FicWad

"Why the hell was she with you but not me?" screeched Erin.

Axl sighed and rubbed his temples with the heels of his hands. He hadn't back in the hotel room with Erin but about ten minutes, and already he had a throbbing headache that threatened to rival even his hangover of that morning.

"Look, Erin, you weren't available; you didn't come backstage with me right when I sprained my ankle. And Laurie did. That's it." He couldn't believe he'd just sunk to lying to Erin; he hated her to the point where he was willing to tell her the truth about having kissed Laurie (and maybe gone a bit further than that, right before the doctor came in). But there it was, the blatant lie, to save face, to keep away an argument, and Erin believed him.

"Still," she said, moving around to lie down next to him on the bed and pressing her face against his shoulder, "you shouldn't have gone with Laurie. She and you used to go out, you know."

"I know," muttered Axl.

"She's such a whore," said Erin. "I wouldn't be surprised if she made a move on you."

Axl glared at his...girlfriend? sort-of ex? What the hell was she? "Fuck off, you bitch," he snarled, irritated. He rubbed his eyes, which suddenly felt like they'd been covered in sand. It occurred to him that he was exhausted. "Laurie Stevens is not a whore."

"Oh, well excuse me," said Erin flippantly. "I thought you hated her now, after what she did to you."

Axl sighed. "Let's talk about it later, Erin, okay? I'm tired. I wanna sleep."

"Fine," said Erin. She kissed the side of his neck, reached over, and turned off the lamp beside the bed. "Good night, sweetheart."

"'Night."

"I love you."

Axl lay down and pulled the covers so far up he almost couldn't breathe.

"Yeah," he said in response to Erin's statement. Not quite a lie, not quite the truth; it was safe.

~~~

In the morning, Axl woke up and discovered, to his relief, that Erin was gone. She'd left a note:

Went down to get breakfast. Join me later. Love, Erin. P.S.--the guys want you to know that we're returning to Los Angeles since you aren't allowed to perform for the next week.

Axl groaned softly and tried sliding himself out of bed but found it to be ultimately difficult, considering the heavyweight cast on his left leg. He managed to stumble into the bathroom and checked his reflection: haggard, it looked like he'd been wasted. Sighing, he grabbed his razor and shaving cream, soaped up, and scraped the five o'clock shadow off his jawline. It was going to be a long day, he could tell that already.

Just as he was finishing up, his room phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Axl," said a familiar voice that sent shivers up and down the lead singer's spine. "You want me to come and help you pack up?"

"Where's Erin?" asked Axl, his voice considerably more hoarse than normal.

"Still at breakfast," said Laurie. "I told Slash and Duff to go down and stall her. I'm coming over, okay?"

"Yeah. All right. See you in a bit." Axl hung up with her and ran his fingers slowly down the cast. Dammit, I can't believe I have this thing to thank for getting her back.

But did he really have her back? he wondered as he carefully slipped out of his pajama pants and into a pair of jeans. Or was it just a fling, the result of some heated passion in a hospital room?

A few seconds later, as Axl was still hunting for a shirt, there was a knock on the door. He hobbled over to unlock it and found Laurie standing there, her bag slung over her shoulder. Everything about her was casual, from her hairstyle to her clothes to her smile, which she flashed at him as her eyes traveled down his naked torso.

"Good Lord, Axl," she said as she walked past him and into the hotel room, "keep it in your pants for five seconds, huh?"

He laughed. "I was just boxer-less right before you came in," he said. "Should I have stayed that way?"

Laurie shrugged, reached out, and passed her hand slowly across his stomach, down to his waist, and then across his crotch. He sucked in a tight breath. "I think," he said, shutting his eyes and swallowing hard, "that it would be kind of hard to have sex when I'm in this cast, Laur."

"Yeah, Axl, I was thinking the same thing," she said, but she didn't step back and he didn't say anything else for the next few minutes.

Finally, though, Laurie seemed to remember her real reason for having come over and began picking Axl's clothes up off the floor. She tossed him a shirt:

"Put that on, babe; I don't want everyone to see your abs and get jealous of them."

Then she continued packing his things with surprising efficiency.

And I let this amazing woman get out of the door and then out of my life for three years because...? Axl thought as he slipped the T-shirt over his head and shoulders.

About ten minutes later, Laurie was done packing Axl's things and stood over his suitcases, looking triumphant. "There we are," she said. "Thank me any time."

Axl smirked at her. "Thanks, Laurie." He held out his hand. "Give them to me, hon."

She shook her head but spread her legs a bit wider. "Come and get them," she said, smiling flirtatiously.

Holy sweet Jesus, thought Axl. He and Laurie hadn't flirted like this, not all hardcore and shit, since long before their breakup. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, however, he got down on his knees (painfully and carefully), knelt between her legs, and retrieved the suitcases from between them. Then he traced a path across her pale white thigh with his lips, from the line of her shorts to her knee and back. Laurie whimpered softly, her muscles tensing instinctively; no one had touched her there in a long, long time.

At last, Axl slowly straightened up, breathing hard, the suitcases clutched in his hands. He and Laurie made eye contact, each seeing the other reflected in their eyes. He bent over and kissed her slowly, savoring every second of feeling her soft mouth on his. She readjusted her bag across her shoulders and slid her hand down his arm to cover his own hand.

"You're so sinewy," said Laurie when they pulled out of the kiss.

Axl chuckled. "You're such a nerd, Laur."

She touched her fingertip to his nose. "You like that?"

He studied her face, all soft angles and high cheekbones, almost a mirror reflection of his except for the hair and eye color.

"Yeah," he said softly. "I like it."

They headed downstairs together, and on the elevator ride down Axl tried as hard as he could not to think about the fact that he still wasn't sure whether or not this "relationship" was based on pure lust or something deeper.