Broken - A Ryden fanfic

Chapter one- The silence speaks my name

Sit back, sit back, relax, relapse...

Brendon sat alone in the dark, empty space of the recording studio. Him and his band were up late practicing a song for the upcoming tour. Brendon had insisted that he didn't need any more practice. For god's sake, he wrote the songs almost entirely on his own. How much more practice could a guy need?

"The last time you said that, you proceeded to blank out on half the lyrics to House of Memories." Dallon has said to him. This was followed with an eye roll from the singer, and almost five hours of practice.

Brendon had finally gotten some time to just sit and think. The only light source in the studio was the light coming from the computer in front of him, and the bathroom light that was left on. Everyone else had gone home, leaving him all alone with the silence. He couldn't blame them though, it was probably about midnight. At least, he assumed it was almost midnight. He didn't particularly care to check.

He couldn't even remember much of what had happened during those five hours of practicing. He remembered singing, and yelling at Dan for almost hitting him with a drumstick. He claimed that his hand slipped, but he didn't want to hear it. But the rest of it- the small talk, the conversations, everything else? It was all just a blur to him.

Brendon found himself checking the audio recordings that they had deemed to be good. Drums, guitar, and then there was the audio recording of his own voice. It was almost funny to him that he could just switch off his own voice, or any of the music parts at any time. He switched to the recording for Impossible Year, a song which only had three recordings listed: the audio for his voice, the audio he recorded the other day- which was the piano, and the audio for the other music.

He decided to mute the audio for his own voice and hit the play button. The soft melody of the piano began to play through the speakers, filling the empty space in the studio. Brendon gave a soft sigh and leaned back in his seat. He looked up at the ceiling for a moment before closing his eyes and humming along to the tune.

He did this for a few minutes, letting himself relax as the song continued. But then he stopped when something caught his attention. He could hear running water coming from the bathroom. Brendon sat up and leaned forward to stop the music. "Hello?" He called.

The running water stopped. He waited a moment or two before he watched the silhouette of his lanky friend. Brendon relaxed slightly. "I thought you left already." He said suspiciously.

"Kenny and Dan did." Dallon answered, "Said they were gonna go before they passed out. I was in the bathroom." He then stuffed his hands in his pockets, raising a brow suspiciously at the singer. "What are /you/ still doing here?"

Brendon rolled his eyes at the bassist's remark. "I can't be at the studio after hours?" He replied, feeling in no particular mood to talk to Dallon at the moment.

He then watched Dallon move to one of the light switches on the wall. One of his hands freed itself from Dallon's pocket and turned the lights on. Brendon squinted so his eyes could adjust to the light, then returned his attention to Dallon who had now taken a seat next to him. "What's gotten into you lately?" Dallon asked, sounding genuinely concerned.

Brendon folded his arms. "What do you mean?"

"You've been acting weird lately. One day, you're acting like your usual ecstatic self, and in a week's time you're like this. Irritable." Dallon eyed his friend for a moment before speaking again. "Are you alright?"

Brendon huffed, spinning his chair so he was facing the computer. "I'm fine." He replied flatly. "Just tired, I suppose."

Silence filled the room for ten whole seconds. Brendon could feel his friend's eyes on him the entire time, which made the silence feel that much more suffocating. He could finally breathe again when he heard Dallon stand up again.

"Get some rest, please."

Brendon didn't reply. He just sat in silence as he listened to Dallon's footsteps getting quieter and quieter until they eventually became nonexistent. He could finally relax again when he heard the front doors close.

He didn't need Dallon's concern. He was fine. He just felt a little off lately, and there was nothing wrong with that. But maybe he was right, maybe he just needed some sleep..

...he was so tired.