FicWad

Over the next few weeks, as the tour continued, so did Izzy and Laurie's relationship. They shared a room in the hotels, they hung out backstage constantly, they even went so far as to sharing cigarettes. Duff, who had finally figured it out one day when he'd walked in on them making out in Laurie's dressing room, was supportive of the affair, but not of keeping it a secret from Axl.

"Tell him," the bassist pleaded. "Tell him now, 'cause that way you'll be getting it over early. If you postpone this, he'll just be more pissed off because--"

"Oh, lighten up, McKagan," laughed Laurie, from her position on Izzy's lap. "Axl is too busy with Erin and his vocal therapy and stuff to notice anything, even his ex sleeping with his best friend."

Izzy tensed up slightly at the way she said this, her voice so bitter it almost stung.

"Fine, Laurie," said Duff. "Have it your way. Does Slash know?"

"Yeah. Everyone knows except Dizzy and Matt. And I doubt they'd care."

Duff sighed and walked out of the dressing room, just as Axl passed it.

"Hey, man, what's going on? You look like you just got stabbed repeatedly in the chest with a sword."

Duff shook his head. "It's nothing, man. Don't worry about it."

Axl cast his gaze into Laurie's dressing room. He could just make out the top of her head, and next to it was the unmistakable gray fabric of Izzy's hat.

"Izzy is in there," he said matter-of-factly, trying to keep his voice calm.

"Sure is," said Duff lightly. "Laurie's upset about something; we were just comforting her. It's nothing, but she didn't want to involve you, since...y'know...you're so much in love with Erin."

Axl stopped cold, spun around, his eyes flashing fire. "Fuckin' bullshit," he snarled. "I have never been in love with Erin, and I never will be. The only reason I left Laurie was because--"

"You were too scared to take a chance and see if you two could work it out again, right?" interrupted Duff, so viciously that Axl, who had been opening his mouth to yell at Duff for interrupting, stopped in surprise, jerking back ever so slightly from his friend.

"I--what?" he said finally, his voice dangerously soft.

Duff hesitated; calling Axl Rose out for hurting someone's feelings was way different than yelling at Laurie for the same thing. At last, carefully choosing his words, he said:

"It's like what I told Laurie, early on in this leg of the tour. You two have always been perfect for each other; not always compatible, maybe, but you generally were able to work your arguments out back in the eighties. I know what you went through when she left you, man; I was here for you then and I'll be here for you now while you try and sort out this shit with you and Erin and Laurie...but I'm warning you: when you kicked her out a month ago, right after you sprained your ankle, you have no idea of the devastation you caused her. She respects you, dude, and you let her down."

"You think I give a fuck?" asked Axl, though inside he was seething. He hated it when people gave him legitimate arguments--ones that actually made sense--and he couldn't say anything insulting back because the other person was right and he was wrong.

"I think if you really didn't care about Laurie Stevens you wouldn't have let her on this tour, and you wouldn't be acting like this about seeing Izzy in her dressing room, and you wouldn't have this type of reaction to my telling you that you made a possible mistake in letting her go like that. That's all I'm saying." Duff patted Axl's shoulder and turned away. "See you at the after-party, okay?" And he walked away, leaving Axl with more to think about than he cared to.

~~~

One day, about a month into the affair, it was a break day, which meant they could go anywhere and do anything. It was the first of May, and since they were in southern Mississippi, it was pretty warm.

"Swimming," said Laurie, when Izzy asked her what she wanted to do. "Let's go to the beach."

So Izzy put on his swimming trunks and Laurie put on her bikini--the yellow one, with green polka dots in different sizes. She wrapped herself up in a sundress (one that Axl had given her, though she tried not to think about that) and she and Izzy went to the other guys' rooms and asked if they wanted to go too.

"Beach? Man, do you realize how long it's been since I've been swimming anywhere? Of course I wanna go," said Slash, dashing into his bathroom and returning a moment later in navy blue swimming shorts, a towel around his left arm and a bottle of sunscreen in his right hand.

Duff and Dizzy also wanted to go, but Matt--a Norwegian who burned very easily--declined.

"You wanna ask Axl?" asked Izzy when they were walking towards the elevator, like a pack of wolves.

Laurie hesitated, then:

"Yeah. I wanna ask Axl."

"You realize that Erin's gonna come too if Axl says yeah," warned Slash.

"Yes, but--I want him there." Laurie folded her arms across her chest and looked so stubborn that the guys gave in without another word.

When they got to Axl and Erin's room, they found them lying on their bed together, curtains drawn, TV on low. Erin was sleeping; Axl didn't look too far behind.

"Hey," said Izzy, approaching his best friend. "Bro, we're all going swimming at the beach. You wanna come?"

Axl opened one eye and stared up at the rhythm guitarist for a few seconds before nodding slowly. His eyes drifted to Laurie, and he had to blink rapidly to get rid of the tears that had so randomly sprung up at the sight of her in something he'd bought with his own money. He slid out from under Erin, who woke up instantly.

"What's going on, honey?" she asked.

"We're all going swimming," said Axl, stepping into the bathroom and shutting the door. When he came out a moment later in his American flag swimming trunks and nothing else, Laurie let out a low whistle without really thinking about it. Izzy shot her a warning glance, but it was too late; Axl had heard her. He turned, one eyebrow arched, to stare at her.

"Like this?" he asked sarcastically, walking over to her and running his arms slowly up her sides. "Like the way I feel, the way I look? Too bad, bitch; you can't have me. Too bad you're only attracted to my physical appearance instead of what's inside."

"I'm not the one who broke off something great for no reason," she shot back, stung.

"Yeah? Really? So there was never any point in your life when you just up and ran away from someone, anyone at all, because you didn't want to handle the shit and pressure of life? Think again, Lauren. Think again."

Laurie looked at Izzy and Duff, but they just turned away, not wanting to get caught in the middle again.

Slash said, "Let's just go, man. Just forget about this for today, okay? It's our day off, we're supposed to be relaxing."

"Easy for you to say," muttered Axl, but he did stop harassing Laurie.

When Erin was ready, they all headed downstairs, with their towels and sunscreen and flip-flops.

"Going to the beach, Mr. Rose?" asked the limo driver.

"Yeah," said Axl, tightening his grip around Erin's waist.

They got into the limo, and the driver sped off to the Biloxi Beach.

~~~

Upon arriving, Laurie immediately set up a towel and lay herself across it, arms stretched out, fingers curled in the sand. Izzy approached her with his bottle of sunscreen and said:

"Allow me, ma'am."

Laurie grinned and sat up. "Sure, Stradlin."

He rubbed the lotion into her back, along her upper arms, in the crevasses making up her inner elbows and knees. He massaged her toes as he kneaded sun oil into her feet, he rubbed her legs; put a dot on her cheeks, nose, and forehead, and rubbed these in gently. Laurie's heart pounded the entire time; she had no idea that doing something so simple as putting on sunscreen could become so sensual so fast. When he was done, she leaned over and kissed him, fast, on the cheek.

"Now you do me," said Izzy, handing her the sunscreen bottle.

"In public? Not sure how that would work, but..."

"Damn, Laur, you need to get your mind out of the gutter!" They both laughed, Laurie spread the lotion over Izzy's body, and they got up and headed for the beach.

Ten minutes later, four of the five Gunners were laughing and chasing each other through the salty water, along with Laurie, who had nearly forgotten that Axl was sitting on the shore, watching her, with Erin on his lap. The sun was shining and the water glistened and gleamed like a million diamonds. For a while Laurie felt truly relaxed for the first time in months.

Then she let out a gasp and fell to her knees as a wave of nausea consumed her. Retching, she struggled to get to the shore before she threw up, but by the time she reached level ground, the feeling had passed.

"Good God, what the fuck was that?" she asked herself. Izzy, who had chased her all the way back to the beach, put his arm on her shoulder and, concerned, said:

"You okay?"

She shook her head, dizzy. "I'm...I'm sick, I think." Her stomach still felt unsettled, and Izzy led her to their towel so she could lie down.

"Okay," he said. "I'll stay here with you--"

"No," said Laurie hastily. "No, it's okay, you go back and have fun with Slash and--" She broke off, coughing, and, turning her head away from Izzy, vomited into the sand.

"Oh fuck," said Izzy. "C'mon, we're going back." He ran and got the other's attention, told them what had happened.

"Someone go call the limo driver," said Duff, while Slash and Izzy leaned over Laurie, who kept insisting she felt better. Dizzy ran off to find a pay phone (yes, at a beach). Axl got up from where he and Erin were sitting and walked over.

"She okay?" he asked, with more concern in his voice than anyone had expected.

"Axl..." said Laurie faintly, holding out one hand. The sun was so bright; it made her feel even worse than before. She shut her eyes and grimaced as another wave of nausea consumed her.

Axl knelt down beside Laurie, ignoring the fact that she looked like she would vomit again, and took her hand in his. "I'm right here, baby," he whispered, and he didn't leave her side, not once, even going so far as to carry her to the limo once it arrived to take them back to the hotel.