Roadtrip Oneshots

Rack, Lost My Voice

Rye

Typical. Of all the times for my voice to cut out...
Why did it have to be while we were on tour?
And we still had four shows left before we had two weeks off.

***

I was dreading tonight. My voice cut out completely this morning while I was having a conversation with Jack. I'd felt my voice grow weaker these last few days, and Jack had tried to help by suggesting that I didn't talk, and saved my voice for the shows.
I didn't listen, did I?
I thought I'd last the next five days... Apparently not.

I frowned when no noise came from my mouth, and Jack looked exasperated. "I did try to tell you Rye..." He trailed off with a nervous laugh. I gave him a look to say that I wasn't impressed. "Right... You're not going to try to talk until the show later, and I'm going to pass it onto the other boys." Jack took charge of the situation immediately.

I nodded glumly. I hated the silence.
This was going to be an eventful day.

I kept quiet on the journey to the venue, leaning my head against the window and pretending to be asleep. Afterall, if I couldn't talk, what was the point in even being in the conversation?

I felt a hand gently touch my shoulder, giving it a shake. I stayed still, keeping my breathing steady, pretending to be asleep.

"Yeah, he's asleep guys. Let's turn it down a bit." I heard Andy speak quietly. The hand fell from my shoulder, and straight away I missed the small amount of warmth it provided. It was pathetic really, how such a small touch could provide so much comfort.
I hadn't been this quiet for years.

I curled up on my seat, trying to get comfier as something was digging uncomfortably into my shoulder blade. I sighed softly. We still had three hours of the journey left.

I hoped I could keep this up.

***

I think it was clear to everyone that I wouldn't be singing much tonight. We agreed that I'd join in on the group vocals, and still do some solo's, but a majority of them got split between the rest of the boys. But that was only if my voice cut out again on stage. My voice had felt stronger over the last few hours, but I didn't know how long that would last.
We were all nervous.

Plan A, everything runs as normal.
Plan B, my voice cuts out, and the boys take turns singing my parts.

I suggested via text that someone should warn the Roadies beforehand, explaining that I might not be at the top of my game tonight. The boys agreed, and Jack volunteered.

The boys made me skip soundcheck, because we all wanted my voice to be as best as it could be when the show began.
I really hated this no talking thing. It made me think too much. And I felt weirdly isolated, and alone, perhaps because I couldn't express myself to anyone. It was odd.

I felt like my senses had been hightened. I could hear things clearer. I could almost hear my heartbeat. The ringing in the back of my head.
It was all foreign to me. The silence.
I wasn't sure if I liked it or not.

***

"Guys, so we have something important to tell you. Rye here has all but lost his voice, but he's going to try to give you guys a good show. Show him some love!" The crowd awwed at the first part, but screamed at Jack's introduction, and I waved to everyone, not trusting myself to speak.

"And can we get a round of applause for the fact that Rye is here with us on stage." Andy added. Another cacophonous scream. I smiled wildly.

"Now, we're going to need you to sing as loud as you can for us tonight, because we're going to need a bit of help. Are you all up for that?" Mikey yelled dramatically, making everyone scream again. I thanked everyone with hand gestures, waves and kisses, happy that I could still make the Roadies happy.

The first two songs went without fault, although I could hear that my voice was very weak, and it did crack badly on one of my high notes. I got embarrassed, my hands feeling all hot and clammy, my heart beating rapidly as the nerves dialed in.

It was the third song that my voice decided it had had enough. Halfway through my solo my voice decided to completely cut off, and Jack was the first to recover. He picked up the lyrics with a seconds hesitation as I shook my head, signalling that I couldn't sing anymore.
I turned back to the crowd, frantically flapping my arms up and down, trying to get them to sing louder. They did so, and I bowed like the idiot I am.

Throughout the rest of the show I held my microphone out to the crowd whenever it was my turn, smiling wildly that they all sang. My hands didn't feel as clammy, and my heart wasn't beating to fast. The boys helped me, and Roadies helped me. Despite my inability to sing, the show was still phenomenal. I joined in on the last song, shocked that I managed to hit the note. But then my throat began to ache... Maybe not the best idea.

I didn't really care that my voice was playing up anymore... after all, it was Roadtrip, and something is always going wrong.

-------------

Anyway, thankyou for reading as always, and I can't believe the amount of support I'm getting on this book... I honestly don't deserve it.
Thankyou all so much ❤️
Love WolfGirl. ❤️