To the Stage

Things between Ben, Danny and Nichole changed after that incident. Danny became even more distant, choosing to spend most of his time with his girlfriend. That created a rift between him and the rest of the band. To make things worst, his interaction with the rest of Asking Alexandria on stage has been decreasing. The fans have noticed this as well and took to the Internet to discuss about what might have happened.

“Despite what the rumours are saying, we are NOT breaking up!” Ben posted on his twitter after receiving an immense amount of messages asking if they were going to break up.

The tour was coming to an end and everybody was anxious for it to end. Danny was nowhere to be seen and it was getting on everyone’s nerves.

“Where the fuck is he?” Cameron asked, his voice laced with frustration. It was a rare sight to see him frustrated, really. “He needs to get away from that bitch.”

Nichole scoffed. “The last time I tried telling him that he almost hit me.”

“Enough,” Ben mumbled next to her, obviously still upset at that incident.

The band, then did their sound check without its vocalist. It was a really bad sight. Normally the band would have fun with each other even while on soundcheck, but now, everybody had a frown on their faces, like they didn’t want to be there.

It was showtime and Danny finally showed up, just minutes before the band were supposed to hit the stage. His eyes were blood shot red, he was slurring when he talked to the venue’s personnel, he looked like shit. The minute he stepped on the stage, Nichole could hear the crowd going wild. But somehow deep down, she knows he would fuck it up.

True enough, he did. He started cursing to the crowd, insulting them in between songs. He’d forgotten his lyrics, sang out of time and just ruin the show. Nichole stood at the side of the stage in shock—she couldn’t believe that the same thing that happened in Seattle 2 years ago is happening again.

“What the fuck, man?!” Ben shouted at him on stage. Danny was swaying and his speech was slurred and at one point he was leaning next to the drum kit. Nichole looked on as Ben handed his guitar to his guitar tech, and went straight to Danny and gave him a punch to his face. “Get your shit together!” Nichole heard him screaming to his best friend.

In return, Danny pushed Ben away and muttered “fuck this shit” into the microphone and walked past Nichole as he exited the stage. She called out him, but he completely ignored her and walked off.

Ben went to the microphone and apologized to the crowd, and the band decided to play “Someone, Somewhere” with Ben on guitar and vocal duties to end the show.

In the bus after the show, the band noticed that Danny was nowhere to be found. His bunk was completely empty and when they tried to call him, his phone was off. Nichole was worried—she had never seen him like this since the Seattle incident. She wanted to know if he’s alright. No matter what he has treated her as of late, he was still her best friend.

“Ben, we have to find him.”

“Fuck him,” he said as he took another puff from his cigarette. “Fucking asshole.”

“Babe, please. I’m worried about him. I need to know that he’s okay.”

Ben cursed under his breath. “Did you see what he did to us just now? Have you seen what he’s been doing to us for the past few weeks?!” he said as his voice grew higher. “Fucking hell, he’s trying to tear the band apart—he’s trying to tear us apart! And you’re still worried about him?”

Tears rolled down Nichole’s face and he said that. “I’ve lost my best fucking friend the minute he met that bitch. I should’ve fucking known. I should’ve fucking stopped him.” He threw his cigarette to the ground and ran his fingers through his hair. “Everything’s fucking ruined. I just—I cannot deal with this right now, okay?” he said before burying his hands in the pockets of his hoodie and walked off into the night.

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