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chapter song prince: 17 days "called you yesterday / you didn't answer your phone"
1981
El drove and drove and drove. She didn't know where she was going, she just knew she didn't want to go home. She didn't want anyone to know where she was. She just needed to think. What she really wanted was advice, but she knew she couldn't talk to Vera because Vera would tell her to cut shit off with Nikki and that would be the end of the conversation. She needed someone who could help her make sense of everything. Talk her through the pros and cons and not just shut her down. That's how she ended up in her mother's driveway.
She slowly approached the door. Her head was spinning and she just needed a hug. She knocked softly on the door. She shifted her feet around and waited for her mom to answer. The door cracked and she watched her mom's face light up in shock. "Eleanor!" El's mom pulled her into a hug and she melted into the touch. Finally, she thought. "What are you doing here!? It's late! Shouldn't you be out somewhere?"
Her mother, Josephine Wilson, was arguably the sweetest soul on the planet. She really was made of sugar, spice, and everything nice. She never had a bad thing to say about anyone and the only language she spoke was kindness. Jo was incredibly supportive of her children and made sure she could do everything to uplift them especially after her husband died. She was the epitome of motherly.
Jo pulled El inside and shut the door. "I was at a party, but I left. I just needed to not be alone." They sat down on the couch and El laid her head in mother's lap like she often did in times of distress. Her mom would play with her hair because it always eased her worries.
Jo furrowed her brows. "What's going on, my love?"
"Everything is just hard right now. I want to go out and have a good time with my friends, but it's so hard to be around them getting messed up and not be able to have fun with them." El sighed.
"Well, what do you mean?"
"Everywhere I turn, everyone is either snorting coke or drinking. I don't need that stuff to have fun, but how am I supposed to enjoy hanging out with them when they can't even form a coherent sentence?"
"Is it your brother?" Jo's tone was soft.
"It's everybody! You know, it still makes me angry to this day that Ezra was the one to ship me off to rehab for doing the exact same thing he was doing and still continues to do. I mean, I'm happy I got clean, but it's hypocritical and it pisses me off." El groaned.
"I know, baby. But you know how he is. He's the last one to admit he has a problem."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," El mumbled. They sat in silence for a while before El spoke again. "Ezra wasn't the reason I came over here."
Jo plaited El's hair in loose braids as she looked down to her daughter. "What's on your mind?"
"There's this guy," El started.
"Wow, I haven't even heard you talk about a guy since you were 16." Her mom replied back, surprised.
"Yeah, I know," El scoffed. "His name is Nikki. He's in a club band down on the Strip, and he's great! Really, he is. Our bands hang out all the time and he comes over to my house and we just watch movies and have a great time. I really like him. And things were going fine until tonight. I stopped by his apartment and they were having a party. He didn't know I was coming, and I walked in and saw him doing coke and then I just bolted. I don't know what to do."
"Does he treat you well?" Jo inquired.
"He's incredible. He's sweet and considerate and he's so funny. We just... connect."
"Were you aware about the drugs?"
"It just never crossed my mind, I guess. He's never done them around me. We've only been hanging around each other for like a month or so. I never thought to ask." El was so frustrated.
"Honey, I think you just need to figure out what you're comfortable with. You don't just let any guy come around, so he must be special." He is special, El thought. "Don't compromise your well-being for anybody, but maybe it isn't what it seems." Jo offered. "Just keep your guard up."
El and her mom talked for a long while after that, just catching up and what not. El rolled out to her car around two in the morning and rested her head on her steering wheel. And then she did something she hadn't done in a long time. "Dad," she sighed, "if you're listening, just tell me what to do. Give me a sign that I should let Nikki stick around. Or don't. Just... help me out here." And then she drove home.
-
It was early. Too fucking early for anyone to be knocking on El's door. She groaned, but rolled out of bed anyway. She approached her front door, preparing herself to tell whoever it was to fuck off, but was stopped short by what she found waiting for her on the other side.
There stood Nikki Sixx in his best leather and big hair with bouquet of white roses. "Hey," he breathed out.
"Hey," she replied back confused, "what are those for?"
"To say I'm sorry about last night. That was fucked up on my part and I'm sorry you had to see me like that. I never want to give you that impression." He did seem to be genuinely sorry. "I tried calling you last night, but you didn't answer."
She took the flowers and widened the door so he could come in. She grazed her fingers along the petals and smiled to herself. Thanks Dad, she thought.
"Whatever you do, don't listen to the voicemail I left you. It's pretty embarrassing and I've already made an ass of myself." Nikki pleaded. She laughed.
-
"El, hey. It's Nikki. I don't even know what to say because I'm so embarrassed that you saw me doing that. I don't want you to see me as that person because I don't want to be that person to you. You deserve better than that. Call me when you get this. Goodnight."
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a/n: surprise !! i know some of you were antsy of how nikki was gonna fix what happened, but i liked the idea of el fixing the problem herself. i would like to update maybe twice a week now that i'm out of school, so if y'all would like that then lmk. also if anyone has any ideas they'd like to see integrated into the story, pleaseeeeee comment them or message me because ya girl is always looking for inspiration. i want this story to succeed. love y'all, enjoy
