Drunken Lullabies

Back at the apartment, Isabelle slammed the door to the 1970's freezer, silently cursing her roommate. There was less than half a shot of Jack left, and that was just not going to cut it with this massive hangover. She flung open a cabinet drawer and grabbed the near-empty bottle of vicodin Madison had scored from a lead bass player a few weeks back. She tossed the pill into her mouth and tipped back the remainder of the bottle of Jack. I guess this will have to suffice she thought, making a mental note to con some extra liquor off her brother before next weekend.

She began unbuttoning her shirt as she headed for the bathroom, ready to cleanse herself of the previous night's sins. She hated feeling dirty, not that the water in this place would do much for cleaning. Turning on the dirty faucet, she kicked off her jeans and watched as the water ran a rust brown at first and then turned to a murky stream. Seeing the water was as clean as it was going to get, she slammed in the knob to the shower head and stepped under the slow trickle of dirty water.

"Love bleeds there in your eyes, she flies like a butterfly, wind underneath her pretty wings," she began singing as she poured the shampoo on her hair. " Its not about the money babe. Your lesson's learned while you sleep, yeaaaaahhhh!"

"You have the absolute worst singing voice, Izzy!" a male voice chuckled. Isabelle jumped back, hitting her head on the shower head. Her heart was beating twice it's normal rate despite the vicodin and whiskey, and she threw her hand over her mouth.

"Umm...hello?" she shouted through the fingers of one hand, reaching for her razor with the other, in case she needed to use it in self defense. "Who...Who's there?" She waited. Silence.

"Hello?!" she carefully stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around her wet body, still holding on tight to the razor. Still no answer. She carefully stepped toward the door and saw not one, but two shadows cast over the kitchen floor. Raising the dull razor up, ready to...uh...strike if needed, she made a quick jump out the doorway of the bathroom.

A burst of laughter greeted her from the kitchen door.

"What the fuck, dude?!" Austin laughed.

"You...you...a razor...really?" Madison choked out through her laughter, doubling over.

"Oh, fuck you guys!" Isabelle yelled back, throwing the razor at Austin's head. He ducked, letting it hit the door and separate into two pieces.

"Easy, killer!" he warned, bending over to pick up the blade. "What were you going to do with this anyway? Threaten to shave my legs?" Isabelle rolled her eyes and turned back to the bathroom.

"Go to hell," she called over he shoulder.

"I'll meet ya there, sweetheart," he replied, still chuckling.

Isabelle slammed the bathroom door behind her.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I got them free - the drummer owed Chris a favor, but he's got a gig that night, so I traded him the tickets for a round of shots last night at the bar." Madison sat back in her chair, strumming chords on her guitar as Austin explained the deal to her.

"So you're just going to give them to us? What's the catch?" She strummed another chord, adjusted a string, and strummed again.

"Well, Kristin's band is playing that night, too..." he hesitated.

"And?"

"And their lead singer walked out on them a couple nights ago. They need someone to sing, so I told them you'd do it." Austin spit the phrase out as fast as he could, then stood up and walked toward the kitchen. "You got anything to drink in here?"

"Wait...how am I supposed to sing and go to the concert? They're in two different states!" Madison asked, more than a little confused.

"Well that's the thing...you wouldn't be able to. I'll give you both tickets, but it's pretty much your call as to what you do. Take the gig, or spend the night getting wasted in the front row of another rock concert. Is this orange juice any good?" He called back from the kitchen, not waiting for her response.

It was a big decision. Madison had been begging Austin to get her in with his sister, Kristin's, band for months now. They were starting to make it big, but their lead singer wasn't worth a damn. Madison knew her voice would blow everyone out of the water, and it would be just what the band needed to land a major record deal. This was her big chance.

But then there was the concert. Isabelle would hate having to go on her own. They worked these things as a team, and without one the other lost her confidence. But then, she knew Isabelle had it in her and could easily get her foot in the door. It was her new-found dream to make it onto Josh Todd's tour bus, and Madison knew she would take the opportunity with or without her friend by her side.

"Alright, I'll do it." Madison blurted out, her mind made up.

"You'll do what?" Isabelle asked as she emerged from the bathroom, towel drying her hair. Madison jumped up, throwing her guitar to the side, and grabbed Isabelle's wrist. She pulled her into the kitchen excitedly before Isabelle had a chance to react.

"Tell her, Austin! Tell her how freaking amazing you are!" she yelled with enthusiasm.

Austin explained the situation to Isabelle, mapping out the entire plan as Isabelle stood there completely dumbfounded. Neither of them had the money for front-row tickets to Buckcherry in the past, and she honestly never thought she would make it that far. The fact that Madison wouldn't be going with her was completely irrelevant; the girl was chasing a dream of her own. Both of their worlds were about to turn upside-down.

"Neither of you have the money for rent this month, and you need to get out of here anyway," Austin winced as Madison reached behind him for her magazine, rolled it up, and slammed it down on a cockroach she had spotted scurrying across the kitchen counter. "If anything goes wrong, both of you can just stay with me until you find another place," he finished. "Izzy? Hello?! Isabelle Elizabeth!" Austin pushed Isabelle's shoulder back in an attempt to get a response out of her. Slowly, the glazed look lifted from her eyes and a smile spread across her face.

"Oh. My. GOD!!!!!" Isabelle wrapped her arms around Austin's neck. "I love you, I love you, I love you!" she screamed as she planted a kiss on him unexpectedly.

"Wooooaaahhh there, love," he pulled out the razor she had threatened him with when he first walked in. "Don't make me use this!" he held it up in defense.

Isabelle shot him a glare, then smiled and kissed him again. "Gay men need kisses, too!" she declared as she broke away from him and turned around, heading back towards a closet.

"Where are you going now?" Madison asked as her friend walked away from them.

"I need to decide what shoes to wear. Shoes, shoes, shoes. Where are my Jimmy Choos? Maybe I left them in the car..." Isabelle trailed off.

Madison giggled and shook her head, Izzy and her damn shoes.

This was it. A few more days and both the girls would be well on their way to fulfilling their dreams. She put her arm around Austin's waist and leaned into him. Gay men really were the best.

"Thank you so much, Austin," she whispered, closing her eyes and trying to imagine the next couple of weeks.

"No problem, love. Anything for my two favorite girls."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------