Rush

:::4:::

This is a bit of a long chapter, sorry😬

Dave

"So you really think Daniel will let you do this?" Gemma asks, handing me my jacket.

"I'll just make sure he knows that it's the best thing for Martin, how can he say no to that?" I tell her.

I pull my jacket on and open the door, kissing Gemma goodbye before getting in my car. This meeting is for Daniel, the band's manager, to approve of Alex's plan to help Martin. I can't see why he wouldn't agree to it, Martin hasn't written another song in over a year and this seizure just proves that his drinking is killing him.

Alex is stood outside the studio, I assume she's the first one to arrive. We go inside and wait for the others to get here.

"Are you going to tell them?" I ask.

"No, but if it gets to it, and I don't intend for it to, then I will." She says.

I know that Alex's past is a bit of a touchy subject for her but I think that in this situation it's necessary to talk about it. If there's any hope in helping martin then she's the one to do it. One by one, Andy, Alan and finally Daniel arrive and we get to talking about Martin.

"You really think that whisking Martin away to another country for god knows how long will fix everything?" Daniel sounds unsure.

We've been talking him into our plan for a while now but it doesn't seem to be doing any good. I look across at Alex, silently trying to tell her to say to Daniel why it should work. She locks eyes with me and shakes her head.

"If we take him to a little island somewhere to get sober then there won't be any distractions for him. There'll be very few fans ambushing him every day, virtually no parties for him to go to. I don't see why it wouldn't work. And Alex doesn't drink, so if she goes with him then not much can go wrong." Alan explains calmly.

"Can I say something?" Alex speaks up.

"I suppose so." Daniel nods.

"I have some friends living on an island near Spain. That means that if Martin and I do go over there, I'll be able to get a place to live and a job. With some time away from a busy city like this, he might even start writing songs again."

I hold my breath, hoping that this will be enough to convince Daniel and he'll give in. Nobody says anything for a minute. There's nothing more that we can do, only wait for a response.

"Alright." He finally says.

I let out a sigh of relief.

"But the second," Daniel slams his fist on the table, silencing us "the second that something goes wrong, he's coming right back here."

At least now we know that Martin has some chance at getting better. Alex will help him get back on the right track, I'm sure of it.

Alex

"Who's getting Martin?" Alan asks when we get out of the studio.

Somebody needs to pick him up from the hospital and I didn't bring my car so I can't do it.

"I want to see him, you guys went the first time, I should get to go." Dave says.

"I'm going to go back to his house and clean it up a bit before he gets back." I add.

We head off and the only thing I can think about is how badly Martin is going to take the news. We decided all of this without him and he isn't usually fond of change as it is.

When I open the door, the same awful smell hits me. There are still cloths with blood all over them from a few nights ago lying about. I quickly shove them in the bin and then go to the kitchen, the main reason why I came here.

I go through Martin's fridge and cupboards, grabbing every bottle of alcohol I find and putting them out on the counter. I pour all of it away down the sink, trying to do it as quickly as possible before they get back.

A few minutes after I've got rid of all the alcohol, the door is thrown open and Martin runs in.

"Listen, Mart, we've decided we have to do something about-" I start.

"Don't bother! Dave fucking told me in the car!" He yells at me, going over to the fridge. "I had a bottle of beer in here!"

He realises what I've done and he starts frantically opening his cupboards in search of something to drink. It's hard to watch him like this, he's become so dependent on something that's ruining him.

"Just sit down for a minute, please." I try not to get angry at him.

He's so stubborn and I'm surprised when he actually joins Dave on the sofa. He refuses to look up at me and instead stares down at the floor, playing with his hands.

"I don't have a problem with alcohol." He finally says.

"Martin, you had a seizure that could have killed you! I think that qualifies as having a problem!" Dave yells at him.

"It's my fucking life Dave and I don't need you or anyone else telling me how to live it!" Martin screams right back at him.

This is the final straw for Dave.

"Well the next time you have a fit and start bleeding your brains out, don't bother telling me! You don't have to be such a prick to the people who are trying to help you!"

Dave storms out and slams the front door shut. I know that this is hard for him too, Martin is his best friend. He looks over at the sofa where Dave was sat a moment ago.

"Oh come on, where are you going?" I ask Martin as he stands up.

"Packing." He sounds defeated "I was told we were going to Spain or whatever."

He turns and goes upstairs, leaving me alone. I should probably go out to Dave. I don't know what clicked inside of Martin but something is telling him that it's the right thing to do.