"All four shows are booked out boys! Strap in for some big nights ahead of us." A voice from behind me emerged.

When I turned around to see who talked I didn't know his name, but I knew his face; I had pretty much seen him before the start of every show. He looked like he was trying too hard to look important; he always seemed to carry a clipboard and no matter how hot it was he was always wearing this thick polyester suit. This dude was one of the band's tour managers or something. Guns' had so many people employed for their tour it was insane, it was like new faces would pop up in every city we visited and faces started to become a blur in the end.

"That's crazy man!" Slash giggled and you could just see his grin peeking through his majestic mane of hair.

"You guys just wanna try it again? Can we make my guitar louder?" Izzy asked the band and proceeded to yell out to the guys in the empty stadium, who were sitting in their sound mixing tent.

The boys counted in together and with a bang they started to play, smashing into Dust N Bones, a song that they had just written. Izzy walked up to the microphone and started singing, standing in for Axl who never seemed to make an effort to show up for rehearsal. I watched in awe, as my sexy husband strummed away and sang his heart out. Sure, seeing him play guitar was hot, but as soon as he opened his mouth it just made me drool that much more. I had Ripley sitting by my side as she happily panted away. At first, she was startled by the sudden loud noise of the instruments but once she realised that it wasn't a storm or fireworks happening, she managed to settle down.

It was a hot summer morning; the sun was beating down on us overhead and the boys didn't have much clothing on. As expected, Duff and Slash didn't have shirts on, only shorts, Matt eventually joined them at one point and ripped his shirt off, and Izzy was wearing my favourite plain forest green tee-shirt and denim shorts. We had finally arrived back home in Los Angeles, and it was the boys' final few shows before they headed overseas. As 'suit dude' said, all four shows they were playing at The Forum were sold out and I was sure each night would be incredible... If Axl decided to behave. Ever since the St Louis incident the band had been on edge, well Izzy was anyway, the other boys just drowned their feelings in drugs, booze and women. The boys played a few more songs, played around with some random chords and had some fun before some roadies came on stage to make some final tweaks on tuning their guitars and drums. Izzy walked over to me with a big goofy smile on his face as he pressed his lips against mine.

"Wanna let Ripley off her lead and let her have a wander? I'm sure she'll be keen to have a good sniff around." Izzy smiled as he patted her smooth head.

"If she wees on any equipment, I'm blaming you." I unhooked her lead and straight away she bolted towards Duff who was welcoming her with open arms.

"When did you get in?" Izzy smiled at me.

"Only about 10 minutes or so ago?"

Izzy looked down at me and gave me another long kiss as he wrapped his arms tightly around my lower torso.

"You ready to go home for a bit now?" Izzy said as he kissed my nose.

I peeked around his shoulder to quickly glance at the rest of the band and saw Ripley sniffing around Matt's drums.

"Have you guys finished rehearsing?"

"Yeah pretty much. There's only so much we can do without Axl, no doubt he'll want volumes and shit adjusted mid-concert."

"Okay, let me just say hello to the boys before we head off."

"Hey, Mel!" Duff screamed before bounding over to me (which, let's be real) was about 2 steps for him and about 40 steps for normal human legs.

He crashed into me and scooped me up in a big bear hug while spinning us around. When he plonked me down, I felt dizzy and I couldn't help but laugh.

"Hello to you too, Duff!" I smiled and turned around to see Izzy looking unimpressed at the both of us.

"Oi Duff! Pick her up and run away with her! That should piss Iz off more!" Slash wheezed so hardly with laughter he could barely stand up straight.

"Ha, ha, very funny, can I have my wife back now?"

"Sure, but I'm stealing your dog!" Slash managed to croak out again before crouching down and trying to scoop Ripley up.

Slash's sudden movement seemed to seriously alarm Ripley which made her immediately bolt away from all of us. Her stocky legs were a blur as she ran across the stage in a flash, and her butt disappeared over the edge of the stage.

"For fuck's sake now look what you've done." Izzy groaned as he jogged to follow Ripley's footsteps. "Rip, come back, girl!"

"Whoops, sorry," Slash mumbled.

Izzy jumped off the edge of the stage as he continued to call out for his companion, and Duff and I proceeded to follow him. The jump off the stage was quite substantial and I was surprised that I didn't see Izzy or Ripley on the ground with a broken leg.

"Here, I'll help you down," Duff smiled as he glided down onto the ground and held his arms out for me so he could carry me down.

His rough hands under my arms hurt my skin but I couldn't help but blush as Duff held me. I had always liked Duff and I did secretly think way deep down he was quite a looker. We could hear Izzy calling out from underneath the stage so we tried our best to follow him using the sound of his voice.

"You follow Izzy and I'll head in the opposite direction." I pointed at Duff and we split up.

I continued to call out as I weaved around the metal support beams of the stage, making sure not to trip on any thick electrical cords. It was somehow quite dark underneath the stage even though it was bright daylight outside, and I could only just manage to see Izzy and Duff's figures ahead in the distance. I could hear people's footsteps above me but somehow at the same time, they sounded like delicate dog's feet. I quickly looked behind me, but nothing was there. I continued to call out and move around slowly when finally, I saw something that looked very similar to Ripley's back legs.

"There you are! Found her, guys! Ripley come here."

Her goofy head popped into my vision, her stubby tail started to wag and she immediately trotted over to me. She was excessively licking her lips like she had just eaten something, but at the time I didn't think anything of it as whenever she'd be puffed, she'd always lick her drool away.

"Well, I hope she didn't chew on any wires. If she did, we'll certainly find out tonight if something doesn't work." Izzy sighed as he and Duff approached me.

"No, she's a good dog, aren't you?" Duff cooed as he crouched down to rub her head and flop her ears around.

"Okay let's go home; I'm sweating balls down here." I panted as I pulled my shirt's neck hole repeatedly to get some airflow down my chest.

"Iz, you down there? I'm sorry about your dog, man. I'll get you a new one!" Slash's distinctive slurred voice shouted overhead from the floor above us.

"It's fine, we're coming back up!" Izzy shouted while knocking on the stage floor.

"I dare you to hide Ripley from him just to make him feel bad." Duff giggled.

"No, I think he's done enough today, I don't really want him showing up at my door at some random hour with another dog," Izzy rolled his eyes.

Scared that Ripley would run off again, Izzy quickly squatted down low to scoop her up but as he tried to stand up with her in his arms, Izzy let out a loud old-man groan.

"Jeez, girl, you are heavy!"

"Ooh! New dare! I dare you to run around the stadium with her in your arms. Imagine that cardio pump!" Duff could barely finish his sentence he was laughing so much.

"Is this what you guys normally do when you're all together? Dumb boy stuff?" I smirked at Izzy.

Izzy was too focused on trying to carry his big puppy to respond, as he walked as quickly as he could to get back out into the open. Duff kept giggling as we followed Izzy back out into the glaring sunlight and we saw a very puffed Izzy struggling to plop Ripley back onto the stage. She panted happily, probably thinking she was being picked up for love and cuddles.

"Sorry, Ripley, didn't mean to scare you." Slash cooed in a baby voice.

"Oi, stay away! I don't want her running off again!"

Slash retreated, looking like a guilty kid, to which the rest of the bad thought was hilarious.

"You ready to go home for a bit now?" Izzy asked as he brushed off Ripley's fur from his shirt.

A simple question that made me instantly drool. I bit my lip and lowered my eyelids at him.

"Seeing you doing that heavy lifting was kind of hot..."

Poor Izzy was so confused.

"What?"

"I'm ready to go home..." I trailed off as I gently touched Izzy's chest with my pointer finger, letting it slowly drag down his tee-shirt.

Izzy still looked confused, but it didn't take him much longer to realise what I was subtly hinting at. He called out his goodbyes to his bandmates in a rush as he grabbed my hand and pulled me and Ripley along with him.

*

"I really should go now," Izzy said to me in between kisses.

I pulled the bedsheet up to my neck, covering my bare chest as I watched Izzy effortlessly ease himself into a pair of black skinny jeans. We had just shared our first intimate moment together since losing the baby. It wasn't the "complete act", mainly we just fooled around a little bit, got naked and did some passionate snuggling. I hadn't felt sexy in so long, but seeing Izzy on stage earlier in the day, lit a spark in my body that hadn't been alight for what felt like an eternity. 

"Do you want to come with me or are you still set on staying home?" He asked me as he rushed around our bedroom looking for car keys and a shirt to wear.

"I might just stay home tonight, hang out with puppy and watch TV."

"Okay. Anyway, I gotta go, word on the street is Axl will be on time tonight. I don't really want to be the late one this time, ya know?" Izzy laughed.

He gave me a swift kiss on the forehead, telling me he'd be home as soon as the show was over, and once he left the room, I heard him say his goodbyes to Ripley. I decided to eventually roll out of bed, grabbed my towel to have a shower and got changed into my jammies. As I was making my way across the living room towards the bathroom, I couldn't see Ripley anywhere, and just assumed she had trotted off into another room to snooze. I showered, dried myself, got changed, and realised it was dinner time for the pup. Usually, she would be waiting patiently next to the fridge, but for the first time, she wasn't even in the kitchen.

"Ripley? Come on, din-dins time." I called out.

No response.

"Ripley?" I called a little louder.

No click-clack of her claws at all. Maybe she'll come out if she can smell her food. I opened the fridge and brought out a packet of mince, opened the plastic covering and waved the packet around in circles.

"Din-dins, Rip!"

Still nothing. Maybe she's outside? I turned on the backyard light and stuck my head out the door. No sign of dog anywhere. Izzy didn't leave the front door open, did he? I rushed down the hallway to find the front door was closed.

"Ripley!"

I peeked into every room and couldn't find her anywhere until I came to the guest bedroom; the door was open a jar, and once I cracked it open further, I saw dobs of what looked like green paint on the wooden floor. What the hell? Once I entered the room properly and flicked on the light, I found Ripley hiding in the back corner of the room, on her side, panting heavily and it looked like she was shaking. That's not paint. I rushed to her side and she completely ignored me; she continued to pant and I saw a puddle of green vomit on the floor next to her mouth.

"Fuck!"

I rushed into the living room and frantically looked for a phonebook and after what felt like hours of no luck, I followed my next instinct; I knew there was a veterinary not too far away from the house. I had no idea if they had a 24-hour emergency service, but it was worth the shot. I slipped on the first pair of shoes I could find, not worrying that I was in my pyjamas, grabbed my car keys and ran back to Ripley. I didn't care how heavy she was, I managed to scoop her limp body up and I ran out of the house. I delicately placed her in the backseat of the car, which nearly broke my back, jumped in the front seat and sped off. The streets became a blur as tears started to spill from my eyes.

"Hang on, girl, we're nearly there." I sobbed as I zipped through the streets.

All I could think of was Izzy and her licking her lips when she was under the stage. What the fuck did she eat down there? Izzy would be on stage while his pup was seriously ill – I wouldn't dare contact him during his show. Ripley will be okay, so it won't matter that Izzy isn't here with us... right?

~

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