On the way to the bus, we ran into Nikki, which happened to be lucky for us, and I decided to relay a bit of our current problem to him, hoping that he would understand.

"Alright, Sixx, I have a bit of an issue," I said, moving my hair so that he could see the dark line of hickeys down the side of my throat.

"Oh, fuck... Did I do that?" he asked, half joking, as he observed the marks, touching them lightly. The callouses on his fingers gave me shivers, which quickly passed, but out of the corner of my eye, I could see Slash stiffen the tiniest bit.

I felt his hand press lightly against the small of my back in an almost passive aggressive manor that gave off a vibe of 'this is mine.'

"Well, no, but I was hoping that you could cover for me if my brother asks," I said, holding onto Slash's arm, trying to send the message that he needed to relax- I was all his, as well as so that I didn't put too much pressure on my knee while we were standing in the lobby.

"What do you mean?"

"Like, if my brother asks, is it okay if I say that it was you?" I asked slowly, desperately hoping that he would be fine with it.

"Sure... if you tell me what really happened."

"Only if you don't tell anyone."

"Deal," he said, drawing an 'x' over his heart with his finger.

"Well then, ask this one," I said, lightly smacking Slash's chest. He didn't even blink, although if he did, I wouldn't be able to see; he had his shades on and his hair was in the way.

"Wait, you two?"

"Not exactly," I lied. "After we got back, I drank a lot because my knee was killing me- you know how it is; Doctor Daniels," I said, waving the bottle that was in my hand as he nodded understandingly. "Slash was supposed to keep an eye on me, but obviously that didn't work out," I said, shooting him a fake glare. "He lost track of me and I don't know what happened."

Slash was starting to sketch me out; he had said nothing but 'hello' the entire time that we were talking to Nikki, and I could see him getting antsy, and his weird possessive attitude was a little strange.

"Sure," Nikki said skeptically, shaking his head as he laughed. "I'll take that, but I think I can guess the real story. That sounds like it could be about half right, though," he mused.

"Don't you dare say a fuckin' word," I growled, pointing at him threateningly. "Most of that is true, and that being said, it's good enough for me."

"Hey, don't shoot the messenger," he joked, raising his hands in surrender. "Your secret is safe with me. Good luck with Izzy," he said as he turned to walk away.

"Thank you!" I shouted after him. He merely responded by giving me a thumbs up over his shoulder.

"Well, that's taken care of," Slash mumbled, offering to carry me again.

"No, I got it; we're don't usually get along, remember?"

"True, but that was before," he said with a shrug as he opened the door for me.

"Which is also true, but we're keeping up the illusion of being civil by just walking together. Plus, you're here if I actually do need help."

"Fair enough."

"Mm-hm. By the way..."

"What?"

"Are you jealous of Nikki?"

"Nope."

"Really? So you're just defensive?"

"Yup. I'm not worried, because," he said, mumbling something at the end.

"Because why? You mumbled."

"Because you're mine," he said softly.

"You're goddamn right I am," I said with a smile, limping alongside him.

°°°°°°

"You," Izzy said, pointing at Slash, "are slow as shit. My sister has a reason; we forgot to tell her because we hoped Duff would let her know. You on the other hand, didn't fuck up your knee, so you have no reason to be so goddamn slow," he said as he headed to the back lounge, expecting Slash to follow him.

"He was helping me," I spoke up, defending him.

"Whatever; he was still not on time," Axl interjected.

"Oh, shut up. Neither was I."

"It's fine, Carolina," Slash said, kicking off his shoes and heading for the back.

"Great going, Ax-hole," I said, rolling my eyes.

"Why are you standing up for him?" he asked, narrowing his eyes at me.

"Because he was helping me; don't be a dick when someone's late when they're just trying to be nice."

"Since when is he nice? You two can't stand each other," he said, sitting back in his seat, narrowing his eyes suspiciously.

"Axl, I've had a long night. I'm in pain, and I'm in no fucking mood to deal with your shit," I snapped, limping over and sitting at the table. "Us getting along should be a godsend for you guys; less fighting."

"Mm-hm... what happened to your neck?" he asked, tilting his head as he tried to get a better look.

"Nothing; mind your own damn business," I said, crossing my arms.

"Nothing? Really? So... you had a long night as in you were up to bad things?" he asked suggestively.

"Did you miss what I just said? It's none of your business."

"But I'm sure Izzy might find it interesting," he said, smiling with fake innocence.

"Oh, piss off. I'm an adult and he's not my mother."

"But he is your brother."

"Good for you, you know that he and I are related," I said, shooting him a bitchy smile as I stood up, heading for my bunk.

"Oh, fuck off."

"Funny, I was just about to say the same thing to you," I shouted over my shoulder.

°°°°°°

"Hey, wake up," I heard my brother say as he rolled back my bunk curtain.

"What happened?"

"You've been asleep for hours; we're going to check out the city," he announced before turning to walk away. "Oh, and you're coming, too."

"Do I have to?" I whined.

"Uh, yeah?"

"Izzy, please, my knee hurts; I don't want to walk around," I grumbled, burying my face in my pillow.

"Oh, I've got stuff you can take," he said nonchalantly.

"'Stuff' as in?"

"Well, I've got painkillers, but I figured we could all smoke some weed before going out."

"You had me at smoke," I said as I slowly sat up. "Seriously, though, why do I have to go with you guys?"

"Well, the rest of us are-other than Slash; he's staying here.

"Okay, but why can't I stay here?"

"Do you really think I'm going to leave you and Slash alone?" he asked quietly.

"Meaning what? You're the one that let us share a hotel room. I doubt that being alone on the bus is a problem," I said with a laugh.

If we hadn't done anything already.

"What are you talking about? You were supposed to room with Du- Duff," he growled before narrowing his eyes and storming away, yelling the tall blond's name.

"Oops," I mumbled under my breath, carefully hopping out of my bunk and getting my makeup so that I could get ready.

"Hello again, Carolina," Slash said, brushing against me as he slid past in the hall.

"Hi there."

"Are you going with them?"

"Yeah. I hear that you're not," I said, rubbing my eyes before I started on my makeup.

"Nah. I don't feel like going out."

"I don't either."

"Well then why don't you just stay here?" he asked, nonchalantly leaning against the bathroom door frame.

"Iz doesn't want to leave us alone together for some reason," I said, doing my best to hide my smirk.

"Wow, late much?" he joked quietly.

"Shh," I hissed softly as I lined my eyes. "Do you need something?" I asked him, watching him as he looked around.

"Yeah," he said as he stepped into the bathroom. "Just let me-"

"Hey! Stop it," I snapped, trying not to laugh as he pressed his whole body against me, lightly shoving me against the wall of the tiny bathroom.

"Sorry, just need the Tylenol," he said, feigning innocence as he stuck his arm in front of my face, blocking my view of the mirror.

"Then why are you in here?" I asked as I pushed against him. "That's in the front in a drawer somewhere- ask Izzy."

"Oh, my mistake," he said, quickly pressing a kiss to my lips.

"Mm-hm, sure it is," I said nervously, hoping no one happened to see us kiss as I tried to arrange my hair so that it would help cover the burgundy love bites that were peppered down the side of my neck. "Slash!" I whined when he went limp and was dead weight against me. "Will you get out of here before I suffocate you with hairspray?" I asked with a laugh, reaching for the can of Aqua Net as he continued to block my sight.

"What? I lost my balance," he said with a shrug, still leaning on me, which was starting to make my knee ache.

"Slash, please!" I shouted, feeling irritation creep up my spine, as well as the searing pain in my knee.

"I didn't do anything," he claimed, taking a step back, knowing that I was over his game.

"Get out," I demanded, finally spraying him with the 'hair cement,' as the boys liked to call it. "Now, go," I whispered, trying to hold in my laughter as he choked on the remaining hairspray particles that floated in the air.

"Ah, great, now I smell all girly," he joked before reaching in one more time, grabbing his toothbrush instead of messing with me.

"Good. Go away; you're distracting me," I said, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible as I leaned over to kiss him.

"You got it, boss."

I rolled my eyes, finished my makeup, and headed to the back room, following the sweet smell of marijuana.