FicWad

I woke with a start. Sunlight was streaming in from the partially opened blinds and it took me a while to recognize my surroundings, and when I finally did I relaxed back against the pillows.
That was such a weird dream. Wonder what it meant. As if I didn’t know….
Axl stretched out and wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into his chest. “Sleep well?”
“Yep.”
“What’d you dream about?”
I exhaled humorously and pecked his lips. “You.” Well, it wasn’t a lie…
He smiled and kissed me back. “Good. Cause I dreamed of you.”
There was a knock at the door, making both of us jump. I tried to pull the sheet over us but Axl blocked it.
“Axl, stop it!” I whispered.
He sighed and allowed me to pull the sheet over the both of us. “Come in!” Axl called.
A man with a receding hairline and a fairly large waistline came in dressed in a t-shirt, jeans, and a jacket. “Hey guys,” he greeted, not at all shocked to see both of us nude.
“Morning Tom,” Axl returned.
Tom Zutaut smiled and checked his watch quickly. “Shit. Alright come on Axl. We gotta go. We’re late.”
Axl stretched again. “Late for what?”
Duff popped his head in next to Tom. He grinned at the sight of us but didn’t comment. “What do you mean late for what? We’re recording today!”
Axl sat up, forcing me to pull the sheet against him. Duff laughed and I flipped him off. Axl looked at the clock. It read 1:37, early for Axl. “What time were we supposed to be there?”
“Noon,” Tom answered.
Axl sighed and looked over at me. “You coming?”
I nodded, still tired.
“Alright, we’re getting up,” Axl conceded.
Tom smiled. “Great. We’re recording ‘Jungle’ and ‘Sweet Ch-.’
Axl and Duff both hushed Tom. “Dude, not here!” Duff whispered.
Tom looked at me and nodded. “Right, right. Okay, we’ll just see you guys there then.”
Axl nodded, and Tom and Duff left, allowing the two of us to get dressed.
I was puzzled at what Tom had said and the fact that Axl and Duff had both jumped on him to keep his mouth closed. I’d never seen them act like that before and I couldn’t stop myself from feeling like they were hiding something from me.

ff. 1 hour-- Axl and I were in the studio with the rest of the guys. Slash was inside the booth alone, re-recording some cool stuttering intro to a song. He stopped when he noticed us come in and quickly left the booth to greet us. He pulled me into a quick hug that I knew only made Axl even more suspicious. It didn’t help that Slash kissed the top of my head again. I pulled away from him and greeted the rest of the guys.
Someone was missing though. “Where the fuck is Steven?”
Izzy sighed. “He was here earlier but then Adriana came in bitching away, so Steve took her outside. They’re out there now, probably fucking.”
I nodded. “Probably.”
Tom was sitting at the mix table. “Ax, it’s your turn.”
Axl perked up and practically ran into the vocal booth, eager to start recording. He put the headphones on and Tom began the music.
It began with the same stuttering I’d heard Slash playing only a minute ago, then Steven came crashing in with drums along with Duff and Izzy adding to the atmosphere. Axl began swaying, doing his stolen snake dance. He did this sort of muffled scream into the mic and ended it with a “sha!” From there a Slash guitar lick came in for a moment. Then Axl ripped into it again. “Welcome to the jungle, we got fun and games, learn to live like…FUCK!”
Axl pulled back from the mic, obviously pissed off. I frowned and looked behind me. “What happened?” I asked the guys.
“He fucked it up…”Izzy answered simply.
Tom pressed the mic button. “It’s okay, Axl. Just try again.”
Axl nodded and took a deep breath, steadying himself.
The intro came through again and Axl did everything just as he did the first, except he got the right lyric. “Welcome to the jungle, we got fun and games. We got everything you want, honey we know the names…” He got through the entire song that time and by the time he finished, I was smiling. It had sounded really good. Tom was smiling too.
“You wanna hear a playback of that Axl?”
“Hell yeah!” Axl shouted as if it were obvious.
Tom smiled to himself and pressed the playback button. The music flowed back through the rooms and Axl’s smile slowly fell. He threw the headphones aside. “That’s seriously how it sounded!?”
I frowned and came up next to Tom. I pressed the intercom button. “Yeah, Axl it sounded really good,” I insisted.
“Bullshit, it sounded like nails on a chalkboard!”
I scoffed and Axl looked at me, his face becoming relaxed. “Once more.” I rolled my eyes and went to sit with the guys.
Tom started the music over again. Axl sang along and I have to admit it sounded better the second time, but even with this take Axl wasn’t happy.