Do You Know What It Feels Like?

1:14 PM, Saturday.

Back Lounge.

Ryan Ross couldn't help but feel slightly responsible for what had happened, over anything else. Had he not been senselessly berating her with idiotic questions, she probably wouldn't have lost her consciousness, and passed out in front of him. At the moment, he couldn't help but feel he was at quite a loss on what to do.

"Oh, my God! Help! Someone - Pete! Help!" He yelled out blindly, dropping down onto his knees and staring at Andy's lifeless form. His eyes were wide with horror, and his mouth opened and closed inaudibly. Footsteps pounded on the floor as people ran to the back lounge, and Taylor, Brendon and Jon emerged from the bunk areas.

"What's happening? Wha - Dude, what are you doing?" Brendon pulled Ryan up from his kneeling position - Ryan let him, having no control over his limbs at that moment. The other two blinked at the unconscious girl, also unsure on how to act.

"What's going on?" Pete pushed his way to the front. Ryan held his breath, watching as Pete Wentz took in the scene - his sister lying on the ground, Ryan standing, looking apologetic by her, and the others' eyes darting from side to side, doubtful. "What - what did you do to her?"

"I don't know what happened, she just-"

"Dude, what did you do? You fucking killed my sister!" Pete bellowed, somehow losing his mind in the spur of the moment.

"No, no! We were just talking and she fainted and then I don't know!" Ryan cried, in his own defense.

"Guys, stop it! Relax, Pete, she's not dead." Taylor informed him, having knelt down and pulled the other girl in an upright position against the counter. Already, Andy's blue eyes shifted under her heavy eyelids. A small groan escaped her lips. "See? She's... Fine."

"But she looks so... Dead." Pete bit his lip, scratching the back of his head. Ryan stepped back to let Pete cross over to his sister and her friend, poking the limp girl's stomach lightly. "Why does she look that way? We have to get her to a hospital."

"I don't know, Pete-" Taylor started, but cut herself off as Pete glared at her in such a manner that everyone averted their eyes. "Fine. Someone help me carry her, and someone call a fucking cab."

Ryan made a move to aid her, but was stopped when she continued with a "Preferably someone with the right stature, if you follow me." He felt guilt overwhelm him as Andy (male) lifted her by her underarms, and Taylor supported her feet. Carefully, they laid her down on the couch, while Joe phoned a taxi service.

"We're not all going to the hospital, are we?" Jon blinked, unsure. "Coz hospitals suck."

"You're not scared, are you Jon?" Spencer raised an eyebrow. Jon pouted indignantly at him, but said nothing.

"You guys stay here. Taylor and I will go." Pete compromised.

"I want to come too." Brendon insisted. Pete eyed him with some suspicion, but conceded.

Ryan sucked in a big breath. "I'm going too."

x

2:21 PM, Saturday.

Hospital.

"But will she be okay? Is it something serious?" Pete pressed, with just a hint of desperation that a near - madman would have.

"Mr. Wentz, believe me, she will be fine." The doctor assured him, though one couldn't help but note the slightly irritated tone in his clipped voice. "She's just suffering from over fatigue. The fever will subside once she gets enough rest and some medication."

Over fatigue. Figures, Pete thought, rolling his eyes.

"She'll be discharged in estimatedly half a day. She just needs proper sleep. She'll get it here."

Pete's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. "Half a day?"

"Of course. She needs time." The doctor said, as if Pete should understand completely why his sister had to be confined in some idiotic hospital when she could just take a rest in the bus.

"But half a day - She's going to be stuck here for half a day? We're going to be here for half a day?" Pete demanded dangerously.

"Pete, calm down-"

"Just shut up, Taylor," He snapped. "Just fuck off, okay?"

The other brunette turned away, staring at the off-white wall, as the short man with the odd clothes and pained expression paced around the area. Brendon seemed unperturbed, placing his feet on the coffee table in front of the couch in the waiting area, then wrapped an arm around Taylor's shoulders. "What's the big deal, Pete? Come on. We'll sound check, come back to visit her, then go back to play the show. We'll come here after we open, then you come after the main event. She'll probably be ready to leave by then."

"I don't want to leave her with people I don't know!"

"That's easy - Taylor will stay." Brendon shrugged.

"Uh, right." Taylor raised an eyebrow. "I'll stay. You guys go, then come back for us, yeah?"

"No, I have to be here for her, she's my sister!" Pete insisted.

"And I'm her friend, Pete!" Taylor argued, rolling her eyes.

"Guys, shut up, seriously, we can figure this out without yelling at each other." Ryan cut in, rubbing his eye in an irked fashion. The two quieted down, then blinked at each other, confused on how the situation would play out.

"Look," Ryan continued, "We have no choice but to go. We can't hang around here, it's not allowed. And we have a show to play. People are waiting for us. I think Brendon's right - we'll just come here afterwards, see what happens. There's nothing we can do about it."

Pete frowned in thought, then nodded, as if Ryan's suggestion had been more intelligently designed than Brendon's casual one. "Fine. Taylor, you stay here."

Taylor rolled her eyes, muttering something along the lines of "fine," or "duh,".

"Great, since that's figured out, I gotta go to the little men's room. Anyone know where that is?" Brendon stood up, knocking down a few magazines Ryan was forced to pick up. The vocalist went off towards a lengthy hall, in the hopes of finding the bathroom. Pete fished out his cell, phoning Joe to tell him they would catch up to soundcheck, sending the other band members ahead of time.

As the bassist walked off to find clearer reception, Taylor turned to Ryan, who had begun counting the artificial granules on the flooring. A tedious task, but he had been forced out of it as the girl asked him, "So what were you talking about with Andy?"

"Huh?" Ryan looked up, dazed.

"Before she, you know, passed out. What were you guys talking about? If you don't mind me asking." Taylor, knowing and having observed Andy's shy feelings towards the thin guitarist, couldn't help but wonder how the man had perked her best friend's interest.

"Nothing. I just asked her if she was okay."

"And then she... Fainted." Ryan nodded. "That sounds plausible."

"Really?" Ryan asked, a little surprised. Taylor scoffed.

"No."

"I just... I wanted to ask her why she never talked to me. Why she was always so quiet around me, you know?" He shrugged. "I thought she hated me."

"Oh, yeah, like that's it." Taylor muttered under her breath.

"What?"

"Nothing." She stood up, fixing her shirt. "I'm going to go in and see if they've done anything to make her better."

"Look, I just want to know," Ryan persisted, and Taylor stared at him wearily. "Does she, you know. Hate me? She always looks like she doesn't want to talk to me."

"She doesn't want to talk to you because she wants to talk to you, Ryan. Figure it out." With that, she walked into the hospital room. Ryan caught a glimpse of the younger Wentz, lying on a hospital bed, almost as pale white as the sheets she had pulled up to her chest. Her breathing was slow and rhythmic, if not a tad bit strained. The door closed, and he stared at the floor again - this time, to think, not count the stupid gray dots.

She doesn't want to talk to you because she wants to talk to you, Ryan. Figure it out.

Well, what the fuck was there to figure out? It made no sense!

Angrily, he leaned back on the couch, crossing his arms. Why did he care so much about whether or not she felt like having a conversation with him? He had other things to worry about - like his own life, for instance.

"Well, that was fun." Brendon commented, coming around the waiting area again. He looked around, and then raised his eyebrows. "Where's everyone else?"

"What, I'm not good enough to talk to anymore?" Ryan joked weakly. Brendon shrugged, then grinned.

"Nah. I still love you, dude. Even if you're totally with someone else. We'll always have the love, man."

"Yeah, right." Ryan elbowed Brendon, and the other pushed back playfully. "Dude, you never have time for me anymore." Ryan pouted in a guilt-triggering fashion. Brendon merely rolled his eyes.

"Dude, you're the one who's been totally off whenever I walk towards you onstage."

"I'm not doing the violating, man!" Ryan argued, forgetting his depressing thoughts about Andy's obvious dislike for him. "It's like you're trying to take off all my clothes when you come at me and -"

"Dude, everyone needs to know you're sexy!"

"Yeah, but not that way, man-"

"Ryan, Bren, we have to go. We're kind of running late." Pete scratched his head. "Can you guys stand talking about showing someone's sexiness in the cab? Preferably in some unknown language, like, I dunno, Antarctican?"

"I'm sure we'll manage." Ryan cleared his throat, glaring at Brendon. The other boy shrugged.

"Dude, it's not me. I speak Antarctican."

x

10: 03 PM, Saturday,

Hospital.

It has become a fact that when one is in a hospital, it is almost inevitable to fall asleep. The air seems to have been sprayed with anaesthetic, making it impossible to stay awake for mere over an hour, if you're unfortunate enough to have been left there for such a time.

Taylor found it unexplainably dreary to have to watch Andy's unmoving figure on the hospital bed, no matter her love for her friend. Waiting for her to open her eyes and sit up was quite like waiting for the sun to come up at seven in the evening. It would take practically forever.

Dreadfully bored and slightly annoyed for having been abandoned, she lay down on the couch and closed her eyes, vowing only to take a five - minute nap. The five minutes evolved into five hours, and the five hours ticked onto six, seven, eight.

She jolted out of a blurry dream, to find someone's lap under her head. Sitting up, she let her eyes clear up, and focus on Brendon's grinning face.

"Look who's finally risen from the dead." Jon commented from across the room. She rubbed her eye groggily, looking around. "Good to see you've been keeping a very close and watchful eye on our little patient here."

"Shut up, Jon, it's not like I went around burning the place to a crisp." Andy's sweet yet sharp voice reached Taylor's ears.

"You're awake?" She eyed the pretty girl in the sad hospital gown. "Since when?"

"I dunno. Couple of hours. Saw you were asleep, I didn't want to wake you up. Looked like you were having a nice dream, you know?" She laughed.

"You idiot. You gave us a heart attack. Pete nearly lost his mind." Taylor reprimanded her, though she knew she loved her friend too much to really be furious.

"I'm sorry. Next time I faint, I'll ring you up first, then we can have a party, yeah?" Andy giggled, and Taylor smiled at her. The patient looked around, furrowing her eyebrows. "Where's my brother anyway?"

"Still playing a show. Guy's gotta work, you know." Spencer laughed.

"God, he just cares so much about me." Andy sighed dramatically. Everyone chuckled at this - well, almost everyone. Andy noticed the slim boy had not looked up from his post by the window, let alone said a word.

"I'm starved. Who wants some sushi? My treat!" Brendon announced. Four hands shot up, including Andy's, excluding Ryan's. "Well, come on, let's go!"

"You stay here. We'll get you food." Taylor suggested. Andy's face darkened, and Taylor frowned pleadingly at her. "We'll be back soon. The doctors are going to kill us if they see you walking around."

"Not that they'd want to see you walking around. You're a mess, honey." Brendon piped in teasingly. Andy grabbed a pillow from behind her and threw it at his general direction. He ducked and missed it by inches, hitting Spencer square in the chest.

"Sorry, Spin. Not my fault he's got a big mouth and fast reflexes." Andy apologized as Spencer rubbed the spot it had collided with.

"It's not mine either, but okay."

The four trooped out of the room, promising to come back with more japanese food than she could possibly stuff into her mouth. As soon as she was more or less alone, she turned to Ryan. He had taken a seat on the once - occupied couch, and was staring at his shoes, his head bowed, as though in prayer.

"Are you... Okay?" She asked him nervously.

He looked up, turning over what she had said in his mind. "Of course. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Nothing. Sorry. You're just so quiet." She blushed, wishing she hadn't uttered a word.

"You're to talk, Andy. You're always quiet around me." He raised an eyebrow. "Don't you remember?"

"I do. Sorry. I just... You're not hungry?" She made a desperate grab at a new conversation, feeling more and more stupid with each passing second. He shook his head, then seemed to struggle with something.

"I asked Taylor why you never seemed to want to talk to me." She concluded he'd become determined in finding out why she'd been so withdrawn in his presence.

"Yeah, well, Taylor, she says some pretty, uh... Funny stuff. I wouldn't listen to her."

"She said you didn't want to talk to me because you wanted to talk to me. I don't fucking get it. Does that mean you hate me?"

"I don't hate you." She assured him with some finality, thinking the words over. They seemed to make little sense, even to her. "I just... I don't really know what to talk about with you. You know?"

"But why won't you just start up some stupid conversation instead of making me feel like there's something wrong with me?" He asked, frowning.

"There's nothing wrong with you." Everything's just so right about you. "It's just me."

He shook his head again, then stood up. "I don't know. But I just want us to be cool, you know? If you don't like something about me, just tell me, and maybe we can sort it out. I don't want to have people hating me. Especially not a girl."

"What the fuck does that mean?" She pursed her lips, puzzled.

"You should know what girls are capable of when they don't like people. Especially girls like you who like to get even." He cracked a smile.

"Oh. Well, you're right. I probably wouldn't want to be on bad terms with me." She giggled, and he couldn't help but chuckle with her.

"I probably wouldn't want to be Pete, then."

"No, you probably wouldn't." She agreed. He made for the door.

"I guess I'll go catch up and grab a bite. Unless you want me to stay...?" He added slowly. She shook her head, indicating that he should go and stuff his skinny body with as much food as physically possible. He smiled, then said, "I'm glad we cleared this up, Andy," before heading out the door.

Moments passed in lonely silence as Andy Wentz stared at the blank ceiling. She was just about to fall in a stupor when the door opened, and Taylor came in, bearing plates of sushi and two paper cups of Coke.

"You're in absolute luck, practically the only thing they had left was California Maki." She set the plates and cups on the small glass table, then turned to Andy. Her eyes were narrowed and her arms were crossed over her chest. Her mouth was set in a thin line. "What's with the look?"

"WHY are you playing mind games with Ryan Ross?"