Vanessa

“I heard you last night,” I whispered in Slash’s ear. He turned his great head towards me and ran his fingertips up my thighs and onto the small of my back. I pressed my lips to his fanatically and wrapped a hand in his mass of black hair.

“You heard me doing what last night?” he asked, breathing heavily and pinning me on my back. I dug my face into his neck and kissed his jawbone several times.

“You said ‘I love you’ when you came to bed,” I mumbled, nibbling his ear softly. He chuckled and rolled us both over so that I was sprawled across the top of him. I got onto my knees and ran my nails over his naked torso, making sure to claw his shoulders lightly.

“Well I hope you know that I meant it,” he uttered. His eyes were closed and he had his hands on my hips. I rained down a shower of kisses on his face, lingering longer on his lips. He grinned and sat up underneath me.

“Of course I know that. I just want you to know that I love you as well and I am so sorry about out falling out yesterday,” I murmured back. He placed a finger over my lips, instantly silencing me. He then dragged our bodies closer together and laid me back down on the bed, biting my neck fondly. I pulled at the ends of his curls and threw my head back over the bottom of the bed. I could see Duff and Mandy’s bed and they were both sound asleep. From what I could tell, they both still had their clothes on.

“Let’s just forget about our fight. Obviously we were both wrong and we have fixed everything. Well, nearly everything. I just want to let you know that I did sleep with a few girls while we were separated,” he confessed. I sat up and unraveled my legs from around him.

“Baby, I don’t care whether you slept with other women while we were apart. We weren’t together which means that you were single which means it didn’t matter whether you slept with a thousand women while we had a break,” I explained. He smiled and leant in to kiss me, but then paused.

“Did you sleep with anyone?” he asked. I paused, pretending to think. I didn’t want to tell him about my old prostitution problem. Neither did I want to tell him of the intimate night I had shared with Duff.

“Babe, I was so love-stricken that I didn’t even talk to any guys while we were separated,” I lied. He tilted his head to the side.

“Honest baby, I thought that it would still count as cheating,” I exclaimed. He ran his tongue over his top lip, deciding whether or not to believe me.

“Slash, would I lie to you?” I pressed on. He smirked and kissed me. I wrapped my legs around him and pushed us both back onto the pillows of the bed.

“Holy shit, is that the time? We all gotta get a move on,” came Mandy’s voice from the other side of the room. I looked up from Slash’s face and stole a glance at the clock. It was only ten minutes until the bus left.

“Crap,” I mumbled. Slash groaned heavily as I pushed myself off of him and pulled on a pair of pants and a singlet. Right on cue, there was a knock on the door.

“Guys, we gotta go. The bus driver is waiting for us,” Steven sung out. I opened mine and Slash’s suitcase and threw any of our clothes that I could find inside.

“Duff come on, you have got to get up! We are leaving with or without you,” I heard Mandy yelling from her bed. Duff grunted and then I heard a thump.

“Have we got all of our clothes?” Slash asked. I surveyed the room before nodding silently and sparing a look over at Mandy and Duff’s bed. Duff was spread out on the floor and Mandy was beating his chest wildly, trying to wake him up.

Go help Mandy out. I got our suitcase,” I shot at Slash. He did as he was told and I set about zipping up our suitcase and pushing upright so I could drag it out on its wheels. From what I could hear, Slash and Mandy had successfully awoken the sleeping giant. I smiled and started to haul the suitcase out the door and to the elevator. I pressed the button and waited for the giant silver doors to open.

“Hey, where did you disappear off to last night?” Izzy’s voice was at my ear. I spun around in fright and clutched at me heart.

“Holy fuck Izzy, you scared the hell out of me!” I exclaimed, trying to steady my breathing so that my heartbeat would slow down. The elevator doors slid open and I clambered inside, followed by Izzy and Nikki Sixx.

“If you must know, Mandy and I headed back to the hotel because we were both very tired,” I continued. Izzy didn’t answer but Nikki just couldn’t help himself.

“You should have come to my room instead babe, I would have kept you up for hours!” he chimed in. I rolled my eyes and started to tap my boot on the ground. Finally, the doors opened and I walked into the lobby and straight up to Steven.

“Thank you for reminding us about the bus. We were all still in a slumber,” I mumbled to him. He grinned widely at me and snaked his arms around my shoulders.

“That is no problem at all little sis,” he said back. I smiled and hugged him strongly. We pulled away and I turned to face the rest of the band. Izzy stood to the side talking to Mick, Steven was chatting up the receptionist and Axl was sitting on the couch with his arm around someone.
“Erin?” I whispered to myself. There was no mistaking that long brown hair. Erin was curled up on Axl’s lap and Axl was kissing her forehead lightly and caressing her things. I couldn’t help but walk over to see them.

“Erin it’s really good to see you. How is everything?” I asked with a huge smile on my face. She looked up from Axl’s chest and smiled back.

“Everything is fine, I went to the doctor yesterday and he said that the baby is fit and well. How are you?” she asked. I sat beside her, getting an annoyed look from Axl.

“I’m fine thanks for asking. Are you going to be joining us from now on?” I pressed on. She nodded, turning a dark shade of red and curling back into Axl.

“I couldn’t stand being away from him, I missed his voice so much,” she whispered, looking at Axl. I grinned.

“Well it’s good to have you here and I am sure that Mandy will be glad to see you as well,” I replied. I heard the elevator ding and Slash, Mandy and Duff emerged from inside.

“Speaking of the devil, I will see you later Erin. Please don’t hesitate to ask if there is anything you need,” I stressed the ‘anything’ part. She nodded her appreciation and then looked up to receive a kiss from Axl. I walked away and approached Slash.

“Is that Erin?” he asked. I nodded and then nuzzled his shoulder with my forehead. He pulled me closer to him and kissed my hair lovingly.

“We’d better get onto the bus, I think the bus driver might get a little pissy if we aren’t on in time,” Tommy Lee yelled to the rest of us. I pushed away from Slash, recovered our suitcase and walked to the bus hand-in hand with Mandy.

“We have to make Erin feel welcome. She’s new to this and plus she is pregnant,” I whispered to Mandy. She nodded and gave my hand a squeeze.

“I just happen to love me a pair of hot lesbians,” Vince called from behind us. Before I could react, Mandy raised her middle thing at him and swore something in his direction. I grinned and we climbed onto the bus. Once we were inside, we found ourselves a comfortable spot in the corner and launched into a private girls conversation.

“Don’t you think that it is weird how Axl is like your best friend when you are both alone but when Erin is around, he treats you like a dog?” Mandy asked. I thought about what she had said and realized that it was true.

“I dunno, I just think that when Erin isn’t around he needs some sort of female presence in his life and I seem to be the closest thing to that,” I explained. Mandy nodded and then placed her chin on her knee.

“I also think that it is because we have known each other for at least five years and he always knew that if he needed a place to stay, my door was always open for him. Axl and I have always had that sort of relationship. I could give him my everything but he hasn’t done a damn thing for me. And I don’t mind because he always has great advice whenever I am having trouble with something,” I continued, feeling like I was talking about Axl a little too much. Mandy blinked and crossed her legs.

“Don’t you think it’s weird you and Duff have only known together for a month and you already are so lovey-dovey?” I asked, turning the conversation on her. She blushed deeply and turned her head away. I stood up and walked to Slash, standing in front of him.

“Hey baby, take a seat,” he said, pulling me towards him with the top of my jeans. I giggled and perched myself on his lap. He wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me ever closer.

“Hang on, I really gotta go to the bathroom,” I mumbled, kissing his cheek and quickly skipping to the bathroom. After I was done, I washed my hands and opened the door. I was about to walk out when I caught a snippet of the conversation going on outside. Silently, I reclosed the door and listened in.

“I reckon there is something going on man. You gotta keep a better eye on her,” someone said. It sounded like Nikki.

“Nah man, I trust her with everything I have. There is no way she is fucking Axl, they are practically family. I’m not gonna go all protective boyfriend and watch her every move,” Slash snapped back. I pressed my ear to the door.

“But last night they disappeared for a little under an hour with no explanation and then returned to the show looking flustered. Come on man you gotta wake up and smell the roses,” Tommy agreed with Nikki. I touched the doorknob, wanting to go out there and explain myself to the guys. That was before I heard Slash’s answer.

“Guys, Axl couldn’t last under an hour. And plus, she tells him everything so they were probably just discussing our falling out yesterday,” Slash said. I smiled and walked outside.

“If you must know, Slash is right. I tell Axl everything and we were talking about our fight yesterday. Axl gave me some very good advice. The only reason we were flustered,” I emphasized ‘flustered’, “Was because we were late for the show and ran to the hotel,” I spat at Nikki. He looked away and ran his fingers through his hair.

“What advice did he give you?” Slash asked. I sat next to him and touched his shoulder lightly.

“Slash, I want to buy a house with you,” I whispered. He grinned widely and pulled me into a fervent kiss.

“I knew you would come around to the idea. I honestly cannot wait to finish this tour,” he exclaimed. I smiled and pecked his lips once again.

“Neither can I,” I whispered back.

And that’s when the first wave of nausea hit me. I smiled at Slash but then quickly stood and retreated to the bathroom to throw up. I pushed my hair out of my face and wiped my mouth with the corner of my sleeve. I stood up and sat on the sink, thinking about the past month and a half. I had eaten a lot; mainly I had a craving for strawberry cheesecake. My period was late and now I was throwing up, preferably in the morning. This only meant one thing. I got onto my knees and searched the cupboard. There, in a cardboard box in the back, sat exactly what I was looking for. Ten minutes later, my fears had been confirmed.

“Shit, this can’t be happening,” I whispered, looking into the sink. The pregnancy test lay there, with two huge green plus signs on the screen. I swore to myself again and decided to do another one, just in case. Sure enough five minutes later, another two plus signs were beside the original two. I felt myself tearing up and quickly grabbed a towel to wipe away my stray tears. I leant against the sink, feeling another wave of nausea hit me hard in the stomach. Next thing I knew, I was bent over the toilet, puking the horrible, vile contents of my stomach.
“Are you ok?” Slash’s voice asked. I didn’t answer. Instead I continued to hack up the revolting chunks. Slash started slam himself against the door, desperate to get in. I quickly sat up and slid the two pregnancy tests into the pocket of my jacket. Then I scurried to the door and unlocked it. Slash burst into the room with his hair flying and his face concerned. I flushed the insides of the toilet down and started to wash out my mouth.
“What’s happened babe?” he asked, searching my face urgently. I wiped my face with a towel and turned around.
“Just a little stomach bug, that’s all,” I replied, looking at the black and white tiles on the floor. Slash touched my jawbone with his fingertips.
“Where would you have gotten a stomach bug from?” he demanded. I shrugged my shoulders and turned to face the mirror.
“Babe, do you want me to go and get you some vitamin C tablets? You look extremely pale,” Slash begged. I shook my head with my jaw clenched tightly together. He sighed and pulled me into a tight embrace.
“Don’t hesitate to ask for anything,” he whispered. I nodded and pushed against his shoulders. His cologne was very strong and made me feel queasy. I walked out to face the rest of the bus. Steven was talking to Tommy in one corner, Duff and Mandy were busy in another and Erin and Axl sat on the lounge. Was it me or did Erin look different? Vince, Nikki, Mick and Izzy were in the other half of the bus, probably shooting up or something. I breathed in deeply and sat all by myself at the end of the couch.
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost or something,” Steven commented on my pastel skin. I rolled my eyes and ran my fingers through my hair.
“That’s what I said but we think she has a stomach bug,” Slash called from the bathroom door.
“Wait until we get to the hotel and I can cook this soup that my mum used to make. It always helped with my stomach problems,” Mandy said, leaving Duff’s lap to sit beside me. She placed her palm on my forehead and pushed a piece of hair behind my ear.
“You haven’t really got a temperature but I could hear you puking so you must have the bug bad!” Mandy exclaimed. I smiled a convincing smile at her and shoved my hands into my pockets.
“Are you sure it is a stomach virus?” Slash pressed on. I fingered the pregnancy tests in my pocket.
“What else could it be?” I answered. He blinked a few times then sat beside me, pulling me onto his lap. I snuggled into his chest and closed my eyes. I was so exhausted.