"Where the fuck were you!?" Izzy yells as Axl walks in through the apartment door, shutting it solemnly, looking tired with a dark, nasty looking black eye contrasting against his pale skin.
"Can we leave the interrogation for later, I'm tired Izzy!" He snaps, stomping to his bedroom and slamming his door, causing the whole apartment to shake, Izzy and I to jump in our positions on the tattered couch.
"I got it." I murmur as I slide from the couch receiving a nod in confirmation from Izzy who sits peacefully strumming his guitar.
"Hey Ax?" I whisper into his bedroom door,
"I bought ice."
I slowly open the door to see my older brother laid on his bed staring at the ceiling blankly.
"Axl?"
I creep across the room, taking in the cleanliness and organised shelves before sitting down on the bed beside his body.
"Please talk to me. I'm your sister."
"I'm sorry, I'm a screw-up Alexis, I left you with that monster and god knows what happened to you and I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry." He rambles, tears forming in his eyes.
"Axl, stop, are you drunk?" Tears are gathering in my eyes and I clench my fists in attempt to hold in my emotions.
"Let me finish what I'm trying to say, I was selfish and I left you. I didn't come back when I said I would and every time Izzy said about kidnapping you or saving you I turned down so you could finish school because you're so clever Bails, I'm so sorry."
We're both blubbering now as Axl sits forwards and embraces me tightly.
"He hurt me in so many ways Ax." My tears stain the shirt he's wearing.
"I'll never be able to tell you how sorry I am."
"It's not your fault, it's his." I cry.
"I'll kill him Alexis, I'll fucking kill him." Axl growls into my shoulder, sobs racking his body.
"Just put the ice on your eye and lay down, I'm going to clean my face up." I laugh half-heartedly before placing the ice pack in his hands and leaving the room, a weight lifted from both our shoulders.
"Hey Lexy! Merry fucking Christmas!" Is screamed as the three missing band members and a few skimpy looking girls stroll into the apartment, along with the girl from last night.
"Hey guys!" I yell, matching Duff's enthusiasm.
It's been a couple hours since Axl's drunk confession and whilst none of us are in the Christmas mood, (being skint and all) the band have decided to come to ours to have a minor party.
Each guy flops down comfortably with either a bottle of something or a girl on their lap, music plays and I clench my fists for the second time that night as one of the girls begin making out with our bassist, right in front of me on the couch. Gross.
"So you like Duff?" The girl from last night sits beside me on the small sofa elegantly.
"What? Duff?" Do I like Duff? No.
"So hey, I'm Erin, I forgot to introduce myself yesterday with the whole 'missing Axl' thing" she laughs.
"Hey, I'm Alexis." I laugh back.
"So I hear you were pretty amazing at that show last night missy." She nudges me playfully with her elbow.
"What show?" Axl interrupts as he leans on the couch back behind Erin.
"Oh you know. The one you completely bailed on last night." I say casually as I take a swig from a bottle of JD.
"Ah fuck, so what happened?" He stutters, annoyance covering his features as he runs a hand through his hair.
"Well, your lil sister here saved the show, wow she can sing!" Erin gushes to my brother.
"Totally man! You should've seen her on stage!" Steven yells across the room, gaining the attention of the whole band and causing a blush to flood my face.
"Not really..." I mumble, suddenly feeling exposed, dragging my feet onto the couch and burying my face into my knees.
"She was amazing Axl, you should've seen her, damn she got moves! Duff yells from underneath the bimbo plastered to his lap, causing her to shift from his lap to Steven's with a jealous snarl.
It's just then that the door crashes open and five more rowdy, drunk men stumble through the door, hands filled with crates of alcohol.
"Let the party begin!" One yells as he jumps onto the sofa, landing so he lays across me and Erin's laps, forcing my feet back to the floor so his head rests on my thighs. Axl grumbles something about needing a drink before patting Erin on the head and heading towards the kitchen.
"Um....hello?"
"Well hello there gorgeous, I'm Rachel." The strange guy winks up at me.
"Well hello to you too, I'm Alexis, you can call me Alex." I wink back.
The other men who invaded the apartment take positions around the small room and begin chatting and laughing happily whilst drinking and smoking casually with the boys.
"Would you mind moving off of me dumbass?" Erin chuckles towards the strange man on top of us.
"Sure, you go find the redhead and I'll keep Lex here company, Erin." Rachel bargains craftily.
"Good idea Rachel." The woman smirks.
Rachel rolls off our laps onto his feet on the ground allowing Erin to hop to her high heels and scamper off towards the kitchen where my brother stands chatting with a tall, long haired guy.
"So what brings you to the Rose and Stradlin apartment Mr Rachel." I question as he sits closely beside me in his right jeans and leather jacket. His nose to ear chain becoming more visible as his hand swipes his gorgeous hair back.
"Izzy invited us over to celebrate the holiday season, with promise of a pretty girl." He winks again before reaching towards the table and grabbing my Jack Daniels bottle for a gulp. Everyone else fading away into the background as I focus on every gorgeous detail of him.
"Are you always this charming?"
"Only when I want to be."
"Hmm, so how do you know the Guns?" I question thoughtfully as I look over the scene before me, Duff and Slash sit with two of the invaders on the opposite couch each with a bottle of alcohol and either a joint or cigarette, the former stealing glances in our direction every few minutes, Steven and bimbo chick have disappeared whilst Izzy, Axl and two more invaders chat beside the kitchen doorway.
"Well Skid Row and Guns N Roses sometimes play on the same bills and hang out a lot." He explains, lighting his own cigarette.
"Skid Row?" I look up at him due to his height innocently.
"Our band, we haven't been together long but I think we're getting somewhere."
"I'll have to come see you guys play sometime."
"We have a show with Guns at the Roxy for New Years if you'd like to attend as my date?" Rachel asks with slight shyness.
"I'd love that." I smile gleefully, "So what do you play Rachel?"
"Bass, but I dabble in some guitar every now and then, can you play?" He smirks.
"Well, I can play guitar pretty good among some others. Want me to show you?" I grab his hand and get to my feet, swaying slightly with the alcohol in my system.
"That would be awesome." He hops up beside me, also swaying as he stands but quickly steadying himself.
"This way." I lead him towards my bedroom where my guitar awaits.
