From Death to Destiny

Nearly two months later the next Asking Alexandria tour starts. This one a North America tour. The tension between the guys and Danny is thick, so thick you can hardly breath around them.

At one stop on the tour Danny goes out to a bar alone, fed up with the tension on their bus. He's angry that his friends wont believe that he is okay. That they wont believe he has this drinking thing under control.

He really shouldn't have but Ben, Asking's guitar player, followed Danny out. He cared far to much about Danny to let him go out on his own. He hoped that tonight would be the night that he got threw Danny's thick skull.

Ben finally approached Danny, right before he got to the door of another bar. “Danny!” he called his friend.

Danny looked over his shoulder at the sound of his name. “Go away Ben,” he grumbled, quickly turning back to the bar door.

“Danny please don't do this. Talk to me. Please?” Ben begged grabbing a hold of Danny's smelly leather jacket.

Danny let out a huff of air before he turned to face Ben. “Ben, I'm tired of you guys pestering me about all of this. There is seriously nothing wrong with me. Just go back to the bus. I'll be back in a few hours,” Danny said. His voice was very light and soft, he didn't want to argue with Ben at all. It was soothing to hear him talk in his light voice, Ben would have loved it if there wasn't that hint of a slur behind each word.

“Danny, I can see it in your eyes. I know you are not fine. You don't have to go to a looney house or talk to someone you don't know, just talk to me. Come on Danny you know me. I'd never hurt you or laugh at you, you know that. Don't you? Don't you know that?” Ben tried to reason with Danny. His voice was kind and gentle but it was also stern and desperate. He wanted Danny to know that he took this seriously and that he wouldn't just put it off as if it was nothing because he did care. He cared more then Danny would ever know.

Danny stared at Ben for a while. Ben was right and Danny knew that, he just didn't want to believe that. He didn't want to believe that anyone was there to care for him, that anyone was there that wanted to hear what was wrong with him.

He wanted to tell someone about how the monsters no longer reside under his bed but in his head.

He wanted to make the voices that he heard go away, along with all of the pain they brought.

He wanted to let Ben in, let him help him, care for him.
But he couldn't. He couldn't let his mask slip.

“I'm fine Ben,” Danny sighed. Ben tried to wrap his arms around Danny to comfort him. To help the words come out.

Danny knew that he would give in if he felt Ben's around around him. He wasn't intoxicated enough to not feel emotion. He pushed Ben away from him using a force so strong Ben nearly fell onto the floor. “I don't need a hug or anything else from you!” Danny barked at Ben.

Ben's face instantly fell into a frown. His bright eyes gathered a glossy coat over them. He put up a dam on his eyes to keep the tears from falling while he stared at Danny. He couldn't let his friend see him cry, not now, not over this. “I, I just w-wanted to help-p,” Ben choked out. The flood of tears busted down the barricade that Ben had put up and a loud sob echoed out from his mouth. Before Danny could say anything Ben was running down the sidewalk.

“Ben,” Danny sighed out staring after Ben. He hadn't meant to hurt Ben or to hurt anyone other then himself with this whole thing. Danny didn't have the guts to go after Ben though, all he could do was watch as his friend ran crying.

Ben could hardly see. His tears cast a black curtain over his eyes, while his sobs rip the inside of his chest and tear apart his lungs, claw out his throat and come out loud and echoed so anyone around could hear him.