Love And Other Drugs

The taxi cab was dead silent-there was nothing to say in that moment that would make things better. Andy and Luxe were sitting side by side, their hands clasped tightly and Andy was rubbing his thumb against the skin on the top of her hand. It was soothing, but not enough to keep Luxe’s heart from beating wildly out of her chest.

What was going to happen? Would she be homeless? The girls would usually take her in, but right now none of them were getting along. They were leaving soon to go to Seattle, so at least for a month and a half she would have somewhere to stay. But what would happen when she got back? Would her condo be up or sale? Or would it already be filled with a new resident?

Alex was pissed at her-at both of them-but what were they supposed to do…break up just because he said so? Alex McFadden had completely ruled her life for the past year and Luxe was sick of it. He had told her how to walk, talk, dress and look-she had completely lost who she was and the only person who allowed her be Lucinda Abernathy was Andy.

And now they were supposed to just give up on one another…move on in a nasty display and then air it out in their records for everyone to hear. It was completely sick and twisted, but Luxe could see how it would be a good idea. She would never go for it, but she could see now that this had been Alex’s plan all along.


“Penny for your thoughts?” Andy asked lowly in her ear and Luxe nearly jumped so that her head hit the ceiling of the taxi.

“I’ll need a lot more than a penny to keep my place.” She said and Andy could hear the desperation in her voice. He knew that this put Luxe in a really bad situation and he felt terrible about it. They loved one another and now it seemed like their love was making them rebels to everyone who mattered.

Andy smirked as he leaned in, his lips mere inches from her ear and then he began to sing lowly.


My outlaw eyes have seen their lies
I choke on all they had to say
When worlds collide what's left inside
I hold on tight and hear you pray

Never gonna' change my mind
We can leave it all behind
Nothin's gonna' stop us
No not this time

So take your hand in mine
It's ours tonight
This is a rebel love song


Hearing Andy sing that song and knowing that he was singing it just for her brought tears to Luxe’s eyes. She had never thought that the two of them could be together like this-they had hated one another so severely that it was a miracle that they hadn’t killed one another. She had hated him unlike anyone she had ever hated before, but somehow something had changed.

It had been his loving nature, his ability to make her feel like a real person again and his smile that had turned her feelings from hatred to love. He had taken care of her when she had been sick and she knew, deep down, that Andy would always take care of her. Slowly her head came to rest against his shoulder and his lips caressed the skin of her forehead.


“Thanks babe.” She said softly, her grey eyes glancing down at their clasped hands. A million thoughts were going through her head, but the fact that Andy was by her side was making those thoughts a little less scary.

“No problem. You ready to go up and make that dinner we were talking about?” He was smiling down at her and Luxe hadn’t even realized they had arrived at their building. Did she want to go upstairs? Or did she want to keep on driving until the world just disappeared?

“Um-yeah. Yeah I guess we probably should.” She said, her voice shaking and Andy only squeezed her hand before the both of them exited the cab. Andy paid the driver and then turned to see Luxe looking at the building. What was she thinking? Her face looked so pensive and completely forlorn.


Luxe didn’t know why, but as she stood outside of the building and the entire time they walked through the small lobby she couldn’t help but take in all of the details. This was a wonderfully gorgeous building, with the marble lined floors that led to wooded elevator doors, the high windows that let in all of the natural sunlight and beautiful skyline that was LA. Her condo was up on the fifth floor, the floor with the biggest floor plans and some of the most expensive places.

Andy of course lived across the hall, having spent all of his money from his first record on a place to live. The halls were papered in light yellow paper, the design a swirling and curling motif that was very elegant and yet modern. She noticed all of this as they walked and then Luxe stopped dead in her tracks as she looked ahead of her down the hall.

Boxes were lining the hallway, along with some furniture and what looked to be racks of clothing. Upon closer inspection Luxe felt her heart stop-these were her clothes. She was sure of it as she spotted her stage costume and her vast boot collection, which had been tossed aside like it was nothing. One box held her movie collection, another all of her vinyls. Laying broken on the floor was her large K, her first award and it was now in three pieces and obviously care hadn’t been taken.

Five burly looking men were currently rummaging around in her condo, the door wide open and Luxe let out a soft cry. It was happening, she hadn’t expected it to happen this fast but it was and now she had nothing left to do but crumble.


“What’s going on?” Andy asked one of the men as he looked inside the condo. The place had been trashed, Luxe’s things were either broken or tossed aside and Andy was trying very hard to keep his anger in check. One of the guys finally stopped, pulling the chewed toothpick out of his mouth as he leered at Luxe and then turned his attention to Andy.

“Dunno. Owner of the condo put in an order for sale and we were hired to come remove their stuff. They said most of it was junk, that the girl who lived here wasn’t coming back for any of it.” Andy nodded-of course Alex would think of Luxe’s things as trash…he thought of her in the same way right now.

“Well this is the girl and her stuff isn’t being thrown out. Look, I’ll pay you any thing you want to take all of this furniture to this address. But be careful with it.” Andy said as he dropped her hand and Luxe watched him in stunned silence. He had pulled out his wallet and then a fold of cash, hundreds, which he then handed over to the mover. The burly man counted it, nodded his head and looked at Andy.

“What about the boxes?” He asked and Luxe whimpered. All of her things, the few things she came to LA with, were all thrown around and probably broken.

“Leave them. I live across the hall so I can take care of them.” Andy said and the mover only nodded and turned back to the near empty condo. Luxe heard him order the other men around, telling them that the furniture was to go somewhere else besides the dump.


Before she had time to think, Andy had wrapped his arms around her shoulders and led her inside his condo. He sat her down on the couch, putting his Batman throw around her shoulders and then left her there. Luxe could only sit, facing the door and she watched in silence as Andy moved her entire life from the hallway and into his already filled home.

Where was she going to go? What was she supposed to do? She had nowhere to turn, no one to go to and Luxe began to cry. Her crying echoed off of the walls and Andy looked up as he came through the door, slowly setting the box in his arms down as he went to her.

Strong arms wrapped around her, holding her against a warm chest and Luxe sobbed even harder. She felt like she had lost everything-first her friends, then her home…what was next? They were supposed to start working on a new album, but something was bound to happen. Was she going to show up at that studio in Seattle, to only be told that she was going to be replaced?

THD was her life-it was all she had now and the thought of losing it made Luxe cry out so hard that she almost threw up. Andy held on to her, so tightly that he could hardly breathe, but he wasn’t going to let her go.


“Shh…shh. It’s going to be okay Luce. I promise.” He said, his tone soothing but for some reason he didn’t think it was going to help much.

“I-I-d-don’t h-have…”

“Stop…breathe baby doll. Just breathe.” Andy said, his hands cupping her face gently and he began to kiss her all over. Her cheeks, her lips, her eyes…every inch of her face to just try and get her to calm down.

“It’s all gone Andy…everything is just gone.” She finally managed to get out and Andy wasn’t sure he understood what she was talking about. What was gone? Sure some things had been broken, but her things were all there.

“Nothing is gone Luce. I got all of your things and I really think with a little bit of glue we can get that Kerrang Award back to looking brand new.” He was trying to help, but soon enough she had pulled away from him and was pacing around his condo. She looked wild, her blonde hair messy, her makeup was half way down her cheeks and her shirt was crumpled.

“He’s going to take everything away from me Andy! Alex is going to ruin me…I can just feel it. I had so much in my hands-I was standing on top of the world and now…now I can see it all crumbling before my eyes.” She said and then Andy watched as Luxe closed her eyes, her back smacking into the wall next to his front door.


She slid down that wall, giving up her fight against trying to be anything other than what Alex wanted her to be. He had wanted her to be the rocker chick to end all rocker chicks and that was what she had become. Lucinda Abernathy, the girl who wanted to be a writer or a school teacher was gone. That blonde haired girl who smiled easily and laughed loudly had disappeared.

In public she had to be brooding, depressed and angry. In private that girl came out again-with Andy, Lucinda had begun to figure out how to be herself again. But now that was being taken away from her as well. If the two of them continued to see one another…she didn’t even want to think about what would be taken from her next.


“There is one thing in this world he will never be able to take away from you Luce.” Andy said and she looked up, seeing that Andy was now kneeling in front of her, his hands grasping her’s tightly.

“I have nowhere to live Andy…nowhere to go. One of these days he’s going to make you disappear and then I will truly have lost everything.” She sounded so hopeless…so devastated that Andy made a rash decision that he hoped he wouldn’t regret.

“You’re going to live with me.” He said simply and Luxe looked up at him. Her grey eyes were stunned and she didn’t know what to say. Here was a guy who she had loathed, hated and called every name in the book and he was taking her in.

“Alex can take everything away from you Luce, but he can’t take me and he can’t take away the love I will always have for you. Welcome home.” With that his pierced lips crashed against her own and it seemed in that moment that Luxe hadn’t lost everything…just another piece of her sanity.

Notes

Alex is a worm. Andy is a sweetheart. Luxe is slowly losing her mind.

What on Earth could happen next?

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