"Do me a favor and stop arguing."

"No. I'm not just going to sit here-"

"You're going to do whatever I tell you to right now- you and I both know that I'm only trying to do what's right for you. This is an age old argument with you- you either refuse to do something for me or you insist on doing what I don't want you to do. I'm not hearing it."

"Izzy-"

"Just humor me."

"No."

"It isn't a question, Carolina; Nikki and I both agree that you need to stay with someone at all times while you're getting back on track. We're leaving, and you're staying here with Slash."

"Bu-"

"Not arguing. Have fun," he said as he closed the bus door behind himself.

"It's hard to have fun when I'm being treated like a fucking prisoner!" I screamed, dropping into a seat with a heavy sigh. "Why the hell am I being held as a goddamn captive?" I whined, frowning as I held my pounding head.

"You know why," Slash mumbled softly. "You've made a few bad choices and your brother wants to make sure that everything is going to be okay with you. He wants to know that you can come back from the edge."

"What do you mean?"

"It's his way of making sure that you have control of yourself. Like... okay," he said, leaning forward to grab his acoustic guitar, "he wants to make sure you can be your own person; We can tell you're not under Nikki's thumb, so it's all your decisions, but heroin?" he asked softly. "That will fuck up your mind so bad- we all want to make sure you can come back from that."

"Who cares," I mumbled under my breath.

"Well, I do. Your brother does. All of us- even Axl."

I stared at the floor, feeling somehow embarrassed that he had heard me. For the next ten minutes or so, we sat without speaking as he quietly played his guitar. I stared at his fingers, which moved quickly, but delicately as he played, discreetly looking through his hair at me.

"What?" he asked.

"Just watching you... is that okay?"

"Sure, whatever you want."

"Okay. What are you playing?"

"What do you mean?"

"What song is that? Or is it a song at all, I guess is the real question."

"Nah, I'm just making it up as I go."

"Wow. That's really good, Slash."

He stopped playing, raising an eyebrow at me.

"I'm Slash again?" I tilted my head in confusion. "Not Hudson? What happened?" he teased.

I looked at the floor, realizing that I had been a total asshole.

"Hey, I'm just messin' with you, you know that, right?" he asked as he put the guitar down.

"Yeah," I whispered.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm good," I mumbled a little louder, faking a smile.

"Liar."

"Don't worry about it."

"You're not getting off that easy, Missy," he said, sitting on the floor beside me.

"I'm fine, really," I lied, laughing softly. "Stop looking at me like that... it's like you're trying to read my mind and it's weird."

"Okay, I'll stop scrutinizing you," he joked. "So, I was thinking about what you said the other night-"

"Oh, Slash, forget about it. I was high and being a bitch. I'm sorry."

"You were not; you made a fair deal, and I intend to figure something out."

"Please, don't go through the trouble- I'm not worth it. I've been so shitty to you, and sure, I was mad, but I got over it. I've been screwing everything up and I can't get my shit straight to save my life. Please just save yourself from it."

"Carolina, don't start feeling bad for yourself."

"How am I feeling bad for myself? I'm trying to protect you from my," I thought for the appropriate term, "self-destruction."

"I don't care. It's part of who you are, and either way, you can't drive me off. I'm still crazy about you. Plus-"

"Wait, you didn't answer; how is that me fe-" he covered my mouth.

"Plus, I figured out what I'm going to do, so you can't shake me off until I do it."

"Oh?" I laughed softly when he removed his hand from my mouth. "And what would that be?"

"Well, I was gonna write you a song. I don't know if Axl would ever let me put it on an album, but I'm gonna do it."

"Slash, you don't have to-"

"I know. I want to."

"Why?" I insisted. "Why would you want to do that for me? Have I not been a total bitch to you?"

"No; sure, you haven't always been the nicest, but I get it. I fucked you over once, and that was a mess. This last time I kind of did the same thing and, well, I was being kind of an ass- more than kind of. I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry, too. I shouldn't have blown up on you."

"It's okay; you were pissed at me. You had a point, too. I shouldn't have been acting like that with other girls. What I did was fucked up."

"So was my reaction to all of the shit going on."

"Hey, it happens... And I'm sorry about the whole thing with Steven. I didn't know it was going to make you that upset."

"It's your band, not mine. It doesn't matter if it upsets me. I mean, yeah, I'm bummed, but you have to do what's best for you guys. I just needed to calm down. Once again, I overreacted. I'm sorry."

"Stop apologizing, please. Let's just agree to move on, shall we?"

"I can do that," I mumbled, my teeth chattering as I began to shiver from withdrawals.

"You're feeling it now, aren't you?"

"What?"

"The drugs leaving you."

"Yeah; I was asleep earlier, but now that I'm awake it's starting to hit me hard."

He wrapped his arm around my shoulder, pulling me close to him.

"You'll feel better in a couple of days. Everything just has to run it's course."

"Does this mean we're friends again?" I mumbled.

"If that's what you want."

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure it is, but I guess we both have to be careful this time."

"Yeah... never know what could happen."

"True. I mean, you could fuck me over again," I mumbled with a coy smile.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I meant fuck me over a table."

"Oh, really?" he purred.

"Mm-hm. C'mon, what have you got to lose?"

"Good point. I mean, that doesn't sound like a bad idea at all," he mused, leaning in to kiss me. I closed my eyes, expecting him to kiss my lips, but instead, felt him kiss my cheek. "Not tonight, though; when you're feeling better."

"It could be fun," I whined. "A good distraction."

"Okay, answer me this: How long have you been doing heroin with Nikki and Robbin?"

"What?"

"How long- guess."

"I don't know, maybe a few weeks or something."

"Since we fired Adler?"

"About then, yeah."

"I can tell. You still aren't thinking completely clear," he said, brushing my hair out of my face. "You know the kind of sex we have; your brother is already pissed at you for this stuff, and he's going to be looking for anything out of the ordinary- bite marks, bruises, hickies," he whispered, his breath tickling my neck. "We have to be careful, and we have to wait."

"What if we were... not as aggressive," I suggested as I felt my heart pound in my chest. "You keep breathing on my neck and I'm going to be miserable if you don't do anything."

"I think you'll be okay. One step at a time," he promised. "Okay?"

"Fine."

"Good. Now, what song am I going to write?" he thought aloud.

"You don't have to wr-"

He cut me off again, but this time, he actually did kiss me, and with his soft lips once again on mine, I could think clearly for a few seconds.

"I'm going to do it, whether or not you want me to," he promised. "I'll name it after you and everything. Someday."

"Whatever you say, Slash," I mumbled, snuggling into his chest.

"It'll happen, you'll see."

"We'll see."

"If we have a round two together, we need to tell your brother."

"I know... how the fuck would we do that?" I asked.

"I have no idea. We'd think of something, I'm sure, but I think there would be a lot of explaining to do."

"I guess we have some dirty little secrets to keep for a while."

"Just for a while."

°°°°°°

"And how is my baby sister feeling today?" Izzy asked loudly, right beside my face.

"I was fine until you showed up," I grumbled without opening my eyes.

"I used to tell mom and dad that all of the time," he joked.

"Oh, piss off," I said with a laugh, reaching out to lightly punch him.

"You seem a little better; you're bullying me."

"I am not; you started it."

"Did not; I was born first, therefore-"

"Therefore, you are the original bully," I confirmed, as I opened my eyes, finally relieved that I didn't feel like complete death.

It had been four days since my little 'lock down' episode with Slash, and since then, we hadn't really been alone at all, but we were definitely getting along better.

"Whatever, brat. Get dressed; we're going out for breakfast."

"Breakfast my ass," Duff shouted as he walked by. "It's already twelve; no one serves breakfast this late."

"I take it he's upset?"

"Very. He wanted pancakes."

"Bummer. Poor guy," I joked as I climbed down from my bunk.

"Hey, have you talked to the L.A. Guns guys lately?" he asked.

"No, why?"

"Just curious."

"What happened?"

"Nothing."

"Izzy, what happened?"

"Nothing. I was just asking."

"You're so shady."

"So are you."

"Touché... We are definitely siblings."

"Mm-hm. Anyway, get ready. Like I said, we're going out to get food."

"Believe it or not, after you keeping me stuck on the bus, I don't even feel like leaving," I admitted as I dug through my suitcase for a pair of pants.

"Well that sucks for you; You're coming with us," he said as he walked to the front of the bus.

"Whatever."

As I got dressed, I started to feel kind of bad for not talking to the other Guns guys more; we had all been pretty close when I had gotten back, and now I rarely spoke to them unless I was home- which didn't really matter, as we all got alone fine enough.

Now things were a little different; I used to love them being around- they were my first friends when I came back to California, but now I couldn't wait for them to leave half of the time. I still enjoyed their company, and they were fun to be around, but when Slash and I were busy sneaking around, they were an inconvenience.

Don't get me wrong, I loved them being around, but I think our friendship chemistry was getting watered down... Then again, who could really tell? I'd have to go home eventually, and when I did, I would (hopefully) be able to tell.

I also had to wonder if Slash and I were going to be together again.... officially this time. Izzy was going to shit himself if and when we told him- that alone, I was dying to see, but at the same time, I was afraid to say anything. In all fairness, I was eighteen; I was an adult. There was no stopping me if I wanted to do something, but I didn't want anything to happen behind closed doors with the guys in the band... especially when we told him we had been together before.

Then again, who knew if it would happen. Maybe Slash was just feeling bad for me because of my withdrawals and said what ever he thought would make me feel better- then again, maybe not.

"Carolina, let's go!"

"Coming," I called, grabbing some sunglasses before heading out with the guys.