Book 1: She's A Little Runaway (Izzy Stradlin)

Eighteen

● Reyna ●

So much for keeping the Nikki thing a secret. 

I glare at him from my spot beside Izzy on the couch. Izzy and I just came over to the boys apartment to hang out, and who do I find there? Nikki fuckin’ Sixx, Tommy Lee, and Vince Neil. I’m not surprised that Mick didn’t come. He’s not a partier like his bandmates. I’m guessing that Steven made friends with the Crüe last night after Izzy and I left. He probably couldn’t feel the tension between Nikki and I or he thought that we wouldn’t show up today.

Izzy, however, doesn’t notice the angry tension between the bassist and I. He just talks to Slash about one of the chords in a new song that they're working on. Tommy is talking animatedly with my brother, and Vince is talking to Axl. Nikki sits quietly on the floor with a bottle of JD in his hands, a scowl on his face. 

Izzy has his arm wrapped around my shoulders and slightly leans into me. I melt into his touch and let myself forget about the annoying man that is glaring at me. He knows it’s all his fault, but Nikki doesn’t like to take responsibility for what he’s done. He believes that it’s everyone else’s fault. He didn’t used to be like that. He used to be so sweet. When he started doing drugs every day, though, that’s when everything went to shit. 

I sigh, looking over at Slash. I try my best to tune in to their conversation, but it’s not that interesting. To be completely honest, I’m bored as hell. Something in Tommy and Stevie’s conversation caught Slash’s attention. He drops the conversation with Izzy, and begins to argue with Steven.

Izzy turns his attention to me. A small smile forms on his face as his beautiful eyes land on me. A smile forms on my lips as well. He looks so relaxed and happy. I’ve only seen him like this when we’re alone or when he’s sleeping. I absolutely love seeing him like this. I use the couch to push myself up a bit, kissing his lips. He melts into the kiss, moving the hand that’s not wrapped around my shoulders to my thigh.

He pulls the way, the small smile growing wider. “You okay? You haven’t said a word since we got here.”

“I’m fine,” I say, forcing the smile to remain on my face. “I’m just tired. I think we stayed out too late last night.” I hear Nikki scoff. My head snaps toward where he’s sitting. “What’s your problem?”

Nikki rolls his eyes, taking a swig from the bottle. After he swallows the whiskey, he says, “Seeing you being all cutesy with your boyfriend is just sickening.” I don’t miss the small tone of hurt in his voice when he called Izzy my boyfriend. “Go get a fucking room or something.” 

I look around the room to find that Nikki was the only one staring at us. I roll my eyes, a frown on my lips. “You’re the only one that’s bothered by it, dick.”

Nikki scoffs again. “You’re all bark and no bite. Call me names all you want, but you’ll never actually do anything.”

“No,” I respond, my voice dangerously low. “You were always the one to go through with your words.”

Izzy clears his throat. Nikki and I both look at him. He has an uncomfortable look on his face. I know that this whole confrontation is awkward for him. No doubt that later he’d be mad that I kept him out of the loop.

“Do you two know each other or something?”

Nikki’s green eyes trail back to me, the glare slipping off his face for a moment. “We used to. But now we’re just strangers.”

“Only you haven’t changed a bit,” I say, feeling my glare soften as well. 

You can’t just erase those years spent together, no matter how much I wanted to. I’ll never forget those late nights where we’d stay up until sunrise, talking nonsense and writing music. When I dyed his hair black for the first time and when I bought him a bass for his birthday. Those stolen kisses when we kept our relationship secret. 

Then there were the bad times. The first time he had me try coke. Then heroin. Then those nights where he’d lose his temper and take it out on me, simply because he was comfortable with me. Those rude words he’d say to me. 

I always tried to see the best of Nikki, even after he left. I never let any bad thoughts come to mind when I thought of him. But, when the boys appeared the bad memories fled back into my mind. For some reason they triggered those memories. 

Maybe because the boys treated me the way I deserved. They didn’t openly do drugs, except for that night where we smoked weed. They were sweet and kind and accepted me without much thought. Whereas Vince could be an absolute dick, Tommy could be too flirty, and Mick could be too distant. Maybe I’m just biased. I mean, Stevie is in Guns.

“I can say the same for you,” Nikki says, the glare not returning to his face. 

I feel my anger waver as I look into the eyes I once fell in love with. However, the memories came back. My glare hardened.

“I lied. You’re not as good of a sweet talker as you used to be.”

Nikki’s eyes widened. It’s as if he expected his words to have an impact on me. As if he expected me to leave Izzy right then and there for just seven empty words. 

“I lied too, I guess,” Nikki’s expression deflates from one of hope to one of hurt. “You’re not as charmed by me as you used to be.”

“And don’t you forget that, Frank,” I say.

I feel myself tense for a moment as I wait for Nikki’s reaction. I only used his birth name because I knew it would spite him the most. Last time I used his birth name was during a fight. Let’s just say that it didn’t end well for me. Out of the corner of my eye I see Izzy look down at me with concern. I know that he felt me tense up. However, Nikki doesn’t move from the floor. 

He just sighs and takes a swig from the bottle that he never let go of. 

“Let’s get out of here,” I say to Izzy, grabbing his hand and leaving the apartment.

I don’t look back at Nikki. I want to be rid of him.