3 | NIKKI SIXX

Nicole was at a convenient store buying some twizzlers and coke for the night when some random and loud man bumped into her from behind. He had been hollering and jumping, clearly on some sort of drug, and ended up hitting Nicole from behind. She dropped her coke because of it, the sweet liquid splashing all over her white shoes.

Nicole clenched her jaw, seething, and slowly turned around to eye the culprit that had ruined her drink. But, when she locked her eyes onto the man— her entire face soften as she familiarized herself with the man. "Nicole?" Her old friend spoke up.

"Frank?" She cocked her head, observing his newly adopted rocker hair and eyeliner look.

"Uh— actually it's uh— Nikki Sixx, now." He coughed out, quite embarrassedly.

"Nikki?" Nicole repeated in a questionable way.

"Yeah, uh... after you." He whispered so that no one else in the tiny gas station convenient store could hear him confess such a thing.

Nicole's lips twisted up into a small smile. When she finally got passed wrapping her head around his new name, she gave him a quick hug. "I thought I'd never see you again." Nikki hugged her back and allowed himself to enjoy resting his face in her soft hair.

"What the hell were you doing, screaming and hollering like that?" Nicole chuckled.

Nikki smiles down at his feet, ashamedly that he had acted in such an embarrassing way in front of an old friend. "I have a show tonight," Nikki gasped, "you should come! I'm in a band call London. We're playing tonight."

"Sure! I wasn't doing anything tonight anyway." Nicole beamed brightly, quite excited to see Nikki perform live. She felt comforted knowing he still played music, she had lost it after not seeing him in so long. She only ever felt comfortable playing around him anyway.

* * *

Despite Nicole's anticipation, the show was a complete and utter mess. A fight broke out between the band mates on stage and Nikki got roughed up pretty bad. Nicole couldn't do anything because she was stuck amidst the crowd and the fight was taking place up on stage. But, as soon as the two got out of there, Nicole took Nikki to a nearby diner to get some ice for his bruised eyes. "Sorry about that..." Nikki apologized, again, feeling like he had failed Nicole in some way.

"What are you talking about? That was amazing... well, up until you got your nose beat into your skull." Nicole threw a bag of ice into Nikki's hand.

"Thanks." He mumbled as he pressed the pouch to his face.

"So, Nikki, you named yourself after me, huh?" She wanted to know more about why he changed his name.

"I needed a change. I needed to leave my past life behind me. I needed to become a new person. I need to become me. But the only time I knew who I really was, was when I was around you. This might sound weird, but, you and me... we were the bestest friends. We were soul mates. I needed to keep a part of you somewhere with me, so I called myself Nikki." Nikki admitted, talking plainly so that Nicole wouldn't think he was being too sweet or emotional. Nicole refrained from calling him sweet or caring, knowing it would only embarrass him more than he already was.

"What about you, Nic? What have you been up to?" He changed the subject.

"Well, I'm studying in law school. I'm graduating in the spring." Nicole announced, smiling sweetly at Nikki.

"Makes sense. You always have a good family behind you, making sure you'd get a good job." Nikki mentioned, reflecting his slight envy for her life.

"I wish I still played, though. I miss it. But its not the same without you." Nicole confessed to Nikki.

Just as Nikki was about to speak to her again, a tall, lank boy ran up to the two's booth with a cheeky grin spread across his face. "Hey, that was bad ass, dude." The strange man playfully slapped Nikki's arm.

Nicole looked the man up and down. He wore a tight leather jacket with some tight cheetah print pants. Nicole noticed a pair of drum sticks barely fitting into his back pocket. Nikki looked at the man with a blank and unimpressed face, making him feel uncomfortable under his stare. "The show, not the nose, but— nose was pretty badass too." The man told.

"The singer's an asshole." Nikki mentioned.

"I know. I saw! Hey, fuck him, though. He deserved it." The man spoke, then Nikki didn't reply, leaving him hanging.

Nicole looked up at him and smiled. "Wanna take a seat?" She patted the spot next to her.

The man smiled, excitedly, and nodded quickly. He slid into the booth right next to her. Nikki shot her daggers, as if to tell her she shouldn't have allowed the fan to join them. "I have your poster on my bedroom wall." The boy confessed to Nikki.

Nikki furrowed his brows at him, making the boy cringe, embarrassedly. "I cant believe I just said that."

"Take the fucking poster down, man. London's over." Nikki shook his head at him.

Suddenly, the waitress come over. "Anything I can get for y'all?" She was an older woman, a tough lady by the looks of her face, but seemed patient enough to be working in a diner.

"A jack and coke, please." Nikki nodded at her.

"Blueberry pancakes." The fan smiled widely at her, he seemed so innocent and kind. It was almost hard not to love him.

"I'll do the same as him." Nicole pointed at the fan, indicated she also wanted some blueberry pancakes.

Once the waitress left, Nikki realized he had someone to talk to about his band conflict that would be just as interested in the conversation as he was. "My new band is gonna be something nobody's ever fucking seen before." Nikki told the boy.

The boy whipped out his drum sticks and twirled them magnificently in his hand. He used one as a pointer stick to point to an ad in the newspaper sitting next to Nikki. "That dude looks pretty cool." The boy spoke. The ad was a list of band members looking for a band to join.

Nikki slowly looked up at the boy with his sticks in hand. The boy was quite fidgety as he nodded and spun his sticks nervously. "Do you carry those with you everywhere?" Nikki inquired.

"Yeah." The boy nodded and spun one stick in his hand, trying to hide his nervousness.

"Where'd you learn to do that?" Nikki questioned.

The boy pressed his lips into a thin line. "High school marching band," he admitted, "Hey! But I rock too!"

Nikki smirked mischievously over at Nicole, and Nicole instant got the message. He was going to add this guy to the new band he was planning on making. "What's your name?" Nicole turned to look at the new band mate.

"Tommy Lee."