Deanna • Duff McKagan

Chapter Fourteen • Like Nobody Else

July 20th, 1985

"Please don't tell me I'm missing teeth," I cry out as Haley and Andrea kneel down beside me, trying to make sense of the bloody mess that has become my mouth. In the Troubadour bathroom, while Guns N' Roses is forced to play their next set, I sit here replaying the incidents in the back of my mind.

As soon as frat boy hit me and the band attacked, Reggie ran into the room because of the chaos. And when Reggie couldn't handle the situation, he called for backup. Then more backup. Then even more backup, before they finally pried the band off of the random frat boy and escorted said frat boy out.

"I don't see any missing teeth," Andrea states, lifting my chin a bit before placing a plastic bag full of ice against my bruising jaw. "That piece of shit is banned from here, I don't give a fuck what my dad says."

The door to the women's bathroom is pushed open, revealing the tall, blonde man named Duff McKagan. "Is she okay?" He asks, beads of sweat rolling down his face.

"I'm okay," I groan, taking the ice pack from my face and placing it on the sink. I stand up from the tile floor before pulling him into a hug. Man, do I need to buy him some deodorant. "Thanks for attacking him." I grab his chin with my hand, tilting it downward so I could look at his injuries.

The frat boy, who's name we've learned is Robbie, is definitely worse off than Duff is, but he managed to get a couple good hits in, which resulted in a black eye and a busted lip. "I'm sorry you got hurt," I say, letting go of his face.

Duff shrugs, looking down at me. He's too damn tall for this, and with his boots adding three inches, it doesn't help. "He hurt you, and I'm not okay with that."

"Well, I'm not okay with him hurting you, either," a moment of silence ensues between the two of us before Andrea ruins it.

"Well, you two are sickeningly sweet," she groans, standing up from her position on the tile floor. "I gotta let the security know that that asshole isn't allowed here ever again." She pushes open the door to the bathroom, leaving Duff, Haley, and I alone.

"I'm uh-" Haley looks past the two of us, trying to find some excuse to leave. And truthfully, I don't blame her, this must be awkward. "Oh, I think I hear Andrea calling me. Coming!"

"Andrea literally wasn't calling her," I scoff, leaning my head back on the wall. "She could've just left."

Duff kneels down beside me, although his tall frame still towers over mine. "I could've killed that guy," he sighs, shaking his head. "I've learned that I don't like people who hurt you."

"I can take care of myself, Duff," I mutter, although I know it isn't true, clearly. The walls around my heart are made of stone, and maybe I can let them down for Duff... "alright, I'm lying, no I can't." I sigh, making eye contact with the tall blonde.

"I wanna take care of you," his eyes stare into mine, and it's almost like everything around me disappears. I'm not sitting on the floor of the bathroom at a place I used to work, I don't have a bloody lip, and I definitely didn't just get punched in the face by an entitled rich kid.

I'm here, Duff McKagan knelt down in front of me. Not Duff McKagan the bassist of the famous Los Angeles rock band named Guns N' Roses, the Duff McKagan That has been the only person to truly show me that he cared.

"Don't you have another set to play?" I didn't mean to have those words come out of my mouth, especially not the way they sounded. It's just how I am, pushing people away over and over again.

He shakes his head quickly, "that's not important right now, stop trying to push me away." My eyes widen as the bassist pinpoints exactly what I'm doing, like nobody else has done before.

"I'm not pushing you away," lies. Everything that has come out of my life in the past five minutes has been a lie. What a great band manager I am.

He chuckles, his poofy blonde hair bouncing as he shakes his head. He should probably use a bit more Aquanet. "You're lying."

I need to stop lying, I can't lie, especially not to Duff. He can see right through me. In the eyes of Duff McKagan, I'm pretty much translucent.

"Yeah, I am," I admit, avoiding his gaze. I stand up from the tile, Duff following my actions. He towers over me, he towers over everyone actually.

"Don't lie to me, not about anything. Not anymore," his voice drops to a whisper as he leans down and presses his forehead against mine. His lips, just inches from mine, look so inviting.

"Duff, we gotta go back on- what's going on here?" The singer smirks, leaning against the door.

I pull away from Duff quickly, not knowing what else to do. "You better get back on stage, McKagan," I smile at him as he chuckles, leaving the bathroom with Axl.

Maybe my walls will come crashing down after all.

A/N: Shout out to Snooki for Deanna's lines at the beginning of this lmfao