Almost Easy

It had been a good few hours since anyone had seen Matt and there were feelings of helpless all round. No one knew where he was or why he was being like this. The boys tried calling Val again but after the first few times of answering with the same thing, she stopped answering then turned her phone off altogether. They were aware it was nearing show time and as much as they didn't want to cancel on the fans, they really didn't want to face Matt right now, they hoped he came back as much as they didn't. The unanimous decision was they needed to help him at all costs, but not let anyone get hurt; Matt included.

A nasty bruise had quickly formed around Zack's neck, a constant reminder of how useless he felt as a friend and although Jimmy and Johnny didn't have anything to show on the outside, the hurt on the inside made them like they weren't fulfilling their roles as Matt's friend's either. Since the singer left after choking Zack, the boys had been talking about exactly what Matt had said and every action he had taken. Every, single, little, thing. They needed to get inside his head, find out what brought him so close to the edge. Find out what he's hiding and why he won't let them in. Of course, this is all much easier said than done.

This in-depth talk brought them to an hour before the show, there was still no sign of Matt and Brian had stayed asleep, for the most part - they heard him get up grumbling about peeing being 'an unnecessary and down right annoying human need', he followed that up with something along the lines of 'I'd rip my fucking dick off if it meant I didn't have to wake up to piss'. On the way back to his bunk, Brian had been grumbling about it still, something about 'why can't grown men wear diapers and piss their pants, it works for babies, maybe I wanna be a baby.' to which Jimmy yelled that Brian wouldn't want his dad changing his diaper at his age, Brian simply flipped the taller man off with an un-amused, tired glare and hauled himself back into bed.

"Think we should wake Brian up?" Johnny inquired, jutting his thumb in the direction of the bunks. "Find out if he's feeling okay enough for the show." Jimmy beamed over at the bassist,

"Good call, short shit! That's a really good idea." He leaned over and tousled the shorter mans hair rather affectionately. "And ya know, its such a great idea Zack is creaming his pants in anticipation to do exactly that!" Zack rolled his eyes and shuffled to the bunks. He slowly pulled the curtain back to reveal Brian's face smushed into the pillow and the blankets wrapped around his body much like a snake ready to eat him whole. Zack chuckled softly at the idea and shook his fellow guitarists shoulder.

"Yo Haner, wake your ass up! Helloooo? Wakey wakey!" A soft grumble in response, Zack's smile grew as he lifted a hand and harshly slapped Brian's cheek. By the time Brian had emitted a short scream and sat up panting whilst clutching at his chest, Zack was almost on the floor shaking with laughter.

"Dick! It's not fucking funny!" He crossed his arms tightly across his chest and the Haner-pout returned in all its glory, "You scared me! I was having the best dream and you fucking woke me. Ya dick... Done yet? It seriously isn't that funny."

"Sorry, sorry, ha ha. Gimme a sec..." Zack clambered up and took a few steady breaths as his laughter died down before casually continuing like if nothing happened, "So... Shows in about an hour, you feeling up for it?" Brian groaned and slumped back into his mattress, a large breath escaped his lips with the intent of moving his hair from his eyes as he peered over at the chubbier man,

"Yeah, those meds have finally kicked in, besides, we can't let these kids down. I'll try doing as much of the show as i can."

"Right now, you're my top concern, man. If you can't play the show, then you can't play the show. No biggie, we'll just come back round and do another when you are up to it." Brian nodded and swung his legs over the side of his bunk, as he slid down he noticed the sore purple tint marring Zack's neck. Gingerly, he reached a hand up to brush against the marks, almost as if checking to see if it would rub off.

"Dude, what the fuck happened?" The shorter guitarist stepped out arms reach and answered simply with a sigh,

"Matt happened. Which reminds me, after a long conversation with the other two, we've figure- well, Jimmy suggested Matt just needs to get laid and-"

"Oh wow. How'd he come to that conclusion?"

"No idea, but he really fucking thought about it. Went into the logistics of the size of Matt's balls or whatever. Scary stuff, not really something I wanted to think about it either." Brian laughed heartily, Zack couldn't resist a few sincere chuckles himself,

"You gonna explain that to me?" Zack clicked his tongue and looked at the fellow six-stringed shredder in mock horror as he was searching for some clean(ish) clothes,

"Hell no! I ain't reliving that shit! Once was bad enough... Man, ask Jim, 'm sure he'd love to tell you. But anyway, we decided to go to a bar after the show and try hooking Matt up, I said I’d ask if you were feeling up for that." The green-eyed guitarist regarded the other with a raise of one perfectly arched eyebrow as Brian pulled on dark washed jeans.

"Ahhh, as much as i wanna say yes, my body screams no. Damn, I’m sure I’ll regret that choice but I’ll probably just want to sleep, that sounds pretty good right now. It's worth a shot though, trying to hook Matt up, I mean. Goddamn... help me?" Brian gestured to his half lifted t-shirt and the cleaner one in his hand, "It hurts to lift my arms up. Hell, it all hurts!" He continued to whine, Zack just rolled his eyes and moved to help his friend. As plump fingers curled around the hem of Brian's top and began lifting, weary chocolate eyes snapped to a sea of green in a harsh glare, "Slowly though, none of that mean shit you pulled at the hospital, yeah?" Zack smiled genuinely and nodded.

After Brian was dressed he begged Zack to help spike his hair and after 20 minutes of refusal the Haner pout broke him. Once both were satisfied with their appearances and Brian had taken some more meds, the four made their way to the venue with hopes of Matt already being there.

"Lets hope this improves his mood." Johnny sounded receiving agreeing murmurs from the others.