Free Bird (Axl Rose Fanfic)

3 - Red Wine

Feeling the soft breeze on her face, Aryl was thankful for the small amount of wind. The weather was so hot even in the middle of the night. Axl had taken her to an isolated street at the back of another club. It was a filthy, stinky place, but she didn't feel like complaining, and didn't feel unsafe either, perhaps because of her companion.

They had been talking for almost an hour, and she realized that he wasn't as crazy as he seemed before. He actually made a lot of sense, and Aryl didn't understand how a man this intelligent can believe in that spirit thing he talked about. Every word he said, every sentence he formed never failed to fascinate her.

He told her that he was actually from Lafayette, Indiana and explained briefly how he made it to LA and how Guns N' Roses was formed. He told her about his current house that he shared with the other band members, and why they call it "Hell House", as well as telling her a few funny stories about the lead guitarist and bassist -she had learnt that their names were Slash and Duff- and hilarious things they did when they were drunk. She told him that she was not American, that she first came to the US for work, but ended up in a band. She told him about how she met Dustin, and how he got her into his band. Axl listened eagerly, kept asking questions, and seemed very interested.

Then, they talked music. They were both surprised to find out that they both loved Elton John and Queen, and were both into art rock and symphonic rock. They discussed about hard rock bands like Led Zeppelin, Thin Lizzy, Nazareth and Aerosmith, and Aryl was amazed by how similar their thoughts were.

At some point, they started to talk about musical instruments. When they realized that they could both play the piano, Axl abruptly jumped to his feet and offered her his hand. He helped her stand up, then told her to follow him.

They passed between dirty apartments filled with graffittis, a lot of question marks in Aryl's head. They came to a fire-escape ladder, and Axl started going up, which forced Aryl to do the same. He stopped in the middle of the ladder, and pulled out keys from his pocket. He fiddled with them, and finally finding the right one, he opened the door in front of them.

"A friend of mine stays here." Axl explained. "I don't think he'd mind us being here for the night." It was a decent, average apartment, and was cleaner than it looked from outside. It was a perfect place to spend the rest of the night.

Axl went to the kitchen as she wandered around, observing the furniture. The walls were decorated with framed posters of musicians like Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra. A banner that said "Canter's" was shining in the middle. Almost all of the furniture consisted of a cream colored couch and an armchair.

Axl came back in a minute, holding two glasses of red wine. He offered one to Aryl, and she felt like she had to accept it. A little drink wouldn't hurt, would it? She was a rockstar after all. He then held her shoulder softly and pulled her towards a piano that she hadn't noticed before. So, this was why they were here.

Axl took a seat on the chair, putting his glass on the piano. He then started playing, and Aryl was captivated once more. His fingers expertly seized the keys as he played an Elton John style melody. He was hitting the keys with too much force, but it was still truly beautiful. "What is this?" she quietly asked, not wanting him to stop playing. "This is something I've been working on for a while, it's called November Rain." Axl explained without taking a break. November Rain...

Then, he started singing with the unique voice of his. It was strange hearing him sing a nice, sweet song with his baritone tone after she had seen him scream like a little child. The lyrics were so meaningful that she was surprised how emotional this bad-boy can be. It was purely amazing.

When he ended the song, she felt like clapping but held herself. Axl turned to her to see her reaction, and saw her with a smile on her face, her eyes open in amazement. "Wow..." she whispered, "That was beautiful." Axl replied only with a smile, then scooted over, creating space for her. "Come, sit." he said, patting the piano chair.