Jerry was jamming out on his acoustic, ignoring the conversation that entered the living room from the front door. Mike finally stopped by and brought his girlfriend, Erica (the girl he had met at the drug detox wing Layne was being treated at). Mike tapped into the living room & gave his old friend a look.

"Jerry?" Mike called out as he peered over at Erica, who was grinning. She was amused by how Jerry was basically blowing him off. "Jeeeeeeerryyyyy..." Mike went on, walking closer to the skinny blonde.

Jerry wailed out a solo from his guitar, his eyes closed.

"JERRY!" Mike screamed.

Jerry jumped, eyes shot wide as he quickly spun around to look at Mike. "How the fuck did you two get in here?!"

Erica laughed. "Your door was unlocked."

"Damn..." Jerry muttered. He set his guitar against the wall & lit a cigarette. "I really need to tell Layne and Nicky to keep that locked, what the fuck."

Mike smiled, tugging his guitar case off his back and setting it down next to Jerry's acoustic. "Where is that crazy bastard, anyways?"

"Probably upstairs having sex with his woman," Jerry growled as he took a sharp long drag from his smoke.

Mike tapped over to the stairs, winking over at Erica. He cupped his hands around his mouth. "LAYNE!!!" He screamed. He cringed when he caught Jerry moaning and holding his ears in pain. He laughed, mouthing 'sorry' to him, only to get a snide smirk back from Jerry.

"LAYNE! I KNOW YOU'RE UP THERE FUCKING! PUT YOUR BABY DICK AWAY AND COME DOWN HERE!" Mike continued, now halfway up the steps.

"WHAT THE FUCK JER--" Layne stopped himself when he opened his bedroom door to see Mike standing at the steps, smiling maliciously at him. "Fucking baby dick, really?"

Mike laughed, but before he could respond, Nicky stumbled out, only wearing her bra & a pair of jeans...unbuttoned.

"Doesn't feel like a baby dick to me!" Nicky shouted. Her bright turquoise eyes widened when they fell on Mike. "Oh, fuck no," she exclaimed. She attempted to go back into the bedroom but Layne stopped her.

"Sorry for...what I said...a while ago," Mike muttered to her as he scratched at his scalp uncomfortably.

Her face burnt red. "Yeah, you fucking SHOULD BE--"

"Babe, chill out, he's apologizing," Layne interrupted, wrapping his arm around her.

She sighed & rolled her eyes. "It's okaaaaay, Mike," she grumbled sarcastically, glaring back at the brunette, a tired look on her face. When she noticed Mike was pointedly looking at her electric blue bra, she wrapped her arms around herself & laughed. "Yeah...I'm gonna... Put some CLOTHES on," she announced bashfully, scurrying back into the bedroom.

Layne smirked at Mike, zipping up his fly & buttoning his pants as he made his way down the stairs. He jumped when he heard Erica shriek & pull him into a hug.

"Oh my gosh, you look amazing!" she blubbered. She let go of him, continuing to eye him. "How long have you been sober?!"

Jerry raised his brows. His light eyes followed Layne as he disappeared awkwardly into the kitchen and came back out with a Smirnoff ice in his hand.

"Been sober for 2 months now since Jer got Nicky and I to move in," Layne muttered, gulping down some of his alcoholic drink.

Mike laughed as he kept his eyes on the bottle of malt beer. Those brown eyes slanted back to Jerry, who just shook his head at him and shrugged.

"Well...that's...that's good," Erica said, nervously flicking her black hair off her shoulder. Those vibrant eyes grew wide and glared back at Mike.

"How's the pills, Mary POPPINS--"

"Layne..." Jerry interrupted Layne, giving him a pointed look.

Layne laughed loosely. He walked past Mike & Erica and took a seat on the couch. Those ringed fingers fumbled with a lighter & lit a cigarette. When he exhaled his drag from the cigarette, he looked over at Mike, who was standing there awkwardly with Erica.

"So are we gonna jam out or stare at each other all night...?" Layne asked, laughing. He nodded to the seat across from him in the living room, eyes still on Mike. "Come oooon, don't be scared... I'm not strung out anymore."

"About damn time," Mike muttered bitterly, getting a look from Jerry. He laughed & shrugged his shoulders as he took a seat next to the blonde.

Suddenly Nicky came clumping down the stairs, her turquoise eyes planted on Mike. Anger was stricken on her face. "I'm going out," she growled as she clutched her purse close to her.

Layne shot a look at her, his eyes wavering suspiciously over to Jerry. "Where are you going...?"

She sighed impatiently, rolling her eyes. "I need to buy more jeans, I'm fat now--" she paused when she saw the look on Layne's face. An awkward smile curled on her's. "I'm a OH SO WONDERFUL AND HEALTHY size fucking six now, so I need to buy some more pants, k?!" She corrected herself, her voice strained.

Layne's brow raised. He felt that something was fishy about all of this, but he ignored his intuition & nodded and allowed her to leave. He watched her as she yanked the car keys out from her purse, basically zipping out the door like the speed of light.

When the door slammed shut, the room fell silent.

"Well, your girl is weird," Mike spat, glaring at Layne.

Layne narrowed his eyes at him & pointed at Erica. "And your girl is addicted to fucking Xanax, risking her career."

"Layne! Please!" Jerry begged, lighting another cigarette. He turned to Mike. "And seriously, dude, quit dissing Nicky. She's actually pretty cool. Get off Layne's case."

Mike sighed, slapping his hands on his knees. "Alrighty, let's jam!"

*******
*******

It was 30 minutes until one in the morning. Nicky still hadn't come home. Jerry noticed the concern splattered all over Layne's drunken face, how he had his eyes glued to the clock glowing on his VCR. So he put away his guitar & kindly asked Mike and Erica to leave. Layne didn't even take the time to be polite enough to tell Mike goodbye. He just groaned, slumping into the kitchen to make himself another rum & Coke.

When Jerry finally shut the front door, he jogged to the kitchen, noticing the tears in Layne's eyes. "Are you okay, L?" He asked him, eyeing Layne in concern when he threw back his head and chugged his entire drink.

Layne sighed, picking up the bottle of rum just to have Jerry take it away from him. "Hey, what the fuck, Jer?" He wavered, brows crinkled in frustration.

"You've had enough," Jerry growled. He groaned when Layne yanked the bottle back from him, pouring more of the liquor into his cup. He threw back his head, chugging it & gagging immediately afterwards. "Layne, seriously... This is getting out of hand..." Jerry muttered, concern twisting his face.

Layne limped drunkenly back into the living room. He collapsed onto the couch, having his head fall into his hands. "Where the FUCK IS SHE?!" He shrieked, his words slurred.

Jerry sat down next to him. He tried to figure out what exactly to say that would make sense to his sloppy drunk friend. To his luck, the door swung open, the weight-restored anorexic glaring over at them.

"I gotta go upstairs, I'll be back to talk to you--"

"Where's your supposed PANTS?!" Layne slurred, glaring at her empty hands. He tried to get up, but staggered to the ground, groaning.

Nicky rolled her eyes at him. She ignored her boyfriend & ran up the stairs.

"NICKY?!" Layne shouted. He slowly got himself up from the floor, his intoxicated legs wobbling underneath him. He glared over at Jerry. "Something isn't fucking RIGHT. She's been gone for 5 fucking hours?! No shopping bags, nothing!" He started up the stairs, ignoring the fact that Jerry was just sitting there, shaking his head.

Layne pushed the door open, jumping back when he saw Nicky.

With her sweater sleeve rolled up past her bicep.

A syringe needle jabbed into the her arm.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" Layne screamed. She turned to him, yanking out the needle, her eyes blood shot and wide. Tears streamed down his face as he stumbled to his knees, his head in his hands. "What the fuck, Nicky, I thought you were better than this?" He sobbed, rocking himself back and forth.

She sighed & tossed the needle into the trashbin next to the window. She then sat down on the bed, studying Layne. "It's not like you're doing any better," she remarked.

Layne shook his head & looked up at her with angry eyes. "I'm not the one still banging fucking drugs in my veins! What the fuck?!"

She laughed mockingly at him, shaking her head. "You make it out like you're some walking Lifetime story, stating that you're fucking sober," she eyed him, watching how he drunkenly swayed on his knees & choked back sobs. "You're NOT sober Layne. You've been drinking like a fucking fish EVERY NIGHT now for the past fucking month!"

"I'm not fucking SHOOTING UP, at least," he spat defensively. His face was almost purple from how pissed off he was. He tilted his head, eyeing her up and down. "How did you score, huh? You don't have any money."

She looked down at her hands with furrowed eyebrows & picked at her nails. She jumped when she noticed he moved to sit right next to her on her bed, his expression almost demonic. Those bright blue eyes of rage burnt holes into her retinas.

"Did you sell your fucking body?" He accused. She didn't respond, so he got up and swung his fist into the wall. The wood splintered the skin, causing his hand to cut & quickly cover in blood. He ignored her crying as he turned back to her. He stomped over to her, gripping her shoulders extremely tight. "Are you a WHORE?! Huh?! Are you fucking selling your body for dope?! ANSWER THE MOTHERFUCKING QUESTION!!!"

"NO!" She screamed, choking back sobs. "I went over to my grandmother's and jacked some of her shit and pawned it, okay?!"

Layne sighed and he fell onto his back on the bed beside her. His eyes squeezed shut. "What the fuck, Nicky..."

"I've been trying! It's fucking hard!!!"

Layne laughed, glancing back at her. He shook his head. "If you were trying, I wouldn't have walked in to see you SHOOTING UP!!" He screamed. He sat back up on the bed & rubbed his temples. "FUCK!!! What is with you crazy fucking bitches?!"

Nicky laughed mockingly at him, getting up from the bed and opening her purse.

"What are you doing now, huh? You gonna shoot up some more fucking METH?!" Layne shouted, turning to her.

She reached into her purse, tossing an orange prescription bottle at him. He caught it & studied it. His heart stopped when he noticed it contained a bag with white powder in it. "...heroin...?" He asked.

"I got it for you," she muttered as she fell back down on the bed.

He shook his head. He wanted to say no, but his eyes wouldn't waver away from the bottle. They were huge, hungry...

...ravenous...