Love And Other Drugs

"Thank you so much LA!" Luxe heard Alex call out to the crowd after their encore. Her heart was beating out of her chest as she stood side stage with the chaos going on behind her back.


Alex and Jack had a huge party planned for the last night of tour and the girls of the Dolls had already gotten started on that party. Char and Mads were drinking everything in sight-right now it was beer, but soon enough Luxe knew it would be Vodka. What had happened to the community sobriety? Luxe sighed as she crossed her tattooed arms over her chest and looked behind her. Pixie and Lulu were both in a dark corner, doing something that made Luxe's mouth water.

Coke

It was still tempting to Luxe, especially now that the tour was over and she had some down time, but as she stared daggers at her bandmates, Luxe knew she couldn't ruin everything. Andy had kept in contact with her the entire day-he knew that this was coming and he knew how hard it was going to be for her to stay away from it all. They had spoken before she got on stage, right after and as Luxe stood on the side of the stage she could feel her phone buzzing in her jacket pocket.

Andy: How's it going?
Luce: The girls are getting crazy and ATL just left the stage.
Andy: Time to get on the bus?
Luce: I wish, but Alex M. says I have to be social for a little while
Andy: What?! He should know better than that. I think you need to just head to the bus and chill.
Luce: I know. I'm just gonna hang out for a little bit backstage and then when they head out to Crow I'm gonna stay here and pack. Maybe I'll catch a cab and head home early.
Andy: I'm really proud of you Luce
Luce: Oh? And why is that?
Andy: Because two years ago you would of been the first one at that table and now you're doing the mature thing and walking away.
Luce: Thanks babe. I love you...


Luxe smiled down at her phone, a sense of pride in her heart as she let her phone fall asleep and then slipped it in her jacket pocket. She was still dressed in her stage clothes-a ripped t-shirt, skinny blue jeans and her broken in leather jacket. As she stood there, Luxe felt two people come up from behind her, placing their arms under her own and soon enough she was being carried off towards a back room. Looking from left to right, Luxe sighed as she noticed that it was Alex and Jack and they were taking her to the party.


"What're you guys doing?" Luxe asked as they carried her and finally set her down once they reached the very middle of the ATL dressing room. There were a few tables set up around the edges of the room, those tables were covered in bottles of booze and plates of food. To any party girl it was a paradise, but to Luxe it was Hell on earth and she was counting the minutes until she could leave.

"We brought you to the party. We want to see that wild Luxe that Char and Mads keep telling us about." Jack said as he walked over to a small table, picked up a red cup and began to mix up a drink.

"Yeah, plus it's been a long tour and we thought you might want to relax alittle bit." Alex said as he took the cup from Jack and placed it in her hands. Luxe just looked down at the liquid within, watching as it rippled with her slight movement.

It smelled so good and she knew it would taste even better.


Should she? Could she? Luxe licked her lips as she looked up from her cup, glanced around the room and took everything in. Char and Mads were there, flirting with the roadies, even though they both were involved with people outside of tour. Pixie and Lulu were dancing together, laughing and giggling away like old times. This had been her life for so long-it had been who she was for forever and it would be pretty fun to just let loose.

But then something else flashed in front of Luxe's eyes-Andy. She thought about the smile that had graced his lips as he texted her and told her how proud of her he was and Luxe knew that she couldn't disappoint him. Slowly she looked up from the cup in her hands, smiled at the friends in front of her and reached out her hands. Jack took the cup from her, a confused look on his face and Luxe noticed that Alex looked slightly uncomfortable.


"Thank you guys for thinking of me and trying to make sure I had a good time, but this isn't me anymore. I have more to live for than a cup of alcohol and a temporary high. " Luxe said and she noticed that Alex was shifting his feet back and forth uncomfortably.

"We didn't mean to upset you Luxe..." Alex said as he reached out and hugged her. Luxe wrapped her arms around his shoulders, squeezing him before letting go.

"I know, but I just can't be that girl anymore. It nearly destroyed me and everything I've worked so hard for...I'm just not that girl anymore. Thank you guys for making this tour one of the funnest I've ever been on, but now it's time to get home and back to a normal life." Luxe said as she let go of Alex and reached over and hugged Jack.

"We love you Luxe-don't be a stranger." Jack said as he picked her up and squeezed her. They had tried and failed to wake the demon within, but it was probably better that way.


Luxe walked around the room, thanking everyone for a good tour and saying goodbye to her bandmates. Char begged her to stay, promising that she would keep Luxe out of harms way. But Luxe just shook her head-she was ready to get home. There was a lot to do in the time between now and when the girls got in to the studio and Luxe wasn't going to waste anymore time.

Their third album was going to be the best one yet and Luxe couldn't wait to get started on it.


"Hey Luxe. You heading home?" Luxe stopped walking-she had made it to her dressing room and was now walking out towards the street-because Alex was standing right in front of her.

"Yeah, I'm all toured out for now." She said as she repositioned the bag on her shoulder and looked around. The roadies were all packing things up and Alex looked like he was ready to collapse. Touring was hard-even on managers.

"Don't blame you. I did want to say that you did a really good job this tour-I'm really proud of you Luxe." Alex said as he patted her on the shoulder and then moved on towards the party.


Luxe just smiled as she walked out the door and the LA night met her head on. The streets were loud, filled with people and Luxe loved every minute of it. Her few suitcases were waiting for her by the bus and there was a cab sitting at the end of the alleyway. Luxe dragged her bags over to the car, smiling as the driver helped her get everything settled and then she was on her way. Luxe smirked as she drove away from the bus-her home away from home.

Now she was heading to her real home-the place she felt like she could just be her. As the car got on the 101 and headed South, Luxe closed her eyes and began to finally relax. The entire tour she had been a ball of nerves-ready to defend herself against her inner demons if she had to, but really it hadn't been so bad. She was finally learning to deal with her stress in more healthy ways and Luxe knew that she had lived through her addictions one day at a time.

How many more days did she have left?

Notes

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