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The Boise, Idaho, airport was full of people with drawn, pale faces and less fashion sense than an amoeba. Laurie, stepping off the plane, wondered how in the hell people could manage to live here.

"Ooh, Axl, you're so funny!" squealed Erin from somewhere behind her.Laurie let out a groan that was somewhere between "oh-Jesus-not-again" and "what-the-fuck-does-he-see-in-her" and turned around.

"Erin," she called loudly, not caring who heard her, "could you please shut up for five seconds while we go get our bags?"

The model's face turned bright red and she shot Laurie the finger. Axl bit down on his lower lip to keep from laughing and looked away from his ex-girlfriend because he knew that catching her eye would be fatal. Slash laughed shortly and elbowed Duff.

"Dude, five grand says Laurie kills Erin before this tour is over."

"You're on," said Duff with a smirk.

As Laurie leaned over to get her bags, she felt a sudden, intense pull to look to her left. She did so and discovered Axl standing there, waiting for his.

"Hey," she said. "Having fun with the airhead?" It had hurt Laurie to see Axl and Erin making out in the hotel room, sure, but she wasn't really surprised anymore. He just wasn't capable of considering other people's feelings. He never had been.

Axl's fists clenched against the rail lining the baggage area and he didn't answer her right away.

"It wasn't my idea, Laur," he said finally, his voice low like he thought Erin was listening.

"Sure, then, whose was it? The friggin' Tooth Fairy? C'mon, Axl. You don't have to lie to me. You and I aren't even dating, you know? I know you, man. You're a twenty-nine year old musician with a huge ego; you're attracted to women; you used to be married to her--"

"Yeah, but I was with you before her, Laur. I loved you more."

Laurie swallowed hard and averted her eyes from Axl's intense turquoise gaze. She hated to be reminded of the way she and the volatile lead singer had once felt about each other. She hated it because it made her remember that there was a very small part of her that still wished they could be together.

"You don't love me now, Axl," she said finally, her voice soft. "If you want to be with Erin, that's fine. I don't care."

He tucked his fingers underneath her chin and tilted her head up to his. "I think you do care, Laurie. Because if you didn't, you wouldn't be having this conversation with me right now." He bent over and brushed his lips lightly against her cheek.

Before Laurie could think about what this could possibly mean, Axl had torn his fingers off her chin, picked up his bag, and walked back to where Erin was standing, waiting for him. She watched them walk off together, and was so immersed in exactly how close the supermodel was standing to the singer that she nearly missed her bag as it rode by her on the conveyor belt.

~~~

You're all I need/Make you only mine (I love you)/So I set you free/I had to take your life...

"Turn that shit off!" yelled Slash to Duff, who was blasting Motley Crue's "You're All I Need" at top volume on the boom box backstage as he adjusted his bass strap.

"Fuck off, Hudson," said Duff. "You're just jealous because Vince has such an angelic voice compared to yours."

Everyone laughed, including Slash.

Laurie looked around. They were all backstage, including Axl, who had, for once, decided to show up on time to a concert. So why the hell was she suddenly feeling so apprehensive?

It's because of what happened earlier, back at the airport, she thought to herself as they received the five-minute warning and started for the stage. Nothing's gonna go wrong tonight.

"Laurie," said Erin as they took their places on the rise reserved for background singers, "does it bother you that Axl and I are dating again?"

"No," lied Laurie. "Not even in the slightest."

The truth was, of course, that seeing them walk into their hotel room together and knowing that she would have to sleep in a room with one of the roadies was more painful than she'd expected. Just the mere thought of Axl sleeping with Erin again was more than enough to make her want to break down and cry her heart out. But after that first night, when Duff had yelled at her backstage in Seattle, Laurie wasn't entirely sure if she wanted to talk to the band about this, ever again.

Guns plowed through their first few songs so fast Laurie had a hard time keeping up. It was in the middle of "Welcome to the Jungle" that everything went wrong.

Axl was running across the stage at full speed, as usual, with his long red hair flying out behind him and his microphone pressed up against his lips hard enough to leave a mark. His eerily animal-like screams filled the arena; the crowd roared along with him.

Then his foot got caught in a wire hanging precariously close to the edge of the stage. And Laurie watched in shock as Axl went over.