FicWad

1989

It was a lazy summer afternoon. The sun shone through the windows of Guns N' Roses' apartment, making it hotter than usual inside. Duff was out with his girlfriend, Raiden; Izzy had gone to the Rainbow to score some chicks; Steven was, undoubtedly, doing drugs in some dark alleyway in the Valley. Only Slash, Axl, and Laurie (Axl's long-time girlfriend) were at home, and Laurie was downstairs watching T.V. Slash and Axl were upstairs, in Axl and Laurie's room, with a pack of cards and a small portable fan.

"Deal 'em, Hudson," said Axl, gesturing at the stack of red and black paper with his left hand. His silver and gold bracelets clinked together gently as he moved, making a pleasant metallic sound. Slash flipped out the deck, his long, coffee-colored fingers giving an artistic contrast to the white cards. He gave five cards to Axl and kept five for himself, placing the rest of the deck between their crossed legs.

Axl curved his pale, ring-covered fingers over the cards, facing them away from Slash. He studied his deck with sharp emerald eyes, not letting his face give him away, then he lay a card down and said, "I'm betting you ten dollars this is the ace of spades."

Slash shook his head and smirked. "You know perfectly well you don't have that card."

Axl raised one fine eyebrow. "How do you know?"

"Because I have it," said Slash, slapping a card face down on top of Axl's.

"That can't be the ace of spades, Hudson," said Axl.

"I'll bet you twenty-five dollars it is," replied Slash in his usual quietly sarcastic way.

"It's not," said Axl. "Lemme see your deck." He sat up on his knees and grabbed at Slash's wrist.

Laughing, the guitarist held his arm up over their heads. "That's cheating, Rose. You're gonna get disqualified for that."

Axl started laughing as well. He placed his cards down and made another grab for Slash's hand. He wound up with his fingers curved, hard, around his friend's elbow, his other hand on his ankle to support himself. They looked at each other for a few seconds, noses nearly touching, pale Axl and dark Slash making a fine contrast, then the singer whispered:

"Have I ever been known to play by the rules?"

Slash shook his head slowly, lowering his arm and letting the cards slide out of his fingers.

"Exactly," said Axl softly. He leaned in and brushed his lips against Slash's, gently at first, then harder, sending an electric tingle down from Slash's head to his feet. Axl shifted himself into a more comfortable position, with his arms around the guitarist's waist and his legs locked around his hips, and attacked his lips again, sucking and biting until Slash's mouth was sore.

"Axe..." mumbled Slash after a time. He was dizzy from the feelings of passion Axl evoked in his body. They rarely got to be alone like this; usually their only times of contact were during concerts, when one of them would walk up and lay his head on the other's shoulder, tired and sweaty. The best moments, though, happened in the apartment, when everyone was gone and they were able to sneak upstairs and sit alone in this room, playing cards or writing songs until their emotions took over. Slash didn't consider himself to be gay or even bisexual; he knew that Axl wasn't because Axl was homophobic; but they had...something. And that something was too good to quit.

"Hmm? Saul, what's up?" Axl lifted his head from Slash's bare chest and stared into his eyes, that dark, sleepy expression on his face that Slash knew all too well.

"Nothing..." murmured Slash. "Just...you're...great. That's all."

Axl smirked. "I know. I've heard that before." He lifted Slash's hand to his mouth and put one of the guitarist's long, callused fingers between his lips like the cigarettes they shared. Slash shivered. Axl smiled again; like Slash, he refused to consider himself bi or gay; like Slash, though, he loved these rare moments they got to spend together. Maybe it was because they were best friends, maybe it was because he smelled strongly of backstage and smoke all the time; whatever it was, Axl enjoyed Slash's company, despite the fact that it was incredibly risky to do, especially when they got as involved as they were now.

A few minutes later, Axl and Slash were half sitting, half lying, supported by their elbows and playing with each other's hair as they shared a cigarette, when the door opened and Laurie stepped into the cool half-light.

"Axl--" she started, then stopped and let out a loud shriek of disgust mixed with horror.

Instantly Axl was on his feet, straightening his shirt and clearing his throat hard. Slash tapped out the cigarette as fast as he could and jumped up too.

"You!" said Laurie finally, after a bit of sputtering had gone on. She pointed at Axl with a shaking finger. "What the fuck are you playing at here?!"

"Baby..." Axl protested weakly, starting forward with one hand slightly outstretched. He loved his girl, God he loved her so much it hurt, and he'd known full well that he and Slash's...affair couldn't last forever without her finding out.

"No," said Laurie coldly, glaring from Axl to Slash, her eyes darting so fast it was impossible to keep up. "Don't even try to explain this, Axl. I see what I see. Are you fucking him?!"

Disgusted, repulsed by the idea, Axl stopped mid-stride and lowered his arm. "No," he snapped. "I'm not."

"Then what the fuck are you doing in this room with him in the dark, lying down, close enough to kiss? C'mon, Axl, I'm not stupid and you know it. Tell me the truth."

"The truth," repeated Axl, like it was a foreign concept to him. He started forward again, slower this time, glancing back occasionally at Slash. "The truth, Laur, is that...fuck, the truth is that I've been waiting for you to find out that Slash and I...are physically attracted to each other."

Laurie raised one eyebrow. "You have?"

Axl had reached her now, and he grabbed her by the wrists. Before she could pull away, he'd pulled her towards him, so that their bodies were pushed flush against each other.

"Yes," he replied, the lie slipping off his tongue easily. He stared down into her stormy green eyes for a few seconds, then dipped his head and began kissing her slowly, passionately. She let out a soft moan of surprise and Axl put his hands on her thighs, lifting her up against him, letting her linger for a moment on his hard crotch.

"God..." she breathed, when he pulled away from her to take a breath of air. "God, Axl, why...why do you have to do this to me?"

"You know I love you," said Axl, kissing the corners of her mouth, the tip of her nose. "You know I'd never hurt you." He made a slight gesture over his shoulder to Slash, then began to gently carry Laurie out of their room and down the hall.

"Where are we going?" asked Laurie, her voice muffled inside Axl's mouth.

"To show you a good time," said Axl. Laurie was slightly confused but she didn't press the matter; for all his manic-depressive qualities, Axl could be an ardent, passionate, at times almost gentle, lover. She knew she should've been more upset by the fact that Axl and Slash were...together...but she wasn't. Actually, secretly, the thought sort of intrigued her.

Besides, it wasn't like he and the guitarist were having sex.

They reached the bathroom, and, between kisses that were getting deeper and more hungry with each attack, Axl ordered Slash to shut the door and turn on the shower. Slash did so; then, without breaking the kiss he was locked in, Axl stepped into the shower. He lowered Laurie onto the wet floor, and immediately her bare feet were splashed.

"My jeans..." said Laurie softly. "The denim's gonna--"

Axl shook his head, pressed his nose to hers. He slid his hand between them and slipped off his leather pants, lifted the shirt he was wearing over his head. Once he was naked he gently pushed her under the water again and continued to kiss her as he pressed her against the bathroom wall. She moaned softly; God, he felt so good...

Slash was standing beside Axl, occasionally kissing his friend's wet tattoos, his slick sides. This was officially the most raunchy, risqué thing he'd ever done, but...God help him, he was loving it.

"You wanna help her with her clothes, Saul?" asked Axl, turning briefly from Laurie to Slash and lightly nibbling at his earlobe.

Slash moved behind Laurie, unzipped her jeans for her. The denim was soaked through and it was a struggle to get off, but doing it involved a lot of three-way grinding, which all of them loved. Laurie's shirt clung to her in wet clumps; Slash shredded it off, not caring if it was valuable or not.

"Now," said Axl, looking his girlfriend over in satisfaction when everything was off, "let me show you what I meant by a fucking good time..."

~~~

Five hours later, Laurie and Axl lay curled up together in their bedroom, exhausted. They'd just spent the past five hours in the shower with Slash, alternately jerking him off, jerking each other off, fucking, having Laurie watch as Axl sucked Slash off or as Slash jerked Axl off, making out with him and with each other. They were so tired, sore, hot, and wet that they could barely move, except to blink and breathe. Slash was in his room next door, dead asleep, his dark hair falling in soft tendrils around his head.

"I love you," said Axl softly, lightly kissing the side of Laurie's neck. "I hope you know that."

"I know," she replied quietly, resting her head on his arm, her eyelids dropping. "I love you too."

"And you know that Slash and I...we aren't serious. You know that, right?" Axl sounded so worried that Laurie halfway rolled over to stare into his eyes. She smiled.

"Of course," she said, tracing a pathway across his jaw with her fingertips. "But Axl?"

"Yeah?"

Her smile grew slightly bigger, and a faint blush appeared on her cheeks. "I wouldn't mind doing that again sometime."

Axl laughed. "Neither would I, baby," he murmured, drifting off into a post-sex state of rest. "Neither would I."