Keep Quiet // Josh Dun (completed)

chapter twenty føur :: in which tyler (almøst) fixes all

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"Who's ready for an epic battle of the bands?!" The emcee called out from the microphone on the stage. The crowd cheered and screamed as the emcee continued. "We've got some great school bands lined up for you today. Whoever you guys think is best wins and gets the chance to meet with a producer! Our first contestant is a band named founded by two brothers and their friends. Here's Pierce the Veil!" The emcee yelled as the boys came on stage. The stage was set up with a drum kit and microphones for the singers, but the members had to bring their own guitars or any other instruments.

Pierce the Veil play a song called Caraphernelia, if Nicole heard right from backstage.

Tyler and Josh had invited her to sit backstage with them. Even though her and Josh weren't at the best terms, she figured that it beat standing in a rowdy crowd.

Nicole had been completely silent the whole time. No cheering or clapping. Just staying behind the scenes like she used to do. This worried Josh.

Him and Tyler were getting ready by doing little warm ups together and giving each other pep talks. They were the fourth band to play and they were both pretty nervous. They had played in front of people, but never a crowd this big at a chance of making it big.

A few more bands went up, the most memorable being one called Paramore. Josh recognized the lead singer, Hayley Williams. He used to have a crush on her during freshmen year. He quickly got over it once he saw Ashley for the first time.

Ashley had her natural brown hair then. She barely wore makeup and didn't smoke. She wasn't a deceiving person back then. Josh never really had the guts to tell her how much he liked her, but it was evident.

After Paramore got off stage, twenty one pilots was next.

"We're gonna do great okay? Even if we don't win, we know we tried our best." Tyler gave Josh a pep talk.

Josh nodded and fumbled with his drums sticks. He listened as the emcee announced them into stage.

Tyler sat at the keyboard that sat on the front of the stage. Josh knew this wasn't going to produce the best sound, but Tyler's good piano was too big to transport. Josh could imagine him hitting the keyboard so hard that it falls over.

Tyler tried his best to be confident. He walked onto the stage with a big smile and waved a bit, even though he was terrified at the outcome of their set.

Josh, however, didn't even look at the crowd. He looked down at his feet as he sat down on his drum stool, his hands shaking around his drum sticks.

The track for forest began playing, but for some reason, Josh couldn't. He missed his cue to start and Tyler was getting worried.

//anxiety trigger warning//

Josh could feel his heart beat in the back of his head. He felt like he was on a roller coaster due to the dropping feeling in his stomach. His eyes were welling up with tears and he couldn't stop thinking about what happened during that one practice last winter.  The practice where his drum stick flew and broke.