Love And Other Drugs

There was a loud thump, a pop and then the bus was coming to a stop. Luxe had been sitting on the couch in the back lounge, reading Catcher In The Rye for the thousandth time when she noticed that the back of the bus seemed to be swerving all over the place. She got up, her skinny jeans low on her hips and as she walked towards the front she reached down and tried to tug them up. Her AFI t-shirt was tight across her chest, but the fabric was soft and it was a comfy lounge shirt. Her messy blonde hair was up in a ponytail, the teal stripes needed to be redone as they were fading.

All of the girls were up front-Luxe had vanished to the back for some peace and quiet and once she got up there she remembered why. Even though the bus was obviously having problems, Mads and Pixie were still going at one another in their game. Luxe didn't have the patience for video games and frankly she didn't have the interest in them either. No one seemed to notice that they were slowing down and that Alex was talking quickly into the phone that seemed to be constantly pressed into his ear. Luxe looked out the window and saw that they were parked outside of a huge truck stop and that there were snow flurries falling down from the sky.


"Girls." Luxe jumped at the noise and as she turned she saw that Alex was standing in the door way of the bus and looking out towards the truck stop. Was something wrong? The manager looked concerned and Luxe now felt slightly nervous.

"We stopping? I hope so cause I have to pee." Lulu said as she set her laptop down on the kitchen table where she had been working and looked around at them all. Luxe was holding her jacket in her hands and both Char and Mads were looking slightly excited. They liked rest stops because it gave them a chance to see new places.

"Yeah and we're going to be here for a while-we blew a tire and a truck is on it's way." Alex said, but most of the girls had already gotten off of the bus and were screaming into the fading sunlight. Alex sighed and looked towards Luxe, who was the only one to remain on the bus.

"Everyone else is stopping as well-we're still seven hours away from the next stop and there's no point in them continuing on while we're stuck." His tone was pointed and Luxe only sighed-she knew what that meant.

"I'm going inside..." She said over her shoulder and Alex only smirked as he moved to take his seat once again. Luxe had to go in and play nice-be seen with the guys and pretend like they were one big happy family, but it was far from the truth.


They had been on tour for a week and a half and while Luxe liked hanging out with CC-who was the easiest going person out of the entire band-the other guys were kind of stand offish. Luxe looked around, the wind smacking her in the face harshly and she tugged her leather jacket around her shoulders more. She could see through the large windows that everyone was inside the huge building and Luxe only sighed as she walked towards the doors. She could see from where she was standing, her black painted fingers nails scrapping against the door handle, that Andy was inside and he was smiling. She liked it when he smiled and she liked it even more when he didn't speak.

Andy was really nice and funny sometimes-he had joked around with her the other night while they were waiting for the house lights to go down so that BVB could take the stage. He had also laughed a lot when the guys had gotten them back from their tp prank by letting over five hundred BVB black balloons fall to the floor that night during the very middle of the girl's encore. It had all been in good fun and they had laughed about it later that night in the hallways, but there was still something in the air between Luxe and Andy that simply brought out the fact that they did not like one another.


"How you doin' little lady?" CC asked her, tipping the black and silver cowboy hat that was sitting on his head at her as she opened the door and walked inside. It was warm in here and everyone seemed to be getting along, but they were all also avoiding one another.

"Luxe!" Pixie called out her name and Luxe only laughed as she turned to see Pixie and Lulu looking at her, both with huge trucker hats on their heads and a pile of candy in their arms. The one thing Pixie and Lulu both loved, besides music, was candy and the two girls stocked up whenever they were stopped at a truck stop.

"Oh God you guys are going to be up for hours!" Luxe laughed as the two girls only grinned at her before the singer moved on. Mads and Char were standing over by the magazine rack and both girls were talking excitedly to one another.

"I can't believe all these awesome reviews!" Char laughed as she flipped the page and Luxe saw that she was looking at Revolver Magazine. They had some reviews in there? Luxe quickly walked up and smiled at her bandmates.

"Good stuff in there?" Luxe asked and Mads only smirked at her and cleared her throat.

"The Hollywood Dolls are the perfect mixture between Marilyn Monroe and Marilyn Manson with a bit of Metallica sprinkled in for good measure." Luxe smiled-that sounded better than good...it sounded great.

"Guitarist Char Rousse and singer Luxe have the perfect chemistry on stage and couldn't be more entertaining. Not to mention cute as a button Pixie on guitar and quiet but lethal Lulu on bass and shoot me dead if I forget the ever sexy Mads beating those skins every night. Pure perfection and a must see if they are coming to your town." Luxe felt like crying in that moment she was so happy. Then Andy walked up and both Mads and Char made a beeline for the drink cases.


Luxe just looked at the other singer from over her shoulder and saw that he was thumbing through Inked Magazine. Andy had a few tattoos, including a small girl running with a pair of scissors with the words The Mortician's Daughter scrawled underneath. Luxe had always wondered about that tattoo and the song-she loved the song and was happy that the guys had decided to play it every night. Luxe looked down at Andy and noticed that they kind of matched-skinny jeans, although his had rips in the knees, an AFI shirt, but his was older and more worn and they were both wearing leather jackets. Luxe only chuckled and Andy popped his head up at the sound.


"Something funny?" He asked as he closed the magazine and set it back on the shelf. Luxe was standing before him, the top of her head barely reaching to under his chin and he had to look down at her. Those grey eyes-they held so much and yet said so little.

"You been digging through my closet Biersack?" Andy only cocked his head at her as he finally let his eyes trail down from hers and he noticed that they kind of were wearing the same outfit. Luxe's AFI shirt was newer and he only smirked as he reached out and plucked her collar.

"Do you actually listen to AFI? Or is this another stunt from your wonderful conniving manager?" He said and Luxe's face fell. Here she thought they could finally have something in common and Andy was being an ass...again.

"Mads got me in to them actually." She stated and Andy only rolled his eyes.

"Sure and you know-what-like five songs from them I'm sure..." Luxe frowned, her lips pursing and Andy knew he had hit a sore spot. He didn't know why, but he really liked giving her a hard time.

"Actually I was listening to their second album before the bus stopped. I like to listen to them when I read." Luxe said defensively and Andy only chuckled again. Reading? Reading what? Rock Chic magazine?

"You know how to read?" He quipped and Luxe felt her fists clench. He thought she was a dumb hick from the south who knew nothing. How much would it shock him to learn that before all of this Luxe was going to college?

"I do. Catcher In The Rye is still one of my favorites." She said and Andy could see the water in her eyes. Fuck-he always let his mouth get away from him.


Andy didn't know why he and Luxe couldn't get along and he really didn't understand why he couldn't just let her be, but he loved giving her a hard time. She gave him one in return, which was something he wasn't used to and yet something that he hated all at the same time. When he had heard that the Dolls bus had blown a tire, Andy had been both irritated because that meant they had to stop and yet deep down he had been excited as that meant he would be able to see Luxe outside of a venue or interview. They were still performing together every night and every night at the very end of their duet she would lean in and press her lips to his. It was nothing like that first kiss that very first show and Andy found that each night he grew disappointed.


"Oh, um...cool." He stammered as they both stood there awkwardly and then Andy noticed that there was a group of girls giggling nearby. He smirked as he stuffed the magazine back into the shelving and then walked over to the girls.

"God he's such a flirt." Luxe said out loud and then jumped when someone spoke from behind her. She thought she had been standing there alone.

"He learns from the best." The voice spoke and as Luxe turned around she groaned-Ashley Purdy the dirtbag himself.

"Do you really hear yourself when you speak?" Luxe asked as she crossed her arms over her chest and watched Andy. The singer was laughing as he reached out and touched one girl on the shoulder, brushing her black hair aside so he could see a tattoo she had on her neck.

"I do and I sound amazing." Ashley said with laughter in his voice. Puke.

"Look at him...does he even know how absurd he looks right now?" Luxe said, ignoring Ashley and all of his antics.

"He does and he doesn't care. About how he looks, what you think about him or you in general." Ouch. Luxe only sighed as she turned away from the singer and faced the bassist who was smirking down at her. She wanted to punch him and she was tempted, but then what would happen?

"You're a douchbag." She snarled as she pushed past him and heard Ashley laughing at her from across the store.


The cold air smacked her in the face as Luxe left the store and noticed that the bus was almost put to rights once again. Good-that meant she could get on soon and go back to the lounge and continue to read. A tinkling bell sounded behind her and Luxe only looked over her shoulder quickly and rolled her eyes. Andy was walking out, the girl with the raven hair hanging on him as they both walked around the corner to smoke. He was probably going to fuck her quickly while they were waiting and Luxe only hoped they would be discreet enough to find somewhere that no one could hear them. The giggling soon turned into silence and Luxe almost wanted to look around the corner to catch them at it.

Before she had the chance, Andy walked around the corner, stuffing his phone back in his pocket and he seemed to be avoiding her eyes. Luxe only smirked as she walked off towards her own bus, any thought of the two of them getting along quickly dissolving like the snow hitting the pavement in that moment.

Notes

Andy's a dick, but Luxe isn't really being nice either. Alex keeps pushing them together and one of these days one of them is going to explode-who do you think it will be?

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