Patience

Chapter Thirty-Four - No More Tears

Ever since the previous show where Duff and I had that...incident, it's been awkward. He's acted more aggressive and anxious. He's secretive and jumpy. Sometimes he'll come back into our hotel room with a red, runny nose, and teary eyes. I could never tell if it was from crying or something else. I would find empty beer bottles scattered around the tour bus. It worried me very much so, to think that Duff doing things that he shouldn't.

A lot of times I would find cocaine stored in little bags, hidden in places the guys would think that I would never look. Izzy swore by our mothers grave, that he had quit drugs, and I guess I did believe him. 

He didn't tell me if the others had quit too. I would ask him about Duff, and Izzy would change the subject to avoid answering my questions and concerns. 

It seems like every show gets worse and worse. Axl shows up later than before, few shows have actually been cancelled since he showed up so late. The boys have been out of it, not acting very intelligent, and very drunk.

If this stuff keeps up, the band is going to crumble apart. Izzy seems more miserable than usual and it saddens me greatly. I never liked seeing him sad, he's literally my other half, and I love him more than anything. He's been my best friend through everything. My siblings mean so much more to me. 

This week we are traveling to New York, where Caroline lives. My lovely sister, that I haven't seen in a long time. This week happens to be Izzy and I's birthday, so we'll spend it with Cara. I hope it cheers Iz up. In the mean time, I've got to find a way to sober these boys up. 

I sat on the edge of the hotel bed, pondering my thoughts. Duff had went out with the rest of the gunners. I worried when he would come back since it was already nearly three in the morning. 

I left one small light on and curled up under the covers. I slowly drifted in and out of sleep for the next hour until the door loudly flew open. I lifted my head up and averted my eyes to the door where Duff had stumbled in.

He fell over a few times, knocking things off the walls. 

I climbed out of bed and glared up at him. "Are you drunk, Duff?" 

"Maybe." He slurred

"Duff! You know you can't be drinking anymore!" I shouted

"Who the fuck cares?" He drunkly slurred

Duff's body hadn't been looking too healthy lately. His hands were cracked and bleeding, his face and stomach bloated, and his golden locks looked thinner. 

"Duff, stop drinking! This is going to kill you, do you want to live like this forever?" 

"Shut up, bitch!" Duff roared

I shivered. "Duff, please stop." 

"You can't tell me what to do anymore. I'm so tired of you telling me to do everything!" He cried

"Duff do this, do that. Stop that, you can't do that!" Duff  mimicked 

"Stop it!" I shrieked

"See! I'm tired of it. Just shut your fucking mouth!" Duff rose his hand and slapped me so hard across my face that I fell to the floor. 

Duff stomped over to the bed and put his head on the pillow, leaving me on the floor in tears. 

Stop crying!  You're stronger than this. Why didn't you hit him back?

My face stung, and tears fell from my eyes. I cried out loud and stood up, running out the door and down the hall. I banged my fist against Slash's door until he opened up.

His tired eyes looked up at me, then widened.

"Jesus Christ Taylor, what happened?" Slash reached out and pulled me into him

"I-it's Duff. H-he hit me, he's drunk!" I sobbed

"Duff did this?" He asked softly

I nodded, tears falling down my neck. 

"Well damn, I can see the fucking handprint. Okay, come on, you're staying in here tonight." He pulled me in and shut the door

"Sophia!" Slash yelled

The body in the bed sluggishly moved. The head of curls looked up at me.

"Holy hell, what happened?" Sophia asked, sitting upright

"Duff's an ass when he's drunk. Get Tay some ice, or a cold rag. I'm going to see what the fucks going on with him." Slash replied

"Sit down, hun. Soph will take care of ya, I'll be back." Slash kissed the top of my head before slipping out the door. 

"What the hell is Duff thinking?" I heard Sophia say from the bathroom 

"I don't know." I sniffled "I told him to stop drinking and he got mad that I was always telling him what to do, and he hit me." 

"Jesus." Sophia mumbled, dabbing the cold rag on my cheek and wiping my tears.

I could hear yelling from down the hallway, Sophia tried blocking it out by turning the television on. She let me sleep in the second bed, while she stayed up and waited for Slash to come back. 

I pretended that I was asleep to try and hear what they were saying.

"He's fucked up." Slash whispered

"How so?" Sophia asked

"Drugs. And lots of alcohol. He's so fucking fucked." 

"Well how the hell are we going to get him to stop? I mean, he's got a baby on the way! And he can't go around hitting his girlfriend. Taylor's too nice to stop him." Sophia hissed

"Ah, I wouldn't be so sure about that. She can be pretty feisty. She can take care of herself." Slash said

I smiled in the dark at that. Slash is such a good man, all of the guys are. They all make mistakes. Even if Duff hit me, I still loved him with all my heart. 

"Yeah, so. Let's just go to bed." Slash whispered. 

The light went out and the room fell silent. I tossed and turned throughout the night, worrying about what Duff was doing. I tried calming my thoughts and just trying to sleep, but nothing worked. 

I stared up at the ceiling for most of the night.

--

Days later we were on the jet to New York. I was sat next to Izzy with Duff sitting grumpily in the back. I was still too nervous and scared to be around Duff, he had been acting so aggressive that it made me not want to be near him.

If Duff keeps this up, he's going to be traveling on a long road of hurt. 

A/N Oh me, oh my, looks like things are getting bad. Oh boy, this is only the beginning. 

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