Red Hot ~Nikki Sixx

Part 50: Dream On

A/N:

hey all!

Again, I can't thank you enough for hanging with me on this one. Damn it feels good to be writing again. As always your comments are loved and appreciated.

It's too late. I'm done waiting.

Don't even want you anymore.

Ashten's eyes flew open as she jolted awake. She quickly sat up, her heart thundering in her chest and her cami soaked through with sweat.

She swallowed thickly, her eyes plastered to the ceiling. The calm of her deep sleep faded and was slowly replaced by an overwhelming nausea. Her head spun and she fought the impending vertigo, but the nausea was still there, pushing at her gut as she attempted to unravel her legs from her bed sheets that had tangled around her like a boa constrictor during her restless sleep.

It was a dream. It was just a dream.

She repeated the words to herself like a mantra, trying to slow her heartbeat and tame the raised hairs on the back of her neck.

A mixture of fear and impending doom crept up her spine as she heard the wind roar outside, causing the rain to pelt her windows sideways

She wasn't sure if it was the raging thunderstorm outside or the heinous dream that woke her up but it didn't matter. Either way she was awake.

Scared and shaken up she didn't want to go back to sleep and she sure has hell didn't want to stay in her bedroom alone. She climbed down from her bed but not before checking her phone.

No new messages or missed calls.

It was the third night in a row she'd had some variation of the same nightmare. The same visions seemed to play behind her eyelids when she closed her eyes each night. This particular version included Nikki telling her he was done waiting for her to make a decision and decided to go back to Donna. He'd also thrown in some choice words just to drive the knife further into her heart.

The previous few nights when her subconscious jarred her awake she sought refuge at Tommy's. Each time she traipsed into the den and made herself comfortable on one of the large couches. Taking in her surroundings as the TV screen would begin illuminating the room, she would relish the fact that Tommy's house had a peaceful vibe that always provided comfort. Something about it soothed her.

She was almost certain that comfort had nothing to do with the muffled low rumble of bass strings coming from the downstairs studio each night.

But due to the torrential downpour outside she'd have to practically swim across the patio to get to Tommy's, making the his den and the bass rumble a refuge she couldn't seek on that particular night.

Instead, she padded into her living room to curl up on her own couch and flipped on the TV. She flicked through the channels until she found an all night station playing reruns of Friends. She wrapped herself in a plush blanket and rested her head on one of her oversized pillows.

Paying attention to the 90's sitcom became a daunting task as her eyes kept slipping from the glowing screen to the coffee table. On it sat the most recent bouquet of roses from Nikki.

The third one in the last few weeks. Each time with a different note. Sometime they were his own words and sometimes a quote.

Pink ones this time. And a note that read:

There is my heart, and then there is you. And I'm not sure there is a difference.

Love, Nikki