Sometimes We All Need a Little Comfort
Part One
When Vic Fuentes woke up with a pounding headache, he knew it was going to be a bad day. He almost had a sixth sense for that kind of thing; he could always tell if someone was okay or not (there was a reason he hadn’t put his little brother down at all this week), and this power sometimes extended to himself. He proved himself right when he discovered they’d run out of painkillers, and the toaster waffles had gone mouldy.
“Is there no edible food on this bus?” He grouched, slumping onto the couch, watching Jaime rummage through the fridge.
“We have hot sauce, and we have… More hot sauce.”
“I could have told you that.” Vic snorted. “The one thing we’ll never run out of is hot sauce.” His head gave a nasty twinge, and he winced. Luckily, Jaime still had his head stuck in the fridge and didn’t see it. Vic mentally cursed when Mike left the bunk area, already talking a mile a minute about that days show and how awesome it was going to be.
“Someone’s cheered up.” Vic commented. Mike just shrugged.
“I’m hungry, we got any food?”
Jaime straightened up and closed the fridge door. “Nope. I say we go out for breakfast.”
Great. Going out meant noise, and Vic was kind of trying to avoid noise given that his head was about to explode. “I think I’ll sit this one out, stay here.”
“You sure?” Mike asked, looking concerned.
“Yeah, I could do with some more sleep. I’ll wake Tony up, and see if he wants to go.”
“No, I’ll do it.” Mike said quickly. Vic raised an eyebrow, but was in too much pain to care much about Mike’s obvious crush on Tony.
Half an hour, and several groans and bangs coming from the bunk area later, Jaime, Mike, and Tony were finally on their way to the nearest fast food place, leaving Vic alone with his blinding headache and aversion to mirrors.
He felt… Ugh, he couldn’t even describe it to himself. Wrong. And pretty sure that ‘he’ was not the right pronoun for today, but for the life of him, he couldn’t figure out which was the right pronoun. So ‘he’ it was, due to his habit of just sticking with the previous day’s pronoun if he was confused. He chewed on his lip, curling up in his bunk again, shutting the curtain and turning off the light. He sighed in relief when his headache abated slightly.
Unfortunately, the throbbing was still there, and being alone in the dark with no distractions meant that all his doubts, fears, and insecurities could come out to play.
Stupid little freak, you don’t even know your own gender. Why can’t you just choose one and stick with it instead of changing it all the damn time and making everyone else use whatever weird pronoun you’ve discovered.
Vic groaned.
They don’t even care about how you feel, so get used to being a boy to them forever.
“No…” He whispered, curling up in a ball and squeezing his eyes shut.
Oh yeah, Vic. You know what they think of you. Your brother only puts up with because you’re related by blood.
“That’s not true…” Clearly lying in his bunk wasn’t going to help anything at all, but Vic was pretty sure if he went outside his head would actually explode. Still, being alone with his demons wasn’t exactly the best idea, so maybe Vic should just suck it up, deal with the pain, and go scrounge some painkillers from one of the other bands.
“Is there no edible food on this bus?” He grouched, slumping onto the couch, watching Jaime rummage through the fridge.
“We have hot sauce, and we have… More hot sauce.”
“I could have told you that.” Vic snorted. “The one thing we’ll never run out of is hot sauce.” His head gave a nasty twinge, and he winced. Luckily, Jaime still had his head stuck in the fridge and didn’t see it. Vic mentally cursed when Mike left the bunk area, already talking a mile a minute about that days show and how awesome it was going to be.
“Someone’s cheered up.” Vic commented. Mike just shrugged.
“I’m hungry, we got any food?”
Jaime straightened up and closed the fridge door. “Nope. I say we go out for breakfast.”
Great. Going out meant noise, and Vic was kind of trying to avoid noise given that his head was about to explode. “I think I’ll sit this one out, stay here.”
“You sure?” Mike asked, looking concerned.
“Yeah, I could do with some more sleep. I’ll wake Tony up, and see if he wants to go.”
“No, I’ll do it.” Mike said quickly. Vic raised an eyebrow, but was in too much pain to care much about Mike’s obvious crush on Tony.
Half an hour, and several groans and bangs coming from the bunk area later, Jaime, Mike, and Tony were finally on their way to the nearest fast food place, leaving Vic alone with his blinding headache and aversion to mirrors.
He felt… Ugh, he couldn’t even describe it to himself. Wrong. And pretty sure that ‘he’ was not the right pronoun for today, but for the life of him, he couldn’t figure out which was the right pronoun. So ‘he’ it was, due to his habit of just sticking with the previous day’s pronoun if he was confused. He chewed on his lip, curling up in his bunk again, shutting the curtain and turning off the light. He sighed in relief when his headache abated slightly.
Unfortunately, the throbbing was still there, and being alone in the dark with no distractions meant that all his doubts, fears, and insecurities could come out to play.
Stupid little freak, you don’t even know your own gender. Why can’t you just choose one and stick with it instead of changing it all the damn time and making everyone else use whatever weird pronoun you’ve discovered.
Vic groaned.
They don’t even care about how you feel, so get used to being a boy to them forever.
“No…” He whispered, curling up in a ball and squeezing his eyes shut.
Oh yeah, Vic. You know what they think of you. Your brother only puts up with because you’re related by blood.
“That’s not true…” Clearly lying in his bunk wasn’t going to help anything at all, but Vic was pretty sure if he went outside his head would actually explode. Still, being alone with his demons wasn’t exactly the best idea, so maybe Vic should just suck it up, deal with the pain, and go scrounge some painkillers from one of the other bands.