Over a year later, and I was still living with Tommy and his family- which was more like our family at this point. Val and David were no longer just that to me; they were mom and dad. Athena and I had gotten a lot closer, too, but was the youngest out of all of us (by about ten months), and we didn't have a lot in common unless Tommy showed us something that we both liked.

Still, Tommy and I were the closest. Through almost a year of friendship and hanging out at record stores we were going strong, and surprisingly enough, neither of us wanted more from the other; it was weird because we were always complimenting each other and goofing around to the point that some of our friends thought that we were dating, but we always laughed it off and explained the situation.

1980 had to be the best year of my life so far, hopefully with many even better years to follow. As a start, my sixteenth birthday had come and gone early in the year, and I had cried because I had never had a party or birthday celebration before then- which the Lee family thought was absurd. Tommy had turned eighteen about a two months ago, and in a few days, Athena would be sixteen, too.

As a family, we were supposed to go to Greece to visit other relatives for the holidays, but Tommy and I had gotten in trouble for smoking pot and tee-peeing the principal's house on Halloween; I was usually his partner in crime and the T.P. was my idea, so I told our parents, and both of us had to stay behind in Los Angeles and house sit while they were gone.

Needless to say that they were pissed off when we both came home stoned and giggling about trashing the principal's front yard, but with a heavy sigh, they got over it with minimal punishment and bitching, saying that leaving us in L.A. during a cold season instead of taking us to 'sunny, warm Greece' was enough.

"There's still four fucking weeks of them being gone," Tommy grumbled, throwing the postcard onto the counter.

"Well, what did you expect? They're not coming home just because we're bored," I muttered, laying my head on the cold granite counter.

"Obviously."

"Dude, what are we gonna do?"

"I don't know."

"God... Do you have plans or something?" I asked, noticing that he wore his prized leopard pants, which he didn't wear unless he was trying to look cool and get into a bar or something.

"Yeah, I do actually. Meet me at Leo's later; there's something I wanna show you," he said, pushing in his chair and pulling his jacket on.

"Okay. I'll be there around... six? Yeah, let's shoot for six."

"Okay. See you then." He smiled at me before he walked out of the front door, leaving me to sit and think by myself.

°°°°°

A few hours later, I found myself walking down the Sunset Strip, holding my trusty leather jacket close to my body. The sun was going down, I was absolutely freezing as I looked for Tommy, but, unfortunately, I didn't see him anywhere. He had told me to meet him at Leo's, as usual, but this time he wasn't there.

I needed to find him if it killed me; he was the only one out of the two of us that had a key to the house, which I had locked the door to as I walked out. Without him, I would end up freezing to death on the side of the street somewhere... I looked around, desperately hoping to see him.

Tommy Lee was never an easy boy to miss, even in a crowded high school hallway; he was tall and skinny- six feet and two inches of bubbly happiness with a goofy smile that radiated like sunshine. His contagious laugh made him stand out and his long, fluffy brown hair and favorite obnoxious (but cool) leopard print pants didn't camouflage him either.

After about fifteen more minutes of searching, I was even more frustrated. The sun was sinking lower and lower by the minute, I was getting colder. I still didn't see Tommy anywhere, and  I was about to give up completely when I saw him stumble out of a nearby building- he was definitely not the most graceful. The building looked like a bar, although neither of us were allowed to drink... not that it mattered; it was 1980, everyone knew us, and no one cared.

I could see that Tommy had someone hanging on his shoulder, and I wasn't sure if it was a guy or a girl at first, but I soon realized that he was, in fact.... well, a he.

The stranger had shaggy black hair and was also tall, but not lanky like Tom; he probably would have been taller if he hadn't been hanging on him for balance, but being that he was completely shitfaced, he couldn't help it. He was loudly singing the lyrics to the New York Dolls song 'Lookin' For A Kiss,' and he was absolutely annihilated.

I whistled loudly, a trick that Tommy had taught me; the shrill sound caused Tommy to look up at me. His smile grew and he adjusted his grip on his black-haired friend.

"Sadie! I was wondering where you were!" he called out.

"I thought you said to go to Leo's," I yelled back, simultaneously relieved and annoyed to see him.

As the distance between us closed, I could see his smile falter.

"Ah, shit! I'm so sorry, Sadie. I forgot... I meant to call you. There was a change of plans."

"So I guessed," I muttered, rolling my eyes. "It only took like... four hours to let me know."

"Is it really ten already?"

"Yup. Who's your friend?" I asked, nodding to the drunk.

"Oh, this," he said with a grunt, "is my friend Nikki- he's a little F.U.B.A.Rs, so be careful," he joked. "Nikki this is my best friend, Sadie. She lives with me," he added smugly.

At the sound of this, the drunken friend, who I now knew as Nikki, stopped singing and looked up at me, shaking his thick fringe out of his eyes. He stood a little straighter and let go of Tommy's shoulder, smiling all the while.

I must have stopped dead in my tracks; he was absolutely gorgeous! Nikki had wild black hair, bright green eyes that were rimmed with thick eyeliner, and a beautiful smile. He wore a simple black leather jacket over a black t-shirt that bore a skull, and his jeans were faded and ripped up- very rock and roll looking.

As soon as I saw him, I knew that this was what the man of my dreams would look like from that moment on; it was inevitable. I had never seen a man that looked like that before, and I doubted that I ever would again.

He stumbled over to me with a smirk and pulled me into a hug, and when he released me, he planted a sloppy, wet kiss on my lips.

"L-U-V," he slurred with a smirk.

"Nikki- no dude! Sorry, Sadie," Tommy said with nervous chuckle.

I shrugged it off.

Oddly enough, it didn't make me upset or uncomfortable; I was absolutely infatuated with him. He was cute and didn't seem like that much of a creep (which, in retrospect, makes little to no sense if I'm being honest), and I was definitely not mad about the kiss. Normally, I would have thought to wipe my mouth off, or spit, or something, but I honestly didn't care. This would probably never happen again, so I figured I might as well enjoy it... plus it was my first kiss (not that I would ever admit it) and I was a little dazed for a few seconds.

Nikki swung an arm around my shoulder and slightly leaned against me to keep his balance. He was warm, and I, oddly enough, felt safe being this close to him. Sure, he was a complete stranger, but Tom knew him and I trusted his judgement after everything that we had been through.

"Tommy, he's so cute! Look at him!" I said in a baby voice, trying to play it off. I squished Nikki's face in my hand, earning a goofy smile from him.

"Nikki, where are you staying?" Tommy asked.

Nikki shrugged and leaned his head against mine, his face slipping down into the crook of my neck... At that very moment, I could have sworn I felt him try to kiss my neck, but I did my best to ignore it.

"Can we keep him?" I asked sweetly.

Nikki shook his head 'yes' without looking up, and Tommy rolled his eyes; he was trying so hard to say no to me.

"Oh come on, Tom!"

"I don't know if that's a good idea."

"Pleeeeease!" Nikki and I sang out in unison.

Tommy threw up his hands in a defeated shrug.

"Fine... I guess don't see why not. Let's get him home before he passes out and we freeze," he said, walking over to help me with Nikki.

As soon as his arm was around Tommy's shoulder, Nikki went limp and was pure dead weight on us.

"Tom!" I groaned, sinking slightly.

"What?"

"Do something before my spine shatters!"

"Nikki, man, you gotta help us out!"

At that, Nikki popped up, practically springing to life like a jack in the box, and we were on our way.

After we had gotten about a block, Tommy spoke up.

"Sadie," he said, "he might have to sleep in your room tonight. You can stay with me if you'd like." he offered.

"We'll see... what about Athena's room?" I asked.

He shook his head.

"Nah, it's better to put him in a room that's actually being used so we don't make a bigger mess. They'll get back and notice and want to know all about it."

After walking about two more blocks, Nikki had started humming the Beatles song "Sexy Sadie," inspiring Tommy to start singing the lyrics. Soon enough, all three of us were singing, walking up the dark street that led to our house.

Tom propped Nikki between me and the wall as he searched for his key, and once he found it, he unlocked the door, holding it open for Nikki and I.

As soon as the door closed behind us, Tommy and I kicked off our shoes, and he helped Nikki with his boots while I took off my jacket. Then I led Nikki to my room and helped him climb into bed, making sure that he didn't face plant on my carpet and break his nose, or something equally outrageous.

All three of us were tired; it had been a long day for all of us (not that I had really done anything), and I didn't even know what they had been doing earlier (not that I wanted to). I changed into some pj's in the bathroom, seeing as I had already tucked Nikki in and didn't feel like changing in front of him, especially in his inebriated state- who could guess if this basic stranger had grabby hands or not.

I walked back into my bedroom, tossed my clothes in the laundry basket, and reached over to turn the light off that was next to the bed, knowing that it would only get knocked over and broken if I didn't do it myself. Seconds later, a hand grabbed my wrist in the dark and pulled me into the bed, and I landed softly on Nikki's chest.

"Stay," he mumbled sweetly, his words slurred heavily.

I couldn't say no to that, and I also couldn't figure out what made me trust him so much. I found a comfortable spot beside him, and soon enough he had taken my hand in his and placed it on his chest as he slowly fell asleep.

It was a simple act, and probably just because he was drunk, but something drew me to him. I didn't know what it was, but it was alluring and almost mysterious. I had a strong feeling that this was the beginning of a beautiful friendship, and hopefully with time, something more... it just depended on how he reacted when he woke up in the morning.