~The Izzy Cam~

"Come on, Dylan, cut me some slack," Axl tiredly groaned, reaching inside the crib once more to attempt to console the crying child. As much as she hated to admit it, Skipper seemed to be the only one with the magical ability to pacify Dylan when he was upset, and her soft voice reading Charlotte's Web was the only way Dylan liked to fall asleep.

Dylan's rosy cheeks were stained with tears, and his high-pitched screaming failed to subside. Axl could distract him most of the time with chicken nuggets, cartoons and toys, but it was only a matter of time before the boy's eyes would turn from their usual calm blue state to that of the ocean during a storm.

"Mama!" Dylan sobbed, raising his arms high above his head. Axl's eyebrows furrowed as he noticed several old bruises lining the child's stomach, yellowish and painful looking.

"I want her back too," Axl sighed, stroking the boy's bangs away from his face.

****

Skipper's POV

The smell of something cooking is what wakes me in the morning, followed by humming and the clattering of dishes and pans.

The first thing I see is Slash's chest, which would make sense since I'm nestled into him so deeply. The rhythm of his breathing suggests that he's still sleeping soundly, which would make sense for any normal person at six thirty in the morning. But for me, I've slept in, and my shift at the hospital in New York would've started hours ago. Since I'm not Chief here I wouldn't have to be in so early, but it would've been nice.

I sit up carefully, and shake Slash's shoulder. "Hey, Slash. Do you smell that?"

"Yeah, you smell like flowers. Go back to sleep."

"No, you idiot. It stinks."

He still doesn't open his eyes, forcefully bringing my head down beside his again. "It's not the cum stains, I told you."

"Would you get off of that already? It's something your grandma is cooking."

"You talk too much, you're ruining this perfect moment. It was perfect all night, why should it stop now? You're a real cuddler, you know."

Guilt flowers in my chest, causing me to roll him off of the bed. He lets out a little groan as he hits the floor, sitting up quickly and glaring at me. "Well, good morning to you too, sunshine."

Maybe I shouldn't feel bad, but then again... it's not like Rosie and I are broken up, I'm just taking some time to think about things. I can't think clearly sharing a single bed with an undeniably attractive Slash, no female in her right mind could.

"Yeah, whatever. You're grandma is cooking something, it smells like burnt ass." I pinch my nostrils closed while he laughs, getting to his feet.

"It's called bacon, you vegan." His voice is thick with sleep, husky, and kinda cute.

"Is that supposed to be an insult?" I raise an eyebrow, throwing the pillow we shared at his head as he walks over to the dresser. "Whatever." He pulls on a wife beater, running a hand through his tangled bed head.

"I have no fucking clue why we're awake right now, but I'm hungry." He leaves the room with the door hanging wide open, no doubt to go partake in whatever carnivorous meal his grandma has prepared this time. I stretch my arms above my head, wondering when's the last time I ever fell asleep wearing jeans.

I pull myself out of bed, set to follow Slash downstairs. I stop once to gaze at my reflection in the mirror, my makeup is slightly smudged but other than that, I just look pissed. Still.

I push Rosie out of my mind and make my way down to the kitchen, not surprised to see Slash already gobbling away at a pile of bacon and loads of eggs. I want to tell him foods like this definitely won't help his cardiomyopathy, but I don't know if his grandma is aware of it, so I keep my mouth shut. "You hungry, dear? You barely ate anything last night, you need to get some meat on your bones."

I wanna point out the fact that I have plenty of meat on my ass, but instead I just wave her off. "Nah, that's alright. I'm fine."

"She's starving, she's just a vegan," Slash informs her through a mouthful of pork, taking a generous sip of milk before chowing down some more. It disgusts me to watch him, so I look away.

"Vegan? Now, does that mean you don't eat meat?"

"Or... fish, or eggs, or... jello." I laugh casually. Slash is already finishing up, glancing at me as he does.

"Veganism... that's awful strange, it doesn't sound healthy."

"Maybe, maybe not. I do it because my father raised me that way... for five years."

"Sounds just like Saul's father, had him for all of five years in Hampstead before he sent my poor baby here," the woman says shamefully, petting Slash's bed hair. He pretends not to like it but I know he loves her, and it's obvious by the excessive feedings and pettings that she loves him even more. I knew about Slash's dad, we'd talked about it that day I kissed Izzy at the bar.

"Okay, well... I'm gonna shower, and then we can get outta here." Slash clears his throat, bringing his empty plate over to the sink.

"I don't wanna go back yet," I whine, crossing my arms stubbornly.

"We don't have to but we're not gonna sit around here all day. Wanna go to Disneyland?" He wiggles his eyebrows enticingly, and I sigh, shrugging.

"Only 'cause I never went as a kid."

It hits me after he goes to the tiny hall bathroom to shower, and stays in there for half an hour that I want the shower too, but have no clothes to put on after.

I wait patiently for him to come out but he doesn't, so I charge into the bathroom and hope the shower doors aren't glass. They are unfortunately, but greatly fogged by the hot water. "Well, did you ever hear of knocking?" Slash says from the inside of the shower, but doesn't actually sound too mad about my sudden appearance.

"Yeah, whatever. Just get out of the shower already, you're using up all the hot water."

"You're right. If I got out now, you'd probably have a good ten minutes in here." I wait for the water to stop but it doesn't, I only hear the sound of humming and dripping.

"Get out now, Slash."

"No, I'm good. You could come in here with me though, I'm pretty lonely."

"Ugh, you're such a horn dog. What happened to you?" He pokes his soaking wet head out of the shower.

"Nothing happened to me, I just stopped pretending not to be any sane person on the planet."

I glower at him.
"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I stopped pretending that your boobs aren't great." He pops back into the shower.

"You couldn't possibly be that shallow," I tell him, pressing my fingers against my own skin. I feel... sticky.

"Just get out, come on."

He sighs, turning off the knobs inside of the shower. "Fine, whatever. I'll get you some clothes." I squeeze my eyes shut just before the doors whip open, squealing even though I haven't seen anything. He walks right up to me and I turn, shying away.

"Aw, you afraid of what a real man looks like? Cute." He grabs a towel and I only open my eyes after he's promised that all his junk is covered. I'm still not recovered from seeing Duff's... jewels.

****

I tried to tell Slash to stop paying for everything, but he wouldn't. There's sort of an unspoken rule; if you don't split the bill, then the meal was a date. If you didn't buy your own popcorn at the movie, then it was a date. If you didn't buy your 150 dollar ticket to Disneyland, or your Minnie Mouse ears and matching t-shirt, your fruit cup, or your pictures in front of the castle as the fireworks display went off in the background, then... well, you get the gist.

There were cameras that caught wind of us, but Slash didn't care.

Hours blurred into days as Slash and I just... had fun. It was so refreshing, there weren't any boundaries, any people telling us not to talk to each other. We watched The Neverending Story, we spent hours talking about trivial things. I braided his hair and he failed at braiding mine, we went shopping so that I didn't have to wear his clothes any more, we went drinking at bars he used to sneak his way into when he was a kid.

We just... had fun.

It all had to end, eventually.

The moonlight floods in through the window, casting down on the old shag carpeting. Slash and I sit side by side on his bed, shoulders just barely touching in the darkness. There's nothing more to talk about, we'd tired the subjects of that bitch Candy, Dylan, the 'n-'word' incident. I know at this point it's been four days and I'm dragging things out, Rosie has to be worried sick... I know the only way to get past this is to really give him a chance to talk.

"I needed this," I whisper to Slash, daring to meet his eyes in the dark.

"Yeah?" he responds, reaching for my hand. I move mine casually before he can touch it, drawing my knees in to my chest. I needed this, but I won't tell him why I've gotta go now.

It's too easy, being with Slash. There's nothing we can't talk about, there's nothing we can't do. There's no pressure, there's no conflict. He's certainly not boring, he could never be, but if I stay here too much longer... I'll give in to him. I have to try and patch the relationship I have right now.

"I'm having so much fun, but... you've gotta take me back to Malibu tomorrow." It's like I can taste his disappointment, hanging thickly in the air.

"My grandma likes you. She... hates everyone."

I chuckle, letting my head rest against his shoulder. "I've been running from my problems. Gotta face them, or I'd stay here forever."

"Stay here forever, then," he says quietly, and slides off of the bed onto the floor. He slept on the bed with me every other night, I guess he's not in the mood anymore. Drowsy, I let out a yawn and sprawl out under his blanket.

It's quiet for a little while, but I lean over the edge of the bed anyways, looking down at his motionless body. "You've been there for me in ways no one else has. I don't know what I'd do without you."

He stirs a little. "I know, I'm pretty damn special."

I giggle.

"You're... you're my best friend, you know?" There's another long silence.

"I wish I wasn't," he whispers, just as I'm drifting off into sleep.

"It's not enough."

****

There's a picture of them together, Rosie and X. They must've been kids, because they both looked so innocent.

I set the photograph back down on the top of the tall dresser, and look around. This room is painted black, and the walls are slathered with more posters. Elvis, The Beatles, Greatful Dead, and surprisingly Doug E. Fresh. Most importantly there's an alphabetized bookshelf of medical encyclopedias next to the desk, dusty and untouched.

There's a light knock on the doorway, a courtesy warning. Slash gives me a kind glance, watching as I caressed the full sized bed. "We can head out now, if you'd like."

"This was his room, wasn't it?" My voice is barely audible.

"It was," Slash quietly says, nodding me toward the hall.

****

I still don't know how I feel as we approach Rosie's mansion after an hour motorcycle trip, I have no idea what I'll say to him.

Someone must've warned him we were coming, because all four guys are standing on the front lawn as we approach. Slash's Harley slows to a halt and he turns it off, giving me one last glance. "Last chance to escape," he whispers with a playful wink as I slide off of the seat behind him.

"Wish I could." I whisper back, unsure of how to proceed.

"Mama!" I can't help but smile when Dylan runs to me with his tiny little arms outstretched, grinnning like he hasn't seen me in years. He crashes into my legs, clutching them hard. "I think you got bigger," I smile, lifting him into my arms. He sets his little head down on my shoulder and I decide to carry him in. It's getting late.

Rosie's eyes lock on mine as I make my way up to the porch, giving the rest of the guys polite greetings. Steven's eyes are a bit melancholy but he musters a smile for me, as does Izzy.

"Junior, we need to talk." I stop just before opening the front door, meeting his gaze with an icy cold glare.

"Do we?"

I busy myself by giving Dylan a bath and cracking open Charlotte's Web, and he's asleep before I'm ten pages deep. I wish he would've stayed up longer, it would've given me more of an excuse to avoid the living room. I can hear Rosie and Slash fighting from all the way down the hall, and it scares the shit out of me.

"I'm so fucking sorry that she loves me, Slash! I'm so sorry that she'll never see you as anything more than a god damned puppy, always following her around and begging at her heels!"

"Well I don't go around calling her racial slurs, do I? She tells me more, she trusts me more, she respects me more!"

I sigh, letting my head rest against the wooden bars of Dylan's crib. I stare up at the cloudly blue ceiling, cursing myself for popping the perfect little bubble Slash and I had for those four days. Everything good must come to an end, I guess.

I wanna go to bed, so I decide it's best to shut them up for the night. I leave Dylan's nursery, shutting the door quietly before I stalk to the front room where Slash and Rosie are still going head-to-head. The others just watch uncomfortably, looking relieved when I come into the room.

"Girls! You're both pretty, will you shut up now?"

Rosie turns on me with a sharp gaze. "You need to tell him to respect some fucking boundaries!"

Slash scoffs, "You need to tell him to stop being so damned possessive! You're a person, not a trophy."

"Now, did I say she was a trophy? Don't put fucking words in my mouth-"

"Shut the fuck up, both of you!" I yell over them, crossing my arms over my chest tightly.

"Rosie, you should respect the fact that I couldn't be around you for a few days, given the circumstances. I'm still not even sure I can be around you period! Slash is my best friend, and he was just trying to support me! You're gonna have to deal with that, because Slash is supposed to be your best friend too! You've let jealousy come between you! Whatever the fuck happened to 'bros before hoes'?" Rosie's eyes narrow into hateful slits, only because he knows I'm right.

"And you!" I snap, turning to a smirking Slash.

"You've gotta stop pretending like he and I aren't together, because we are! You and I can't have a romantic relationship, because I'm with someone else! You have to accept it, there's no other way! You have to stop provoking him, because this is always how it's gonna end!"

Rosie nods once, staring at him. "You've gotta back off."

Slash only glances at him before he approaches me, closer than I would appreciate. "We had the time of our lives these past few days, and he's making you throw them away for him. You're too blind to see what's right in front of you, because of him. He can beat me until I'm nothing but a pile of bruises and broken bones, but I won't shove down what I feel. And for the record, 'bros before hoes' doesn't apply in this situation. You're a person, not a ho." I groan as he brushes past me and out the front door, leaving Rosie to glare in his wake.

"I'm sleeping in the bedroom tonight." I snap at Rosie, leaving the room. "I wouldn't come in if I were you."

DAYUUUUM some people are just hella thirsty tho.

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