Red Hot ~Nikki Sixx

Part 44: Aftermath

A/N.  Wow, I cannot believe this damn story has 35k reads.  You are all amazing and I am SORRY I am making everyone cry with this whole Ashten and Nikki trauma, but I couldn't let them be ridiculously happy forever, right???  Anyway, moving right along.....

Ashten couldn't remember ever being so tired. Not even when she was in med school and would work behind a bar pouring drinks until nearly the break of dawn only to have to get up mere hours later and attend a full day of classes. Or even after graduation when she spent her internship in the mental ward at Cedars where she would be awake and on call for a solid 48 hours.

She sighed as she glanced at the night stand clock next to the queen size hotel bed she'd spent the last few hours sprawled on, fruitlessly attempting sleep.

It was almost seven in the morning and she hadn't closed her eyes once while the events of the previous hours of her life replayed in her head like a horrible movie. A bad nightmare from which she couldn't wake up.

Try as she did, Ashten couldn't get Nikki's face out her mind. The dark look in his eyes as his brief vulnerability was washed away by some inner demon she'd never known.

And his voice. The tone he used as he annihilated her was almost sinister. Like he enjoyed watching the pain hit her chest and squeeze her heart. Like it was funny to rip her open.

Like he knew what would hurt the most.

She layed there and licked her proverbial wounds for another ten minutes before finally quitting on the notion of trying to catch even a moment's rest. She sat up with a huff and threw the covers off deciding the best thing to do would be to just get up and get her stuff ready. They had a flight back home in a few short hours and her clothes, along with everything else she removed from the buses, were strewn all over her room.

In an effort to stay busy and keep her mind off the current shit storm that was her life, she got up, got herself dressed, did some make-up, and began to organize and pack. She started with a pile of dirty laundry in which she noticed included a few of Nikki's t-shirts. Ashten gave them a quick glance before shoving them into a laundry bag with her clothes to be washed when she got home.

Home, she thought to herself. Do I even have one anymore?

Tommy hadn't said anything to the contrary but she knew he wasn't happy. And did she really want to be somewhere she wasn't welcome or wanted?

Ashten pushed it all out of her mind as best she could and she focused solely on packing. So much so that what should have easily been an hour long job was completed in fifteen minutes.

With nothing left to do, she let herself wander the hotel until she found the large stone terrace which looked out over a courtyard. The sun had just completely risen and there was a slight chill in the morning air as she camped out on the stone staircase that led to the botanical gardens. She savored a few minutes of peace and quiet as she took a sip of the coffee she'd acquired from the cafe.

"Jesus, it's cold as fuck out here." A deep and husky voice complained from behind her.

From the corner of her eye Ashten could see two Converse covered feet and a pair of long gangly legs plant themselves next to her. With a slight turn of her head she caught a glimpse of Tommy parking himself just a few steps above her, a cigarette trapped between his closed lips as he shivered and rubbed his arms.

"You are wearing short sleeves," she pointed out. So was she but she at least had the sense to throw a hoodie on over her t-shirt. "You're up early."

Tommy shrugged. "Couldn't sleep. A lot on my mind."

Ashten let out a long sigh and turned back to face the courtyard. Their exchanges over the previous days had been less than cordial and she just didn't have any fight left in her.