I think this is the longest chapter yet. -shrugs-

Duff looked to his son.

"What do you think's up with your Uncle Izzy?" Duff asked. Little Duff shrugged his shoulders and drank the milk Duff had just given him. "Do you think he's road gay?" Little Duff tilted his head in confusion. "Do you even know what that means?" Duff said more to himself than his son. Little Duff gurgled happily.

"Jack Daniels!"

"No." Duff groaned. His son's favorite (And only) two words just had to be about alcohol. Duff didn't really mind so much but it was on his conscious. "Come here," Little Duff stood on shaky legs. He took one small step and fell forwards. Thankfully he fell into Duff's arms. "Are you ok?" Duff asked as he held his son close to his chest.

"Yesh." Little Duff chirped. Duff chuckled softly. He headed up the stairs and stopped at the Master Bedroom door. He gently sat Little Duff down and knocked.

"What?" Axl's voice demanded. Duff opened the door slightly and poked his head in. Erin was perched on the bed, talking softly to Axi, who was dozing off. Axl was standing next to Erin. He was only in his boxers.

"Ax what are you doing?" Duff asked quietly as to not alert Axi.

"Well I was soaked from the run/walk so I'm getting dressed," Axl remarked. "Now what is it?" Duff hesitated. Izzy's business was his own. Informing Axl probably wouldn't do anything other than make the homophobic ginger mad.

"Is Izzy road gay?" Axl froze. Duff regretted asking. Then Axl let out a forced laugh.

"Of course he's not! He knows better!"

"What do you mean he knows better?!" Duff exclaimed but Axl ignored him. Duff stared at Axl's back as Axl pulled on a shirt. He turned to Duff.

"Get out man," The ginger ordered. Duff sighed and closed the door. Axl pulled on a pair of white shorts and grinned at Erin. Erin rolled her eyes. Axi was fast asleep.

Duff glanced at his son with a shake of his head.

"You're living in a crazy world Little Duff," he remarked. Little Duff didn't respond. Duff frowned. Something was really wrong with the toddler. He was whining and looking around. "What is it son?" Little Duff's lips formed the problem but he couldn't say it. He looked around more. He started to crawl towards the steps.

"Woah now," Duff said, quickly grabbing Little Duff. He squirmed though, trying almost desperately to get out of Duff's arms. The action earned a frown from the bassist. "What's wrong?" Little Duff whimpered. "Does it have to do with Izzy?" Duff questioned. Little Duff hesitated, then nodded slightly. Duff's frown deepened. He was worried about Izzy now. What was wrong with Izzy that Little Duff seemed to understand?

Meanwhile...

Just give him the toy and leave just give him the toy and leave Izzy told himself over and over again as he walked back to the orphanage. He held the toy guitar to his chest. Just give him the toy and leave just give him the toy and leave.

Izzy forced the doors open with one hand. The woman at the desk looked slightly surprised to see him. She smiled at him. He returned it hesitantly.

"He's in the toddler ward to your right," She said warmly. Izzy was slightly startled but he was in too much of a hurry to comment. He walked briskly down the right hallway. Just give him the toy and leave just give him the toy and leave. Izzy told himself over and over as he walked. He didn't want to give into his heart. He couldn't raise a child; he wasn't fit or sane enough to do so.

Izzy walked into the toddler ward. He saw Izzy Jr all right. Izzy Jr was looking up in terror at a man who was holding him. The man had slicked back balding blonde hair that was bleached. It looked terrible. He wore no shirt and looked like he had tried to tan but failed at it and had a very noticeable beer belly. He had an ugly plaid jacket on him that made him look really fat. He wore shorts that exposed chalk white legs. His arms were badly sunburned and his blonde mustache had black in it, making Izzy wonder if he had tried to dye it black.

"Aren't you a cutie?" He was cooing to Izzy Jr. Izzy Jr looked purely afraid.

"D-daddy..." he whimpered softly. Izzy felt Izzy Jr's voice tug on his heartstrings. The man's hand suddenly came down on Izzy Jr's head. He began to stroke his hair. Izzy Jr squirmed around in fear. A fierce rage boiled inside of Izzy. He let out a deep growl.

"Get the fuck away from my son right now you goddamn creep!" Izzy shouted angrily. He threw himself at the man. Startled, the man accidentally dropped Izzy Jr but Izzy thankfully caught him in time.

"Daddy!"

"Nice to see you too son," Izzy smiled down at him. Izzy Jr grinned and grabbed his toy guitar. Izzy chuckled softly.

"Hey man what gives?!"

"This is my son man. It was a mistake putting leaving him here." Izzy Jr giggled as Izzy walked back to the main area.

"Well," The lady at the desk said, making Izzy jump a mile. "I see you changed your mind," Izzy turned to look at her.

"Um...yeah I did...my name is Izzy."

"I'm Annica." Izzy smiled politely.

"That's a pretty name," he said hesitantly. He felt slightly awkward, talking to her and holding Izzy Jr. Even though he sincerely doubted Izzy Jr would remember this it still felt strange. He wasn't flirting with her necessarily. Just having a conversation with her was all.

"That didn't take very long for you to change your mind," Annica noted. Izzy shrugged lightly.

"I'm an idiot. What can I say?" He said with a goofy smile. She giggled. Izzy Jr shifted in Izzy's arms. "I better take this little guy home now to his friends," Izzy said softly. Annica smiled at Izzy Jr who cooed at her.

"Bye little guy," She said smiling. She glanced to Izzy. "And I'll see you later," She said with a wink, making Izzy laugh.

"Alrighty," Izzy said warmly. As he walked out of the orphanage he felt a strange sensation in his heart...he shrugged it off though.

"Daddy." Izzy Jr said brightly.

"I am so sorry son. I won't lose you again..." Even as Izzy spoke his brain wondered what kind of Hell he would be putting his son through.

Later...

Axi opened his eyes. Neither Mommy nor Daddy noticed. They were talking softly about grown-up stuffs Axi didn't understand. He sensed something wasn't right. His daddy looked really happy and his mommy looked much kinder than the mean red-haired lady that hurt his daddy. Daddy didn't know he knew but that mark on his face was too obvious. Yet something was off other than the mark. Axi knew exactly what it was but he had no idea how to tell them. He could barely talk. He cooed to them.

"Oh, you're awake!" Mommy said cheerfully. Axi liked her smile; it was warm and nice. But she didn't understand and he didn't expect her to. Maybe Daddy would...Axi cooed again. Daddy looked at him.

"Hello Axi!" Daddy said warmly. Axi didn't understand why they were so..loving towards him. That red-haired lady wasn't so nice to him and his friends. Was that why they were putting on smiles? To prove to Axi that they loved him? He wished he could tell them they didn't need to pretend and that he already knew how much they loved him. He frowned, the feeling of unease coursing through his small body. There was only one way for him to show his parents that something was wrong...he started to cry.

"Oh! What's wrong Axi?!" Mommy exclaimed, gently scooping him up. Axi only wailed.

"What's wrong with my little child?" Daddy gently asked. Mommy frowned.

"He's not wet...maybe he's hungry." To their surprise Axi shook his head. "Then what's wrong?" Mommy asked. Axi pointed to the door. His parents looked. Then Daddy walked over to the door and opened it. Standing in the doorway was Izzy and Izzy Jr. Izzy looked a little surprised but Izzy Jr smiled at Axi. Axi immediately stopped crying and returned the smile. The two Gunners sat the boys down. Axi crawled over to Izzy Jr and hugged him tightly. The three adults laughed.

The two toddlers played. Axl glanced to Izzy. His friend looked terrible. Normally so calm and mellow-looking Izzy looked...like pure hell. Axl knew Izz did heroin but Axl could never tell when he was high or not. Well the others could never tell but Axl could. But this was worse. As if Izz had put through some emotional shit...Izz was always there for him during high school always helping him with his abusive step-father. Time for Axl to repay him for that.

Izzy walked over in a feigned attempt at being his normal calm self. He didn't look Axl in the eyes though. He already sensed the redhead knew. Erin must have sensed something too.

"I'm...going to go make dinner ok?" To be honest Izzy didn't think she could cook to save her life. If of course her life was in danger. Shit I gotta get my head straight he thought with a slight shake of his head. He felt Axl pull him into a hug. Axl was so clingy sometimes it was aggravating yet Izzy stayed by his side. Why shouldn't he?

"What's up Izz?" Axl asked in a soft tone. "Why do you...look like you've been crying...?" Izzy hesitated.

"You're gonna be pissed..."

"I won't. I promise."

"Well...I...put Izzy Jr in an orphanage-" Axl changed almost at once. His eyes had been full of warmth and understanding. That was replaced by anger and coldness. In a flash Axl roughly shoved Izzy onto the bed. Startled, Izzy could only stare wide-eyed at Axl. Axl was glaring dangerously at Izzy, his right hand curled into a fist. He was going to hit him. Izzy didn't doubt it. For what felt like eternity Axl glared down at Izzy.

He then raised his fist suddenly. He swung down but Izzy caught his fist and ended up bringing Axl down onto the bed next to him. The singer tried to swing at Izzy again but Izzy grabbed both his wrists and pinned him down. Unintentionally Izzy ended up straddling Axl's waist but neither noticed.

"Damn it Axl," Izzy growled into Axl's ear. "Calm the fuck down."

"Get off of me!" Again Axl changed. This time he was looking at Izzy pleadingly. "Come on man you know this feels soo..." The guitarist sighed softly.

"I'll only get off if you promise to calm down."

"I promise!"

"AND not try to kick my ass," Axl grumbled.

"Woah. What the FUCK?!" Both tensed. Izzy glanced back, giving Axl the opportunity to shove Izzy off him. Duff leaned in the doorway, looking surprised. "Izzy what the hell man?" He asked with a chuckle. "First you were flirting with me and now you're trying to bang Axl. Is there something you wanna tell us?" Izzy's face darkened to match Axl's hair color.

"No! Of course not! Axl's like a brother to me and I don't know you all that well Duff! Shit-I mean-fuck," Izzy groaned as Duff laughed. Axl stared stonily at them.

"Fuck you both," he snarled, getting out of the bed. He walked out of the room quickly. Duff was still chuckling at Izzy, whose face was a deep shade of red.

"Goddamn it Duff I didn't mean-"

"Daddy?" Axi's voice called. The two glanced. Axi was crawling after Axl who apparently didn't hear his son. Axi stood on his small legs.

"Hey Axl," Duff called. The redhead didn't hear him though. Axi began to follow Axl. Axl headed down some stairs. Axi hesitated. Izzy and Duff both watched in horror as Axi took one step and fell down the stairs.

To Be Continued...