I feel underdressed and very out of place.

If I had known all the girlfriends would be here, I would've worn the skirt and crop top I was eyeing this morning.

"Has anyone ever told you that you look like a model?" Sally, Slash's girlfriend looks at me intently after taking a sip of the coke can in her hand, the tip of the pink straw covered in her red lipstick. It compliments the golden color of her blonde hair.

She looks like a model. They all do.

There's Mandy, Angela, Adriana, and of course Sally.

Mandy Brixx, Duff's girlfriend is the only other blonde besides Sally. Angela and Adriana, Izzy and Steve's girls, are brunettes.

All of their makeup looks perfect, smoky eyes and eyeliner and bright lipstick. Their outfits are cool and short-very short. Their legs look like they go on for days.

None of them have acne, or frizzy hair, or have on jeans they've been wearing since the ninth grade.

"I agree!" Adriana chimes in, practically shaking me out of my own thoughts. "You and Michelle are so pretty."

"Thank you," Michelle and I both tell her, also looking at sally.

I'm still not used to people complimenting me like they all have been since we met half an hour ago. As soon as I got off Axl's lap in the car, there they were, waiting for the band.

"Duff tells me you both don't have boyfriends. Is that the truth, or is there something he doesn't know?" Mandy laughs, raising one eyebrow at us.

What a complicated question.

Michelle and I both just look at one another.

Mandy takes that as an answer within itself.

"I bet he's protective."

"Totally! He's ridiculous," Michelle shakes her head. "I mean, you heard him earlier! Telling us we couldn't leave the venue, that we have to stay away from all the men here. He's annoying."

It felt like we went from seventeen to seven years old when Duff pulled Michelle and I both aside as soon as we walked into the building. He totally ruined our excitement once he started lecturing us about not taking any alcohol anyone might offer us and to stay close to the band. That did more harm than good.

Luckily, Mandy was right there, ready to give him a dirty look and whisk Michelle and I away with her to one of the vacant dressing rooms.We've been in here ever since, eating chips and hearing how each of the girls met their respective band members.

"I think it's sweet! He's looking out for you two. It reminds me that our guys aren't as big of jerks as so many people make them out to be." Angela frowns, a strand of her hair curled between her fingers.

Michelle and I aren't able to ask for more details on that because the wooden door is creaking open, and Axl is sticking his head into the room.

"Can I steal Chas? I'll give her back later."

I hop right up, and hurry towards the door. 

"Bye!" I call out over my shoulder, just before the door shuts behind me.

When Axl takes my hand, it takes all my self control to not get weird.

"Can't have you gettin' lost. God knows you could pull that off even if we're just going down the hall." Axl tugs me along, looking back at me once with a laugh.

"Like your sense of direction is any better." I've heard countless stories of Axl getting lost and having to call one of his band mates from a pay phone.

As we round another corner, Axl's hand leaves mine immediately. I see why.

It's the band's dressing room.

The door has been propped wide open, and people keep going in and out. I can hear Steven's laughter all the way out here, over sounds of a radio.

And I'll admit it, I don't even remember where the other room is now. But I'm not going to tell Axl that.

I trail behind him as we enter the room, Duff the only one who notices my presence right away.

"Hey! Where's my girlfriend?"

"She's somewhere," I tell him, genuinely unable to give a specific answer. "Michelle is with her and so are the other girls."

Izzy and Slash and Steve look up from their beers long enough to say hi, and then Axl grabs onto my hand again, and I almost hyperventilate. It's only to get me to keep moving though, over to the empty chair at the end of the long strip of mirrored wall.

"They bein' nice to you?" Duff calls out. I can hear the protectiveness in his voice.

"Yes, Duff."

"Are they bein' nice to Michelle?"

"Yes," I call out, rolling my eyes. Axl snickers as he sits down, and I immediately reach for the teasing comb.

He called me before he went to the store yesterday, and I had to repeat five times to him what I would need to do his hair for today.

A comb and hairspray. That's it. He wouldn't take my word for it.

"Just checking!"

"I'm not a child, and neither is Michelle. I'm about to be eighteen! I can take care of myself." I have to shout over an Anthrax song.

Michelle is four months younger than me, but that's hardly anything in reality.

"Would you let her be, Duff? She's trying to work." Izzy comes by, and he makes a low whistle as he looks at Axl's hair. I've already teased two sections at the top. "Good luck brushing that out later," He whispers, patting Axl on the shoulder.

"Shut up, Iz! She's my responsibility!"

Now I'm really getting annoyed with him.

Duff looks at me next. "You've never been to a concert before, let alone backstage! You wouldn't believe all the things I've heard!"

Now Axl is really laughing, and I have to give him a warning look as his shoulders shake. Any more giggling from him and I'll accidently pull his hair out.

"Whatever you say, Duff."

All the guys are rowdy and have already consumed a lot of alcohol, so that means I don't even try to have a conversation with Axl as I do his hair.

The more I backcomb, the sadder I get.

His hair really is goregous. It's strawberry blonde, almost a true red and so long and smooth and he doesn't have any split ends. His hair is better than mine.

And here I am, messing it up on purpose.

I have to remind myself that this is what he wants. We already discussed it.

He's trusting me to bring his vision to life. Axl hardly trusts anyone with anything.

Dare I say it, but I am flattered that I was chosen for the job.

Especially over all the other girls he probably knows.

Me. He picked me.

I allow myself five seconds to smile like an idiot before resuming my composure.

People just keep coming in and out of the room, talking to the guys and pouring drinks. Mostly crew members and people that I guess are from other bands.

Each time, it's someone new, Duff introduces me. It gets very annoying very quickly, and makes doing Axl's hair an even longer process because I keep having to stop.

So when everyone leaves-all the guys and crew and other bands-I let out a sigh of relief, only to realize that I'm now alone with Axl for the first time today.

It's practically silent, except for the radio. Warrant plays now.

"Are you nervous?"

"No."

"I'm nervous for you then." I glance at his face in the mirror, his expression not giving anything away.

He chuckles at that, the sound deep in his chest. "You're nervous for me? Lighten up Chassy. It's gonna be fun. Especially when I embarrass you."

I can feel my face drop at that, becoming all serious. "Axl-"

"Calm down, I'm not actually gonna embarrass you in front of everyone you know. Relax, honey."

"How am I supposed to be sure of that?" My voice gets defensive. "You pull crazy shit all the time."

"Do I, now?" Axl's tone is a warning. It's his way of telling me to shut up.

I don't.

"Yes. Like how you made me sit in your lap, in front of all our friends. God, Axl. What the hell was that?"

I don't even know how we got here, but I'm not going to back away now.

"That" He says, "Was me making sure you got here."

I stare daggers at him, not saying a word.

He knows I liked it. I can tell. That smile on his face is all the proof I need to know that he knows that I was over the fucking moon about it. That I still am, and that even right now I can't stop thinking about it.

I put distance between Axl and myself mentally, both of us not saying anything as I finish his hair.

To my own surprise, my voice is soft and sweet when I speak again. "I'm done."

My hands are sticky with hairspray  but I guess Axl doesn't care, because he gets up and towers over me for a second before pulling me into a hug. I feel his muscles through his t-shirt and smell the same cologne on him that I did in the car and of course all the hairspray.

"Thank you. I love it."

"I know," I say confidently.

He lets me go, and I feel that same sadness about his hair in me, except now it's about the absence of his touch.

I still want to kiss him to make him stop talking, and to stop smiling at me.

For a moment, I think I actually will because he doesn't move away from me, still only inches away.

"When do you go on?"

"Soon," He murmurs.

"Five minutes, Axl."

That third voice makes the two of us jump apart, and I thank God for it belonging to a random member of the crew, and not Michelle or Michael.

"C'mon." Axl grabs my hand just like he did earlier.

Then we're running out of the room, and I can already hear the roar of the crowd.

"Guns N' Roses! Guns N' Roses! Guns N' Roses!"