FicWad

I blinked and stuttered for a few minutes before answering him. I was just so damn awful at introductions! Trying to cover up for my awkwardness, I smiled and said, "Um, I'm Amy. Tommy told me you were a member from the Hanoi Rocks. And your name is...Razzle?" I had a hard time believing that his real name was Razzle. It was probably just a nickname.
Razzle's grin broadened and he replied quickly, "Oh no, that's not my real name. My real name is Nicholas Dingley. Everyone calls me Razzle though. And yeah, I'm the drummer for the Hanoi Rocks. I really love it with that band. Everyone there is really awesome. So how long have you been traveling around with the Crue for, Amy?"
"About two and a half years now," I replied, counting the time in my head. I was about to say something more, but at that moment, Vince cleared his throat loudly to get everyone's attention. Once the chatter died down and everyone turned and looked at Vince, he continued, "Hey everyone, glad you could make it to the party! I'm sure everyone is having lots of fun here. Would you guys like to go see my new car? I picked it up yesterday!"
I could see a glint of excitement in Vince's eyes as he talked about his new car. Everyone new that Vince liked new vehicles that were shiny and fast. Personally, I didn't really give a shit about how fast or slow a car drove, but if a fast car made Vince happy, then that was good...right? Without waiting for an answer from anyone, Vince motioned for us to follow him and strutted to the front of the house where he was keeping his new car.
I wasn't really that interested in seeing the car, but I figured I might as well tag along and follow Tommy since he was going to see the car. Once the big group of people where all arranged on the front lawn, Vince stood back and pointed at a shiny red Pantera sports car. I had to admit that it was pretty cool for a car. Red seemed like the perfect color for Vince.
"I think we need more beer," Vince announced to the crowd gathered before him. "Anyone want to come with me?" There was no answer. Everyone was having such a fun time partying that nobody wanted to leave! But after a moment's pause, good-natured Razzle held up his hand and started walking over to where Vince was standing next to the car, "I'll go!"
Vince slapped Razzle on the back and smiled drunkenly at him, "Thanks buddy! Come on, get in the car!" Razzle waved to me and Tommy with a smile on his face before he entered the car with Vince and they drove off at top speed. I couldn't help but frown as I watched them drive away. Even though the road was clear, Vince was going way too fast for this part of town.
Tommy noticed my frown and pinched my cheek playfully, "What's wrong, Amy?" He gave me a mock look of horror when he said, "Let me guess...you're worried about Vince, aren't you? You're worried that he's gonna get into an accident or get so drunk that he ends up driving into a tree and gets himself killed."
"Sorta," I admitted as Tommy and I slowly walked back to the backyard. "I just don't like to see Vince driving when he's so drunk though. It just scares me." I shrugged, not knowing what else to say. Tommy thought about my question for a moment while we walked leisurely side by side.
"Well, Vince has been driving his whole life and he's never gotten into an accident before," Tommy told me a-matter-of-factly. "I think you can trust his driving." I nodded and tried to let myself be assured by Tommy's words. The two of us walked to a pair of lounge chairs and flopped down upon them. I couldn't help but notice that Tommy was hanging out with me more than he was hanging out with Candice. But again, Candice was hanging out with Beth Lynn so she didn't really seem to mind.
"Where's Mick?" I asked Tommy as I settled down into the red and white striped lounge chair. Tommy frowned and pointed to a lounge chair a little distance away from us. Mick was lying in a lounge chair with his mouth wide open and a glass bottle in his left hand. He didn't look so good. It didn't take me long to figure out that he was completely wasted.
"He's been drinking all afternoon," Tommy informed me, shaking his head sadly at Mick. "Poor guy. I tried to talk to him and cheer him up, but it didn't do any good. All he wants to do is sit in that chair, look at the ocean, and drink his beer. I told him to just forget about Linda and move on, but he just ignored me."
I wished there was something I could do to help Mick, but I couldn't figure out what I could do when he was passed out. Suddenly, a loud bang came from the heavens and everyone at the party jumped. I looked up at the gray sky to see that rain drops were beginning to fall. They started out as tiny little droplets, but were increasing in size at every moment.
"Oh god, it's raining!" I made a face and quickly stood up, seeking refuge from the downpour. Tommy grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the door to Vince's house, "Come on, let's get inside before we get soaked!" As we ran, the sand slipped in between my flip flops, making them heavy and making it hard to run fast. Annoyed, I yanked them off and ran bare foot until we reached the safety of Vince's kitchen. We were just in time because as soon as we shut the patio door behind us, a streak of lightning came ripping down from the sky and streaked down to earth.
"So what are we suppose to do now?" I asked, looking at the kitchen surroundings. It was a mess. There were empty bottles and food wrappers everywhere. I kicked a beer bottle by my foot in annoyance. The kitchen was packed full because there were about thirty people from the party.
"I dunno," Tommy admitted, lifting his shoulders. "Wait the storm out I guess." And that's exactly what we did.



Forty minutes later, I stood exactly where I had forty minutes before. I doubted I had even moved an inch because the kitchen was so crammed. Glancing outside, I could tell that the rain hadn't lightened up one bit. As a matter of fact, it had only gotten heavier. Sighing, I leaned against Tommy and continued to stare out the window. Suddenly, a thought occurred to me. Vince and Razzle had been gone for a really long time now. Hadn't they left about an hour ago? Surely it didn't take over an hour to run to the store and get beer in Vince's speedy new car.
I voiced this aloud to Tommy, "Uh, Tommy? Shouldn't Vince and Razzle have been back by now?" Tommy, who had been watching Beth Lynn and Candice chatter in the opposite end of the room, shrugged his shoulders and said, "I honestly don't know. They should've probably been back by now though, yeah. Maybe they decided to hang out at the store until the rain lightens up or something? I have no idea."
I didn't like the way that Tommy said this. He said it too easily without a drop of concern in his voice. Was I the only one worried about Razzle and Vince? Apparently so. I was so bored that I found myself looking each person in the room over, giving them labels such as "hot", "ugly", "too young", and "too hairy."
After about five minutes of my people watching, another thought popped into my mind. Where was Mick? I turned to Tommy with a panicked expression and put my hand on his shoulder, saying, "Tommy, where's Mick? I don't see him, do you? He's probably outside passed out in that lounge chair still! We've gotta go save him!"
Tommy glanced quickly around the room to make sure that Mick wasn't in the room before turning to me to nod. I dragged Tommy through the crowd until we had reached the patio door. But we never made it outside because at that moment, blaring sirens screeched from just a little ways away.
Tommy and I exchanged nervous looks. Tommy grasped my hand and started shoving his way through the crowd. After we had finally made it through the masses of people and were out on the driveway, Tommy directed me to his corvette with one word, "Get in!" I didn't need Tommy to tell me twice; I was already in the passenger seat of the corvette, ready to go.
Wasting no time, Tommy shifted the car into drive mode and tore off down the street, slowing down slightly when we could see lights flashing up ahead. The sirens were blasting so loud now that I wanted to cover my ears. Squinting through the rain, I tried to make out the two cars that were surrounded by the police cars.
When I saw that one was a red sports car, my heart just about dropped. I clutched Tommy's wrist so hard that my nails left an indentation in his skin as I gasped, "Oh my god..." Tommy didn't wait around to see what would happen. He flew out of the corvette and ran through the torrents of rain to the scene of the crime.
Even though I hated water and getting my hair wet, I followed him outside and around the corner of the police car so I could take in the entire scene. Truth be told, it was one of the saddest things I had ever scene. A girl was being loaded into an ambulance, limbs flailing limply and face pale as a ghost. A sorry looking figure was slumped on the edge of the road with his head in his hands. Blood dripped from a gash on his forehead. When he looked up at me, I could see the pain of a man who had the weight of the whole world on his shoulder. Glancing across the street, I saw a single, red sneaker. It had belonged to Razzle. My heart twisted painfully in my chest; I had found Vince...but where was Razzle?
Tommy was running through the rain and grabbing one of the police officer's arms. They talked rapidly for a few minutes, and then Tommy returned to me. I looked at him and asked nervously, "Where's Razzle? And what's going to happen to Vince? Is he okay?" Tommy shook his head to ward off my questions and started pulling me back towards the corvette instead.
I didn't resist Tommy, but I wondered why he hadn't answered my questions. As soon as I had buckled up, Tommy had started the car and was racing the wind back to Vince's house. Once we were on the highway, Tommy finally answered my questions, "Razzle had a few severe head injuries. They've brought him to the Redondo South Bay hospital. We're going to go to pick up the rest of the Hanoi Rocks members and then drive there ourselves."
I nodded, fear clutching my heart for Razzle. I couldn't help but ask, "How's Vince?" Tommy shrugged, his mouth in a thin line as we swerved into Vince's driveway, "He's gonna be fine. The police are taking him to question him about the accident. Then they'll decide whether or not to arrest him and all that."
Vince going to jail? That just didn't sound right. Sure, Vince had always been a little on the wild side, but why should he have to go to jail for something that wasn't his fault? Oh wait...it was his fault. He had been drinking much too heavily earlier and he probably couldn't have resisted speeding in his new sports car.
I stayed in the car as Tommy rushed back into the house to alert everyone inside of what had happened. After a surprisingly short time, Candice, Beth Lynn, Tommy, and the Hanoi Rocks members came running out of the house and jumped into the car without wasting any time. I was about to get out of the passenger seat so Candice could sit next to Tommy, but Tommy just grabbed my arm, pulled me back into the seat, and shook his head. I raised an eyebrow at him, but didn't say anything. This wasn't a time for questions. All that mattered right now was our friend, Razzle.
The drive to the hospital passed by very slowly even though Tommy was speeding. Nobody was talking. They really didn't need to. We were all thinking the same thing and all praying that Razzle would be okay. The tension in the air was so thick that I swore it could've been sliced in half with a knife.
When we finally arrived at the hospital, Tommy parked into one of the handicap spots and then motioned for us all to get out. Silently, we all hurried towards the hospital door. Once we were inside, Tommy went straight to the desk and talked to the red head behind it for several, long minutes. The rest of us stood a little distance from them, dripping wet and chilled to the bone.
Finally, Tommy turned around and came back to us with a frown on his face. He motioned to the empty seats behind us and said, "We might as well just sit down. They said we can't see him. If he gets better, we'll get to go in, but only one at a time. Until then, we just have to wait here."
Everyone's face fell. We had all been hoping to go in and see Razzle. But having nothing else to do, I plopped down into a chair next to Tommy. After Tommy and I sat down, the rest of the group reluctantly followed suit until we were all sitting in a straight line, staring intently at the receptionist in case she had news of Razzle. Nobody bothered to pick up a magazine or newspaper. We all just sat motionless like we were being convicted for a crime.
Hours passed. We still sat in the exact same spot as before. The tension and unknown was really killing me. Every muscle in my body was stretched taught and I felt like they were going to burst at any moment. Finally, a petite blonde nurse stepped into the room and started walking towards us. We could all tell from the grim expression on her face that the news was not at all good. She stopped in front of us, took a deep breath, then said all in a rush, "I'm very sorry to inform you that your friend, Razzle, died at 7:12, two minutes ago. I guess the head injuries were just too severe for him."
There was a moment of stunned silence as we all looked up at the nurse in horror. Then the moment of silence vanished and everyone was crying. Tears were dripping down every cheek. Tommy put an arm around my neck and Candice's and tried to comfort us slightly. Even though I hadn't known Razzle very long, I was affected by his death just as much as the others. He had been such a nice guy and certainly didn't deserve to die so young.
After we all cried and shed every last tear in our eyes, we decided it was time to go back to Vince's house. There was really no point in hanging around the hospital anymore. It wasn't like Razzle was going to be reincarnated from the dead or anything. Our group slowly marched out of the building with our heads hanging and our feet dragging.
Once we reached Vince's house once more, we all stepped inside and sat around the living room table. Nobody was in the mood for talking or eating or anything really. We just sat and did absolutely nothing. As a matter of fact, we stayed that way over and into the following morning. Not one of us slept a wink that night.



The next morning, I was staring bleary-eyed at Tommy when there was a loud crash against the glass door that led to the patio. I whipped my head around just in time to see Mick fall flat on his back right outside the door. Oh shit, we had forgotten all about Mick after the drama with Vince and Razzle last night. Poor Mick had been outside all night long in the storm.
Glad for an excuse to get up from the table, I jumped to my feet and ran to open the patio door. Tommy was right behind me. I dropped to my knees and looked anxiously at Mick. He looked dazed. Pressing a hand against his chest, I whispered in a concerned voice, "Mick? Mick, can you hear me? Please answer me!"
Mick finally opened one eye and glanced warily up at me unseeingly. After a few moments, his vision cleared and he seemed to comprehend what he was seeing. As Tommy and I helped heave him to his feet and led him inside to Vince's cushy couch, Mick asked, "Is that you, Amy? W-where am I?"
"Yeah, it's me!" I exclaimed, glad to see that Mick was able to talk and that he didn't sound too drunk. Tommy gently laid Mick down on the couch and pulled a tan colored blanket over his shivering shoulders. His jacket was soaking wet and his long black hair hung in black strings. I couldn't resist from wiping a rain drop off of his cheek.
I exclaimed to Mick, "You're at Vince's house. You were outside out on the beach a few minutes ago, and then you ran into the glass door and landed on your back. What was that for?" Mick squinted his eyes as he remembered his crash from a few minutes ago. He said, "I thought I had drowned and came back to life as a ghost. And as you know, ghosts can travel through glass doors." I exchanged a worried glance with Tommy. Maybe Mick was more fucked up than we had thought. Apparently he wasn't too good if he thought he was a ghost.
Tommy and I made an unspoken agreement not to tell Mick about Razzle and Vince right now. Now was certainly not the best time for that. Mick needed rest and didn't need to become even more depressed. I pulled the blanket up to Mick's chin and patted his shoulder tenderly, "Why don't you get some sleep now, Mick? I'm sure you're tired after yesterday. Actually, I'm sure we're all tired! Tell us if there's anything we can get you, okay?"
But Mick didn't answer. His chest was already rising and falling rhythmically and his mouth was hanging open from sleep. I shook my head slowly at the unconscious Mick and followed Tommy back to the kitchen. I didn't really want to sit around the kitchen and do nothing for the rest of the day. Of course I was sad about Razzle, but moping around and doing nothing certainly wasn't doing him any good now that he was gone from this world.
I was just going to suggest doing something or the other when there was a knock at the door. I scratched my head and wondered aloud, "Who could that be?" Tommy quickly paced across the room and popped the door open. I glanced curiously towards the door as a figure stepped in. His long blonde hair hung in tangles, his face was ghostly white, and his eyes spoke of so much pain that I couldn't even bear to look into them. It was Vince.
Everyone in the room turned at stared at the disheveled looking Vince. As soon as he had stepped inside, the Hanoi Rocks members all exchanged a look and slowly got to their feet. One of the members turned and said to us, "I think we'll all be going now. Thanks for your hospitality." As the members shuffled through the door, they shook hands with Vince and then disappeared from view. As soon as they were out the door, Vince slammed it shut and rested against it with his eyes closed.
We let Vince rest for a few minutes before Tommy took a shy step forward and tapped Vince gently on the shoulder, saying, "Vince? How'd it go with the police?" Vince slowly opened his eyes and shrugged. In a voice that was cracked with emotion, he said, "I have a trail coming up. Hopefully, it will be postponed. For now, all we can do is wait."
Tommy nodded and looked Vince up and down carefully. Vince was really a mess. There was still some dried blood on his neck, his clothes were ripped, and his hair looked like a rat's nest. Tommy took initiative and suggested kindly, "Why don't you go upstairs and take a shower and get cleaned off? Maybe you'll feel better then."
Vince looked at Tommy out of the corner of his eye and replied incredulously, "How would that make me feel better? I killed someone. He's dead and I can't bring him back." Neither Tommy or I responded to this. We just kind of looked at each other and decided it was best to leave Vince alone. As Vince trudged towards the stairs, Beth Lynn put a hand on his shoulder to try to talk to him. But Vince didn't want to talk. He just kind of brushed her off and then continued up the stairs, obviously wanting to deal with his misery all alone. Poor Vince.
After Vince disappeared upstairs, Tommy turned to me and commented, "Vince isn't taking this very well, is he?" I shook my head and replied, "Well, no, but who would? He did actually kill his friend. I only hope that Vince can learn his lesson from this and start drinking less. I can't help but feel that this is partially our fault though. Everyone at the party knew that Vince was drunk, but did anyone stop him? No. We should've known better than to let Vince drink and drive."
Tommy shook his head and started, "Look Amy-", but was interrupted by the ringing of my cell phone. Wondering who the hell it could be, I retrieved it from the pocket of my jean jacket and flipped it open without bothering to look at the caller ID. Trying to sound cheerful despite the fact that I was feeling the opposite of it, I greeted, "Hello?"
"Hi Amy," Nikki's familiar voice sounded on the phone. Wow, Nikki was actually calling me! I couldn't even remember the last time that Nikki had called me. Nikki and I hadn't been on very good terms for about six months now, so this call was certainly a surprise. I wondered what he could possibly want.
"I'm at the Miami airport right now," Nikki continued. "Some fan of ours told me that Vince died in a car crash. At first I didn't believe him, but I haven't heard anything from you guys lately so I just wanted to make sure everything is alright and everyone's alive. Everything is okay...right?"
"Uh..." I stammered, trying to figure out how to break the news to Nikki. Nikki obviously wouldn't be too thrilled to hear this news and he would probably end up taking his anger out on me if I wasn't careful. Nikki, who was waiting impatiently for my response, probed, "Amy? You still here?"
"Yeah," I said, then blurted out in a rush, "Everything is not okay, Nikki. Vince was having a Christmas party at his house and he invited the Hanoi Rocks members along. Vince got this new sports car and wanted to try it out. So when everyone ran out of beer at the party, Vince asked for a volunteer to go to the liquor store with him. Razzle said he'd go and so off they went. Apparently, Vince was going sixty-five miles per hour in a twenty-five miles per hour section and he hit another car. Razzle...he died. And Vince is okay, but he's going to have to go to trial."
There was a very, long silence on the other side of the phone. I think this was the first time I had ever heard Nikki speechless before. After what seemed like a long two minutes, Nikki cursed, "That son of a bitch! He should've known better than to drink and drive. And now what's the band suppose to do? If Vince goes to jail, we won't have a singer!"
Nikki's reaction surprised me at first. Unlike the rest of his, he had absolutely no sympathy for Vince. As a matter of fact, it seemed like he could care less whether or not Vince was hurt. His only concern was for the future of the band. Not knowing what to say to Nikki, I just said, "Hm."
"Shit," Nikki muttered angrily under his breath and then added a string of profanities to that. After he was done cursing, he said, "Well, I've gotta go now, Amy. Thanks for filling me in on the news. I'm certainly sorry to hear about Razzle though. He was a really great guy. Talk to you later?"
"Yeah, I guess," I answered and then quietly flipped the phone shut. As soon as I was off the phone, Tommy bombarded me with questions, "Who was that? What did they want? Was the call about Vince?" I held up a hand to stop Tommy from asking his fourth question. A girl could only keep so much straight in her head at one time!
"That was Nikki," I explained to him, "Some random guy at the airport told him that Vince had died in a car crash. I told him the real story." Tommy nodded thoughtfully, brow creasing ever so slightly as he stated, "The news has certainly spread quickly. I hope there won't be too many rumors going around about this."
"Yeah, I know," I agreed. A bunch of untrue, malicious rumors would definitely hinder the band's progress. Thinking about what Nikki had said earlier, I added to Tommy, "Nikki didn't seem to care much about Vince. He just seemed concerned about the band. It was like he was blaming everything on Vince."
"Well, it was kind of Vince's fault," Tommy told me. "But Nikki could probably have a little more sympathy towards Vince. Those two just have never liked each other much, have they? They've always been opposites. Nikki is tall and dark and handsome whereas Vince is like your typical surfer dude with his laid back I-can-do-whatever-I-want attitude."
"Um hm," I agreed, wandering into the living room and flopping down on a chair. I was pretty exhausted. I wanted to leave, but didn't want to leave Tommy here all alone.



About a half and hour later, Mick woke up from his makeshift bed on the couch. Tommy and I instantly rushed to his side to see how he was. There was a little more color in his cheeks now and at least he wasn't sopping wet. When Mick saw us, he actually managed to smile a bit as he said, "Hi guys. How's it going?"
Tommy and I exchanged apprehensive glances. We still hadn't told him about Vince and the accident yet. Neither of us wanted to tell him the news, but he would have to know about it eventually. Sooner was better, right? Mick glanced from me to Tommy and then back to me, sensing the unspoken tension there.
Finally, he said, "Okay, something's up. You guys just gonna continue to give each other 'the look', or are you gonna let me in on the secret too?" I certainly didn't want to be the one to tell Mick the news. I had definitely had enough to deal with over the last few days. Couldn't Tommy just tell him? I took a hesitant step backwards and tried to think of something I could do while Tommy told Mick the story. I just couldn't stand to listen to the sad tale one more time. One more time and I thought my heart was going to burst open with sorrow for Razzle and agony for Vince.
Before Tommy could start speaking, I murmured, "Guys? I'm...uh...gonna go upstairs for a bit. I'll see you later, okay?" Tommy gave me a knowing look and gently touched my shoulder as I turned and hurried up the stairs to get away from the others. After taking the steps two at a time, I reached the upstairs floor and looked around curiously.
I had been in Vince's home a few times before, but I had never explored the upper floor. Would it be nosy if I peeked around just a little bit? I mean, the doors were wide open after all. A little look around couldn't hurt anyone. Feeling like a sleuth, I quietly entered the doors that were open and looked around.
There was what looked like a gaming room. There was a ping pong and air hockey table arranged on it. On the shelves were large bottles of beer and wine. Just what Vince needed! I made a mental note to get rid of those before I left. Vince shouldn't be allowed near alcohol for a long time. The other rooms were a closet, a bathroom, and a little sitting room.
By this time, I had explored all of the upstairs except for one room. The door to that room was shut. I really wanted to know what was in there though. I battled with myself for a few minutes, trying to figure out whether or not I should go in or not. Finally, my curiosity got the better of me and I found myself reaching for the door knob.
Carefully prying the door knob open, I slipped inside and gazed around my surroundings. As soon as I had stepped inside the room, I was tempted to run right back out of it. It was a monster-sized bedroom with a gigantic king size bed that looked really cushy and soft. If no one had been sitting on the bed, I would've loved to collapse on top of it and take a nice long, relaxing nap and not wake up for a very long time. But as it so happened, someone was sitting on the bed.
Feeling ashamed of myself for bursting in the room without knocking first, my cheeks flared bright red and I stumbled backwards, hoping that Vince hadn't noticed me. He had been sitting turned away from me and had been looking out the window. Unfortuantely, he had turned around when he heard me open the door. So here I was, caught red-handed. My gut was telling me that now was definitely not the time to be caught creeping around in Vince's bedroom. My best bet was to quickly apologize to Vince for interrupting and then get the hell out of here!
Gulping nervously, I stammered, "I'm so sorry! I was just....uh..." I trailed off, not sure what else to say. I obviously couldn't say, "Oh, I was just sneaking around in your room!", even though that was the truth. So I just stood there in the doorway, trying to finish my previous sentence.
Vince sighed and turned around so he could look at me. He looked slightly better now that the blood was gone from his neck and he was wearing a pair of clean jeans and a white tank top. His eyes were a haunting site though. They chilled me right to the bone even though it wasn't cold in the room at all.
"Come and sit down for a bit," Vince suggested, pointing to the spot on the bed next to him. At first, I thought I had not heard right. Had Vince Neil just invited me to sit down next to him? Having no idea where this was leading to, I apprehensively took little steps towards the bed until I was perched on the edge of the bed next to Vince.
"Amy, I need to apologize to you," Vince stated formally as soon as I was seated. Running a hand through his slightly damp blonde locks, he added, "You know that night at the hotel? I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to do what I did to you. I never met to hurt you. I hope you can understand that. And maybe you can forgive me?"
At his last words, Vince turned his gaze toward me and peered into my eyes with sorrowful blue ones. An apology from Vince certainly hadn't been what I had been expecting. On the contrary, I was expecting him to explode at me with anger from the whole situation with Razzle and the car accident.
Without even pausing to think, I replied, "Of course I forgive you, Vince. I didn't think you meant what you did that night. You weren't really acting like yourself. I think that maybe you had a little too much to drink or something." At my words, Vince buried his head in his hands and his shoulders started shaking the slightest bit.
I had never seen Vince cry before. I wasn't sure what to say or do. Was I suppose to comfort him or should I just let him be? I awkwardly patted his back and said in what I hoped was a comforting tone, "Vince? Are you okay? Did I say something? I didn't mean to upset you in any way."
Sniffling, Vince shook his head, "No, you didn't upset me. It's just that I'm starting to realize just how fucked up I've gotten. First, I hurt you by getting drunk, and then I end up killing one of my best friends. What's next?" Vince choked miserably. I stopped the awkward patting on the back and flung my arms around Vince in a much more natural hug.
"Please don't beat yourself up over this, okay?" I pleaded with him. "It hurts me to see you like this. And Vince, nothing bad needs to be next. You can turn this whole thing around and learn from your mistakes. You can just take a break from the alcohol. It's simple really! You can do that...can't you?"
Vince hesitated for a moment before shaking his head ever so slightly. Then he said, "It's much more complicated than that, Amy. It's not just some simple problem that can be easily solved. I've got an addiction now and I have to drink. It's not like it's a choice anymore. Do you understand that?"
So Vince was addicted to alcohol. I had expected that. He had steadily been drinking more and more over the last few months so it no surprise that he had become an addict. I answered Vince's previous question, "Yeah, I understand. Just...just try to drink less or something, okay?"
Vince nodded. I noticed his tears had stopped and now he was left with red cheeks and dark eyes. It was obvious he was very tired and needed sleep. I slowly unwrapped my arms from around his neck and stood up, figuring it would be good for him to have some peace and quiet, "I think I'm going to leave now. You look really tired. Why don't you try to take a nap or something? Being rested will help your mood."
Vince stood up and walked me to his bedroom door. Just as I was about to leave, Vince put a hand on my arm and stopped me, "Uh, Amy? Can you wait just one second?" I nodded and stopped in my tracks, wondering what Vince could want. Vince looked down at his feet and then said all in a rush, "Are they really mad? The rest of the Crue members?"
"Um...no, not really," I lied. I just couldn't bear to see Vince any more upset than he already was. The last thing he needed to know was that Nikki was really pissed off and blamed him for the whole accident. Vince gave me a suspicious look, but let it go, saying, "Okay. Bye, Amy. Thanks for accepting my apology."
There was an awkward, tense moment while I stood with one hand on the door knob and with my eyes gazing up into Vince's. Then Vince broke the tension by quickly sliding his lips across my mouth before turning on his heel and walking back towards the window. Knowing that was my cue to leave, I turned and quickly slipped out the door.
I was really surprised that Vince had finally forgiven me. I hated it when people were mad at me, especially the guy who had acted as my lover for the last six months. That kiss that he had given me...did that mean we were back together as in dating? I really wanted Vince back. Now that I was pretty sure that Izzy had dumped me, I craved his love more than ever.
Feeling a considerable bit more cheerful, I skipped back down the stairs and passed through the living room on my way out to my car. As I passed Tommy, I told him, "Hey Tommy, I think I'm going to leave for now. I'll stop by in just a little bit, but I need to get home and do a few things. My parents are probably worried about where I am!"
Tommy gave me a curious look as I slipped back on my shoes, "Someone's a lot happier." I didn't say anything to that. It was true though; it was pretty amazing how much Vince could control my emotions.



The next month and a half passed by relatively quickly considering the circumstances. I did a lot of visiting at Vince's house as did Tommy. We were both there to comfort him and talk to him when he needed help. Mick was still recovering from Linda's verbal abuse and spent a lot of time at home. That was okay with me as long as he stayed with someone. I didn't like the thought of Mick all alone anymore after the whole attempted suicide thing. Nikki stayed as far away from us as possible for the most part. He didn't seem to want anything to do with Vince, which certainly didn't help Vince's morale. To be honest, even I hadn't seen Nikki since he had gotten back from his vacation. He certainly seemed to be avoiding all of us.
It was a normal Thursday morning when I got the phone call from Tommy. I was sitting at the kitchen table reading a novel when the phone rang. I picked it up, saying, "Hello?" Tommy's cheerful voice answered me, "Hi there, Amy! Candice, Vince, and me are all going out. And guess what? You're coming too whether you like it or not. I hope you're ready to go out in five minutes because we're almost at your house and we don't want to sit around and wait for a long time."
I rolled my eyes. This kind of thing was typical of Tommy. He was always making short, last minute plans that he didn't inform me about until he absolutely had to. Thank god I was already dressed and had my hair and makeup done. Hopefully, we weren't going anywhere fancy though since I was just wearing a pair of jean shorts and a casual T-shirt.
"Yeah, I'm ready," I told Tommy, "Uh, where are we going exactly?" There was a slight pause before Tommy replied, "You'll see later. Just worry about getting your stuff together for now, okay?" There was a click and then Tommy hung up before I had a chance to say anything else. I frowned at my phone and shut it slowly, sticking it in my pocket as I went to retrieve my coat, purse, and a pair of sandals with a nice, chunky heel.
As I did the straps to my sandals, my mom called, "You going somewhere, Amy?" I finished buckling one of the straps to a sandal and called, "Yeah, I'm going somewhere with Tommy. I know you're going to ask where I'm going, but don't bother asking because even I don't know where I'm going!"
I heard my mom give a little "hmph" as I finished strapping my sandals. My mom always liked to know exactly where I was going and what I would be doing. She still didn't seem to realize that I wasn't her little kid anymore who needed protection. Just as I stood up and swung my purse over my shoulder. There was a light knock from my door; Tommy!
I whipped the door open and smiled at Tommy. He was standing in my doorway grinning with that little boy smile on his face. I stepped aside and asked, "Hey Tommy, it's nice to see you! Want to come in for a few minutes?" Tommy looked over his shoulder to see if Candice and Vince were watching. Once he saw that they were distracted, he quickly slipped inside and shut the door behind him. I wanted to talk to Tommy in private just for a few minutes so I could figure out how Vince was doing.
As soon as Tommy was inside, I burst out, "Any news on Vince? Is he doing any better? And what about Nikki? Have you heard from him lately either?" Tommy laughed at all my questions and said, "First of all, no new news about Vince. The trial just keeps getting postponed. Emotionally he's doing a lot better though. I've actually been able to get him to smile and laugh again. I think our goal should be to return him to being the "old Vince", you know, the Vince who was fun to be around and so carefree. About Nikki, he's going to a recording studio with Vince next week. It'll be the first time they'll have seen each other after the accident. We better pray that all goes well."
I looked up at Tommy dubiously. I didn't think that Nikki and Vince going to the recording studio unsupervised was such a good idea. Nikki seemed to be mad at Vince still and Vince didn't need the stress of Nikki yelling at him. Thinking carefully, I proposed, "Why don't I go along with them? Just to keep an eye on things and stuff?"
Tommy shrugged, "It's up to you. It might be a good idea. By the way, just to let you know, Candice is having a little bit of an attitude problem today, so don't mind her if she's rude to you or anything." I raised an eyebrow at Tommy and waited for him to go into more details. It didn't surprise me that Candice was having an attitude problem because she was always having an attitude problem. What had caused her problem though?
Knowing he'd better explain the rest of the story to me, Tommy sighed and started, "Well, my mom came over to our house the other day just to see how we were doing and stuff. All went well until my mom accidentally called Candice my ex-girlfriend's name. For some reason, that totally pissed Candice off. Ever since then, she's been uncontrollable. I think she still thinks I'm having an affair or something. She can really be a crazy woman at times."
"Sorry Tommy," I apologized, feeling sympathetic towards him. Tommy and Candice's marriage certainly didn't seem to be going very well so far. All they seemed to do was get into big arguments. Wanting to take Tommy's mind of Candice, I put a hand on his arm and suggested, "Why don't we go now, hm?"
Tommy nodded, and together we exited the safety of my house and climbed into the backseat of the limo with Candice and Vince. Vince smiled happily when he saw me and scooted over so I could sit next to him. He did look slightly better. The circles under his eyes weren't quite as dark as they had been before and he was smiling which was a good sign.
Returning his smile, I took the seat next to Vince, buckled in, and gently rested my hand on top of his. Tommy followed me inside the vehicle and slid in beside Candice. Candice was giving him a dirty look and didn't bother to smile at me even though I smiled politely at her. Oh well, that was just Candice for you.
"So guys," I started as the limo pulled out of the driveway, "why exactly are we in a limo and where the hell are we going?" Vince, who was rubbing my hand in between his, replied, "We're going to the Tropicana to watch mud wrestling." I looked at Vince with wide eyes and said, "What the fuck? You can't just bring me to the Tropicana to watch mud wrestling!"
"Aw, come on, Amy!" Vince pleaded. "It'll be fun, you'll see! Just trust me on this. Besides, I really want you to come." Most of me wanted to say no, but when I looked into Vince's innocent eyes, I just couldn't say no. So I bit my tongue and kept my mouth shut. Once it was clear that I had resigned, Candice opened her mouth.
With an evil glint in her eyes, she started, "Have I told you what Tommy's mom called me the other day? You'll never guess!" Tommy gripped Candice's arm and gave her a reprimanding look as he said, "Candice, there's no need to continue to talk about his. You've already told this to Vince and me about a hundred times. Can't we let it go now?"
"No, we can't!" Candice shot back furiously, wrenching her arm away from Tommy. "Your mom is a bitch who can't even remember the fucking name of her own daughter-in-law!" Tommy bit his lip hard, I could tell he really wanted Candice to just let this go. Vince and I exchanged nervous looks, unsure of what to do to intervene.
"Candice, shut up," Tommy said through thin lips. Candice smirked at him as if it was her goal to provoke him as she shook her head, saying, "No, why should I? You're just a son of a bitch any-" Candice never got the rest of her sentence out. Tommy's eyes had gone hard and he completely lost his restraint. Pulling back his arm, he punched Candice in the mouth.
Candice screamed and put a hand to her mouth as she stared at Tommy with undeniable shock. Tommy himself looked shocked at his own actions for a moment before he called to the limo driver, "Stop at the next exit." Luckily, the next exit was only merely seconds away and we were soon stopped on the side of the road.
As soon as we had stopped, Tommy grabbed Candice's arm and pulled him roughly out of the limo calling, "You guys go ahead and go wherever you want. We need to handle something." And with that, Tommy slammed the car door behind him and the limo driver took off again at top speed.
I looked at Vince with an incredulous expression and said, "That has to be the first time I've ever seen Tommy punch a girl." Vince nodded in agreement, "Yeah, I think you're right. But seriously, that girl can drive anyone mad! I'm surprised he hasn't gotten rid of her already. I'm sure those two will end up divorced."
I nodded, "Probably. They've been married three months and they've already gotten into three big fights." Vince and I thought this over for a few minutes, both of us feeling really sorry for Tommy. He didn't deserve all these problems in his first marriage. If only Tommy had figured out Candice's true character before marrying her. That would've saved everyone a lot of trouble.
"Hey Vince?" I asked after we had been driving for a few more minutes. Vince turned from the window to look at me with a questioning expression. I continued, "Why don't we just go home? I don't really feel like going out anymore. Besides, it wouldn't be any fun without Tommy around."
For once, even Vince agreed with me, "Yeah, you're right. Let's just go home. Sorry to have today ruined. I didn't mean to have it go like this. But really, how was I suppose to know that Candice was going to be such a bitch?" I merely shook my head. There truly wasn't any way for him to have known what was going to happen today.



Later that night, I was in my bedroom reading the novel I had started earlier when there was a knock at my bedroom door as my mom called, "Amy? There's someone on the phone who wants to talk to you." I reluctantly closed my book, set it aside, and shuffled towards the door. After opening it up, I took the phone from my mom and said, "Hi?"
"Hey Amy," Tommy's voice sounded from the other end. It didn't sound like Tommy's usual voice though. He sounded tired and sad, not happy and full of energy like usual. "I'm really sorry about what happened earlier. I didn't mean to lose it like that in the limo. I just couldn't take any more of Candice's bitching. She's been going on and on about petty things and it was really starting to drive me nuts. I just couldn't take it anymore!"
"It's totally okay, Tommy," I told him, "it's pretty obvious that Candice is a very...uh...unique woman. I would've punched her a long time ago if I were you. Actually, I wanted to punch her on the very first night we met. Remember that stupid truth or dare game she made us play? That was one of the worst nights of my life." I thought back to that night and my thoughts suddenly changed direction. I remembered that I had still been with Izzy then. We had been so happy together and Izzy had really seemed to love me. It was pretty much undeniable that we had been perfect for each other. So what had happened to change that? Something obviously, but what? I just couldn't quite seem to figure that out.
"Amy?" Tommy asked when I remained in silence, lost in though. "You're not mad at me, are you?" I quickly jerked out of my Izzy reverie, pushing it to the back of my head as I reassured Tommy, "No, of course not! I'd never be mad at you. I think you did the right thing actually. Some people just need to be put in there place."
"Hm," Tommy replied. "Well, just to let you know, Candice and I are getting a divorce." My jaw dropped as I heard the news. I hadn't expected them to get divorced after only three months! But then again, they were obviously having big issues and weren't happy together so it only made sense.
"I think you're making the right decision, Tommy," I told him, nodding my head in agreement. "How do you feel about all this? Are you doing okay?" There was a silence before Tommy responded, "I'm...alright. I'm gonna get through this. I didn't really like being married anyways. It was getting annoying to have to stick to only one woman anyway."
I frowned at that last comment, but didn't say anything. I didn't like it how guys felt the need to fuck a different girl every few days. Couldn't they just stay loyal to their partner? Apparently not. Intruding on my thoughts, Tommy added, "I've got to go now, Amy. I just thought I'd let you know about me and Candice. See you soon?"
"Yep, definitely," I responded. "Don't worry, Tommy, you'll get through this. It'll be hard at first, but you'll make it. Trust me." With that, we both hung up the phone and went our separate ways.
A week later, Vince and I sat huddled on his couch, waiting for Nikki. The three of us were going to go to the recording studio together. I had kind of invited myself along for the trip because I didn't trust Nikki and Vince unsupervised. Vince had a temper problem and Nikki had seemed pretty pissed off at Vince the last time they had spoke. The last thing we needed was for our singer and bassist to get into a fight! Especially when the Crue was just about to have a new album produced.
I could tell Vince was a little nervous with meeting up with Nikki. His shoulders were stiff and his jaw was tense while he gazed out the window looking for Nikki's car. Wanting to try to comfort him, I snuggled close against him and wound an arm around his shoulders, whispering in his ear, "Vince, don't worry about Nikki!"
"I'm not worrying," Vince replied stiffly, not even removing his gaze from the window to look at me. I rolled my eyes and continued, "Oh sure you're not worrying! It's obvious you are, so no need to deny it. How about I talk to Nikki before you come outside? I'll tell him to go easy on you."
"Okay," Vince agreed gratefully. Facing Nikki was obviously going to be hard for Vince. I would do all I could to make their meeting go as smoothly as possible. Just at that moment, there was the sound of tires screeching on pavement. Vince and I peered outside to see Nikki in a jeep that looked new.
I squeezed Vince's shoulder and said, "Wait here for a few minutes." After that, I strode to the door, tried to put a friendly grin on my face, and stepped outside to greet Nikki. Nikki waved to be from the front seat of the car and called, "Hey there, Amy! You can sit in the front seat or in the back, I don't care."
Deciding to sit in the front so that Vince would be forced to sit in the back, I climbed into the car, marveling at how shiny and clean it looked, "Hey Nikki? Is this car new? It's in really good shape." Nikki beamed as I pulled the car door shut behind me and buckled up, "Yeah, it is new actually! I got it a week ago."
Figuring I should get this over with, I quickly blurted out, "One thing, you can not talk to Vince about the accident? He's been beating himself up over it for months now and he really doesn't need you to lecture him about it or anything. Please Nikki? For my sake and for the sake of the entire band?"
Nikki's brow creased, but after a moment's pause, he agreed, "Okay. But only for the band's sake, okay?" I nodded, happy that Nikki had agreed. Part of me had figured he would've said no. I gave a little nod of my head to signal to Vince to come outside. A few seconds later, he popped into the back seat of Nikki's shiny new jeep.
"Hello Nikki," Vince greeted in a rather formal voice. Nikki replied to him in a tone just as formal, "Hello Vince." A long, tense silence filled the vehicle as Nikki pulled out of the driveway and out onto the highway. Even though I didn't like this tension, I figured it was better than an argument.
We reached a traffic light that had just turned green a few minutes later. Nikki, assuming the road was clear, drove right through. However, a silver Cadillac Eldorado was running the red light. Nikki hadn't seen it; we were going to crash! Squeezing my eyes shut, I wait for the crash. There was a loud smashing noise.
Hesitantly, I peeked through the window to see if anyone was hurt, "Guys? Are you okay?" Vince grunted in reply, but Nikki was cursing, "Fuck him! That son of a bitch!" I looked frantically to see what Nikki was talking about. The driver who had hit Nikki's car had took off the moment the cars had collided.
Without stopping to think, Nikki and Vince leaped out of the jeep and started chasing the Cadillac down the street. I stared at them for a few minutes before deciding to join the chase. Leaving the abandoned jeep behind, Nikki, Vince, and I tore down the street running as fast as our legs could carry us. Nikki grabbed my wrist and pulled me towards a taxi while yelling at Vince, "Go try to catch up with the car! I'll try to get this taxi to park it front of it."
Luckily, the taxi opened up as soon as we were within view and Nikki and I piled inside it. Nikki stuck his head in the front seat by the driver and pointed to the silver car ahead of us, "See that car? He hit my new jeep! Go see if you can pull in front of him to stop him." Nikki pulled out a wad of cash from his pocket and waved it in front of the driver's face, saying, "You can have all this if you can stop that car!"
The driver ogled the amount of money in Nikki's outstretched palm and immediately took off towards the Cadillac. We dodged cars at top speed until we were finally ahead of our quarry. As soon as we were ahead of it, the taxi driver swung into the lane in front of the Cadillac and stopped right in front of it. Forced to stop, the Cadillac screeched on it's brakes and stopped as well.
By this time, Nikki was calling the police and reporting the hit-and-run accident that had just occurred on Hollywood Boulevard. Meanwhile, Vince, who had been running alongside of the road, jumped on top of the silver Eldorado and kicked the window with his sneaker. The offender got out, all red faced and angry.
Somehow, Vince managed to detain him while Nikki and I waited impatiently for the police to show. About five minutes later, four police cars swerved towards us with blinking lights and sirens wailing. Nikki and I got out and explained the situation to the police as soon as they had gotten out of the car.
While the offender was hand-cuffed and forced into one of the police cars, the police we had been talking to smiled at us and said, "Good for you guys for stopping this man! He's been responsible for quite a few hit-and-run accidents around here. You should all be proud of yourselves." Nikki, Vince, and I beamed from the man's praise.
As soon as the policeman turned away, Nikki and Vince smiled at each other, exchanged a high five, and let out a whoop. After seeing this, I knew that things were going to be alright between those two. I could see it in Nikki's emerald green eyes that Vince and been forgiven. I let out a sigh of contentment; it was going to be okay.



Two weeks later, I was lying in bed at ten in the morning, procrastinating on getting up. It was cold in the house and the warm blankets in my bed were keeping me nice and toasty warm. But when my phone ran from next to my bed, I slid out from under the covers to grab the phone with one hand before flipping it opening and saying, "Hi?"
"Hi Amy!" Tommy replied to me excitedly. "Guess what?" I was about to answer, but Tommy was much too impatient to wait for my answer. Instead, he went on, "My marriage with Candice is finally annulled! And what's even better is that I have a girlfriend now. Her name is Tawny Kitaen. She's a model. You know that, right?"
To be honest, I had no idea who Tawny was, but for Tommy's sake, I said, "Um...yeah! I know exactly who she is. So did you spend last night with her?" There was a long silence from the other side of the phone. It was almost a guilty silence. I instantly knew that something bad was brewing.
"Uh...well...I spent the night at Candice's," Tommy admitted, "but I was at Tawny's last night. We had a lot of fun! I taught her how to throw a knife! I think she really enjoyed our time together." I didn't hear the last two sentences; I was still focusing on the first. Why the fuck would Tommy be sleeping at Candice's if he was getting divorced with her and if he had a girlfriend?
"Wait, let me get this clear," I told him, feeling badly for Tawny, "You went and had sex with Candice after spending the day with Tawny just the night before?" There was another paused before Tommy replied sheepishly, "Well, yeah. But no one cares. Seriously, Amy, it's no biggie. And guess what else is cool about Tawny?"
I didn't want to hear more about Tawny. I was sick and tired of hearing about guys cheating on their girlfriends. That was exactly what Tommy was doing to Tawny with his ex-wife. Not wanting to hear any more of Tommy's shit, I said, "Listen, Tommy. What you're doing to Tawny is just plain wrong. If you love her, stick with her and leave Candice alone. That's all I have to say for now. I hope you make the right decision. Goodbye."
Ring, ring, ring! Only a few hours later, my phone rang again. The Crue guys just couldn't seem to stop calling me! I was really tempted to just ignore the phone. After all, here I was in my room watching TV and trying to relax. I didn't really feel like chatting at this moment. Besides, I was really pissed off at Tommy for what he had decided to do to Tawny earlier. So I just lounged back on the couch and kept watching my soaps, trying to act oblivious to the ringing phone. However, not everyone else in the house seemed to be oblivious to the phone's incessant ringing.
"Amy!" my mom shouted loudly from downstairs, "Your phone is ringing. Can't you get it or turn it off or something? The ringing is starting to drive me crazy." Making a face, I turned the television off and stalked angrily over to where my phone was rested on my nightstand like usual. If it was Tommy calling, I was just going to turn the phone off without answering it.
But when I looked at the caller ID, the phone number was unfamiliar. I held the phone in my hands for a few minutes, trying to figure out whether or not I wanted to answer it. Finally, curiosity got the best of me and I found myself flicking open the phone. Trying to sound happy, I said into the phone, "Hello? Amy speaking."
"Hey Amy," a depressed voice greeted me in a monotone. It was obviously Mick. Poor Mick who was still hiding out in his home suffering from Linda's abuse all by himself. Forgetting my anger at being interrupted by the phone call, I exclaimed, "Hey Mick! How are you? Are you feeling any better?"
"You know the Marina Del Ray apartment I had been renting?" Mick asked in that same expressionless voice. Honestly, I didn't know that Mick had been staying at an apartment. As far as I knew, Mick had always lived at home. But I certainly didn't know Mick as well as the other Crue members so it was really quite possible that he could've lived in an apartment for a long time and I could never have even known about it!
To keep our conversation going, I said, "Um, okay. What about the apartment?" Mick continued on, "Well, I was keeping my new BMW there. Yesterday morning, I went over to pick it up and it was gone. I searched around for it, but all I found where the car had been was just a little folded-up note."
"A note?" I asked supsiciously. It was odd that someone who would've stolen Mick's car would've left him a note. "What did the note say?" There was a small pause and I could hear Mick sigh into the phone before he said, "The note was from Linda. She told me we were breaking up for good and that she was leaving me for a football player named Nick Frontero. I have absolutely no idea who that is, but apparently he was better than me."
Mick's voice cracked at the end of the sentence, showing me just how much pain he was in. I wished he was in the room with me so I could give him a comforting hug, but since we were communicating by the phone, I would have to try to convey my emotions with only words, "Oh Mick, I'm so sorry! Linda didn't deserve you though. She treated you terribly. You deserve a girl way better than that. Did she actually steal your car?"
"I don't know," Mick confessed, "I don't think 'stolen' is the right term exactly. Linda and I bought that car together. It was hers just as much as it was mine. But anyways, I don't want it back anymore. It would just remind me of her." Now Mick was cooped up inside his house drinking his beer contemplating his ex-girlfriend and his stolen car. I didn't think it could get much worse for him. Mick really needed to ditch the drinking and get out of the house for a while so he could meet some new girls.
I decided to attempt to convey this idea to Mick in the nicest way possible, "So Mick, what do you think about going to a club with me next week or something? I think it would be nice for us to get out of the house for a bit. We could really have a good time together. So what about it? Will you come with me? I'd love it if you did."
"Oh, that reminds me of why I was actually calling you!" Mick exclaimed. "Believe it or not, I didn't just call you to try to get your sympathy. Anyways, the Crue is starting a last minute tour for the new 'Theatre of Pain' album. As a matter of fact, we're leaving Monday for Japan. We got three hotel rooms so there'll be an extra bed for you if you want to come along."
I had completely forgotten about why Nikki, Vince, and I had even gone to the recording studio last week! It only made sense that the Crue would go on a tour right after they released their new album. But Japan? Why Japan? I didn't imparticularly like Japan. I mean, the people there spoke Japanese I assumed. It would be impossible to communicate with them unless we had a translator. Even though I didn't really want to go, I figured I should go anyway. Mick needed someone to keep him from committing self destruction while Vince needs lots of looking after like usual.
"I guess I'll come along," I told Mick. I didn't even bother to try to sound enthusiastic about this tour. Japan wasn't somewhere I really wanted to be. "So, um, how long will we be in Japan?" There was a few seconds silence while Mick counted the days we'd be staying in Japan. I crossed my fingers that we wouldn't be staying there very long.
"Just five days," Mick told me. "It won't be too long. I take it you're not too big of a fan of Japan?" I shook my head and resisted making a face as I replied, "Not really. Japan and China just seem...I dunno...weird I guess. Don't worry, I'll come anyways though. So where do you want me to meet you guys on Monday?"
"Hm," Mick contemplated, "How about you just swing by Vince's? I think we all agreed to meet there. We'll save gas for the car and time if we all travel to the airport together." That made sense. I didn't like wandering around the aiport by myself anyways. My paranoia made me nervous of situations like that.
"Okay, that sounds good," I agreed readily. "So I'll see you on Monday?" Mick's voice sounded slightly happier when he answered, "Yep. I guess I'll see you then. Bye Amy." Before Mick could hang up, I quickly added, "Bye Mick. And by the way, try not to think about Linda too much. I know you really loved her, but she didn't deserve you. We'll find someone who does deserve you soon, okay?" There was a silence so either Mick had hung up or he wasn't going to agree. No matter though. Somehow or the other, I was going to find Mick a new girl if it was the last thing I did.



The plane flight to Japan wasn't actually that bad. I had figured it would be very long and tedious, but somehow it managed to fly by. Maybe it was due to the novel I was finally finishing. Or maybe it was because we changed time zones while we were flying and I ended up spending most of the plane ride sleeping.
I knew I had been sleeping because when we reached Tokyo, Vince had to pinch my shoulder to get me to wake up. The five of us exited the airplane together and got our first look at Japan. I had to admit I was pretty nervous about being in a land as strange as this, but having the big, strong Crue guys around me definitely helped. The first thing we did was go straight to the hotel so the Crue guys could get set up for their first big show.
I helped get out their stage gear and carefully did everyone's makeup. The whole process of getting ready took a very long three hours. When the Crue members were finally looking perfect, I was fatigued and just wanted to flop onto my bed and take a very long, relaxing nap. So when Mick said, "Hey Amy, you're coming with us to the show, right?", I wasn't really sure what to say.