"Now, you have to stay here- on the bus- until I get back, alright?" Nikki said as he wiped the blood from my face for the final time. "I'll be back in a little bit, so you just lay right here, okay?"

"No, I wanna go with you," I whined as I threw my arms around his neck, doing my best to cling to my best friend.

"Honey, as soon as Izzy sees you, we're both in trouble," he reasoned. "You got hurt when we were supposed to watch you. When you were in our care."

"So?"

"So your brother might not let you hang out with us anymore if he sees that you're hurt," he said softly. "You don't want that, do you?"

"No!"

"I don't either, so you'll just have to sit tight for a bit. And then when the show's over, I'll be back and I'll bring Tommy, too, okay?"

"Promise?" I asked, feeling tears fill my eyes at the idea of being left alone.

"I promise. Terror Triplet's honor," he said as he saluted me. He pushed a bit of my teased hair away from my face as he leaned away.

"Okay," I said with a pout as he struggled to get me to stay in his bunk.

"Sleep, Carolina, please."

"But I'm not tired," I complained.

Nikki knew better than to argue with drunk me; every one did. No semi-sober person, or any other drunk could make me do anything if I didn't feel like it. Their only advantage was that I was smaller than them and that they could carry me if I was being stubborn at an inappropriate time.

"Okay then, play solitaire or something. I think Tommy left some cards on the table up front," he said. "Behave," he mumbled before kissing my cheek and exiting the bus.

Well now what was I supposed to do? It was just me, and I wanted to party. When I had no one around me, things happened one of two ways, and neither way was the best.

When I was drunk, I would do stupid shit, like play with fire- or try to spit fire, whatever came first (it's about the same thing), or break bottles, or even throw things out of the windows of a moving bus. Any idea that floated into my alcohol impaired mind was a good idea as far as i was concerned.

When I was sober... well I'd try to do the same thing, only I understood the consequences when it didn't work out and knew how to get out of them. If I had been drinking, I wouldn't be able to talk myself out of trouble, or I wouldn't understand if I was going to be arrested. I had a thing for self destruction now and then, and if I got too freaked out, I would completely break down and melt into a messy puddle of emotions, eyeliner, and hairspray.

Standing up and breaking out of my thoughts, I stumbled over to the table, looking for Tommy's cards. Of course, nothing was ever where it was supposed to be, and there were only four cards on the table; the two jacks and two instruction cards were the only things on the table- well the only things I was interested in.

The ashtray was absolutely stuffed with cigarette butts, beer tabs and bottle caps littered the table, scratching and denting the finish of the wood, one of them had stuck gum to the wall, and it appeared that eyeliner was smudged into the seat in the dining area. Scraps of paper and random guitar picks were also strewn across the table for no apparent reason, but the rest of the playing cards were nowhere to be found.

With a huff, I made my way back to Tommy's bunk to look for them, hoping that I wouldn't be greeted by a gross sight of panties hanging from the wall or something. As soon as I pulled his bunk curtain open, however, I was not met with a disgusting sight or smell, but the ever so faint, yet familiar smell of cannabis.

I smirked as I switched on his bunk light, before rummaging through his sheets, checking under his pillow and magazines. Without even thinking, I threw his blankets to the floor, with every intention of putting them back; first I needed to find his stash. His mattress seemed to turn to a waterbed beneath me as I drunkenly swayed, desperately searching for some form of distraction.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, I decided to trust my nose rather than my eyes, as I was finding neither the cards, nor the weed and the bunk practically started spinning with me in it. Feeling along Tommy's leopard print sheets, I tried to find the strongest smelling corner of the bunk, knowing that he would try to safely tuck his drugs in a corner to prevent them from sliding.

"Ha!" I victoriously shouted to myself as I felt a little glass jar tap against my fingernails.

Score.

°°°°°°

As Mötley Crüe dominated the stage, Izzy found himself wondering about where his sister could possibly be... Normally, she made an appearance after Guns N' Roses got off stage, and she would shamelessly flirt with Axl while the Crüe was waiting on deck, but tonight, she hadn't shown for some reason.

It didn't sit well, but he tried to shrug it off; she may have been sick, or maybe she was in a dressing room, or bathroom- or even on the bus, the thought with a frown.

Guns N' Roses had played a great opening set tonight, and it would be a shame if she missed it all. They had all been having a lot of fun lately, but Carolina seemed to be getting farther from him and closer to Nikki, Tommy, and Axl.

"For fuck's sake, she's my sister. She should be hanging out with me, too," Izz thought.

As they headed back to their dressing room before leaving to get their bus, Axl stopped Izzy, a concerned look on his face.

"Hey, Izz, where's Carolina?" he asked, unintentionally shouting due to the previous volume when they were on stage.

"I, uh, I don't know, Axl. She was here before the show, but I'm not really sure where she's at now," he said, a nervous feeling tickling the back of his neck.

"Weird, she's always here," he said, apparent confusion in his eyes.

"Yeah," Izzy trailed off as the continued walking.

"I'm glad she's not around," Slash grumbled as he drunkenly staggered down the hall, wiping his sweaty face with a towel. "Now I don't have to listen to her flirt with Axl."

"Aw, jealous much?" Axl purred as he brushed past Slash.

"Nope, only annoyed."

"Sure," chortled Duff. He patted Slash on the back before walking ahead to catch up with Steven, who, of course, was still full of energy.

Still, Izzy couldn't shake the feeling that his sister was up to something that she shouldn't be. She had a tendency for self destructing every now and then, and now that Nikki and Tommy weren't with her, he wasn't sure if he should be relieved, or even more worried about what she was doing while off on her own.

°°°°°°

"T-Bone, you should have seen that chick's face!" Vince howled as the boys headed to the back exit of the venue, on their way to the back lot in which their bus was parked. "She was dying to touch you when you went up over the crowd."

"Hey, everybody wants some!" Tommy shouted, doing his best David Lee Roth impression. "Maybe she'll get some next time," he added with a shrug, laughing at his own joke.

"Maybe," Nikki said as he walked beside Tommy, lighting a cigarette.

"Sixx, where's our third?" Tom asked him, pushing his sweaty hair out of his face.

"I told you, she's on the bus. If you fucking idiots hadn't sent her on a wild fucking goose chase to find me she'd be with us right now, but being that you made that decision, she got hurt, and I had to keep her away from the G N' R guys," he said, tossing a match to the ground in annoyance.

"You really think that Izzy isn't looking for her?" Mick piped up, sounding obviously annoyed with Nikki's logic (or possible lack thereof).

"I'm sure he is, but as long as we see her first and check shit out, we'll be fine," he said as they approached the bus. "Plus, they have to go get their bus; ours is right here. No problem, Mars," he said simply as he reached for the bus handle.

"We'll be fine," Tommy said. "I just really hope that Carolina didn't find-" the door opened, allowing the smell to reach him, "my weed!"

°°°°°°

"My weed!" I heard Tommy shout.

"Ah, shit. Well, there's no running now... I'll just turn off the light," I thought as I heard them enter the bus.

I was nestled comfortable in Tommy's bunk, his soft blankets pooled around me as I was smoking. I still hadn't found the cards, but I once again had a bottle of Jack in my lap as I got faded in T-Bone's bunk.

My peaceful thoughts were interrupted by someone ripping the curtain open, releasing all of the smoke that had built up. As the light streamed in, I saw all six feet and two inches of Tommy Lee standing in front of me, sweaty and faintly annoyed, his arms crossed over his chest.

"I won't be angry if you didn't smoke it all," he stated in a plain voice.

Holding up the jar for him to see, I revealed that I hadn't even smoked half of it, a sleazy smile making its way to my face.

"Jeeze, Rae, open a window next time," joked Nikki as he fanned the air around him. As soon as he saw me, his eyes widened a bit and he began to laugh. "You are fucked up," he said in an almost proud manner.

"Alright, you baby sleazeball, out of my bunk," Tommy said with a smile. I could tell that he wasn't angry, but more amused.

"You got it, Cap'n," I said with a giggle as I attempted to roll out of his bunk. "Oh, n' Sixx's a liar," I slurred as I walked into Nikki's arms. "There were no cards anywhere on this buzz," I said. I frowned and attempted to correct myself. "This buzz. Bus."

"How are you feelin', Carolina?" Vince asked as he slid by me and Nikki, who was currently holding me up.

"So good."

"Yeah? How's your head?" Nikki asked, gently brushing my hair out of the way as he shot Vince a glare.

"I think it's fine. I had a headache earlier but it's better due to my friends Mary Jane and Jack Daniels," I said, shooting him a cheesy grin.

"Yeah," he said with a chuckle. "That'll do it."

"How was the show?" I asked as Mick passed me, silent as per usual.

"Great," Tommy said, lighting a joint that he had rolled when I wasn't paying attention.

My drunk ass thought he was a magician for a moment, before losing interest and turning back to what ever Nikki was doing.

"Sixx, how were Guns N' Nos- Roses?"

"I'm sure they were great."

"You didn't see?" I asked sadly, sinking into his arms.

"Honey, I was with you, don't you remember?"

I shook my head, biting my lip in thought.

"Oh, that's alright. I didn't think you would. But hey, you found me," he said with a smile, leading me to the front lounge.

"I did," I said with a smile, sitting in his lap. "Where's my brother?" I asked.

"He's getting the Guns N' Roses bus. You're having a sleepover with us tonight, Miss Carolina," he breathed into my ear.

"Okay," I whispered, leaning back into his shoulder. "Only if I can stay in your bunk, though."

"Well of course," he said softly, a slight chuckle following his words. "Plus, Tommy snores, and Vince- well, you don't know where he's been."

"An' I like you," I reminded.

"I like you, too, Rae," he said quietly.

At about that time, I was fading out; I wouldn't be remembering the rest of the night no matter how hard I tried. Not that I cared. I was happy, even if I hadn't seen Izzy and Axl for hours.