Chasing the Night

Travis said goodbye to the crowds before stumbling offstage. Hunter, Drew and Danny could tell that he was in a bad way. The last song had been overly emotional, and Travis had barely made it through it. His health was rapidly deteriorating in the summer heat, and he was paler than ever. Things did not look good. Hunter draped his arm around Travis’ bony shoulders and helped him offstage, thrusting a bottle of water towards him.

Travis took the bottle and downed it in a matter of seconds. Hunter handed him another. “You okay, Trav?” He asked him worriedly. “Yeah,” he rasped. “I’m fine. Great show, man.”

Hunter managed a smile and tightened his grip around Travis. Drew and Danny looked on in worry, crew members passing them bottles of water also. Travis suddenly bent over and threw up. Drew screwed up his nose and jumped back. “Gross!” he exclaimed, staring down at the mess the singer had made. Travis wiped at his mouth with the back of his hand. “Sorry,” he said, clutching his stomach.

“Travis, are you sure you’re okay?” Hunter asked him. Travis nodded before suddenly throwing up again. “You’re not okay,” Hunter said. “You need some aspirin and some sleep.”

“I slept just fine last night,” Travis insisted, as Hunter helped him towards the bus. “No, you didn’t. You don’t sleep anymore at all.” Travis shook his head as they continued on their way behind various stages in the direction of their tour bus. “I do sleep. You can’t live without sleep,” he argued, stumbling up the steps of their tour bus, Hunter, Drew and Danny bringing up the rear. “You hardly sleep. Can you tell me how many hours you got last night? Four? Three? Two? Less than that?” Hunter said, directing Travis to the bathroom on board the bus.

“Maybe three,” Travis shrugged, peeling off his tee-shirt. Hunter reached into the shower and turned on the cold water. It immediately started streaming out of the silver showerhead. “Don’t tell me I’m gonna have to help you shower,” Hunter said, glancing back at Travis. When he saw the ginger-haired boy’s bare chest, he gasped in shock. He had lost so much weight that his ribs were visible. His veins were prominent along his skinny arms and his hip bones stuck out. Hunter’s eyes were wide as he took all of this in. “Travis...” he gasped. “You’re so small.”

Travis stared back at him with a composed expression. He stared at him blankly before reaching down to take off his shorts. He wasn’t small. At least, he didn’t think so. Maybe he’d lost a bit of weight since the breakup, but he couldn’t understand why Hunter was staring at him like he was disease-ridden or something else just as awful.

“What?” Travis sputtered, crossing his arms across his chest, suddenly self-conscious. Hunter detected this and looked away, back at the shower. “Get in the shower, Travis. Keep it cold. You need to lower your body temperature,” he said, walking out of the small bathroom and pulling the door shut behind him.

Travis took off the rest of his clothing and stepped into the shower, the cold water immediately shocking his over-heated body. He remained still until he got used to it, and stood directly under the streaming water, allowing it to pour over his body as he stared straight ahead. As he continued to stare blankly at the glass shower screen, his thoughts drifted to her.

He remembered the time when she was with him, when they would shower together, her short, black hair sticking to her face as it got wet. He would wipe it away from her eyes and kiss her and she’d say that it was like a kiss in the rain. And he would hold her and everything was perfect.

Just like that, it was like she’d broken up with him all over again. Travis hated remembering. He slumped against the wall of the shower and slid down it, sitting in the pile of water that pooled at the bottom. He sat there for a good forty-five minutes before Hunter knocked on the door to check on him. “Travis? Are you okay in there?” His voice was muffled by the door. When Travis didn’t reply, Hunter tried the knob, and the door opened easily. Hunter immediately crossed the small room to the shower, opening the door to pull Travis out. He shut the water off and grabbed a large, white towel, wrapping it around Travis’ small body.

Travis was crying. He sniffled and pulled the towel to his face, so ashamed of himself for being so weak. He looked away from Hunter and instead focused on the white tiles that decorated the bathroom floor. “I-I’m sorry,” he stuttered. “Hey, why are you apologizing?” Hunter asked, pulling him into a hug. “I-I used all t-the w-water,” he stuttered again, shuddering with cold. Hunter laughed and pulled him closer. “What happened?” he asked him after a few moments of silence. “I remembered,” Travis said simply. And just like that, Hunter knew exactly what he meant and pulled him closer, not ashamed to hold his semi-naked friend when he needed him.
______

Times Infinity! were more popular than they thought they were going to be. They’d expected maybe ten or twenty people to show up to their set, but as they stared at the hundreds of people in front of them, they couldn’t believe their luck. Lukas saw a girl at the front wearing one of their band tee-shirts and smiled and waved at her. She jumped up and down in excitement and waved back. Embry rolled his eyes and shook his head at Lukas, who shoved him in the shoulder. Jase sat behind his drum kit, silent as usual during shows, and nervous as ever. He tapped his drumsticks against his legs nervously just as Arianna stepped out on stage.

The crowd went crazy. They all loved Arianna. The dirty blonde singer walked to the centre of the stage to the microphone stand, comfortable in her denim cut-offs and black tank-top. Colourful bracelets adorned her arms and she reached up to hold the microphone with her right hand, her left clutching the stand below it about half-way up.

“Hey there Warped!” She said into the microphone, the crowd erupting in cheers. “Let me tell you something, we are so excited to be here today!”

“Who’s ready to rock?!” Lukas hollered into his mic, pumping his fist in the air. The crowd screamed louder.

“We are Times Infinity!” Arianna said. “And this, is Your Worst Nightmare!”

The young band launched into their first song, jumping around the stage like three-year-olds that had just consumed red cordial. Arianna started clapping to the beat, the crowd joining in with her mere seconds after she had started. The intro blended easily into the first verse and Arianna pulled the mic from the stand, bringing it to her mouth to sing the first lines. She started pumping her fist in the air and stepped up on one of the blocks at the front of the small stage as the song moved into the powerful chorus.

You think you’re winning the game you’re playing
But this is the start of your nightmare, baby
You’re no hero and I don’t need saving
This is the start of your nightmare, baby

I’m hating the player and not the game
I’m not as easy as you thought I’d be
I see your heart and I’m taking aim
Your worst nightmare starts with me

The crowd sang along with her, screaming the lyrics as though their lives depended on it. Arianna had always been brutally honest with her lyrics, and it showed. The boys helped by creating powerful music to back up the emotional lyrics. Times Infinity! played through the rest of their set, gaining more and more fans after every song.

Arianna enjoyed the show, but she still couldn't shake the voice that had been playing over and over in her head ever since she'd first heard it. It was just amazing. After the show, the guys headed out for after-show food (typical, Arianna thought) and Arianna stayed behind to wander around the grounds a bit, just like she always did.

As she walked past some of the more extravagant tour buses, one of the doors flew open and someone fell straight on top of her. Arianna coughed and sputtered as she tried to take in a breath. The sudden impact had winded her and whoever had come out of the bus and crashed into her was still lying on top of her. One thing was for sure – Arianna wasn’t apologizing.

She took in a few breaths and opened her eyes to see a familiar ginger-haired boy, who was now hurriedly getting to his feet. His eyes were red and puffy, his hair wet and sticking to his neck. He had obviously been crying. Arianna stared at him curiously before slowly pulling herself to a sitting position. “Ow,” she whimpered, as she glanced down at her bleeding knee.

“Oh, shit! Sorry,” the ginger-haired boy said, reaching out his hand to help her up. She took it and he pulled her to her feet, before shoving his hands into his pockets and looking down at his worn shoes. “Are you okay?” he asked quietly, not making eye contact.

“Hey, you’re the guy who ran into me before,” Arianna said, narrowing her eyes. “I’m still waiting for my apology.” She was still kinda pissed off.

“Sorry,” he muttered, glancing up at her. His eyes were so full of hurt that she couldn’t help but forgive him immediately. “It’s okay,” she said. “I’m Arianna.” She held out her hand. He took it in his and shook it quickly, before placing his hand back in his pocket. “Travis.”

“So, what band are you in?” Arianna asked. Travis raised his eyebrows before shrugging. “We The Kings,” he said with another shrug. He couldn’t believe she hadn’t heard of his band, especially since they were one of the headlining acts for Warped Tour that year.

“Hey, I like your song Check Yes...” Arianna trailed off. Jessica? Josephine? Jasmine? She’d heard of it before. Goddammit, what was it called? “...Josephine,” she finished. Travis looked up at her, a smile stretching across his face. A real smile. The first in a long time.

If only she knew.