old fashioned • dj&ts

xx. overdose

Alexis didn't know the argument Daisy had with Billy before that concert. It was an argument that made Daisy desire the kind of happiness and comfortability that Alexis made her feel. She kept fighting with Billy, holding onto Alexis, and pulling away from Nicky. Nicky didn't make her feel the way she wanted to feel, he just gave her drugs. Nicky knew he was losing Daisy, and knew drugs are what pulled her to him, so he started giving her more. Even when she said she didn't want more, he would convince her. She'd give her new drugs, harder drugs, anything that would make her stay with him. Then, one night, she stopped breathing.

Alexis was in the next room over, changing into more comfortable clothes. She had an open bottle of wine on her dresser and was far from sober when she heard a loud thud against the wall. No noise followed.

"Daisy?" Alexis called. She didn't get a response, so she started knocking on the door. "Daisy?"

Nicky opened the door, barely. He looked afraid and he was sweating.

"Daisy!" Alexis called through the door. She pushed the door open and Nicky let go, grabbing a bag off of the bed and running off.

"Hey, what's going on?" She heard from the hallway. She didn't care to look at who it was, she just started looking around the room for her friend. She wasn't in the bed or on the floor, but she remembered that the noise came from the wall that connected her room to Daisy's bathroom. She opened the door and saw Daisy limp, her body across the shower floor.

"Oh, my god," Alexis panicked, sobering up quickly. She picked Daisy's head up and watched it fall back. She started tapping in her face, listening for breathing and hoping she was just asleep and would wake up.

"Alexis?" Billy asked, dropping next to her on the floor when he saw her holding Daisy. "Hey, somebody help us! We need a doctor in here!"

Alexis heard Billy's voice echo in her head. This was the second time he found himself in this situation. She couldn't imagine the fear and pain he and Daisy felt when they found her at the bar.

"Daisy, please," Alexis cried, curling her knees to her chest as Billy cradled Daisy in his arms. They were both crying.

"You two need to get out of here," Rod told them, someone running in behind him as Alexis and Billy were forced out of the room. The door shut and they looked at each other.

"She was with Nicky and then I heard a noise and-" Alexis repeated, putting her head in her hands. "He ran off and I found her like that."

"There's nothing we can do now. Go find Eddie," Billy told her quickly, just as panicked as she was. Having heard the commotion, the rest of the band was already approaching him. "Eddie, take her. Please."

"What's going on?" Eddie asked.

"Go!" Billy yelled, looking at everybody else. "You guys, too."

Eddie held Alexis and took her into his room, closing his door behind them. As soon as the door shut, she fell to her knees. He fell to the ground with her. "What's going on?"

"It's Daisy," Alexis cried. "She wasn't breathing. I tried to wake her up but she wouldn't wake up."

"Okay, okay," Eddie said, pulling her head into his chest as she sobbed. "She's going to be okay. She's Daisy fucking Jones, she has to be okay."

They sat on the floor for a while, Alexis crying as Eddie held her. There was a knock at the door and Eddie shot up, opening it quickly. It was Billy.

"She's okay," he said, his hands on his hips as he caught his breath. "Rod is with her, she's not going to wake up for a while. We should all get some sleep."

"Thanks, man," Eddie nodded. Billy looked behind him to see Alexis on the floor, hugging her knees and still crying.

"You should stay with her. She's the one who found Daisy," Billy whispered. Eddie nodded, and Billy left. Eddie helped Alexis off of the floor and sat her on the bed. He sat next to her.

"You shouldn't be alone," he told her. "You can stay here, I can have them separate the beds or I can take the couch."

"You don't have to do that," Alexis told him, resting her head on his shoulder. He kissed her hair, resting there for a moment. "I want to wake up next to you."

"Okay," Eddie whispered, continuing to hold her until she was ready to get in bed. He changed into sweatpants and got in bed next to her. They were facing each other.

"What do you want to know?" Alexis asked quietly. "About my life before we met."

"You don't have to do this now," Eddie told her.

"I want to," she told him. The idea of losing Daisy was enough to make her realize how much everybody really meant to her. She realized the weight of everything she had done; closing herself off, running away, giving into her addiction. She lost so many moments with the people she loves more than anything in this world because she couldn't accept that she was broken. She didn't want to be broken anymore. She didn't want to miss anything else. She didn't want to lose anyone else. "I love you."

"Alexis-"

"I mean it. I love you. I never stopped loving you. I never want to stop loving you," she told him, tears welling up in her eyes again. "I'll tell you everything."

"Tell me you love me again," he smiled, making her laugh.

"I love you, Eddie Loving," she told him, a weight lifting off of her chest with each breath she took.

"I love you, Alexis Matson."