Summer’s Retro Writing

      “Remember we have that dinner on Friday.” Duff walked into the bedroom. “Yeah, I have this pretty dress but no shoes to match it. I don’t know what I’m going to wear.” You sighed, staring into your closet. “I’ll take you shoe shopping tomorrow, you can get yourself a nice pair of heels.” Your boyfriend hugged you from behind. “I don’t know, I don’t wanna be too tall.” You shook your head. Duff turned you to face him and placed his hands on your shoulders. “Baby, I’m 6 foot 3, I doubt you’ll be taller.” He laughed. 

      You woke up early the next day to go shopping. You’d never owned heels before. When you were younger your mother didn’t want you to be the tallest in the family photos and all of the guys you dated in the past were short. You nearly ran into the shoe store at the mall. 

      “Babe, those look fine on you, we’ve been here for hours can we just go.” Duff groaned from a chair. “No, I have to find the perfect ones.” You scanned the racks again. You were about to give up until you saw the shoe at the end of the bottom rack. A 5 inch, open toed pump, in gold to match the details on your dress. You gasped when you saw that the only one left was your size. 

      It was lonely while Michael was away on tour. All of your friends and family were across the country and you were desperate for friendship. Good thing that the new neighbor seemed nice enough. He was new to town so you thought you’d show him around, make a new friend, maybe set him up with a friend of yours. 

      When you first met him he seemed nice, kind of shy, and really funny. You showed him around your apartment (with photos of you and Michael clearly displayed), all the best clubs, your favorite coffee shop, and your favorite restaurant. To you, he was just a good friend, but to him you were his crush. He didn’t know you were with someone, he didn’t notice the photos in your apartment nor keep up with rock news. 

      He planned to ask you out, he brought your favorite flowers and everything. But, earlier in the day you were on the phone with Michael. “I’ll be home by tonight, love. I can’t wait to see you.” Michael spoke from a hotel room phone. “I can’t wait to see you too, I’ve been missing you so much, I love you.” You smiled back. 

      Later that night you waited in the living room in your pajamas for Michael, when a knock at the door startled you away from MTV. You hoped that your boyfriend’s flight got in early. Instead it was your friend, in a nice outfit, holding flowers. “Hey… what are you doing here?” You said awkwardly. “Well, I really like you and I was wondering…” 

      “Hello, am I interrupting something?” Michael stood to the side of your friend, giving him an intimidating look. You stood in the doorway, eyes wide, never in a million years did you think this would happen. “Who are you?” Your friend asked. “I’m her boyfriend. Who the fuck are you?” Michael got defensive. “Mikey, come inside, I’ll explain everything. And, I’m so sorry.” You said to your boyfriend and then your friend. 

      You couldn’t deny what you felt, Izzy was everything you could’ve ever dreamed of in a man. He was funny, kind and had this mysterious air about him that captivated you. But, you knew you couldn’t have him, you were just his bandmate’s annoying little sister. 

      If only you knew that Izzy saw you the same way. He only didn’t tell you in fear of facing your brother’s wrath. Izzy wanted to know you though, if he couldn’t love you he at least wanted to be your friend. You couldn’t take that though, you started to distance yourself from him, you didn’t want to get too close to him and accidentally tell him how you felt and he reject you. 

      You were sitting on the couch watching a movie long after everyone else had gone to bed. “Y/N, what’s been going on? Why are you avoiding me?” You felt the couch dip as Izzy sat down, leaning close to you for an answer. “I’m not avoiding you.” You glanced at him quickly before you snapped your attention back to the TV.

      “Yes you have, you’re doing it right now.” He argued. “Izzy, we’re both busy people. You should know that sometimes you just get caught up.” You shrugged. “What about now? You aren’t busy now, just talk to me, please.” You could hear in his voice how worked up he was.

      Axl had been keeping it a secret for too long. He was deeply in love with you but you were his secretary, his employee, and much younger than him, it would be unprofessional to admit his feelings. But he couldn’t stop the way his heart raced whenever you came to bring him his coffee or tell him that you scheduled something. 

      You were sitting at your desk responding to emails when a knock on the door snapped you out of your work. “Hello, Mr.Rose, what do you need?” You smiled at him. “I’ve told you countless times, call me Axl, honey. But, I need your advice on something.” “Anything, what’s up?” You closed your computer and leaned closer to him. 

      “There’s this girl I’m in love with, but she’s a lot younger. Should I tell her how I feel?” He fiddled with his hands. “Axl, you miss all of the shots you don’t take, don’t miss this shot.” You smiled at him, even though you were writhing with jealousy inside. You wanted to be the girl he was in love with, but you were just his secretary and now his relationship advisor. 

      “Thank you, you’re so right, Y/N.” He sighed in relief. All you gave was a tight lipped smile. 2 hours later you found him in the living room to tell him you ordered lunch. When you picked the order from the porch he asked you to eat with him. You were surprised, he’d never asked to be with you outside of working hours before. 

      “I’d better get back to work. This was nice, Axl.” “Wait, you work so hard, just sit with me for a second.” He called over to you, reaching to grab your wrist. You sat back down on the couch with him. “Thank you, for your advice. It helped me a lot.” He moved his hand from your wrist to softly caress your hand.

      Living with your brother, Slash, was fun and there weren't too many rules. Except for no boys, he didn’t mean to be controlling, he just wanted to make sure his little sister was safe. You were always rebellious, a pain in the ass as a toddler and a living hell as a teenager. You just couldn’t stay away from a particular dark haired guitarist. 

     Izzy snuck in your window every night, he left early enough in the morning that he wouldn’t be noticed. But tonight, he and Slash hung out, Izzy pretended to be more drunk than he was and stayed the night. After he thought your brother had gone to bed, he crept off of the couch and up the stairs to your room. Slash wasn’t in his room though, he was taking care of some laundry, more specifically placing new towels in the bathroom right outside of your room. Izzy was so focused on getting to you quickly and quietly, that he didn’t notice his friend watching him. 

      The next morning he snuck out of your room early and pretended to have a hangover on the couch. “How’s that hangover going man?” Slash handed him a cup of coffee. “My head is fuckin’ pounding.” Your boyfriend took a drink. “Oh yeah, I hope you didn’t hit your head on Y/N’s door.” Your brother sat back and crossed his arms. 

      Onstage, Bonzo was larger than life. But, offstage he was your man. Your silly, lovable, teddy bear of a man. You watched from the side of the stage along with the various groupies Robert and Jimmy strung along with them. You watched John dominate the stage from behind the drum set, his arms a blur, setting the mood for everyone for the whole night. 

      You could see the sweat gleaming off of his face as he walked offstage, right to you. He collapsed into your arms, sending you both flying back onto a couch. You laughed as he pretended to sleep on top of you. “Bonzo, love. You’re crushing me.” You stroked his hair. “That’s fine, you’ll be fine.” He kissed your shoulder. 

      “Save that for the hotel, love birds.” Robert laughed, walking past you two. “Fuck that! I’ll do whatever I want with my wife.” He called back. You giggled. “Oh, Bonzo, you're such a silly goose.” “Why am I a silly goose, I’m not a damn goose?” He laughed at the nickname. 

      Jason was being bullied and you knew it, you heard the press, you heard stories from roadies and groupies. There was nothing you could do, the guys wouldn’t listen to some girl they didn’t even know Jason had. All you could do was offer your love and comfort. 

      Jason walked through the front door with messed up hair and tired eyes. “Hi honey, how was the tour?”  You opened your arms from the couch. He plopped on top of you wordlessly, burying his face in your chest.

      “I’m not gay, don’t listen to James and Lars.” He swore into your body. “I know you’re not.” You giggled. “They trashed my hotel rooms, they put the bar tab on my account, it just fucking sucks. I don’t want to do this anymore.” He sighed. “I know it’s hard, my love. But, it’ll get better, just give it time.” You squeezed him tight, heart breaking at how he was treated. 

      “Y/N, can you help me?” Rachel whined, trying to untangle the comb from his hair. “With what?” You replied, turning away from your husband. “My hair.” He called back, slumping in a chair and yanking the comb out of his head. You nodded, leaving Sebastian and making your way over to his bandmate. 

      You began working at his hair, giggling at the knots from his previous attempts. Sebastian watched from the corner of the room, jealousy  weaving its way into his head. What the hell! She just leaves me for him? He thought. 

      After the concert, Sebastian was stand-off-ish with everyone, especially you. “Bas, what’s wrong? You’ve been in a bad mood since before the concert.” You asked him when you two entered the hotel room. “Oh nothing, just the fact that you left me to be all over Rachel.” He said sarcastically. “All over Rachel? Baby, he asked me to help him with his hair. That’s not being all over him.” You crossed your arms. 

      The sun filtered through the windows causing a very hungover and freshly awoken Sebastian to groan. He threw an arm over his face. That’s when he noticed it, dark ink in a spot it’s never been before. Ink that spelled your name. He thought it was some kind of prank, maybe Rachel writing it in marker. But the more he rubbed at his skin, the more he realized it was a tattoo. 

      He worriedly dialed Rachel’s number. “Rachel, what the hell happened last night, man?” He cried. “So much. What should I start with?” He laughed a dry chuckle. “Why is Y/N’s name tattooed on my arm?” He yelled. “You seriously don’t remember that? When you were getting it done you were whining like a bitch but you kept saying ‘anything for the woman I’m in love with’.” Rachel laughed, reminiscing on Sebastian’s drunken antics. 

      “Does she know?” Sebastian bit down on his lip. “Of course she does. You called her when you got home.” “I called her! What did I say?” Sebastian gasped. “You told her that you loved her and you tattooed her name on your arm. She didn’t believe you because you were drunk and thought the tattoo was stupid.” Rachel explained on the other end of the receiver. 

      “What am I gonna do?” The blonde face palmed. “I don’t know, but you better have meant it because tattoos are forever, man.” Rachel shrugged and hung up. Sebastian got dressed in a frenzy, he had to show you in person that he really did love you. 

      He arrived at your front door, hair still a mess, shirt wrinkled from the floor. He knew it, he just couldn’t wait. “Sebastian! What are you doing here?” You asked, surprised to see him. “I need to talk to you about last night.” He breathed, stepping through the threshold. “Sebastian, you don’t have to explain anything. I know you were just drunk.” You placed a hand over his. Your heart broke when you said it, you wanted to believe him. But, you just couldn’t be sure. 

      This was a big night for Guns N’ Roses. It was the premiere listening party of their second album. They proved they were worthy of fame with Appetite, but now they needed to stay on top. You were getting ready, as Axl’s girlfriend you wanted to look your best for the occasion. 

      You went to the mall with some friends the day before, picking out the perfect dress and heels that you have been dying for. “How do I look?” You took a full spin in front of your boyfriend, in all of your glittery glory. “You’re gonna wear… heels?” He cringed. “Well, yeah! Aren’t they so cool looking?” You lifted your ankle up to show them off.