept my eyes on the floor.
The blonde frowned slightly when she saw me and Beth Lynn, "Those two girls aren't part of the Crue, right? This interview is only for the Crue. If they're not part of the group, they can sit over there." The woman pointed to the right part of the building adjacent to where the interview was going to take place.
Nikki gave me a rueful smile and said, "I guess you're gonna have to sit over there while we interview, Amy. Wish me luck!" I smiled at Nikki, "Good luck!" After that, I crossed the side the room and sat on the bench by the window. To my disappointment, Beth Lynn followed me with a cross expression on her face that told me she wasn't any happier about the situation than I was.
The last thing I wanted to do was be near this woman right now. The thing I wanted most to do at the moment was to kick her bitchy little ass. But of course, we were in public and I could never do that. So instead, I got up from the bench and paced up and down the hallway, trying to think of something to do. As soon as I had gotten up, Beth had claimed my seat on the bench.
Suddenly, I thought of something to do; I could call Izzy! Now that we had worked out our problems and there was no more awkwardness between us, he should want to talk to me. Well, at least I hoped he wanted to talk to me. Without a second thought, I pulled out my phone and popped it open. After dialing Izzy's number, I held the phone up to my hear and listened the it ring.
After five agonizingly long rings, a sharp voice asked, "What do you want?" I couldn't help but be disappointed. That was most certainly not Izzy's voice. Izzy was much too polite to answer the phone like that. It could only be one person; Axl. Trying not to let the disappointment in my voice, I said, "Hey Axl. It's Amy. Is Izzy around?"
"Oh hey, Amy!" Axl replied, sounding a little more cheerful. "What's up?" I noticed he had ignored my question. That was odd. Frowning, I said, "Not much. I'm still on the tour with the Crue in Nashville. Ozzy hurt himself somehow so the concert for today was canceled. Instead, Crue is doing an interview right now. I was bored so I thought I'd call Izzy. How's the Hollywood Rose coming?" I figured it was only polite to make small talk with Axl even if I really only wanted to talk to Izzy right now.
"It's coming," Axl said with mixed emotions in his voice. "I'm not sure if I like Chris Weber as the guitarist though. I've been searching for a new one, but it's harder to find a guitarist than you would think. But whatever you do, don't tell Izzy I said that. He really likes Chris. If I kick him off, Izzy won't be too happy."
"Hm," I murmured. I didn't really think it would be fair of Axl to replace Chris without discussing his dismisal with the rest of the band. Sure, Axl was obviously in charge of the band, but that didn't mean that he should get to make all the decisions. Especially if Izzy and Chris liked each other and worked well together.
A short silence fell so I restated my question from earlier, "So what about Izzy? Is he around? I'm assuming this is his house since this is his phone." Axl laughed a little nervously. It was a sound I didn't usually hear from Axl. Finally, he said, "Uh...yeah. Izzy's around. I'm just hanging out at his house so that's why I answered the phone."
I was started to get a little on edge. Couldn't Axl see that I wanted to talk to Izzy? Trying to keep my anger in control, I asked, "Okay, that's great. So can I talk to him or what?" There was a pause than Axl replied hesitantly, "Not right now. He's busy." My eyebrows rose in suspicion. Why would Izzy be too busy to talk to me?
"Aw, come on, Axl!" I complained loudly, "I'm sure Izzy can spare two seconds to talk to me. It's so boring here and I haven't talked to Izzy for days. Please let me speak to him?" Axl's voice was defensive when he responded next, "I'm not trying to keep you from speaking to him! Don't get all pissed off at me! Izzy's in the bathroom right now, so no, you can't speak to him."
I shrugged, not seeing why that was a big deal, "Okay. I'll wait for him then." Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Beth Lynn peering over at me curiously from the bench she was sitting on. She was probably eavesdropping on every word I was saying. Wanting to keep my conversation with Axl private, I stood as far away as Beth Lynn as was possible.
"Amy, you probably don't want to wait for Izzy. He's probably gonna be a while. Besides, band practice starts in thirty minutes and it's the first time that the whole band has gotten together this week. Everyone always seems to be so fucking busy all the time that they always manage to miss band practice," Axl remarked distastefully.
By this point in time, I was really started to get suspicious. I had a very bad feeling that for one reason or another, Axl didn't want me to talk to Izzy. I protested, "It's not gonna take Izzy thirty minutes in the bathroom though! I'll talk to him as soon as he's out until band practice starts. Unless..." a new thought occurred to me, "is Izzy sick?"
"No, no," Axl replied hastily. Almost a little too quickly if you asked me. "He's not sick." My suspicion was increasing by every word Axl said. Axl's voice was different. I could detect that something had changed in it. Unfortunately, I couldn't quite identify what exactly had changed. Frowning, I accused, "Axl, something's going on with Izzy. I know that and you know it. Tell me what it is." There was a long, intense moment where I crossed my fingers and hoped for Axl to spill the beans.
Axl let out a long sigh, "Okay, fine, I'm not gonna lie to you. Something is going on with Izzy, but I can't tell you what it is. Izzy made me promise not to tell you and I know you wouldn't want me to break my word to Izzy...right?" I bit my tongue as I weighed the two options in my mind. Normally, I would have wanted Axl to keep his promise to Izzy. But today was different. Something serious might be going on with Izzy and I deserved to know about it.
"In this case, no," I told Axl firmly. "I'm Izzy's girlfriend; I deserve to know what's going on with him. So come on and tell me!" A loud ring from the other side of the phone hit my ears. It sounded like a doorbell ringing if I wasn't mistaken. Axl gave what sounded like a sigh of relief and said quickly, "Oh look! Chris is here early for band practice. I think I'm gonna have to go now. I'll tell Izzy you called, okay?"
It wasn't okay; I knew there was something wrong with Izzy and I wanted to figure out what it was right now! But before I even had a chance to protest, Axl gave me a quick good bye and then hung up without waiting for me to answer. I stared at my phone, feeling indignant and worried. I really had no idea what could be wrong with Izzy.
Izzy had been acting a little weird the last few times I had seen him, but I had never thought that anything serious was going on. But it had to be serious if Axl wouldn't let me even talk to him, right? My best guess was that he was sick and Axl was lying. I just couldn't come up with any other reasons for Izzy not to be able to talk to me.
I slammed the phone shut with a loud snap and went back to pacing up and down the hall irritably. Without paying any attention to where I was going, I walked right into Beth Lynn's bench. My knee smarted from the contact and I bit my lip from the pain. I expected Beth Lynn to laugh and me, but she didn't.
"Hey Amy," Beth started with an unreadable expression on her face. "Who were you just talking to?" Why Beth wanted to know who I was talking was something I didn't know. It was really none of her business. I was glad that she hadn't ridiculed me though so I decided to answer what I thought was a harmless question, "I called Izzy's house to talk to him, but Axl picked up instead."
Beth kept that expressionless look on her face, but inquired further, "I see. So did you get to talk to Izzy or not?" I replayed the conversation I had with Axl over again in my head and frowned, "No, I didn't get to talk to him. He said that Izzy was busy and that band practice started in a little bit so I couldn't talk to him."
I was surprised to see a crease of worry form between Beth's brow, "What was Izzy busy doing?" I was starting to get a little tired of this inquisition. Sure, it was nice that Beth was speaking to me nicely again. But on the other hand, she was starting to annoy me with her interest in Izzy. She was just confirming my suspicions that she did have feelings for him after all.
"I don't know what Izzy was doing!" I snapped back in irritation. "How should I know? Axl just said that he couldn't talk right now. He didn't give me anymore detail than that. So unfortunately, I'm just as clueless as you." Beth's sky blue eyes lit up with concern and she added thoughtfully, "I hope he's okay..."
"I hope so too," I agreed, biting my lip nervously. At that moment, the four laughing Crue members and Ozzy emerged from the other side of the room and strolled leisurely over to us. Tommy and Ozzy were cracking jokes, Nikki was grinning widely as usual, Mick looked like he was off in a different world, and Vince was sweating slightly under all his stage clothes.
"How did the interview go?" Beth Lynn asked curiously, jumping up from her seat on the bench. Tommy and Ozzy were still laughing their guts out, so Nikki had to answer for the entire group, "Pretty well. The interviewer was really nice and I feel like we should get some publicity from the interview even though the concert today was canceled."
That was when I reminded why the concert was canceled. I looked Ozzy up and down out of the corner of my eye. There certainly didn't look like their was anything wrong with him. Well, besides the fact that he smelled of some unpleasant stench and the fact that he had this perpetually crazy look in his eyes.
Nikki strode over to me and was about to take my hand when Beth Lynn quickly squeezed in between us and took Nikki's outstretched hand instead. Nikki looked surprised at her audacity, but he didn't take his hand away from her firm grip. I narrowed my eyes at Beth and tried to figure out what she was playing at.
Beth fluttered her long, gorgeous eyelashes at Nikki and said, "So Nikki, what are your plans for this afternoon? You're not just gonna hang out at the hotel all day, are you?" She said her last sentence like she considered it a crime to hang out at the hotel for the rest of the afternoon. Nikki, looking a little bit shocked, shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know what I'm gonna do this afternoon. I haven't exactly had a lot of time to think about it. It's not like we had a lot of leisure time this morning."
Beth laughed a high-pitched, musical laugh as if what Nikki had just said was the funniest thing in the world. She took her hand off of his and wrapped it around his waist instead, "Yeah, you sure had to rush around to get to the interview. But you made it in time just like I knew you would. What do you say we go downtown this afternoon and check out some shops?"
Nikki looked cornered. He had already said that he didn't have plans for the afternoon so to refuse Beth now would be quite rude. But if he said yes to Beth Lynn, he would be stuck spending a whole afternoon alone with her and who knew where that would end up! Nikki hesitated for a long moment and then gave in, "Uh...okay..."
Beth didn't wait for him to say another word. She just grabbed his hand again and started leading him out of the door at a rapid speed, "Great! We'll have a blast. Come on, we might as well go now and not waste anymore time." Poor Nikki looked over his shoulder and waved at us as Beth Lynn dragged him out the door.
As soon as they were out of sight, I turned around to see how the rest of our group had reacted to the scenario we had just witnessed. Ozzy was staring after the two with amusement on his face, Tommy looked nonchalant about the whole thing, Mick had completely zoned out at this point and was now staring at his shoes, and Vince looked like someone had just slapped him really hard on the cheek. The expression on his face was like that of a wounded child or a rejected puppy.
I immediately felt sorry for Vince. He could be a little crazy sometimes, but he hadn't done anything to deserve this. After all, his wife had just flirted with and gone out with another man right in front of his eyes. I walked over to where Vince was standing off by himself and put an arm around his shoulder. Vince looked like he was going to say something, but at the last minute, he shut his mouth again. Tommy looked over at Vince as well and shrugged his shoulders, "Tough luck, man."
I glowered over at Tommy. He could at least pretend to be a little bit more sympathetic. Couldn't he see how much Vince was suffering? Vince was now imitating Mick and staring at the floor. I could tell he was biting his tongue and fighting back the tears in his eyes. It was pretty obvious that Vince was on the edge of a breakdown.
"Hey," I said, putting my hand under Vince's chin and forcing him to look at me. Vince peered up at me with big aquamarine eyes that still made my heart skip a beat. I whipped a little smudge of smeared eyeliner off from under Vince's eye and said, "It's gonna be all right. Beth...she's just...moody."
Vince didn't seem to be at all reassured from my comment. He just stood there in front of me looking at the door from which Beth and Nikki had left together moments before. He looked so pitiful. His makeup was smeared from sweat, his hair was ruffled, and the agonizing look in his eyes just made me want to hug him.
So I did. I didn't care that everyone else was watching. I just did what was natural to me. I threw my arms around Vince's neck and brought him close. Vince raised an eyebrow at my embrace. Ever since we had broken up, I had done my absolute best to stay away from Vince. I figured I had already done enough to ruin his life and it was best I just stay out of it.
Even though Vince seemed a little suspicious, he hugged me back and that was when I realized I needed a hug just as much as he did. The last week had been rough for me. The whole conflict with Beth Lynn had been driving me crazy, My poor toe was throbbing from underneath my high-heeled stiletto, and my heart was full of angst for Izzy.
I leaned against Vince's warm chest and tried to relax as I felt his hands run through my ponytail. He smelled like a mixture of beer and sweat. His arms were holding me tightly in the way I wanted to be held. Something told me that this wasn't just a friendly hug...it was more like the embrace of two long lost lovers.



I'm not sure how long I remained in Vince's arms for. All I knew was that I could stay there forever and ever. But of course, all good things come to an end. Tommy coughed a little bit too loudly to get our attention and then said in that same loud tone, "So Mick, what's up? You look like you're falling asleep over there."
Vince slowly released his arms from around me and I stumbled backwards to get a good look at Mick. Tommy was right; Mick did look like he was falling asleep. His eyes had been glazed over at he was still staring at his shoes. At Tommy's question, his head jerked up and he gave a wry smile, "Sorry, Tom. I'm just feeling a little tired, that's all. I guess it's kind of been a long day."
Mick covered a wide yawn with his mouth. Tommy walked over to where Mick was standing and took his hand, "Why don't you and I head back to the hotel and call it a day? We can go lounge around the pool maybe. Who knows, maybe there will be some hot chicks around!" Tommy's eyes sparkled mischievously.
"Yeah, try to find another girl!" I agreed enthusiastically, "That way you can dump Candice!" Tommy rolled his eyes and me and started walking towards the door with Mick, "I just don't get why you're so against Candice. She's such a nice girl. Besides, Beth Lynn is best friends with her." Now it was my turn to roll my eyes.
"Whatever, Tommy. You're crazy," I added as he retreated out the door with a smile on his lips. Suddenly, I remembered Izzy. I should ask Tommy about his problem next time I got a chance alone with him. Maybe Tommy would be able to figure out what was going on with him from the clues I hadn't pieced together yet.
The door swung shut behind Mick and Tommy. I glanced away from the door and started at my companions. Now I was alone with Vince...and Ozzy.
I couldn't help but grimace as I looked in Ozzy's direction. He wasn't exactly the person I was planning on spending my afternoon with. Ozzy shot me a wicked smile as if he could read my thoughts. I shuddered and turned my attention back to Vince who was still standing at my side. I looked up at Vince with a questioning expression on my face; an unasked question lingered between us.
Vince's full lips spread out in a smile and his turquoise eyes sparkled over at me, answering the question. You're probably wondering what the question was, right? Well, I probably should tell you. It wasn't a good question though. As a matter of fact, it was a question that probably shouldn't have been asked as it would just cause more turmoil in the future.
But the question was already asked and it was too late to take it make. Within that hug and the look we had just shared, Vince and I had confirmed what I had dismissed a long time ago; we still had strong feelings for each other. Vince still loved me in the same way he had before. And no matter how much I had tried to deny it, I had to admit to myself that I still wanted Vince too.
It wasn't that I had forgotten Izzy, but it was just that he seemed so far away and distant lately. After all, he hadn't wanted to make love with me (actually he still didn't want to), our last few conversations had been rather awkward, we were on completely opposite parts of the country, and now Axl wouldn't even allow me to speak to him. How fair was that?
At least I knew that Vince would never refuse me. He would never push and shove me away. He would always speak his mind and there would never be a time where he would keep a dark secret from me. That was the thing about Vince; he could be wild and crazy, but he had an innocent heart of gold underneath it all.
Vince squeezed my shoulder and I jumped out of my reverie. Ozzy was still looking at us with an amused expression. Finally, he asked, "So guys, I guess you're stuck with me, huh? After all, Beth's taken Amy's car and Tommy's taken the other car so you don't have any means of transportation except for my car."
My heart fell. The last thing I wanted to do was travel in a car with Ozzy. I didn't feel safe around him and having him drive me somewhere would be like signing a date with death. My mind raced as I tried to find an excuse, "Uh...Vince and I can just take a cab. I'm sure there's gotta be one somewhere around here, right Vince?"
I gave Vince a meaningful look that meant that he was suppose to agree with me. Luckily, Vince seemed to have taken the hint because his next words were, "There's probably a taxi somewhere around here. And even if there's not, we can always wait for the bus. It's not like we don't have options. We're in the middle of Nashville!"
Ozzy gave a load groan, "Aw, come on, guys! I'm a safe enough driver. If you don't want to go somewhere, I can at least drive you back to the hotel. That was you don't have to sit around the streets and wait an hour for a taxi or bus or whatever. Please? It's the least I can do." Ozzy was looking at us with what seemed to be a sincere expression on his face. I wasn't sure if it actually was genuine or not though. Ozzy was very hard to read. Probably because I didn't know him well at all.
Vince exchanged a look with me and said, "How about it, Amy? I don't really want to sit around and wait for a cab. Besides, it's only ten minutes to the hotel from here. It's not like we're gonna get into any trouble like last time." I sighed loudly and looked from Ozzy's innocent face to Vince's eager one. Truth be told, I didn't really want to wait around for a cab either. It was hot outside and I didn't have a very high stamina when it came to heat. It was only ten minutes to our hotel...that wasn't enough time for Ozzy and Vince to get into trouble, was it? Maybe I could even insist on driving the car.
I threw up my hands and gave a nervous smile, "Okay, okay! We can drive with you back to the hotel. What do you think about me driving the car back to the hotel though, Ozzy? I'm a safe driver." Ozzy rolled his eyes as the three of us headed to the door. I could just tell that he was thinking that I was a paranoid bitch. I didn't really care what Ozzy thought of me though. He was one of the few people who's opinions of me I didn't give a damn about.
Vince put a hand on the small of my back as the three of us slipped out the doorway. I shivered slightly under his touch. Looking over at his smiling face, I smiled too and reached up a hand to tuck a lock of blonde hair behind his face. It had been so long since I had ran my hands through that soft, blonde hair, stroked his tanned cheek, or kissed those soft full lips.
Okay, now I was starting to get a little carried away with myself. I looked around for a distraction as we stepped outside into the parking lot. To my surprise, there was large crowd of people gathered in the parking lot shouting and waving signs at us. I frowned and squinted my eyes, trying to see what the signs read.
As we got closer, I saw that one of the signs said, "Devil Worshipers" on it. Unsure of what that was suppose to mean, I turned and tugged on Vince's sleeve. Vince hadn't been paying one ounce of attention to the petitioners. He had been closing his eyes and had his head tilted up towards the sunlight.
"Vince!" I hissed, slapping him lightly on the arm when he didn't respond to me. Vince lazily opened an eye and peered down at me with those eyes that were bluer than the sea, "Huh?" I lost my words for a moment as I got lost into his aquamarine gaze. Vince always had a way of captivating me with his perfect looks.
"Look at those people over there!" I pointed at the group of people who were shouted even louder as we drew nearer to them. Now that we were closer, I could see that most of them looked angry and were scowling at us. Feeling vulnerable and exposed next to this antagonized mob of people, I took a step closer to Vince for protection.
Vince's carefree smile immediately turned into a glare as he turned his eyes onto the crowd waving their crude signs, "Geez, these people around here are so paranoid!" I gave him a funny look, not sure what that was suppose to mean. Vince noticed my confused expression and added, "You know how our album is called 'Shout to the Devil', right?"
I nodded, still not getting his point. Vince went on, "Apparently, some people think that we worship the devil and that our music is all about devil worshiping because of the title of our album." My eyes bugged out; people thought that Motley Crue was evil?
"That's just not right!" I burst out, joining Vince with glowering at the crowd. "Anyone who listens to the album knows that Crue isn't committed to the devil or whatever." Vince nodded in agreement, "Yeah, I know. See the thing is, people don't listen to the album. They just assume that our group is evil just by the title of our album."
I was starting to feel a little angry at the multitude of people surrounding us. They had no right to be waving these shitty signs in our face when they weren't even accurate. Suddenly, Ozzy's voice rang out from Vince's other side, "Hey Vince, look at this!" For a few minutes, I had completely forgotten Ozzy's presence. I would've liked to keep it that way.
Vince and I turned to see what Ozzy was looking at. He was pointing at a car a few feet away from us. I figured that it was Ozzy's car and reached out my hand for the keys he had promised me earlier, "Okay, Ozzy, you said I could drive. Hand over those keys of yours." Ozzy smirked over at me and tossed a set of keys into my outstretched hands.
It took me a minute before I realized that the car he had been pointing at already had a key in the car's ignition. A bad feeling started washing over me; Ozzy was up to no good. Getting nervous, I asked tursley, "Why are you looking at that car? It's not yours, is it?" Ozzy merely shook his head, but kept that same smirk on his face.
Vince's face was lighting up and he grinned over at Ozzy, "Ready to get some revenge on these protesters?" Ozzy nodded eagerly. Feeling like I was being left out of this plan, I protested, "Hey, wait a minute here, guys! What exactly are you doing?" But I already knew what they were doing. They had figured that this car must belong to one of the protestors. Therefore, they had decided to steal the car and do who-knows-what with it. Not a smart idea at all, but it was the sort of stupid thing Vince and Ozzy would do. Was it even worth me trying to talk them out of it?
I decided to give it my best shot, "Aw, come on! You guys know you shouldn't go stealing a car. What if you get caught or something?" Ozzy shrugged carelessly and Vince looked distracted. Ozzy replied back to me, "We won't get caught. Why do you always have to go around spoiling the fun all the time?"
That make me indignant. Ozzy had already been pushing my buttons today, but this just sent me flying over the edge. I no longer tried to keep my anger back, "Um, excuse me? That's exactly what you said last time when the police caught us! All you care about is having fun. You don't give a shit about all the other people you might get in trouble and-"
Vince cut me off by placing a firm but gentle hand over my lips, "Amy, please calm down. You don't have to come with us. You can just wait right here while we have a little fun with this car. When we're done, we'll come right back and take you back to the hotel with us. I swear we won't be long."
I wanted to continue to protest, but I knew it would be a futile effort. Vince and Ozzy had a mind of their own and were clearly not going to listen to me no matter what I said. I set my mouth in a firm line and crossed my arms over my chest. Vince's smile faded slightly and he suddenly leaned down and brushed my lips with his before ducking inside the car with Ozzy.



I stood there paralyzed in the parking lot for quite some time. Vince had kissed me. It was a feeling that I had almost forgotten, but I instantly remembered how much I had missed it. Now there was still the problem with Beth Lynn though. She was still Vince's wife no matter what I did or said. Nothing could change that.
But Beth wasn't exactly being a good role model. She was flirting with other guys and she had just gone out with Nikki on what most certainly looked like a date. If Beth wasn't interested in her husband and was more interested in Nikki, well...didn't that give me permission to hook up with Vince again? Wouldn't that make everyone happy?
Beth could have Nikki all to herself since Lita wasn't around, Vince would feel better about the way Beth was treating him if he had me around to comfort him, and I would obviously like to have Vince around too. I was tired of not having a lover. Well, Izzy might be my boyfriend but again, he might not be. It was just kind of wishy-washy with him. I could never tell what was going on with him and he made it almost impossible for me sometimes. Especially since he hadn't even told me his "problem."
Splat, splat, splat! I looked up to see that the sky was dark and small droplets of rain were starting to fall from the heavens. I grimaced at the rain and looked around for a place to shelter myself. The last thing I wanted to do was stand out her in the rain and end up looking like a drowned dog. I chided myself for not bringing an umbrella with me.
The worst thing was that there was no shelter in sight. There were no tall trees, buildings, or anything around me. The faction of people that had been standing around only a second earlier quickly dispersed and I was left alone standing in the rain. I cursed and did the only thing I could do; I pressed the button on Ozzy's car keys.
A second later, a faint beep sounded to my left and I turned to see a gray car's headlights flashing at me. I ran through the rain and twisted the keys in the lock. The front door opened and I swung into the nice, dry car. After slamming the door behind me, I relaxed in the car seat and contemplated what to do next.
I didn't want to just sit here in the parking lot, so I pulled out onto the street and headed out towards the direction where Vince and Ozzy had pulled out earlier with the stolen car. Something tole me that they were probably done with their "fun" and were lounging around somewhere. It didn't take me long to find Vince and Ozzy. They had only made it as far as downtown.
Even from a distance, I could tell that the two of them were up to no good. They had parked the car in an alleyway and were laughing in the face's of some of the religious protesters. I shook my head and parked next to them. Ozzy was ripping up the upholstery from the car and was throwing it out the window at the protesters. Vince was sitting on top of the car with an empty glass bottle in his hand. He was smiling drunkenly as he smashed the glass bottle against the window of the car, sending shattered glass flying every which way. Some of the protesters were looking on in horror and I even heard one of them say, "Call the police!"
The mention of the police made my pulse quicken a little bit. The last thing we needed was more trouble with the police. I quickly exited the car and ran over to where Vince was sitting. I grabbed his arm and pulled him off the car with all my strength, "Vince, we've got to get out of here! They've called the police and I don't want you to get in trouble. Come on, into the car!"
Ozzy had more sense than Vince. He had already climbed into the backseat of the car. I scowled at him. If it were up to me, I would've just left him lying with the ruins of his stole car so he could get caught by the police. He certainly deserved it. The rain was falling harder now and it was getting harder to see.
"Come on!" I half pushed and shoved Vince into the passenger seat before whipping around the car and taking my place in the driver's seat. I started the engine as fast as I could before speeding down the alleyway and back onto the high way. Luckily, it only took five minutes to get back to our hotel.
As soon as we were safely parked, I pushed the car door open and hustled inside the hotel without a backwards glance at the two crazy people behind me. Somehow or the other, they would doubtlessly find their way back to their hotel rooms eventually. But for now, all I was concerned about was getting in some dry clothes and getting warm.

Two days later, I was lounging on my bed in the new hotel we were staying at. We had flown out to New Orleans yesterday and were preparing for a concert tomorrow. Well, Mick was preparing for it. Everyone else had called it a night and were relaxing in their hotel rooms. As usual, I was sharing my room with Tommy. Ironically, we had landed in New Orleans on the second day of Marti Grai, so the hotel was packed full and people were making a lot of noise in the hotel rooms above and below us.
It was late, but with the slamming of doors and chatter of people around us, it was impossible to sleep. I rolled over onto my side on the bed and glanced over at Tommy who was lying on his back with his eyes closed. I scrutinized him carefully for a few minutes, but it was impossible for me to tell whether or not he was asleep.
Finally, I whispered quickly, "Uh...Tommy? Are you awake?" Tommy's eyes instantly popped open and he rolled onto his side so he was facing me. He grinned and said, "Hm, what do you think? Does it look like I'm awake?" I grinned back at him and rolled my eyes. Tommy slid out of bed and crossed the room to turn on the light. Once the light was on, he retraced his steps and collapsed back onto the bed with a loud thump.
"So what's up?" Tommy asked in a bored voice. I tried to think of something to talk about. Suddenly, I remembered how I had wanted to discuss Izzy with Tommy. I wasn't sure if now was a good time to bring up the topic, but at least Tommy and I were alone right now. Trying to act casual, I shrugged and said, "Well...there's something I've been wanting to talk to you about."
But Tommy hadn't been paying attention. Just as I had started to speak, he had asked, "So did Nikki tell you about his date with Beth Lynn?" I tried not to seem irritated that he had completely cut off my previous sentence when I replied, "No, he didn't tell me about it. That was the day I got caught in the rain and fell asleep as soon as I got to the hotel room, remember?"
Tommy nodded and laughed, "Yeah, I remember. It was that day Ozzy and Vince stole that car. Those two are fucking crazy. Anyways, we should ask Nikki about that date sometime. I'm dying to know what went on between those two. They seem like an unlikely couple if you ask me, but you never know with Nikki!"
"Yeah, I suppose not. I don't think it was like an 'official date' or anything though. Maybe they just went downtown and did a little shopping or something. I don't know," I offered. Tommy snorted, "Oh sure! You and I know better than to believe something like that. Beth Lynn is a crazy bitch who takes advantage of attractive guys. She probably had Nikki fuck her in the backseat of your car or something." Tommy burst into laughter.
I just glared and him and shuddered at the thought of Nikki and Beth Lynn having sex in the backseat of my precious jetta! It was a thought that wasn't even worth imagining, "Oh god, why did you have to bring that up, Tommy?" Tommy just shrugged and continued to laugh. Hoping that he was ready to listen, I decided to bring up the subject of Izzy once more, "Um, Tommy? Can I ask you about something?"
Tommy stopped laughing and focused his attention on me. Good, he was listening this time. Tommy arranged himself so he was sitting cross legged on the bed, "Yeah, you can ask me anything, Amy. You know that. I don't even know how many times I've told you that. So yeah, go right ahead."
"Well, I called Izzy the other day," I started out, "and this really odd thing happened. Axl answered the phone instead of Izzy and then he wouldn't let me talk to Izzy! He said he was in the bathroom or something and couldn't be disturbed." Tommy make a clucking noise with his tongue and asked, "Izzy was probably sick, Amy."
I shook my head vigorously, "No, he wasn't. Axl even told me he wasn't sick. He just said he was 'busy'. But geez, what is that suppose to mean? Why would he be too busy to talk to me?" Tommy's brow furrowed and he sat in silence for a few minutes, looking thoughtfully. I watched his every move impatiently, waiting to see what his thoughts on the situation were.
"Hm, so Izzy wasn't sick, but he was busy doing something in the bathroom?" Tommy repeated, scratching his chin. I nodded to confirm Tommy's statement and waited for him to say something else. Finally, Tommy added, "I think I might have a suspicion of what's going on, but I'm not positive. I'll talk to Izzy about it next time we're back in Los Angeles."
"Well, what is your suspicion?" I asked, tired of being left out of everything all the time. But to my vexation, Tommy just shook his headed at me and said, "I'm not gonna tell you unless I know it's true. There's no need to work ourselves up over nothing. Besides, we all know Axl...he can be pretty unpredictable sometimes. Maybe his words came out wrong."
I highly doubted that Axl's words had just come out wrong. I just couldn't shake off this suspicion that something was terribly wrong. But I had argued enough today and wasn't in any mood to argue with Tommy right now. So I just sighed irritably and rolled over on my left side so I was no longer facing Tommy.
"Oh, come on, don't do that, girl!" Tommy sighed as well. I could tell he wanted to keep talking so I hesitantly flipped back over on the bed so I was facing him once more. I could see Tommy's mind spinning as he tried to come up with another conversation topic for us. Suddenly, his eyes lit up, "So Amy, are you gonna tell me what's up with you and Vince?"
My face immediately reddened, but I tried to play it cool, "What do you mean? Nothing is 'up' with me and Vince. We're just friends just like we've always been." Unfortunately, both Tommy and I knew that my last statement was one hundred percent false. Vince and I had definitely been more than friends last summer.
I wasn't surprised when Tommy's next words were, "Don't try that on me! I can see the way you two are looking at each other. It reminds me of the time when you two were dating or doing...something. So tell me, are you trying to get back with him?" My cheeks were burning with embarrassment at this point.
This wasn't really Tommy's business, but Tommy and I shared everything so I might as well go ahead and spill the beans. But first I had to figure out what exactly was going on between me and Vince. We hadn't done too much over the last few days. Sure, we had shared a few kisses, but that was it. It wasn't like we were going all the way or anything.
"I'm not exactly sure what I want to be honest, Tommy," I confessed, biting my lip. I was still having a hard time working on my feelings between Izzy and Vince. Vince was easy to talk to and easy to like. Izzy, on the other hand, was a different story. He wasn't easy to win over. As a matter of fact, I had spent the last few months doing my best in attempting to win Izzy over. And despite my hardest attempts, I still couldn't call Izzy mine.
Tommy nodded like he understood, "Yeah, I know. You have the hardest time making up your mind about things sometimes, girl. Just don't get yourself in a mess like last time, okay? That whole mess with Beth Lynn and Vince before was...not enjoyable. But I suppose it's different this time. Beth Lynn has really changed or something. The way she's been flirting with Nikki was completely unexpected. I guess we'll have to just wait and see how things turn out. But remember, just don't get too far with Vince. I don't want him to end up hurting you in the future."
I rolled my eyes and nodded. Sometimes Tommy could act just like my mom; always worried about my protection. It was as if they thought I was still a teenager and not in my early twenties. Spontaneously, a big yawn popped out of my mouth. I tried to smother it, but Tommy had already seen it, "You're tired, aren't you? Let's see if we can get to sleep. We've got a big day tomorrow." I nodded gratefully and closed my eyes as Tommy crossed the room to flick the lights back off.
As my mind started drifting off, I thought once more about what Tommy had said about Vince hurting me. Little did I know that it would be someone very unexpected who would end up hurting me; not Vince.



"So what are we gonna do now?" I asked, trying not to let everyone see just how bored I was. Crue had just performed a spectacular show and now we were all gathered in the hotel lobby, trying to figure out what to do next. To my chagrin, Ozzy and Jake Lee from Ozzy's band had decided to follow us back to the hotel lobby. My respect towards Ozzy had completely disappeared and by this time, I pretty much loathed him.
"I don't know, but I do know that this is New Orleans and that I'm not just gonna sit around in the hotel for the rest of the night," Tommy remarked with a grin. Instead of using up Tommy's energy, the Crue shows just seemed to give him more of it. He was the only one who looked like he was ready to run a marathon.
"You know," Mick started, "I think I'm gonna head upstairs and watch a movie. I don't really feel like going out tonight." I looked carefully at Mick to see if there was something wrong. Poor Mick hadn't seemed himself lately. He had spent the last few days in a dreamlike state and he didn't seem to be having any fun.
Tommy seemed to share my concern because he walked over to Mick and put a hand on his shoulder in a brotherly way, "Are you sure, Mick? Don't you want to have some fun? I mean, it's okay if you wanna go watch the movie, but I do know we'd all like to have you come with us instead." Mick gave a fake smile but shook his head, "Thanks for the offer, but I just don't feel like going out tonight. I'll see you guys later." With a smile and a wave, Mick turned and disappeared in the elevator.
"Do you think there's something wrong with Mick?" Nikki asked, his eyes filled with concern. Lita put on Nikki's arm and reassured him, "Oh, I'm sure there's nothing wrong with him. He's just tired, that's all. Let's not let it ruin our night together though, hm?" I felt a wave of hatred towards the perfect blondie in front of me. She didn't care an ounce about Mick; all she cared about was having a good night with Nikki that would probably end with them fucking.
"I was thinking about heading over to the bar on Bourbon Street," Jake, who hadn't said a word since we had entered the hotel lobby, stated. "Would any of you like to come with me? I've heard some really good things about that bar." Nikki shrugged his shoulders and looked over at Tommy. Tommy was already nodding his head eagerly, "Yeah, sure! I'd love to come and I think Nikki and Lita want to come too, right guys?" Nikki shrugged and Lita nodded enthusiastically.
"Great!" Jake smiled. "I'll be glad for the company. How about the rest of you? Would you like to come along too?" Jake looked at the rest of us. Ozzy shook his head and Vince, taking Ozzy's lead, shook his head as well. I wanted to spend my night with Vince, but I wasn't exactly happy about Ozzy coming along too.
Finally, I said almost a bit grudgingly, "Nah, I guess I'm gonna go with these guys." I pointed at Ozzy and Vince standing next to me. Jake nodded, "Suit yourself. Ready to go, guys?" After getting agreement from Nikki, Lita, and Tommy, the four left the hotel lobby and headed out to the parking lot. Now it was time to figure out how the rest of us were going to spend our evening.
"Let's go check out some strip clubs," Ozzy said as soon as the others were out of earshot. I bit my lip to keep from retorting. I really didn't want to spend my whole night at a strip club, but I had already made an oath to myself that I was going to do my best not to argue tonight. It seemed like that was all I did these days.
Vince looked from me to Ozzy and back to me again. Slowly, he shook his head, keeping his eyes focused on me. It wasn't hard to tell that Vince wanted to go to the strip club but that he had decided not to go because of me. That touched me and so I resigned, "Oh, it's okay. I know you wanna go...I guess I can go too."
Vince's eyes lit up, "Really?" I shrugged, knowing that I was getting myself in a bad situation, "Sure, whatever." Vince grabbed my hand and smiled at me as the three of us started towards the hotel entrance. I couldn't keep myself from checking Vince out more carefully as we stepped outside into the moonlight night and walked towards our car.
He certainly looked just as handsome as ever with the moonlight shining on his perfectly tanned arms. The moon was reflected in those dreamy blue eyes of his and his hair was tousled and just a little bit damp from a shower he had took recently. Plus, he even smelled good. Even though it was dark outside, Vince was wearing a pair of dark sunglasses. Most people would look ridiculous with sunglasses on at night, but it only added to Vince's sexiness.
Just then, Vince looked over at me, making me blush. He smiled at my flushed cheeks and said, "I'm gonna ride with Ozzy other to the club. Do you want to take your jetta?" I nodded gratefully. I didn't trust Ozzy's driving at all. Taking my jetta would at least ensure my safety. Vince laughed at my eagerness than waved as he followed Ozzy over to his tan car, "See you in a few minutes then!" I watched them leave and then jumped into my own jetta. I had no idea what to expect from this night. Since when did boyfriends take their girlfriends to strip clubs?
I followed Ozzy and Vince through several winding streets before they parked in front of a small building with a lit up sign in front. The building looked old and dilapidated as if it hadn't been renovated for years. Hesitantly, I parked in the tiny parking lot and crammed my jetta between Ozzy's car and a banged up truck.
As soon as I exited my car to join Vince and Ozzy on the sidewalk, an awful stench filled my nostrils. It was coming from the door of the club. Already I was getting a very bad feeling about this. But I tried to keep that feeling and my growing alarm to myself. I didn't want to ruin Vince's night.
The three of us walked down the sidewalk and into the darkness of the club. It was very dark inside with only a few lights in the room. People were crowded everywhere and it stank like a pig's pen. But of course, there were several scantily dressed girls dancing on a platform in the back of the room which immediately captivated Vince and Ozzy's attention.
Without taking his eyes off one particularly pretty stripper, Ozzy stated, "I'm gonna go check the girls out. Are you two coming?" I instantly shook my head but said, "No, I'll get us a table. You go ahead though, Vince." I didn't need to tell Vince twice; as soon as he had my permission, he eagerly plunged through the crowd with Ozzy.
Sighing loudly, I looked around for an empty table and finally settled down at one that didn't have too many people nearby. I tried to keep myself from staring, but a couple fucking in the corner of my room had captured my attention. Once I noticed them, I realized that there were tightly entwined couples all around the room. Feeling a little uncomfortable sitting at the table by myself, I tried to make myself as small as I could and tried to avoid eye contact with everyone.
After about five minutes of this, a large hand plopped on top of my shoulder, making me jump. Startled, I whipped my head around to see who had just touched me. A tall giant of a man was towering above me. He had greasy, scraggly dark hair, beady eyes, and thin lips. Everything about him reeked of alcohol.
I tried to twist away from the man, but he kept his grip on my shoulder firm. My heart beat started increasing and my voice was unsteady when I asked, "Who are you and what do you want?" The man just laughed loudly and tightened his grip on my shoulder, "Is it really that hard to tell? Come with me over here."
I did my very best to resist, but I was no match for the man. He dragged me over to a corner of the room despite my very best efforts to shake him off. My breath started to quicken and I looked around for help. Every face in view was unfamiliar and staring at me without really seeing me. Nobody here would help me.
The man brought me to an empty corner of the room and slammed me up against the wall. I glared up at him and punched him as hard as I could in the stomach. It seemed to have no effect on the drunken man standing before me; he merely laughed and shook a finger at me like he was chastising a little child, "You're a little fighter, aren't you?"
"Let me go," I hissed, trying to squirm away as he squished me against the wall. "I...I have friends here. They'll come looking for me. Let me go now." The man just rolled his eyes and pressed harder against me. I was starting to get really nervous now. Where the hell was Vince when I needed him? Probably still checking out the strippers. God, I had been so stupid to agree to go to this strip club with them. I had this problem every single time I was left alone in strip clubs like this. I remembered how Axl had been there the last time to save me. I should've never have left Vince's side.
The man took one hand off my shoulder and proceeded to slip his hand under my shirt and under my bra. He ran a hand over my breasts and then pinched me hard. I tried to keep my mouth shut, but somehow a little whimper made it's way out from between my lips. The man smiled wickedly at me and just pinched harder. Then the man pulled my shirt over my head and left me topless.
Abruptly, he pulled me away from the wall and kicked me hard so that I toppled over and lay panting on my back in the corner of the room with my only my bra and skirt on. I was grateful that the floor was carpet and not wood. When I had fallen, I had shut my eyes tightly. I didn't think I dared open them to see what this drunkard was going to do to me.
Suddenly, their was a loud thudding noise of a body slamming against the wall. Did I dare open my eyes to see what was going on? Hesitantly, I opened my right eye and peered around the darkened room to see what was making the thudding noise. About two feet from in front of me, Vince was holding the man's arm with one hand and punching him with the other.
"Don't you dare touch my girl," Vince hissed and continued slamming the man against the wall. The man's eyes had rolled back in his head and he looked about ready to pass out. Vince, however, had no intention of stopping. It took a few minutes before a security guard made his way around the bodies and garbage on the floor to where Vince and the drunkard were grappling.
"Break it up," the guard commanding, pointing a bony finger at Vince and the man who had assaulted me earlier. Vince reluctantly released the man but continued to look at him with eyes that shone daggers. Somehow, I managed to break out of my paralysis on the ground. That was when I remembered I was shirtless. My cheeks flamed as I searched around for my top. I suppose I didn't look out of place; lots of girls had their tops off. But of course, most of those girls were strippers and I was most certainly not a stripper! My shirt was lying about four feet to my right.
Not wanting to draw attention to myself, I crawled over to it on my knees and quickly slipped it over my head, hoping nobody had noticed me. That was when everything started to be too much for me. The stench inside this place started clogging up my senses and my instinct was to get out of this dangerous place right away before something else happened.
Vince was too busy eying the man who had slid to the ground and was now lying on his back unconscious to notice be slip through the crowd and try to make my way to the door. If Vince and Ozzy wanted to spend their night at a strip club, that was fine. But me? Every moment I remained in this place was a moment too long.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Vince finally move away from the unconscious man and start searching the room for me. Just as I had my hand on the door handle, Vince caught sight of me. He waved at me through the crowd of people and shouted, "Amy! Where are you going? Wait up a sec."
I had no intention of waiting for Vince. It wasn't that I was mad at him, but this just wasn't a place I could be. Besides, I didn't have any desire to sit around and watch Vince flirt with every sexy, pretty girl in this place. I whipped the door open with my left hand and called over my shoulder to Vince, "I'm gonna go join up with Nikki and the others. You can stay. Don't worry about me."
Without another look back, I hustled outside and into the darkened night. I ran straight to my jetta and slipped into the front seat. After the engine started up with a loud groan, I pulled out onto the street and started going down the high way without a thought as to where exactly I was going.
Tears started flowing from my eyes, obscuring my vision. I felt mad at everything and everyone right now. I was sick of meeting men who only cared about a girl's body; not her personality. I was sick of being away from home and in unfamiliar territory. But most of all, I was sick of not having Izzy around to take care of me like he always had.
I was lucky that there wasn't very many people out on the street tonight because I was driving rather recklessly with my blurred vision. Five minutes later, after I had managed to calm down, I took my bearings in and tried to figure out where I was. Everything around me looked unfamiliar and alien. It only made my mood worse. Not only was I out alone on the street in the middle of the night, but now I was lost. Great. What was next?
Needing to let my anger out, I punched the driving wheel hard and let out a string of curses. After I was done, I felt kind of stupid, but at least I no longer felt angry. Taking a deep breath, I looked around at the signs along the highway. The only thing I could do was try to find a street sign that looked familiar. The first four street signs I had never heard of. I was starting to lose hope when I saw a street sign that looked familiar! It read "Bourbon Street" and had a right arrow pointed next to it.
I exhaled loudly with relief and turned right, glad to finally know where I was going. I continued to follow the signs to Bourbon Street until I arrived onto it two minutes later. The first thing that met my eyes was a monstrous-sized bar on the corner of the street. It had a huge parking lot and all the windows were lit up.
There was no doubt in my mind that this was the bar Nikki, Lita, Tommy, and Jake had gone to. I turned my car into the parking lot and parked as close to the building as I could, which was about one hundreds yards away from the entrance. This place was packed with people tonight. Once I was safely parked, I couldn't decide what to do.
I could go in the bar and search for my friends, but did I really want to do that? I was feeling tired, lost, and depressed. Going to a noisy bar probably wasn't going to help my mood at all. So I decided to sit and wait in the car. My friends had already been there for a while; they were bound to come out soon.



In the meantime, I sate in my car, listened to the radio, and tried to relax. Drip, drop, drip, drop! I narrowed my eyes and peered outside to see that it had begun to rain. Cranking up the heat in my car, I turned the radio up even louder and tried to distract myself from the cold. I tapped my fingers on the steering wheel and wished the Crue would hurry up. I wasn't exactly appreciating being left all alone out here. They had been in the bar for a ridiculously long time now anyways.
Just as I had closed my eyes again, the loud sound of a car pulling up next to me came to my right. My jaw stiffened, but I didn't bother to open my eyes back up. It was just another interruption to my attempted peaceful atmosphere. But my peace and quiet did not last long. Two seconds later, a loud pounding came from my window.
This time, I jerked up and looked outside to see who the hell was clobbering on the window. I prayed it wasn't some other drunk trying to take shelter in my car. If it was, I would definitely be calling the police this time. But the figure knocking on my window was not a drunk or a stranger; it was Vince. He was standing out in the ran, looking in at me with pleading, sorrowful eyes.
I unlocked my car doors and decided to let him in. Part of me wished he had stayed at the strip club. I didn't want to end up lashing out at him right now when it seemed my anger was bursting at the seams. Well, actually, that wasn't exactly true. My moods kept shifting from fury to sadness. So either I was going to end up yelling at Vince or breaking down in front of him.
But it was too late to take back my actions. Vince had opened up the door to the backseat of my car and was now sitting in the backseat. I shifted around in my seat so I could look at him. His eyeliner had smeared a little, water droplets shone on his skin, and his hair was damp and ruffled. But his eyes had a remorseful look to them as I stared at him.
After what seemed like a very long silence, Vince finally asked, "Hey...you okay?" I shrugged and bit my lip to keep it from trembling. This was not the time to get all teary and sentimental. Vince didn't need to see me this way. I wanted to appear strong in front of him, not weak and unstable.
But as much as I tried to hide my pain, Vince saw right through it. His blue eyes seemed to droop and his voice was sympathetic when he said, "You're not okay, baby. You don't have to lie to me. Come back here with me." Vince slid from the middle of the backseats to the right one and pointed at the left seat.
"Why can't you just sit up here?" I asked, pointing at the passenger seat next to me. I didn't really feel like moving. I was just starting to get warmed up. The backseat was probably still ice cold. A chill ran up my spine as I looked outside at the rain drops thudding against my wind shield.
Vince was persistent though. He twisted those purplish-pink lips of his into a little smile and added, "Nah. Besides, there's more space back here." Knowing that I was never going to win an argument with Vince Neil, I consented and swung myself into the back seat next to him. Once I was sitting there, I raised and eyebrow at him and said, "Now what?"
"What do you want?" Vince asked, throwing my question right back at me. Well, there were many things I wanted at the moment. I wanted to be back home in LA in Izzy's arms. I wanted to feel protected, safe, and loved. But the reality was, I was not in LA and there was no way I was going to be going there anytime soon. There was still quite a bit of the tour left.
"All I want," I started, "is to get away from this place and go somewhere familiar where I don't have to constantly worry about rapers and drunkards. And...I-I..." My voice had broke in the middle of my sentence and a few small droplets fells from my eyes again. Not wanting to cry in front of Vince, I turned away from him and buried my face in my hands.
"Aw, don't try to hide from me," Vince's voice was soft as he put a hand on my shoulder. I didn't turn back towards him, but I didn't pull away from him either has he wrapped both his arms around me and slid me over closer to him. Somehow, Vince got me on his lap and somehow I ended up crying into his chest. I probably shouldn't have been messing with Vince, and he probably shouldn't have been messing with me, but at the moment, it felt good. And that's all that mattered.