Not Falling Apart

Chapter 1

Adam's POV

"Hey. HEEYY! Adam, dude, wake up!"

Blake's voice snapped Adam out of his daydream.

Slightly pissed, Adam replied, "I am awake you shithead." Then, with less sass, "What do you want?"

"Do ya want some?" Blake looked innocent as he held out a plate of food, chewing whatever it was as he talked.

"Seriously Shelton, you needed my attention so badly just to ask if I wanted, uh, some of that?..." Adam trailed off. He stared at whatever Blake was holding, which looked like some kind of super-rich chocolaty dessert. He also noticed that Shakira and Usher were eating the same thing, clearly enjoying it. On any other day, Adam would have dug right in, but today his stomach felt a little off. The sight of the food made him queasy.

"Oh come on Adam, I know you're like, Mr. Healthy, but live a little!" Blake shoved some more in his mouth.

Adam confessed. "I'm not hungry." He put a hand over his stomach. "My stomach just feels weird."

"Is it that time of the month?" Blake looked keenly at Adam and smirked. "You've been acting all moody too."

Adam rolled his eyes. Leave it to Blake to make some stupid, immature joke. He chuckled despite himself, but didn't let Blake see it.

Being the only woman of the group, Shakira spoke up. "Oh please, if it were 'that time of the month', trust me, he would be in a lot more pain."

Not wanting to let the conversation go down that road, Adam quickly changed the subject. "While you all were busy chowing down, I was actually getting some work done. I will assure you that someone from my team will win this year," he stated with as much enthusiasm as he could muster.

That got Blake's attention. He immediately started in on his usual string of 'I've won this show three years in a row, etc, etc' when Adam had to excuse himself to go to the restroom.

He almost didn't think he would make it. In the bathroom, Adam hastily locked himself in a stall and heaved all of his breakfast into the toilet. He was breathing hard and shaky, but found the strength to get up and walk to the sink to wash his hands. He looked at himself in the mirror. He looked paler than usual, and tired. What the hell just happened? I never get sick! Was it something I ate? It was true that he hadn't been feeling quite himself that day, but he hadn't thought he had felt that bad until he found himself practically running to get to the bathroom. He just hoped that the others wouldn't notice, or make a big deal out of it. He didn't need their sympathy. He didn't want them to worry. Besides, it was probably just a slight stomach bug, or a rancid meal. Either way, he would snap out of it as quickly as it had come on.

After he re-gathered his strength, Adam walked back out to the row of chairs. The other coaches were all finished eating and were now talking to each other. Blake was the first to notice Adam.

"Hey, where'd you run off to so fast?"

Adam made an exaggerated sigh. "I told you, bathroom."

"You okay?"

"Yeah." Blake looked dubious. "Yeah, I'm fine." He didn't want to go into detail.

Blake didn't question him. Within a few minutes, their break was over, and it was back to work.