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"I'm so, so sorry, Sixx," I said weakly. "For everything."

I could see him think for a moment, and after a moment, he crossed the small space between us, wrapping his arms around me as tightly as he could, causing my ribs to ache.

"I know... I am, too," he whispered back.

I felt myself hug him tighter, like I was afraid that he would disappear from my arms.

"I hate when we fight," I mumbled into his chest. trying to make myself be understood as I tried not to cry.

"Me, too, Sadie," he whispered into my hair.

I barely held in a sob when he said my name, his voice being my favorite sound. Soon, that sob was let out as he began to softly rub my back. My ribs ached and my head had begun to pound, yet his touch seemed to dull the pain. He pulled me closer to his chest, almost as if he was trying to shield me from the storm outside. He was like a heater, and I needed that right now.

"Sadie, you're freezing," he said softly.

"I get cold when I'm upset," I said between hiccups.

"And you're soaking wet," he added. "What happened?"

He gently released me from his arms and held me at a distance to get a good look at me, paling again when he noticed the blood.

"A-Axl-"

Nikki's eyes flamed and his jaw tightened, "Did he hurt you? Did he do this?!"

"Not exactly; he l-lied to me. He said I was just his 'tour girl' and I... he used me," I choked out. "Tonight his 'real' girlfriend showed up 'n I threw a bottle 'n she attacked me 'n I ran-"

"Wait, wait, wait. Slow down, okay? You're talking too fast. Let's get you cleaned up, then you can tell me what happened, alright?"

I nodded and held back yet another sob.

Nikki tilted his head towards the bathroom and placed a hand on the small of my back, leading me.

"Sit on the counter, okay?" he said softly, as there was a knock on the door that he had to attend to. "Stay here."

I nodded and he disappeared into the front room, returning a few minutes later with a basket of candles in his hand.

"Room service," he said with a chuckle.

He lit three and placed them around the room, and looked back to me.

"Okay, now... tell me what happened."

"Well," I began, looking at my hands, "Axl woke me up at about five and started talking about how he didn't know when my birthday was and-"

I stopped as Nikki tilted my chin so he could get better lighting on my face.

"Sorry, continue."

"Uh... he said that he would pretend it was today just in case he missed it."

"It's February seventh, what a dipshit," he mumbled, barely audible.

"He threw a packet of glitter on me and I tried to make a game out it; I chased him and we just kinda goofed around. He said he had ordered room service so I needed to watch the door because he was gonna take a shower, but when I answered the door, there was a woman there. Man, she was really pretty..."

I could hear him laugh to himself as he wiped the blood off of my cheek.

"She said that she was his girlfriend, 'Carmen,'" I said with air quotes around 'Carmen.' "She just shoved her way into the room and started yelling for him- completely freaking out. When he came out of the bathroom he started freaking out, too. He said that she was his L.A. girl, and when I asked him if that made me his tour girl..." I trailed off shaking my head.

"What did he say?" Nikki asked.

"He said that I was... he said it like it was something I should have known the entire time."

Nikki stayed quiet and I knew that he was thinking.

"I got angry and I... threw a bottle of champagne at him," I said wistfully.

"Please tell me you hit him."

I laughed softly, "I clipped his ear... he was bleeding," I confirmed.

"Good. Fuckin' asshole," he mumbled.

I felt a weak smile creep on my lips... he still cared.

"I don't really remember much after that. I probably tried to hit him but Carmen launched herself at me and clawed the shit out of my face. I think I also hit a table... I'm not sure," I said as I felt my ribs.

"I'll check, okay? Your face barely stopped bleeding so I'm gonna take care of that first; these scratches are really deep."

"Okay," I mumbled, sniffling softly.

"What else happened?"

"Well, he pulled her off of me and I told her that I wasn't the only one," I laughed bitterly, "and he looked like he shit a brick; he thought I didn't know. Like I'm not gonna notice when he comes back at three in the morning smelling like cheap skank perfume."

Nikki laughed deeply, and I felt my nerves settle at the wonderful sound.

"Oh God," I shook my head lightly. "I missed your laugh," I murmured.

"I missed you, Sexy Sadie," he said with a sad smile.

After a moment of silence ticked by, I continued my story.

"I left and I was on the third floor for around four hours."

I saw his eyes widen in surprise as he shuffled through the first aid kit. Like a curious child, he held up the small packages and read each of them.

"You were bleeding for that long? How?" he asked.

"I don't know... Like you said, they must be deep."

He shook his head solemnly, tearing open a small packet of something I couldn't see.

"I felt like you were the only person I wanted to be around, y'know? I didn't want to see Tommy. I love the guy- he's like my brother, but he wasn't it. I was really worried that bothering you was a mistake."

"Hey, you don't bother me at all. I missed you, but I didn't know what to say... You know I'm no good with that stuff," he mumbled. "And please don't hate me," he warned as he poured a bit of rubbing alcohol on a towel.

"Oh God," I said as I sucked in a deep breath. I hissed slightly as he touched it my face.

"I'm sorry," he cooed as he gently blew on the my cheek. "They're deeper than they look, hun. I'm so sorry."

"You don't have to keep saying you're sorry, Nikki. It wasn't your fault."

"It kind of is though... I shouldn't have let that happen. I should have let you hang out with them to begin with- this could have been avoided it I had. It was-"

"It wasn't," I said, placing a hand on his cheek. "You were doing what you thought would keep me safe."

"I thought I was."

"You were," I breathed.

His head fell against my shoulder and I wrapped my arms around him, holding him close, knowing that we both felt safer like that.

After while, I gently pushed him up off of my shoulder. Somehow, I found myself leaning towards him, him leaning in as well. When our lips connected, and it was like our own bolt of lightning whirled around the room, making us a match for the storm outside.

We broke apart suddenly and our eyes were wide.

"What a feeling," we said simultaneously.

We laughed softly and I leaned into his chest, listening to his heartbeat.

"I forgot what that felt like," I mumbled, softly tracing the tattoo on his chest with my fingers.

"Me, too. No more fights?" he asked softly as he put his arms around me again.

"No more fights," I agreed.

We stood there for at least 15 minutes, simply holding each other. Just listening to his steady heartbeat had calmed me down. I had relaxed enough to the point where I could breathe again and he was gently rubbing my back, making the adrenaline comedown smoother.

Soon, he let go of me and filled the bathtub for me, saying something about it making me feel better.

"You're lucky the hot water heater is still working," he said. "Okay, let's see your other battle wounds, Missy," he said as he helped me down from the counter.

I pulled the jacket off and dropped it to the floor. Nikki looked at it, then at me, and smiled. He leaned in again and kissed me, and I felt myself totally melt into him. My lips parted slightly when he pulled me closer to him, and he passed his tongue over the edge of my lips.

Soon, I felt him tug at the bottom of my shirt and I raised my arms so that he could pull it completely off, haphazardly tossing it to the floor with the leather jacket.

"Business first," he said.

"Okay," I said, fake pouting, knowing that he had just been teasing me.

He ran his hands down my ribs and stopped when he felt me tense. Turning me gently, he examined the swollen bruises that had formed.

"Ouch," he murmured. "You're not gonna like this, but I'm gonna have to touch them a little harder to see if they're broken, okay?"

"Okay," I said, drawing in a nervous breath.

He ran his fingers down once again, applying pressure. I felt myself involuntarily whimper and he looked up, smiling apologetically. He focused on two of my ribs in particular, and I felt my eyes tear up. I sniffled, once again drawing Nikki's attention.

"Hey, it's okay, I'll stop. I didn't mean to hurt you," He said, cupping my cheek. "I'm so sorry." He wiped a tear from my cheek with his thumb.

"It's okay. I didn't really notice it earlier, that's all," I said, placing my hand on the back of his.

"Here," he said, sliding his fingers of his free hand into the waistband of my underwear, "let me help you," he said mischievously, trying to pull them down.

"I think I can do that, thank you."

He pouted and crossed his arms with an "okay."

When I was fully stripped and finished with looking at my bruises and scrapes in the mirror, Nikki put a hand out and helped me climb into the bathtub.

"Now, be careful with yourself. I'm not sure if you're broken or not, which means that we either need to see if there's a medic at the next show or go to a hospital. Whatever's closer."

"I don't want to go to a hospital. I'm sure I'm fine."

"You probably are," he said with a smile. "I just want to make sure." With that, he kissed my forehead and walked back into the front room. "I'll go find you some clothes," he called.

"Thank you."

Tommy was right. Nikki and I were okay. We were supposed to be together because we got through everything we've had to deal with in the past. We're supposed to be happy and peaceful.

Right now, all I wanted was to be close to him, so I conjured up a simple little plan that I knew he wouldn't refuse.

"Hey, Nikki..."

"Yes?" he answered, appearing in the doorway.

"Join me?" I asked, running my fingers through the water.

"Absolutely," he said with a smirk. His clothes hit the floor before he had even crossed the room.

I guess he missed me... just a little.