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"Hey, Axl, can I tell you something?"

It was the end of July; Guns N' Roses had toured most of Europe and were taking a break in Israel before moving on to Asia. Laurie had gone to buy something for Axl with Slash, and Izzy had seized the opportunity to catch the lead vocalist by himself. Now the two men were sitting in Axl and Laurie's hotel room together, facing each other.

"Sure, man, what's up?" said Axl, taking a drag of his cigarette.

"Well...it's about Laurie."

Axl blew the smoke out and cocked his head to one side, eyebrows crinkled in confusion. "What about her?"

Izzy cleared his throat. "See...uh...in April, when you kicked her out of your house, she went to this hotel, and I happened to be going by that hotel right then, so I saw her, and--well, I mean, she was crying. And I do love her. So you can't blame me."

"Stradlin, what the hell are you talking about?"

Izzy shut his eyes and said it all very fast:

"I love Laurie so I started making out with her in the lobby and we ended up going back to my house and having sex and then she got pregnant and she never got an abortion but we broke up and then she went back to you and--"

"Whoa. Wait. Did you just say that Laurie is pregnant with your child?"

"Yeah."

Axl's eyes flashed. "Fuck you, Izzy. You're lying to me. Why the fuck are you lying to me about this?"

"I'm not lying to you, man. Laurie and I were together for about a month and then I found out she got pregnant and she'd kept it a secret from me so I broke up with her."

"Fucking bullshit," said Axl angrily. "There's no way you two could have been together. There's no way she's pregnant right now."

"Have you never noticed that her stomach is getting bigger?" asked Izzy, now also getting angry. "When she was so sick in May and June, that was morning sickness! It's only just stopped because this is the end of her third month. And guess what: you can get proof from one of the other guys if you don't believe me. Slash and Duff, they both know."

Axl jumped to his feet. "I don't believe you, man," he said. "She would have told me something like this. You liar, you're a piece of shit. Laurie would never--"

"But she did," said Izzy, and he crossed his arms and glared so defiantly at Axl than the lead singer was mildly startled. After a few seconds, he crossed the room and opened the door.

"Where are you going, Rose?"

"To the lobby. I'm going to get Laurie to kick your ass in for saying that, you fucking asshole." He stormed out, Izzy following at a rapid pace.

When they arrived in the lobby, they found that Slash and Laurie had just returned. Laurie saw Axl and started towards him but stopped when she saw the expression on his face.

"What's wrong, honey?" she asked. Her eyes cut from Axl to Izzy, and suddenly she knew. Fear flashed across her face and she backed instinctively up to Slash.

"Izzy said you're pregnant with his kid," said Axl. "And that you two were together for a month." He hesitated, staring down into her eyes, then:

"Is it true, Laur?"

She bit down on her lower lip. "I didn't want you to find out this way, Axl..."

Suddenly the lead singer was furious.

"So it's true? You--and him? I don't believe this. Y'know what, Laurie? Fuck you. Fuck you and fuck your bastard boyfriend. I can't believe I fell for your lies a second time. I should've just stuck with Erin. At least I know she's too stupid to go off and sleep with another guy."

"Please, Axl," said Laurie, half in anger, half in desperation. "You and I weren't even together when this happened--"

"Yeah? Well, that's too damn bad. You should have told me you were pregnant when we got back together at the beginning of this month! I can't believe you, Lauren. I always thought you were braver than that."

"Braver than what?"

"I always thought of you as the type of girl who would come out and say something shitty to my face, instead of sending someone to do it for you. But I guess I was wrong." He turned away, looking drawn, and said:

"Get out of my room and get out of my life, Lauren Elaine Stevens."

Then he stormed back upstairs, leaving the lobby; leaving Slash, Izzy, and Laurie to stand there, all three of them at once both shocked and not very surprised at Axl's reaction to the news.

"Well, guess it's good-bye, Europe," said Laurie and Izzy at the same time. They exchanged glances and started laughing, but then Laurie's laughter turned into tears as she realized that there was no chance of her ever getting back the happiness she'd experienced over the past four weeks.