Come A Little Closer (A Duff Mckagan Fan Fic)

Chapter 8

Axl was one of those guys whose charisma just seeped through every pore.

At some point, Ben and Josie gained enough nerve to come over and introduce themselves. They struggled to keep themselves composed, but Axl didn't acknowledge the fact that they were clearly star struck.

"So, Liv, didn't you say you were from Seattle?" Axl changed the subject from Josie and Ben's endless stream of compliments.

"Born and raised."

"Our bassist Duff is from there, actually. That's pretty cool, he's always taking about the scene you guys had up there because he thinks he's too punk rock for L.A.!" The laugh he added at the end almost distracted me from what he said. Almost.

My heart caught in my chest. He couldn't be talking about THAT Duff. My head started to spin and I caught myself zoning out.

"Uh...oh, yeah...um that's cool." I stammered out

"Hey, you okay? You don't look so good." Axl said with a look of concern

I felt like the walls of the house were closing in on me. The months of regret and heartbreak were finally hitting me.

"I think I just need a minute to breathe. I-I'm gonna go for a smoke."

I rushed out the front door and sat myself down on the front steps. I managed to catch my breath and light a cigarette, smoking it down halfway in no time.

I heard the front door open but I didn't look behind me to see who it was. I heard a chorus of profanities and a bottle crashing on the floor before I turned around to see who was disturbing my peace.

My eyes traveled up the pair of leather clad legs, up to the oversized t shirt and big blonde hair. Fuck. I quickly turned my head toward and focused on my cigarette, hoping he wouldn't recognize me.

I heard him stagger around for a bit before lighting a smoke and leaning against the house. You could smell him from where I sat, the odor of hard booze and pot overwhelming me. I just kept looking forward, until I heard a grunt as he crashed on the floor, likely passed out. God, he was a mess.

Frustrated, I put out my cigarette and walked over to where he was laying. He didn't move as I plucked the cigarette from his fingers and crushed it under my boot.

His face hadn't changed one bit since I last saw him, it was merely smudged with eyeliner and hidden by hair that stuck out on all ends. My Duff had turned into one of these glam rockers, and if the guys back home could see him they'd laugh their asses off.

Comforted by his inebriated state and inability to recognize anything but the inside of his eyelids, I walked back inside to find Axl, hoping that I hadn't scared him too much. I hated to say it, but I was fascinated by the man.

I walked back into the kitchen to grab a new drink before walking back to the crowd. Josie came up from behind while I was opening up a new beer.

"What the hell was that? You had us all pretty freaked out for a sec!"

"I'll explain later, but now, let's go do some damage control with Axl before someone else catches his attention!" I smiled at my own words with an excitement in my veins.

I figured that there was no better way to hurt Duff then to sleep with the lead singer of his new band. I wanted to hurt him the same way he hurt me when he left to come out here. At this point, there was no sensible thought left in my head, only anger fueling me.

I walked back over to Axl grabbing his hand, leading him over to a crowd of people dancing. If I was going to do this, I had to make sure it would be an experience Axl would never forget.