How it Happened is Irrelevant (Mabbell)

17

(A/N: I don't know how many of you (I say this like there's more than one) know much about FIR's lineup, I know about a week ago I didn't know anyone except for Ronnie and Derek (RIP). So I guess I should just establish that Ryan is the drummer)

Craig's POV:

"Robert sprained his wrist," TJ told me. Of all of the people to hurt themselves, it had to be Robert. How are we supposed to find a drummer who knows all of our songs on such short notice? I stood up, shaking my head. 

"We have to go and see what the damage is," I sighed. He stood too, and we left without bothering to take our drinks with us. (For starters it would give up too much information on location.) "Who told you this?"

"Kevin sent the text. He says he and Max are over at an Urgent Care somewhere in the middle of the city."

"Did he say how long it's gonna be before Robert gets out?" I peaked over his shoulder to read the messages. 

"He didn't." 

When we arrived at the Urgent Care, it was nearly two hours later. Part of this was the lines of people wanting to see us. The other part of it was this really strange little girl who wanted a back story on all of our tattoos. The more we tried to tell her that we didn't have time, the more of a tantrum she threw. Her mother wasn't really paying much of any attention. Finally, TJ got frustrated, gave the little girl the finger, and pushed her in the direction of her mother. The girl cried for ten minutes. "How is he?" I asked, pushing into the room. 

"I'm great. Where the hell where you two?" Robert replied.

"You sprained your wrist and the first thing you're worried about is where we were?" I rolled my eyes. "How long will you be out for?"

"The doctor says about a week." He tried to move his wrist, which was facing in an odd direction. He had a strange brace around it. "And after that, it's physical therapy for about a month."

"So we won't have a drummer for a week?" TJ asked, running his fingers through his hair.

"Yo! What happened to your wrist?" Ronnie asked, entering the room. How many people know about this? 

"I tripped on the stairs. I'm okay though, really." He looked away. I think all of these people in here staring at his wrist in the brace like this is making him self-conscious. 

"We can't cancel the show," Max concluded. 

"We can't play without a drummer," Kevin reminded him. 

"I can do it," Ryan stated quietly. 

"Really?" I asked, looking over at him. "You want to play two full sets?"

"If it means that much to you guys, sure. I've been watching you all play for so long, I think I have the patterns down."

"He's not touching my drums," Robert concluded. "No one touches them."

"Then I'll play on mine. Really, I can do it." I was going to make a frustrated remark to Robert, but Ryan decided to play the nice guy. I wonder what that's like. 

Ronnie caught my eye, and he gestured for us to leave the room. 

"I know that look," He told me when we were outside. "Look at you, even your lips are swollen."

"We have a bigger issue than that," I pointed out. "I thought you didn't care about those aspects of my life anyways?"

"I don't. But it is interesting to help someone through this. I guess I'm enjoying it a little more than I'd expected. It really takes me back to high school." 

"So have you gotten to third base?"

"That depends on your definition of third base."

"Did you sleep with him?"

I shook my head aggressively. "I'm not doing that so soon! He'll think that I only want to hook up!"

"Fine then! Where did you take him?"

"Just coffee." I looked down and tried not to move too much. 

"Just coffee? How cliché."

"Who went out for coffee?" Max asked, exiting the building with us.  

"I bought a coffee when I was looking for TJ," I lied. Ronnie must've caught on to the fact that I wanted to keep this a secret quickly because he didn't argue with me. 

"Okay, right." He raised an eyebrow and looked me over. "At least you found him. Kevin said he couldn't get him to come back."

I let the breath that I was holding go. "Yeah. Difficult guy to track down." I thought about the person who'd been talking to TJ when I'd gotten to him. I hoped desperately that TJ didn't believe a word he'd been told. That guy was a total loser. "Do you ever get the feeling that at the end of the day, this is gonna end?"

"You mean the fact that we're rock stars?" Max looked down at his fingers. "I mean, it's a forever job to me. This industry is a business. I don't think it makes a difference if we have eight fans or a thousand."

Ronnie nodded. "Even when it does end, it's not gonna change who we are. What gave you that idea?"

"I just overheard someone talking once," I sighed. "But it's not like I believe them."

"In one ear, out the other," Max put his hand on my shoulder. "Don't let anyone get to you."