Why Don't We Sickfics

Faint

Daniel glanced at the clock as his music mixing software started loading on his laptop.

12:49 AM. Just a little past midnight.

He sighed as he glanced over at Eben, who was sound asleep in the motel bed just a couple feet away-- partially in jealousy and partially in boredom.

It wasn't his fault that an amazing song idea had popped into his head while he was tossing and turning and trying to fall asleep.

Sleep sounded like a good idea. The band was two months deep into touring, and every single one of them was exhausted from the constant pressure of interviews and shows and performances. As soon as the lights went down, and the cameras were off, and the fans were gone, they all collapsed immediately onto the nearest piece of furniture, hoping to snag a short rest before whatever their next public appearance was.

But the brunette couldn't fall asleep. Maybe it was the stress of touring. Maybe it was the temperature in the cheap motel room, an uncomfortable stuffy heat that didn't go away even after he'd taken his shirt off and changed into shorts.

A bead of sweat formed over his upper lip, and he wiped it away with the back of his palm, turning to the computer as it started up.

Yawning, the blue-eyed boy started adding the guitar chords to the music, thoughtfully continuing with a piano melody and some synthesizing. He continued, adding the bass and the drums and the electro pop beats. It mixed together better than he had expected it to, so he continued; adding some vocal notes, experimenting with a couple different synthesizers...

Offhandedly, in the middle of a thought, he glanced at the clock.

5:13 AM.

He returned to his creation, wondering if hi-hats would complement the--

Wait. 5:13 AM?

He glanced at the dusty window, where the sun was starting to rise.

Shoot.

Today was a full day. Their call time was 5:30 AM. They were going to be driving into the city, performing a morning TV segment, heading straight to a radio station to do another morning segment, complete a couple interviews with a popular media group, go to another interview for a news station, then go to the sound check for the show, then do the Limelight meet-and-greet, then perform the show, then go on the bus for another 6 hours to get to the next city.

He loved touring, of course. He loved the interviews and the performances and meeting all the fans.

But that didn't mean it wasn't exhausting.

As soon as they were visible to the public, they had to be smiling and happy and funny and charming and everything a celebrity was supposed to be. They were role models and they had to act like it, no matter what was going on behind the scenes.

Sometimes, he just wanted to be an ordinary teenager.

Eben was already changed, doing his hair in the bathroom mirror. "Hey, D. I didn't want to stop whatever musical genius train you were on. We gotta be down in fifteen minutes, so you might want to get ready."

Daniel sighed, checking his appearance in his phone camera.

He looked horrible.

And management had texted him.

"Seavey, Daniel: We noticed you haven't posted anything on your Instagram in over 2 days. This is a direct violation of Section 2.32 on your touring contract. You must post immediately, or we will deduct from your tour paycheck."