For The Rats (One-Shots)

.To Ask Alexandria.

A/N: Ben's POV <3 

That summer seemed to last forever, being so far away from Danny for so long. I was torn. 

Danny's arrest had been a shock to all of us. And the timing was just so wrong. I had just bonded with Danny, after years of discomfort. Danny had been slacking off, getting lazy, getting drunk before shows. One night I just broke it to him and confronted him, because we couldn't keep going like that. Not with Danny barely even giving a shit about us. The whole band felt this way. It had been time to talk to him, and I had. That night, everything had changed between Danny and I. 

~~~ 

The overhead lights are dim as I walk to the back of the bus where Danny was sleeping. The other guys were headed out to a bar for the night, leaving me alone to my task. Confronting Danny. 

I set my beer on the counter, sighing, as I opened the door to the bunks. I heard Danny sleeping heavily, his sounds creating a gentle buzz to the silent hall. I didn't want to confront him, Danny was my best friend. Yeah, he was annoying as shit sometimes and a drunk, but weren't we all? But he had to change his behavior, it was stressing us all out, and I didn't want to loose my whole band again. 

I pull the dark curtain back, revealing Danny's soft face. Drunk bastard. 

I sigh yet again. 

"Danny," I say over top of him, not necessarily gentle. I put a hand on his shoulder and shake his arm. "Danny, wake up." 

Slowly, the man's eyes flutter open as he groans before rubbing them. 

"The fuck Ben?" he mutters. 

"I need to talk to you," I tell him, keeping my voice low. The man moans and rolls his eyes. 

"About what?" 

I tongue my lip ring, hesitating. I had hoped we could go to the front of the bus and sit down, but Danny didn't seem like he'd be wanting to move. 

I thought of all the things I wanted to do with Danny that I wouldn't be able to. Like watching the sunrise. It was so beautiful, the colors and the air. The smell, the light through the trees. I wanted to share that with my best friend. I couldn't do that, because he was always missing. Running off and disappearing, not showing up to the studio, not answering messages. Sleeping or drinking the entire tour. 

Danny slowly frowns, looking at me strangely. For a moment I thought I'd voiced something out loud, but he reaches out and touches my arm, asking, 

"What's wrong?" 

I stare at him, my heart slowing. It seemed to beat heavier, pulsing through my neck and resonating inside my head. I don't remember the last time he'd cared enough to pick up on my feelings. This just made things so much harder. 

"Danny.." 

But I can't seem to say anything else. I close my eyes, trying to remember what I was doing. I had to tell Danny what the guys and I decided. 

"Ben, what?" Danny asks, seemingly fully awake now. He lifts himself up on an elbow, trying to sit up in the small rectangular box. I step back, giving him space as he slowly stumbles out of the bunk and onto his feet. We were now eye to eye in the narrow hallway, side my side. But he was in front of me, in between myself and the exit. 

He stares at me, waiting for an explanation for my mood, and I shake my head. 

"The guys and I.." I start, my voice heavy. Danny leans in. "..decided that we can't keep tolerating your lack of effort in the band."