Luke's alarm clock next to him glowed green, the harsh light glaring 2:34am, reminding him that sleep was not his friend tonight. He groaned, flipping from his back to his side in a desperate attempt to get comfortable. Hours of tossing and turning had him frustrated and the noises of other people in the hotel had long ceased, leaving Luke to dwell on how uncomfortable he felt sitting here in an unfamiliar hotel bed, alone.
As the clock turned to 2:35, he sat up, deciding to ditch his attempt at a solid 8 hours of sleep. Pulling out his phone to check for messages, he noticed an odd feeling in his gut. It wasn't quite nausea, just a weird stretching feeling across his midsection. Putting a hand to his belly, he sat up, propping his aching head against his pillow.
"So much for a decent night's rest," he grumbled to himself.
His phone had only one new message from their tour manager, reminding the band that they had an interview at 3:30 the next day with a local radio station.
Luke groaned and let his head fall back against the cream walls behind him. He knew the lack of sleep would make him grouchy and snappish the next day, unpleasant company for the radio hosts and staffers, not to mention his band mates.
Stretching his arms and legs above his head to try and work out some of the pain in his stomach, he shivered and pulled the covers up to cover his bare torso. Suddenly his stomach flipped and he sat up fully, swinging his legs to the side of his bed. Taking deep breaths, Luke felt his heart pounding in his chest and his breathing speeding up.
"Shit," he though, "not now", he threw his phone down on the bed and put his hands in his hair, trying to calm himself down. Throwing up was not an option for him, he hated the feeling and there was no time for him to spend the day in the bathroom instead of doing interviews. Luke's stomach flipped again and he groaned, and shuffled his aching body to the little bathroom attachment in the hotel room.
As he flipped the light switch on, his stomach flipped again and he groaned, propping the lid of the toilet up and kneeling down, staring at the water below.
"Ughhhhhh," Luke moved to place both hands on his stomach as it gave another flip, this time accompanied by the feeling of bile rising in his throat. He gagged, spitting up mucus and bile in the bowl. Gagging again, his dinner poured out of his mouth and splattered in a disgusting 'plop' into the toilet. Tears streamed down Luke's face and he could feel sweat on his hairline drip onto his temples. He was utterly miserable.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning light found the hotel staff busy setting up for the day. People pulling suitcases through the lobby joined the men and women in professional attire walking to their jobs around the city. It also found one Ashton Irwin pushing past the hotel doors in a desperate attempt to find some local coffee that didn't taste like the ass-coffee they usually had at their venues. A buzz from his pocket caused him to look down to see a message from Calum.
"Hey man, you on a coffee run?"
Ash tapped out a message in return and turned the corner into the small shop, inhaling the scent of fresh baked muffins and coffee.
"Yeah, you guys want something?"
A moment later his phone buzzed.
"Medium black for me, Michael wants a large black with a blueberry muffin. Thanks!"
"Does Luke want something?"
It took a few seconds for the response to come through to Ashton's phone. He had stopped to check his phone at the door of the shop but now joined the line for food and drinks.
