She Could Make Hell Feel Just Like Home

“We got problems.” Mike announced as soon as Vic and Aria stepped onto the bus. He looked from one to another with a raised eyebrow, then continued on. “Tony’s sicker than fuck. Poor guy has been puking all night. He finally just stopped and fell asleep, but I doubt that’ll last long.” Aria pushed by and went over to where Tony was passed out on the couch, arm tossed carelessly over his head, a thin glean of sweat covering his face.
“Drink too much? Eat something wrong?” She asked Mike in a low voice to not wake up Tony. Mike shrugged and braced himself as the bus jerked into motion. Tony let out a groan and clutched at his stomach, cracking his eyes open and making eye contact with Aria.
“Move.” He croaked, lurching to his feet and stumbling to the bathroom, bumping into walls as he went. The door slammed shut and the sound of Tony wretching into the toilet filled the bus.
“Is he gonna be ok?” Vic asked. Mike shrugged again, really throwing his arms into it. Jaime came out of the bedroom then, stretching. He looked at the bathroom , where Tony could still be heard throwing up.
“Is he still sick?” Mike nodded at Jaime, who groaned. “There is no way he’s going to be able to perform tonight, we’re gonna have to cancel.”
“No we don’t.” Vic said, turning to Aria, who looked just as confused as the others. “Aria can take his place for the night. She can play, she can set-up, and she knows the songs. We just need to make sure Tony is alright with it.” Just as he finished the sentence, Tony stumbled back out, falling back onto the couch with a groan.
“Tony. Hey, Tony.” Aria said, placing a hand on his shoulder. Tony looked at her with bleary eyes.
“What?” He croaked.
“Is there any way you think you can play tonight?” She asked gently, her voice soothing. She gently rubbed his shoulder and Tony closed his eyes again.
“I don’t know. We’ll have to see.” Aria stilled her hand on his shoulder and began to pull away.
Wait, keep doing that.” He whispered. Aria went back to gently rubbing his back as Tony drifted off.
“I guess that’s our answer then.” Mike said, taking Aria’s other hand. “Welcome to the band honey.”
“Wait, wait. Tony said maybe. I can’t just. No.” Aria said, glancing from Jaime to Mike to Vic. “There’s no way your fans will be ok with this.”
“I feel like they won’t mind as long as we perform. It’ll be alright.” Jaime explained. Aria let her hand fall from Tony’s back then.
“We’ll see if he’s up to it first.” Aria said, slowly standing up. Tony stirred on the couch and Aria sat back down on the floor next to him and began rubbing his back again. “I’ll stay here until then I suppose.” Aria said.
“I’ll grab you a chair.” Vic told her, disappearing above and pulling down a small folding chair. “Its not a throne or anything, but it’ll work.” Aria gladly took it, sitting down next to Tony, soothing him to sleep.
“Aria, wake up. Come on.” Aria awoke with her head on Tony’s chest, slumping over in the chair. She looked up at Jaime, who was grinning at her.
“You want to shower and get ready? You’re coming on with us.” Aria blinked sleep out of her eyes and looked at Tony.
“What about Tony?” She asked as she slowly got up.
“Too sick. He’s been running and throwing up for most of the day. He finally fell asleep about three hours ago, and so did you.” Jaime explained.
Mike came out of the bathroom then, a towel wrapped around his waist. “Showers all yours honey.” He called.
“No offense Ar, but you look like hell.” Jaime said. Aria rubbed her eyes and simply nodded in response.
“I don’t doubt it.” She replied, heading into the bathroom, her stomach twisting at the realization she was taking Tony’s place for the night.
At the show, Aria gripped Tony’s guitar as the local band finished their last song. Vic put a hand on her shoulder and she jumped.
“Relax. You’ll be alright. I’ve heard you play, we’ve gone over what to do. You should be fine.” He assured her. Mike and Jaime were doing some odd sort of aerobics behind them, Jaime leaping around and Mike doing stretches, reaching down and touching his toes, then popping back up and leaping into the air.
The air went quiet then, and the roadies raced around, fixing the stage for them to go on. Aria’s stomach clenched again and she turned to see Vic walk back to join Jaime’s insane pre-show warm up. Aria breathed out and let out a screech as Mike came up behind her.
“Come back here and do some jumping around instead of standing here and letting the nerves get the best of you.” He turned her around, easing the guitar off of her and out of her grip. “Come on.” He said, offering her his arm. Aria consented, taking his arm and allowing him to lead her down. “Now just jump around. Do some weird stretches. Whatever floats your boat Aria, you just gotta get those nerves out.” He told her. Aria joined in, vaulting off of Jaime’s shoulders as he passed by and slamming into Vic when he leapt in front of her.
“Better?” Vic asked as they all headed back up towards the stage. Aria nodded in response, sliding Tony’s guitar on.
“Yeah, I got this.” She smiled as they headed onto the stage. The crowd screamed its approval as Vic took the microphone. Jaime and Mike tested the bass and the drums as Aria teaked the guitar strings, searching for the right sound.
“Hey guys. As you can see, we have a newcomer on the stage right now. This is Aria, and she’s going to be filling in for Tony, since he is on the bus puking his lungs out. She’s a little nervous about performing, so let’s give her a big welcome, eh?” He said. The crowd roared its approval, whistling and clapping. Vic winked at her and they launched into Bulletproof Love.