Deanna • Duff McKagan

Chapter Twelve • Moving Day

July 14th, 1985

"Are you sure you and Steven don't want to move in with Haley and I?" I ask Slash as the rest of the guys toss their few belongings into trash bags. "We don't have a lot of room, but I can always make room for y'all."

Slash smiles, a cigarette hanging from his mouth. "Nah, I've had some pretty wicked threesomes with Steven and his girl."

I laugh, rolling my eyes at the curly haired guitarist. Yesterday, after we had declared that three fifths of Guns N' Roses would be moving into my apartment, we went back to the storage unit, where I was informed that there are also four girls living in that small rehearsal space.

"Well, just know you'll always have a place if you need one," I pause, thinking of the information I've learned in the past few days. "And no more sleeping in the Tower Records parking lot, you need a place to crash, you come here." He nods in agreement.

"Did you even tell your apartment building you're moving three strange men into your apartment?" Izzy asks, his sunglasses covering his eyes. He has a trash bag slung over his shoulder and his guitar case in hand, ready to go.

"What they don't know, won't hurt them," I roll my eyes, playfully punching the rhythm guitarist in the arm. "Are you excited for indoor plumbing?"

Izzy laughs, one of the few times I have seen him laugh, and nods. "Very fucking excited." He steps away from me, exiting the storage unit to place his things next to Axl's outside.

Although the guys could keep their storage unit for rehearsals, they're taking all of their equipment out and letting the four teenage runaways live here. They aren't all bad.

"You know," Duff begins, leaning against the wall next to me. "This is really cool what you're doing, letting us crash." I don't reply, just sending the twenty-one year old a smile.

"Oh, wait," I gasp, my eyes widening. "Band meeting!" As soon as those words are said, the five members of the band, as well as Haley and Steven's girlfriend, Monica, Circle up in the middle of the storage unit.

"Okay," I look around at the unit, at the faces of the people that have become the family I never had. "Axl, have you heard anything about charges being pressed against you and Slash?"

He shakes his head. "Not yet, they're still looking for evidence in order to arrest us," he says. "One of Michelle's friends still comes around, she keeps me in the loop."

"Don't fuck another fifteen year old," I warn, rolling my eyes. "Here's my thing, as soon as charges are pressed, we may have to cancel the gigs we have planned. If Axl and Slash are wanted, you guys can't get up on stage where the cops will know exactly where you are."

"She's right," Steven nods. Steven and I don't talk as much as I would like, but he radiates this energy that drops a wave of instant happiness over you. "We'll have to cancel all of the gigs we have."

"You're going to keep playing until you do though," I inform them. "We can't cancel gigs unless absolutely needed, bad for the rep. As a precaution, I'm legitimately going to plan an escape route for every venue."

"I literally have no idea why your father wouldn't want you as a band manager," Steven shakes his head. "You're fucking amazing at it."

"Why, thank you," I laugh, walking away from the group. I grab some of the garbage bags, belonging to who, I don't know, and threw them in the back of the station wagon I borrowed from Andrea to move the guys' stuff. It's not like we lived a far distance from the storage unit, but it was too far to walk carrying their shit. "Are you guys coming?" I ask, looking over my shoulder.

Steven's girlfriend, Monica, hasn't said a word to Haley or myself since we met her, she wouldn't even shake our hands. Fortunately for us (but not for Steven) I don't think they're gonna last much longer.

Slowly but surely, the rest of the band begins grabbing the bags and boxes full of clothing and throwing it into the car. I may be semi crazy for letting them move in with me, but if I'm going to manage them (which I never officially started doing), I'm going to have to give it my all.

Once the car is packed full with their things, I grip the keys in my hand tightly. "Uh, guys? Any of you with a license want to operate this death machine?" I ask, holding up the keys to Andrea's car.

"You don't have your license yet?" Duff asks with a lopsided smirk. He's cute sometimes. I shake my head no as a response. "I'll drive then," it worked out in the end, because Duff is the least intoxicated of them all at the moment.

"You know what I just realized?" Steven asks before we pile into the car. "You and Haley seem to know everything about us, but we know so little about you."

"That's not true!" Haley interrupts immediately, taking a small step towards Duff. "You know about Deanna's daddy issues and the fact that we're step sisters."

I chuckle, sliding into the passenger seat. "I don't have daddy issues, I just have an annoying asshole as a father."

"Which translates to daddy issues," Duff smirks, turning to face me. "But that's okay, most of the people in this vehicle do."

"He's right," Axl says from behind me. "My dad left when I was two, Steven's dad left. Yours is a dick," the redhead chuckles. "I'm going to be a damn good father when I have kids, though."

Conversation ceases as we pull into the parking lot of the apartment building on North Clark, right down the street from the Whisky. The only reason Haley and I had gotten this apartment is because I was dating Nikki at the time, and he lived a couple houses down. As much as I loved the man, there was no way in Hell I was moving into the filthy apartment he shared with Vince and Tommy.

"We're going to have to grab your shit and run up stairs as fast as possible," Haley says, opening the car door. "It's Sunday, Maureen is going to be in the office."

Maureen is our annoying landlord, who also happens to be Haley's aunt. She likes to try and control every aspect of our lives because her sister married my father, and just like my mother, her sister ended up dead after getting into drugs. That's the only reason she lets us live there with a big ass break on rent.

"That means, grab your bags and run," I instruct, hopping out of the car. The guys follow my lead, and we sprint into the building. Up the stairs, second floor, third door on the right.

"So where are they sleeping?" Monica asks as we step into our apartment. She doesn't even make eye contact with us, just continues staring at her nails.

"We have a guest room," I say shortly, not interested in having a conversation with the girl.

She snorts, laughing. "Three guys in one room? That's funny."

I roll my eyes, getting more annoyed by the second. "No, two guys in the guest room. Duff, you're bunking with me."