Reason to Live

Holly - late.
Billie - late.
Deborah- late.
David - late.
Marie- God only knows where.
Bruce - LATE!
I stood nervously backstage, searching for a familiar face. Billie and Holly were off somewhere on their own and Debbie was nowhere to be seen. It really freaked me out when she's late for things like this, because it's really rare that she ever is. My fiancé even struggled to get his sexy ass to the show, and he's almost always on time. I caught a glimpse of myself In a mirror that I walked passed, and I have say, was pretty pleased with how I looked. Not that I'm full of myself or anything, It's just glitter hairspray is really cool! My hair was huge, and my clothes were so awesome. The moment I saw those leather pants, I knew it was love.

I was listening to one of the bands that were on before us, they sucked actually. Then someone grabbed my arse. Assuming it was Bruce, I didn't think much of it. I was pretty shocked when I turned around to see who was there.
“Hey...” a guy said as he eyed me up and down. He was tanned, muscular, had gorgeous blue eyes and awesome long blonde hair. He was hot, man, he was on fire!
“Umm, hi," I said shyly.
“Are you in a band or something?” he asked. I could tell straight away that he wasn't exactly sober, by the way he slurred his words and kept leaning towards me as if he was about to tumble over.
“Yeah, I am," I said, more focused on whether or not Debbie was around.
“Really? You're too pretty looking to be in a band I think. I'm Jax, by the way," he said with a smile.
“Jax?” I asked, not thinking he was serious.
“Yeah, and you are?”
“Taken”, I replied bluntly.
“Nice. Hey, I just got some wicked tattoos... wanna see?” he asked hopefully, completely unaware that I didn't even give him my name.
“Ummm... okay...”
“See this? It's a dragon," he said proudly as he ripped off his shirt.
“Oh, that's , ah... Impressive ," I smiled, not talking about his tattoo as much as I was talking about his chiselled chest. I started to walk away, thinking that would be the perfect time to try and find my soon-to-be-husband.
“Wait, wait! I have more," He said with a sleazy smile. “But maybe It's a little dark to see those. Maybe we should go someplace else? Like my hotel room?” he asked suggestively.
“Hey, wanna see something really sweet?” I asked excitedly.
“Hell yeah babe," He replied, sounding excited too.
“Check out my engagement ring!”, I beamed. “Isn't it just beautiful?” I said, hoping he'd get the hint.
“Shit. This must be worth a lot," He observed, impressed.
"You're fucking kidding," I mumbled. My plan didn't work, if anything he seemed even more interested, now that he thought I was marrying a millionaire.

“Audrey!”, Marie yelled.
“Oh, thank god!, I said out loud, and ran towards her.
“Who's that?”, she asked, looking impressed by my new “friend.”
“Some sleazy guy named Jax. He's available apparently," I said, amused. Marie laughed.
“Well, At least he's kinda cute. Holy hell! He looks like Robert Plant!" she almost screamed, at her second glance.
"No Eric tonight?" I thought I'd remind her.
"Oh, " she laughed. "He's baby sitting... With the guys from Cinderella."
"Can't wait to see how your kid turns out," I joked, patting her on the back.

I saw Debbie and Dave walk past, looking stressed.
“Excuse me for just a second," I smiled, as I chased after them.
"Sure dude, whatever," Marie replied, walking off too, to find Bruce to annoy.
“Deb! Where the hell have you been?”, I asked. She looked awful.
“I'm sick. Aud you've gotta sing," she barely managed to say. Her nose was more red than my lipstick.
“What? No, I can't sing!” I laughed.
I could feel somebody's arms around me, and this time I jumped, not making any assumptions.
“Hey, It's only me," Bruce said smiling. “Why so stressed?” he asked, then kissed my cheek.
“You're crazy! I can't do it!”, I said to Deb.
“I can barely talk! Playing my guitar parts is no problem, we just need a singer... you're it!”, she argued, coughing.
"Ugh. You don't look good," Bruce said to Debbie. She gave him a sarcastic smile. “Why don't you want to sing? You've got a beautiful voice. You sing to me all the time at home," Bruce said to me, not knowing that his opinion wasn't valued at that moment.
“There's a lot I do for you at home that I wouldn't even dream of doing in public," I laughed.
“Well, get Billie or Holly to sing," he suggested.
“Holly doesn't sing, she chants. And Billie only just knows her bass parts, let alone the vocals," Debbie said unimpressed. “You wrote most of the lyrics anyway Audrey. C'mon!”
“Go on. Do it! Don't be shy. I know that you want to," Bruce said, poking and tickling me.
“We're guitarists for a very good reason Bruce.”
“Hey! Put yourself down all you want, but don't drag me down with you!” he joked.
“Fine," I eventually agreed.
"Yes!" Bruce clapped, triumphantly.

I was so nervous when I got on stage, that I thought I'd faint. I felt dizzy enough as it was being pregnant, but being scared shitless made me feel a million times worse. But, once we started playing , and the crowd started cheering, I felt great! Debbie smiled at me as the lyrics flowed naturally, as if I sang them all the time. I hit notes that I thought I'd never be able to sing. It's amazing what effect a cheering crowd can have on a person. It was one of the greatest feelings ever. Everything sounded great, and during my solo, I smiled and pointed at screaming audience members , whenever I got the chance – a little trick I picked up from my favourite guitarist.
The second song was just as successful. That was until I stopped hearing the bass and instead heard a section of the crowd go “Oooh." I glanced at Billie who stood there, looking furious. Luckily the song picked up quickly, and we finished, leaving the place with screaming fans.

“Audrey! That rocked!”Marie screamed proudly as she ran towards me, when we left the stage.
“Aw, thanks!”, I beamed. Bruce hugged me, and lifted me up as I kissed him.
“That was.... Wow," he said sounding very impressed. The smile on his face made me feel like royalty.

Suddenly Billie violently pushed passed us screaming “You stupid whore!” We all stood there shocked as Billie tackled Holly to the floor, pulling at her hair.
“What the hell is your problem?”, Holly screamed, as Dave tore them apart.
“My problem? You're the one with the fucking problem! You threw your drumsticks at me bitch!”
“You got in the way! They were meant for the audience.”
“Who the hell do you think you are? Peter fucking Criss?”
“Argh! Stop fighting!”, Debbie tried to yell, but lost her voice in the process.
“What about you Billie? Strutting around like you're Lita Ford!”
"That's it!" Dave yelled, throwing his arms in the air. "I've had more than enough of this crap! You're both out of the band!"
"You can't kick us out of the band!" Billie snapped.
"You don't own the band, okay?" Holly reminded him, with a nasty tone to her voice.
"Well, then I fucking quit!" he yelled.
"Babe, don't..." Debbie tried to say with a croaky voice, grabbing onto his arm. He stormed out of the room.

There was silence for a few seconds. "Happy now?", I was the first to speak.
"Look what you did!" Holly said bitterly to Billie.
“You're just jealous of me!”, Billie snapped at Holly.
“Jealous? Jealous of what? You're a slut!”
“Jealous that I always get the guys you like, jealous that I'm better friends with Audrey and Debbie than you, I'm prettier... I'm just better than you!”
"We should go," Bruce whispered in my ear. I shook my head at him.
“Guys only like you because you're easy! You're not happy until you've stolen everyone's boyfriend!”
“Is this about that football guy you liked back in '83?”, she asked.
“Not just that you stupid bitch! You steal everyone's boyfriends. Mine.... Audrey's. It's bad enough that you slept with Bruce, then you had to steal Joe Perry from her too!”
“What?”, I squealed in a very high pitched voice. Everyone, but Marie , looked at Holly, disappointed.
"What the fuck is going on?" Marie asked, coldly. I was so shocked by what I had heard.
“It's about time she knew the truth, don't ya think? Let's see how much Audrey loves you now Billie," Holly said, not regretting letting the secret that everyone had kept from me slip.
“Aud... I'm so sorry," Billie said softly. I turned to look at Bruce, who couldn't stop staring at the floor.
"Bruce?" I whispered. He looked up at me, looking guilty as ever. I couldn't believe it. I shook my head, and began to walk away.
“Wait! Audrey!” Bruce yelled as he chased me. He grabbed my arm. “Please, let me explain.”
“No! Don't touch me!.... just... leave me alone, okay?”, I said softly as I pulled away from him. "I just... want to be alone," I murmured.