#william bailey

Still Life with Eggs, Candlestick and Bowl

William Bailey

Request: “Hi! I loved the one you made with Nikki so can I request a x reader thing with Axl where he protects you from paparazzi at the airport??

A/N: i have so many drafts oh lord. I got back into 80s. my real life has become too complicated so im back in my delusional era. less problems, less stress. also this one is old. so are we judging? no. thank you. god bless.

Exhausted. That’s all you felt. Going back to Los Angeles from Tokyo didn’t seem like it would be hard as you’ve been done this multiple times before but this time is different. The whole experience completely drained every ounce of energy you had right out of you, you had tried to hide your tiredness the whole time you were there but as soon as the plane took off to go back home you’ve lost all self control and your weariness became obvious.

Practically the whole flight Axl had you in his arms letting you rest and at first it was working until the thought hit you of what you would have to deal with as soon as the plane landed. Anxiety was hitting you and it was hitting hard. The feeling of ease you had just gained was replaced with a pit in your stomach, not wanting to alarm Axl, you just stayed quiet.

Coming off the plane, Axl immediately grabbed your hand as he walked in front of you, through the stampede of flashing cameras and yelling people.

“Y/N, look over here” “Y/N, what is the real Axl like?” “Y/N, smile for the camera”

That’s all you heard, the further into the crowd you went the tighter your grip around Axl’s hand grew. Your eyes stayed glued on the ground with an occasional look up at Axl.  "It's alright baby, I got you." Axl would say. The paparazzi wasn't backing down.

A voice began yelling your name over and over again. "ignore it. you're fine." you kept thinking to yourself , and it was, until you felt a yank at your hair that pulled you down hitting the concrete ground, hard.

You went into a haze until the sight of Axl going at a man with a camera became clear, Axl shouting at the guy calling him every curse word in the book.

"Hey man! What the fuck is your problem?!" Axl screamed while grabbing the man by his shirt, causing him to drop his camera. All the other cameramen surrounded the two, some trying to get Axl off of the guy, while others were capitalizing off of it and were taking videos or pictures.

“Ax-” You yelled as loudly as you could with your voice breaking towards the end. It was enough to snap Axl out of it, he immediately came down to help you up. He grabs your hand, and places his other behind your back, helping you up. When you're up he wraps his arm around you, he turns around to the man and points in his face.

"You're fucking lucky." Axl says aggressively. Grabbing onto Axl's waist, "let's go." you say, tired of the bullshit. Axl leans down to you as you two make your way out of the airport, "are you alright?" he says in a low hushed voice. Before a response can be given, Axl stands up straight again, half turning around to look at the security, "No thanks to these fucking assholes. None of you were able to do your fucking job?" Axl screams at them.

"Ax, baby. Just let it go, I'm fine. I just wanna go home." you say, Axl wraps his arms around you completely, guarding you from all paparazzi, fans, or anyone else who was in your guys' way.

Once out in the car, away from everyone Axl sighs and pulls you into him, hugging you. He kisses the top of your head and mumbles a small, "I'm sorry". Keeping your head down, you feel the aching go away. A sigh falls from your lips, he lets go of you. You brush the hair out of your face and lean back in your seat. "I never wanna deal with that shit again." you say softly. Axl stares off, clearly still pissed, his fingers on his lips as he stares into the back of the drivers seat. His other hand reaches out and lays gently on your knee.

"I could've killed him. I could've fucking killed him. I would've kicked his ass." Axl says, not moving his eyes from the back of the seat. You sigh, "And what would that have done? Nothing." you say. Axl finally looks at you, his expression serious. "They should know. They need to know, they can't fucking touch you. Not like that. Not in any way." Axl says, his voice getting louder with each word. The louder his voice got, the more your head begins to throb again. You put your elbow on the door and rest your head in your hand.

"Ax, please." you say, you clearly don't want to hear it, your expression shows annoyance and exhaustion. Axl looks at you, he bites his lip and nods, once again pulling you into him. "I'm sorry. I'll drop it for now. I just can't believe it, I just watched a guy put his hands on you." Axl says, gently petting the back of your head.

"I'm sorry." he says softly.

Still Life

Artist: William Bailey (American, 1930–2020)

Date: 1982

Medium: Casein on paper