This Is Your Demise

Danny was very upset.

Firstly, he felt horribly guilty to both Ben and Myca for sleeping with Krista, because she was sort of Ben’s girl, and because he was still in love with his ex. He had no idea why he had taken her into his bed, and the only real reason he could think of was that he was lonely. Second, the band had all agreed not to drink or do any sort of drugs or anything like that before they performed, and during the show tonight Ben was obviously under the influence of something.

Another reason he was upset, although he would admit this to nobody, was that Ben hadn’t let the kiss happen like it usually does. Danny almost always fucks with him like that and Ben’s usually totally okay with it, but tonight he turned away from him, and laughed at him. That hurt Danny’s feelings more than it should, but he tried to shrug it off.

After the show, they all headed down to the nearest pub to get drunk and that was where they were now. Danny had insisted Ben sit with them this time, to avoid another Krista-like incident.

“Danny, I—” Ben was cut off when a bartender brought over a tray of drinks, and everyone started shouting with appreciation and grabbed whatever they saw. Danny maneuvered around Sam’s thin frame until he was seated next to Ben, who had hardly drank anything yet tonight but was still acting all strange. So it has to be drugs, Danny thought as he analyzed Ben.

“What were you trying to say mate?” Danny slid an arm around his best friends shoulders and gave him a gentle squeeze, pouring the last of his drink into his mouth and reaching for another. Danny was starting to feel pretty tipsy and knew he should slow down, but the guilt from the other night was still burning inside him and he needed to drown it.

Ben let out an unintelligible mumble and slid his arms around Danny’s body, snuggling close to him and burying his face into Danny’s neck, much to his surprise.

Danny just shrugged and pulled Ben closer, thinking that maybe his come-down was happening and he wanted to feel like it was gonna be alright. Fuck, Danny wished he had had someone to curl up with when his high was over, so he let Ben do as he pleased. When Ben started to nuzzle his nose against Danny’s skin though, he started to feel a little uncomfortable, although he felt a weird tingle run through him from the contact.

“Hello, boys,” Danny looked up and saw Krista, and his heart started to pound a bit faster. It was all her fault he felt so guilty, and he suddenly wanted to rip all her hair out.

He felt Ben lift his head, not really knowing why, and stare up at Krista. She was giving Danny this little smirk, and he instantly knew what she was going to say before she even started moving her lips.

“I just came by to thank Danny for earlier today,” Krista let her eyes look around the table at all the guys, finally resting her eyes on him. “It was some of the best sex I’ve had in a long time.”

Danny struggled not to let his mouth fall open in shock as the rest if his band mates, aside from Ben, started whooping and cheering. Sam was shaking a fist in the air, Cam was wolf-whistling and James was reaching across Ben to give him a hard pat on the back.

It was after Ben’s fist connected with Danny’s cheek when everything got quiet.

Danny lifted his fingers to his cheek and winced as he touched the tender skin. Everyone’s eyes were on Ben and Danny was surprised to see that his eyes were filled with tears, and he was trembling from head to foot. He was in even more surprised when Ben started punching him so much that James and Cameron had to drag Ben out of the booth, and held him down while he struggled. It was only then Danny heard what Ben was shouting.

“You stupid fucker! I can’t believe you would do this to me you fucking cunt!” Ben stopped struggling against James and Cameron and pulled away from them, wiping at his eyes as he slammed the pub doors open and walked out, leaving the whole bar in a stunned silence for a few moments before everyone started talking again.

“Wow, I didn’t realize Ben was so into you,” James commented as he looked back at Krista, who was standing at the end of the table.

“You guys are fucking idiots, the lot of you.” Cameron rolled his eyes before following Ben out of the pub, running a little to catch up with him.

Danny was rubbing his cheek gently as he could as he watched everyone. He never knew Ben could hit that hard and there was going to be a definite bruise there in the morning.

“Should I go apologize, or what?” Danny asked, getting up slowly as he picked an ice cube out of his glass and pressed it to his face.

“For what, fucking a girl no one thought he liked? He’s the one who should apologize.” Sam slipped an arm around Danny’s shoulders and gave a little sideways hug. “Sorry about your face though. You got one hell of a shiner.”

“Ugh,” Danny groaned a little and slid his other hand through his hair.

“What was tha’ little cuddly moment between you two though?” James asked, stumbling over to them. He was obviously pretty pissed already.

‘I dunno, he was trying to tell me something but I didn’t understand him and then he put his arms around me. I just figured he was having a come-down so I let him be.” Danny slid an arm under James’ and signaled for Sam to do the same. “C’mon, let’s get you back to the bus.”

Danny was glad that Sam had stayed behind with him and James, because about half way to the bus James just passed out and he became dead weight. Danny grunted once he saw the bus ahead of them and put on an extra burst of speed, sighing in relief once they got to the bus.

Before Danny or Sam could open it, the door was pushed open and Cam stood there, raising one eyebrow as he saw them. “He can never not get totally shitfaced, can he?”

Danny just grinned a little and hoisted James up the stairs, leaving it to Cam and Sam to take him to his bunk. His first instinct was to look around for Ben, and was a little disappointed when he didn’t see him.

He went into the bathroom to take a look at his face, and grimaced at what he saw. His whole left cheek was a bright red, and on and around his cheekbone it was already turning a nasty green and purple color. Danny splashed some cold water on his face as gently as he could, and shivered at the feeling.

After Danny got out of the bathroom, he saw that everyone else was going to sleep, so he crawled into his bunk too. He curled up into the blankets and wished that Myca was there to cuddle with him. He liked the feeling it gave him when Ben was snuggling into him at the bar, and now that he was in his bed all by himself, he felt a terrible pang of loneliness and almost felt like crying.

Danny rolled over in his bed and flipped his pillow over to the cool side, and closed his eyes, hoping that he fell asleep quickly.