𝚛𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚜 // 𝚊𝚡𝚕 𝚛𝚘𝚜𝚎 [𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚎]

XIV: Don't Ask Me Where 'Cause I Don't Know

Updating again to apologise for the lack of chapters recently. Hope you enjoy this!

Axl POV

The restlessness of his thoughts contrasted with the calming cloak of velveteen night as Axl lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling as images projected from his memories onto the white paint. He was still somewhat in shock from the realisation that Layla was here, that a past he'd tried to forget had come back to confront him; sleep evaded him as snippets of images, conversations and considerations of the future danced around his mind.

Layla's eyes were wide, and he could see her hand trembling as she stared at something only she could see. "What is it? Layla?" His voice was quiet but urgent as he knelt in the grass beside her, seeing nothing but the stream and field beyond as he looked in the direction her dilated pupils stared in apparent fear towards. Looking up at Jeff on her other side, his concerned expression stared back at him. "I didn't know this shit could make you hallucinate," the dark-haired boy almost whispered, horror clear in his tone. "Oh, God, it's my fault, isn't it? She heard me talking to Roger that time..."

"C'mon, let's go!" A carefree, spirited smile adorned Layla's face, grabbing Will and Jeff's hands as she started running, sunlight illuminating the path. The bag into which the stolen record had been hastily shoved thumped against her leg as they took off across the road and into the bright fields beyond, brown hair hitting Will's cheek as she turned to check that they weren't being chased. Sometimes he wanted to question her delinquent attitude for the sake of a few dollars, but most of all, the three of them found peace in the anarchy.

Jeff laughed as he lowered the joint from his lips, grinning in semi-drugged haze at Will and Layla. They were half-sitting, half-laying in a circle on the grass, talking, smoking and occasionally strumming the acoustic guitar that lay between them. These hazy summer afternoons were a beautiful escape from life's harsh realities; the families from whom they felt so estranged, the school they had given up on, the dreams slowly slipping away. But one dream remained, and the guitar Layla now picked up and began strumming embodied it.

Abruptly, Axl swung his legs to the side and sat up on the edge of his bed, the sounds of agitated breathing filling the the otherwise quiet air. Not that LA was ever quite quiet, of course - the sounds of scuffles, drunken laughter and music dulled by walls permeated it in an ever-changing backstreet symphony. But, for Axl, the loudest thing of all was his thoughts. Something in his mind wouldn't let him rest until -

He stood, rifling through the clothes discarded on the floor for a relatively clean and socially acceptable combination before finding a Queen t-shirt and jeans, which he pulled on, grabbing the apartment's key from the table and shoving it in his pocket. A sense of purpose had risen in him, restlessness giving way to action.

He was going to find Layla. And Axl was damned if he'd let the past haunt him forever.

~

He'd been walking around for what must've been hours with no luck, and Axl was now rapidly coming to realise how ridiculous this plan had been. All he knew about Layla's life now was that she attended Guns' recording studio and worked at that bar, neither of which indicated where she might be found in the middle of the night. Not that it was the middle of the night anymore; it had begun to get lighter as he wandered around the streets of LA and he presently checked his watch, realising that it was 6AM. 

It really had been hours.

Just as he was about to give up and head home to crash for a few hours before rehearsals, Axl caught sight of a familiar head of brown hair exiting an apartment building across the street. His heart leapt as he checked the street was clear, then ran across it, determined that the wasn't going to lose Layla again. Not when she was this close.

His second thoughts, considering whose apartment she just exited, came too late as he caught up to her. Layla's head turned at the sound of running behind her, and an expression of shock mixed with resignation crossed her tear-stained face. "Oh my God," she said quietly. "Will."

Time seemed to freeze in that moment. The few others on the street were forgotten; the tableau of recognition, relief and dread played out between Axl and Layla was the only thing in the world. 

"Yeah," he responded, words failing him as he realised he hadn't planned for this moment, not really. "I... we've got a lot of talking to do, huh?"

She swallowed, voice trembling as she spoke. "I guess there's no avoiding it anymore."

His breath shuddered as he drew it in. There was so much gravity in this moment that nothing he could say or do seemed to do it justice, but standing on a street didn't seem like the right place to go through the emotions and memories that were doubtless going to flow. "C'mon," he said, extending a hand. "Let's go somewhere more private. Then we can figure out what to do next."

So they finally met! I'd love to hear your thoughts on this chapter and what's going to happen next! :) Thanks so much for reading <3