𝚛𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚜 // 𝚊𝚡𝚕 𝚛𝚘𝚜𝚎 [𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚎]

XVI: Where Do We Go Now?

Woohoo, update spree! Hope you're enjoying the story, especially now they've finally met :) I'm not so good with dialogue but hopefully this is ok. 

Axl POV

Layla's head lay on Axl's shoulder, arms around each other as they swayed along to 'Crazy'. Upon deciding to break the ice with music, something they both knew and loved, they had settled on Aerosmith and soon found it a good excuse to break the ice of physical and well as conversational intimacy. 

"You should be singing this, you know," she mumbled into his neck. "Hey!" She leant back, a thought occurring to her. "Are you in a band? You always wanted to be, right?"

"No need to hedge your bets like that, you know me whether you like it or not," Axl grinned at the girl with her arms around his neck. "And I am, actually. We're called Guns N Roses. In fact -" he checked his watch, then trailed off.

They were meant to have a rehearsal at 11 - around an hour from now - but with Izzy's condition, which with the emotion of meeting Layla had temporarily escaped him, he didn't know what the plan was.

"What is it?" Curious brown eyes stared at him. Damn, that girl was gorgeous. Older, but still the same face he'd fallen in love with. 

"We were meant to have a rehearsal today," Axl told her, "but... our rhythm guitarist overdosed. He's in hospital, in a coma."

"Oh... I'm sorry to hear that. So's my friend, actually," Layla nodded in sympathy, "she's diabetic, and... I'm trying to tell myself there's nothing I could have done about it, but she didn't control her blood sugar properly, which I usually keep an eye out for. Coincidence, huh? Guess that's why we ran into each other at the hospital."

"Yeah. Feels horrible, doesn't it? I feel like it's my fault as well, for not keeping enough of an eye on Izzy."

"Izzy?! You mean Jeff?" The combination of shock and panic in Layla's voice was clear as she took a step back, sinking to the floor and holding her face in her hands. "God, this is all too much," she whispered, looking back up as Axl sat beside her.

They'd discussed changing their names on one of those summer afternoons in Lafayette, planning a future they could dream about to hold onto hope. It had completely escaped him until that moment, and he immediately felt guilty for emotionally stressing Layla out further.

"Shit, I'm sorry. I forgot I hadn't told you I was still with him," he apologised, "I wouldn't have dumped that on you otherwise."

"Well, I would've found out eventually," she sighed with a shrug. 

"Is that you saying you're definitely going to stay?" Axl asked hopefully, still unsure of her flight risk.

"You know what? Yeah. I can't run away from all this anymore," Layla nodded, resolve building in her expression. "Especially knowing Jeff is in trouble."

"In that case..." It had only just occurred to him, but seemed like the perfect solution, presuming the guys were on board. "How about you come with me to rehearsals and fill in on guitar?"

"Seriously?" Renewed hope filled her expression, and a smile returned. "That would be awesome; I'm in kind of a rough patch with my music at the moment anyway. As long as the others won't mind?"

Pretty girl at every rehearsal? I doubt it, Axl thought, though a wave of protectiveness swelled in him at the idea that the Slash, Steven or Duff might try to get with Layla. Shoving it down, he shook his head. "I'm sure they won't mind. Hopefully you'll get along with them all."

"Then I'm in," she nodded, a smile continuing to adorn her features. "Thank you. For everything."

As always, votes and comments would be really appreciated! Thank you all :)