Buttered Popcorn

Chapter 13.75: May 13, 1987

"Jimmie?!"

The boys all rushed to my side, Steven immediately tackling me into a hug just as I stood up to greet them. After I was released from Steven's grasp, the rest of the boys made their rounds greeting me in a big hug or a kiss on the cheek. I hadn't seen Guns in just about a month, but it had felt like years.

"Wait, you know these guys?" Nikki asked, his eyes switching from me to Slash who was now wrapped around me in a side hug. "Know them? I basically lived with these fuckers before they left on tour." I chuckled. "No way! Why didn't you go with them?" Tommy asked, sitting next to Nikki on the bed across from us.

The band and I exchanged a few awkward looks before Axl jumped in, "We needed someone to take care of our pad while we were gone and she needed a place to shack up. It kind of worked out perfectly so we let her stay there." Tommy nodded, "You should totally come with us, though."

"I dunno about that." I chuckled uncomfortably, "They still have over a year left and I still need to take care of the apartment and stuff." Nikki shrugged, averting his attention to a cigarette that he pulled from his jacket, "Just an idea. I know I'd love to have you cruising around with us on tour."

"Wanna catch up? We were just going to head to our room." Izzy suggested, cleverly picking up that I was in an awkward position. He had always been good at getting signals. "Sure."

Following them back to the room next door, Steven immediately began interrogating me, "You didn't pick up our calls. Where were you?" I sighed, chuckling a bit uncomfortably, "Uh.. the bar." I mumbled. "We've been calling for days on end." Duff added.

"Yeah.. I've been at the bar." I was kind of ashamed. Admitting it out loud was flat out embarrassing, especially to a bunch of rock stars. They were my only friends, so telling them that my life was spiraling down the drain while I withered away in a bar, drowning myself in alcohol, was borderline humiliating.

Steven's eyes flickered with disappointment just as Slash interrupted, "Alright! Jimmie's a party girl, now!" I agreed awkwardly, offering a forced laugh, "Yeah, somethin' like that." "So, what were you doin' with The Crüe? You didn't go replacing us already, did you?" Duff asked, falling back onto the mattress behind him. "No, I actually met Vince at- uh.. the bar." I caught Steven grunt disapprovingly, but ignored it.

"Yeah? Then what? I want all the juicy details." Slash laid on his stomach and shoved his head into a pillow. "I dunno, we just went out to eat with the rest of his band, then they said we should go see their tour bus and hotel room-" "Ah! The old 'Show Her The Hotel Room'! I've seen this trick before. Sly dogs." Axl interrupted, smirking. "Nothing happened, we just kind of talked a little and then you guys came in, so I ditched." I shrugged.

"Well, what'dya think? Of the hotel and The Crüe and stuff." Izzy asked. "Oh, the boys are cool, I like them- especially Tommy and Nikki. They're fun. The hotel and bus is really nice, too." I nodded. "She said they're fun." Slash giggled to Steven, who muttered something under his breath.

"Uh-" I cleared my throat awkwardly, "So what have you guys been up to?" "Partying!" Duff whooped. "And the shows? What places have you guys been to so far?" Slash jumped in, flipping over from his position, "Fuck if we know, it's just hotel, rehearsal, hotel, show, hotel-"

"Yeah, I get it." I mumbled. "Anyway, I think it's a good idea for you to come on tour with us." Duff shrugged. Axl's eyebrows shot into a frown and he glared at the bassist, "What?" The blond shrugged again, "C'mon, Ax. She's over here wasting away in bars-" "Thanks, Duff." "- And we're on a world tour, for fuck's sake!"

The air grew heavy with a thick silence, everyone awaiting Axl's reaction. Something. Anything. "I'll let you guys talk about it. I'll- uh, I'll go back to the apartment." The words fell from my lips just before I was up and out of the door. "Jimmie?"

The door muffled any other calls from the boys. I began trudging down the hall, not getting very far before getting interrupted. "Hey, where you off to?" Looking up and seeing Nikki, I forced a small smile, "Uh, back to the apartment, I guess. I'll see you guys later-"

"No way, Jimmie. You've gotta hang with us." Just as Nikki hooked his arm through my own, Tommy burst out from a door down the hall, "Sixx! Where you at, man?- Oh! Oh, hey there." He wiggled his eyebrows around and smirked, insinuating something I could only assume was a sex-related message.

"She says she's leaving, you believe this?" Nikki informed. "Psht, not for a second! C'mon, we have a party goin' on in our room." Without another thought, I was yanked into the room Tommy had previously been in. Alcohol bottles, women, drugs, and music nearly knocked me clean off of my feet. With Nikki's arm still secured with my own, he guided me over to a couch full of topless girls.

"Ladies! This is Jimmie! Jimmie, meet the ladies." The bassist made his way over to the seat beside Tommy, laughing with him
shortly after. "Nikki brought you, right? That's good, you're cute." The girl beside me nodding, tapping powder out of a bag to the back of her hand and sniffing it back.

Watching them have as much fun as they wanted- it was Hell. Knowing I'd already admitted that my life was spirally down the drain to my best friends was bad enough, so why not keep going? The girl flicked the small plastic bag and held it out to me with a suggestive grin.

As the cool plastic touched my finger tips,

And I breathed back the fine powder,

And I opened my eyes...

I could tell it was going to be a long night with The Crüe.