"(Y/N), don't even bother," Slash advised, watching as you pulled on your coat. "Axl will come back when he wants to come back. Whether you go get him won't change anything."

   You let out a heavy sigh as you grabbed your keys. "Couldn't hurt to try, right? It's one in the morning. His scrawny ass will probably get abducted, being on the streets by himself."

   Axl on the streets. It wasn't an uncommon scenario with all the times he had stormed out recently. Fleeing was evidently the man's solution to any conflict within the band, and he'd usually come back after an hour or so. But, now, it was approaching the four hour mark that he had stormed out, slamming the door behind him. And, in spite of yourself, you were beginning to worry.

   For context, you and Axl had been in a situationship of sorts for a few months. You'd go out together, kiss, hook up, all that relationship stuff. But, you two had never put a label on what you shared, meaning that it was not only noncommittal, but there was no pressure to work things out when shit got tough. You two could scream at each other all you wanted, hate each other all you wanted. And tonight, he most certainly hated you.

   Why he hated you was a tough question to answer. The only plausible one that you could come up with was that he didn't get his way.

   Tonight, the band had scolded him for ruining the Guns N' Roses show the night prior. At the show, a man had been holding up a camera, filming the event for fond reliving. But, as the band knew, Axl had a vendetta against cameras at rock concerts. So, he told security to take the camera. And when they didn't, he leapt into the crowd and took it himself. Well, in addition to beating the guy up, that is.

   Then, to make a bad situation even worse, he climbed up on the stage and proclaimed, "Thanks to the lame ass security, I'm going home!"

   A dramatic toss of the microphone, and he was gone. And the rest of the band had no choice but to follow.

   So, it was understandable why the band had some concerns. But, not to Axl. He got fired up as soon as Slash gently introduced his criticisms about his behavior. His anger only intensified as the conversation progressed, and when you chimed in with your agreement, he was out the door.

   And now, he was nowhere to be found.

  Izzy groaned as he stretched out on the couch. "So what? Maybe him being abducted would be a good thing. Isn't it kinda nice when he's not here?"

   He pointed at the sleeping Steven and Duff, both of them on their own respective armchairs. Steven looked blissfully happy even in his sleep, while Duff twitched a little. "Look at those fuckers!" said Izzy. "They never get decent shuteye at this hour when he's around. C'mon, (Y/N), don't you like the quiet at least a little?"

   You stopped to listen, and when Axl's incessant whining wasn't heard, you nodded in defeat. "I do. But, a rogue Axl is never a good thing."

   Izzy groaned again, covering his face with his hands. "Fine, get him. Just get him stoned so he'll be less of a prick when he comes back."

   "He probably already is stoned, Iz." You opened the door. "I'll catch you guys later, okay?"

   "Bye, (Y/N)," Slash replied with a wave, Izzy groaning in acknowledgment. Steven and Duff said their goodbyes in the form of gentle snores.

   You left the house, hopped in your car, and began to drive. "Okay. If I were an overdramatic Axl, where would I be?" you mumbled to yourself as you drove through your neighborhood.

   It was a simple question to answer:

   The Sunset Strip.

   So, to the Sunset Strip you drove.

***

   Once you got there, you realized that Axl could be in any of the bars that you were passing. So, you slowed down to see if you could peer in each window and see the flash of red hair that you knew so well. But, you weren't having any luck. All you were getting were pissed off honks that you were going fifteen below the speed limit, and dramatic revving of engines as cars irritably passed you. You eventually decided to just go all the way down the Strip first, scanning the side of the road itself. Then, you would be the annoying girlfriend (or whatever you were to him) and start entering the bars.

   Shortly after you made that decision, you saw that oh-so-familiar red hair up ahead. You couldn't believe your luck! Out of all these places to be, Axl was right in front of you.

   You sped up to reach his form, slowing down once you did. You rolled down your window and observed his drunken walk, and that pout that was still on his face from hours ago. You couldn't help but giggle, which drew his attention to you.

   Immediately, his pout grew even deeper. "Fuck off," he slurred, walking faster.

   He seemingly forgot that you were in a motorized vehicle; you applied a little more pressure to the gas, and you were caught up with him. "Stop being a brat, Axl. Just get in the car."

   "No!" He didn't even look at you. Despite the fact that this lack of acknowledgement was routine, it still stung a little.

   "Damn it, I'm sick of you," you mumbled, rubbing your eyes as you continued to slowly cruise beside him.

   "Then why are you here? Leave me alone!" He finally whipped around to look at you, standing still now.

   You stopped the car, turning your hazards on so people wouldn't be more pissed off than they already were. "Because, regardless of if we like it or not, you're a major part of the band. The guys kinda need their singer for their upcoming shows. And if you're passed out somewhere, that doesn't bode well for them."

   "Well, I don't wanna be their singer anymore!" Somehow, the more Axl spoke, the drunker he sounded. You didn't see him take a sip of alcohol, yet it all seemed to be hitting him at once. Initially, when you had first spotted him, he sounded like a whiny man. Now, he sounded like a whiny child.

   You huffed. It was clear what you must do, even though you detested the idea.

   You had to suck up to him. That would be the only way to get him in the car and back home, where he belonged.

   "Come on, Ax, the guys miss you." You bit back laughter; that was likely the most absurd thing you had ever said. They were practically on cloud nine in his absence.

   You hesitated before adding:

   "I miss you."

   That statement was less absurd. Even with the blissful quiet his absence brought, you missed your guy. You missed his jokes, the way he'd touch you. You missed his smile. Four hours shouldn't have driven you that crazy, but four hours with zero communication did, in fact, drive you crazy. As much as you hated to admit it, you needed him.

Just as predicted, that made him soften a little. But, only for a second; he hardened right back up again. "Sure," he spat sarcastically.

"We do!" you said back. "Listen, man, do you think I would've come to get you if I didn't miss you? And do you think the guys would've let me get you if they didn't miss you?" That first question was as true as true could be. As for the second...you hoped that you were either a good liar, or that Axl was too drunk to notice that you weren't.

He visibly softened again. "But, you guys were so against me. I just—"

"Save it, Ax. We can talk about it later. When you've slept this all off." You weren't sure if a good night's sleep would make him more or less levelheaded, but you knew if you had this conversation right now, he wouldn't be coming home anytime soon. He was still brainwashed by his own delusions, and would defend his behavior until the end. "And you can't sleep it off on the side of the road. Just hop in, okay?"

Axl hesitated before begrudgingly hopping into the car, shutting the door behind him. You briefly considered having the dreaded conversation with him now, but knowing him, he would just unlock the door and roll down the freeway. And that was something you couldn't risk. So, you drove in silence. All you could do was hope that he didn't start shit with the rest of the band when you got home.

To your utter astonishment, he spoke up after a few minutes. "I don't like feeling like everyone's fucking against me, man."

You glanced at him, and he was solemnly staring out the window at the passing scenery. You fought to hold in a chuckle; only he could be so morose at a situation he had caused. But, you had to placate him to keep him in this relatively sane state of mind.

"We're not against you. We're just trying to look out for you," you told him, patting his leg.

"Well, don't!" he fired back with surprising intensity, finally looking at you. "This is rock 'n' roll, I wanna be able to do what I want, when I want to do it!"

Shaking your head in utter disbelief at his childishness, you sighed. You couldn't answer him right now without escalating things further, so you let his statement lay.

Of course, he took this silence offensively. "Fuck you," he mumbled, curling up in his seat and returning his gaze to the window.

"Will you quit it?" you snapped. You couldn't contain yourself anymore. You let it all out. "I've been trying to be nice to you, but you need to hear the truth. What you did was fucking childish, Axl. You can't just scam thousands of people out of their money because someone was fucking recording you. And you can't jump into the crowd and beat up a guy just because he was recording you! If you wanna make it big, you can't do that shit! Nobody's gonna wanna come out to watch an insufferable prick perform!"

You were panting by the end of your tirade. Axl was looking at you, dumbfounded. You began to regret saying anything at all; you saw him reach for the door and briefly thought about your previous theory of him jumping out of the car and taking his chances.

But, instead, he just rolled the window down a bit. Not enough to jump out of, thank God. You let out a sigh of relief. These were fears you shouldn't be having over a grown man, but alas, Axl was Axl. You had all the fears regarding this man.

He was quiet as he let the wind move through his flaming hair. Him being quiet was odd. You weren't really afraid anymore, just confused. Because if he was gonna react violently, he would've by now. Now, you were just wondering what his next move was.

Finally, he spoke. He crossed his arms and mumbled, "Okay."

A concession? From Axl Rose? It almost didn't feel real. You had known as soon as you uttered those harsh words that you were dead. You had no hope at all of them fixing things. But somehow, despite his aggressive personality, they had.

"Do you get it, though?" you pressed, wanting the message to really stick.

   "Yes, (Y/N). I get it."

   More silence. You were not about to prod again; this level of self-awareness was so rare that you didn't want to mess it up.

   Yet again, Axl broke the silence. "I don't like it when you're mad at me."

   You glanced at him, and he was looking at you with a wounded dog expression. You couldn't help but smile. "I don't like being mad at you."

   You reached a hand out for him to hold, and hold it he did. And, to your utter disbelief, he began to cry. The alcohol was no doubt responsible for this surge of emotions, but even still, this was out of character. You had seen him drunk, high, and tripping balls. And you had never seen him cry before.

   You stroked his hand, not wanting to scare this emotional side of him off by speaking. You just let him cry, continuing the drive home.

   Eventually, he nodded off, face still streaked with tears.

   You lifted his hand up and pressed a tender kiss to it, your attitude toward him softened due to this encounter. So much so that you couldn't help but say what you feel, even to his unconscious form. "I love you."

   Taking comfort in the fact he couldn't hear you, you sighed. You really did love the bastard.

   "I love you, too," he mumbled tiredly.

   Your heart leaped into your throat. Both out of complete surprise that he wasn't asleep and joy that he had shared your feelings. "Axl?" you asked, wanting to talk about it more.

   But, you got no response other than gentle snoring. He was out, for real this time.

   You laughed breathlessly, astounded at what had just happened. You knew you'd have to talk to him about this when he was sober, but for now, you could just kick back and enjoy the drive. And enjoy it you did, when the love of your life was next to you, snoozing away.