old fashioned • dj&ts

xxvi. chicago

Before heading to the venue, Eddie and Alexis shopped in Chicago for something she could wear on stage. While shopping for herself, she found a suit she wanted Eddie to wear.

"I think you'll look really sexy in this," she smiled, holding it up to him. "Wow."

"I'll wear it if you let me pick your outfit," he told her, taking the suit from her hands. "And something else for after the show?"

"Okay," she agreed, letting him roam around the store for a while before he met back up with her.

"You should take me shopping all the time, because look at how great this is," he bragged, holding up a jumpsuit that was practically the same off-white color as his suit but glittery. It was sleeveless and had a v-neck cut down to the stomach that Eddie was a big fan of. "Chicago is going to love you."

"Hopefully I'll be so drunk I won't even see the crowd," Alexis laughed. "I promised Daisy I'd meet her before soundcheck, we should get going."

They paid for their outfits and went by the hotel before they all left for the venue. Alexis went to Daisy's room, and Eddie went to Billy's.

"Thank god," Daisy groaned, handing Alexis a bottle of wine. Daisy had been trying to stay sober after her overdose, but she definitely wasn't sober when Alexis walked into the room. "I can't do it anymore, Alexis, I can't. I told Billy I want to be with him in Pittsburgh like a fucking idiot and he said no. He's having another baby with Camila and I completely humiliated myself."

"Daisy, relax," Alexis grabbed her my the shoulders. "Take all the beautiful love bullshit you told me and listen to it. Billy only hurts you, you deserve so much more than a guy like him. So much more."

She took what looked like pills out of her pocket and swallowed it with a mouthful of wine. "You said you wanted to get drunk tonight, start fucking drinking."

She turned on the radio next to her bed and started jumping around, throwing clothes all over the place until she found something she wanted to wear. She also settled on an off-white dress; the sleeves were attached to the dress so when she extended her arms it looked like she had wings. After getting changed, Daisy started setting up lines on the dresser. She set up more than enough for one person and didn't look like she was willing to share.

"Daisy, no," Alexis discouraged, bumping one of the lines herself instead of just wiping it off of the dresser like she should have. It's been a while since she's done cocaine, but there was no turning back now. If it meant she would make Daisy less likely to overdose again, she'd do it again.

She did do it again. Daisy started to get mad at her, electing to smoke cigarettes instead.

"Are you ready to sing?" Daisy asked.

"I wasn't before, but I definitely am now," Alexis joked.

"Wear this," Daisy told her, tossing her a tube of lipstick. It was a dark red color that she'd never pick out herself, but she trusted Daisy. As she started to apply the lipstick, she saw Daisy stick her fingers in her ash tray and spread the ashes on her eyelids. I guess it's going to be that kind of night, Alexis thought to herself. Meanwhile, she had no idea what the band was in for.

"Wow," Rod laughed, looking at Daisy's eyes when the girls arrived at the green room. "Should I be worried?"

"You should always be worried," Daisy told him. "Make sure she doesn't run off, she stole my coke."

When Daisy walked out of the room, Eddie walked in. Alexis couldn't even admire how good he looked in his suit because she was distracted by his black eye.

"What happened?" Alexis asked, jogging over to him.

"I confronted Billy about Pittsburgh. I wanted to know why he did it," Eddie explained. "He told me I'm not good enough for the band, so I told him about Camila."

"God, Eddie." Alexis moved Eddie's hair away from his eye and saw how purple it was. Billy really got him.

"I'm playing the show tonight and then I'm gone. I'm not playing for that asshole anymore, he can find another bass player to shit on. I'm not asking you to leave with me-"

"I'm going to," Alexis interrupted. "I married you because I want a life with you, not the band. If this isn't the life you want anymore, then we'll start a new one."

"I'd be asking you to leave Daisy," Eddie said quietly. "I can't do that."

"You don't have to. I love Daisy, and I'll continue to love Daisy even if I don't see her every day like I do now. She'd want me to go with you."

"Okay," he nodded. "We'll go back to Pittsburgh tomorrow and figure it out from there."

"I stole Daisy's coke if you want some," Alexis suddenly blurted out. "I didn't want her to overdose again so I bumped two of her lines and then stole the tube."

"You're high?" Eddie laughed. "I just thought you were drunk."

"I'm drunk, too. If this is your last show, you should enjoy it."

"You don't have to convince me to get high." He took the tube from her hand and caught up to her, grabbing a cup and pouring himself a whiskey once he was done. "To your first night as a rockstar, and to my last."

"I'm proud of you for sticking up for yourself," Alexis smiled, taking his empty glass. "It's sexy."

"Eddie, let's go!" Rod called, waving him towards the stage. "It's time to play a sold-out show!"