Randy||bxb||Roadtrip Oneshots

In the moment

People always want something. At least in Andy's line of work.

This was Andy knew at seventeen. He didn't really have many friends at school or in his hometown, and after he moved to pursue his dreams, he knew no one. The blond found success quickly as a solo artist, and the more well-known the boy drifted further from society(at least he felt that way). He could no longer just chat people up without them freaking out, and people would no longer just chat. The boy dropped out of college, which meant that he was no longer surrounded by people his age. The always busy schedule didn't allow for normal activities much either.

He did, however, manage to meet some people in the industry. Dancers, singers, influencers who attended the same event as him, etc. All of them leaving Andy with less and less hope for humanity. All of them wanted something from him. Andy's manager had warned him to be careful, but people never showed their true colours in the beginning, and then they started asking to be tagged in Instagram photos, getting to come on tour as a background dancer.

One of the first people Andy met was Tommy. He was one of the artist's dancers for his first ever show. The dancer had helped Andy grasp the choreograph and been so sweet. They had hung out a total of five times before it went to hell, and at that point, he was one of Andy's closest(and only) friends. The choreographer mentioned that a dancer would be featured in their stage concept. Immediately Tommy was chatting about it all the time, hinting that he'd be perfect for it. Tommy gave up on hinting and said that he thought that they were good enough friends for Andy to do this one thing for him. Andy caved and told the choreographer that he thought Tommy should have the part.

After the show, Tommy had more followers, and Andy had one more contact who didn't pick up the phone.

That was the end of that very short-lived friendship.

Andy was more cautious when he met Amber. Yet, his eighteen-year-old-self concluded that she couldn't want anything as she already had a large following on Instagram. Apparently, 868k wasn't enough. Every hangout needed to be put on their stories with cute captions. At first, it was innocent as she liked to say, I just genuinely want to share myself with my followers.

"Are you embarrassed by me?" she would ask if he didn't post about their trip to the mall or that coffee shop that only sold Instagram worthy cupcakes with rainbow buttercream frosting(they kind of tasted like sand if you asked Andy) and coffee with the most exciting latte art. Amber gained two million followers during their five months as friends, all Andy got was more trust issues.

The last person Andy befriended, is known in the industry as Ace. Andy was very much on his guard at this point, even with his other friends who had proved themselves time and time again. Andy met Ace at an award show. They happened to be seated in the same area and started chatting. The blond artist was used to the script of how these things usually would go and found it almost cute at how lost the younger boy seemed.

They never really got close, and Andy was quick to cut him off when he started sensing that Ace(or Galvin which was his real name) that he wanted something more than just being friends. Which only made him feel worse as he felt as he was the bad guy.

Andy met Rye when he was twenty-three. He couldn't help but think about how he met Tommy when they did, this meant the older man was not as keen on befriending another one of his dancers. Rye was to be one of his dancers for Andy's Spectrum World Tour. They had met in the studio, where they had spent hours rehearsing and preparing everything for the shows. And really it hadn't been anything too special. Rye had come in an hour early to get some extra practice in before the group were supposed to meet. The brunet found Andy frustrated, trying to perfect one of the more challenging dance breaks.

Within that hour Andy grew more confident with the choreography(all thanks to Rye's encouragement and help).

They grew from there. Rye wasn't really into social media and didn't spend a lot of time on any platform. So instead of taking Andy to coffee shops, with coffee that was cold after all the time that had been spent on perfecting the latte art and finding the perfect angle, they visited amusement parks. Rye was always happy behind the camera when they were approached by fans and would turn a deep shade of red if anyone recognised him as a background dancer.

During the tour Rye made Andy join him for movie nights. The sort of thing Andy had missed out on a lot. Social media loved over-the-top photos, so people always wanted him to go on adventures with them. Still here Rye was, telling him that he wasn't allowed to use his phone. ("Seriously And, people don't always need to know what you're up to. Your life is out here you know.")

"You are going to put your phone down,  get your butt on the couch, watch Lord of the Rings with me, stuff your face, and you're gonna like it!"(He was not questioned.)

Rye never really got tired of the concert atmosphere and insisted that they go to into the crowd of one of their stops at a summer festival. He just stared blankly when Andy said they should move to the artist section.

"Why? Those people aren't as fun-" Rye gestured around him"- these people, who are here for the music and the experience. Those people are here for the pictures and the Instagram stories."

This single statement resonated deeper with Andy than anything had for years.

Rye didn't pick up his phone and watch the performance through his phone. He put his hands up and enjoyed the moment. Andy focused less on the sea of phones and more on the brunet and his movements. He saw the diverse crowd, some people like Rye dancing to the beat, others recording the performance, still they were better than the celebrities who recorded themselves with the music in the background.

That day Andy realised Rye was there to stay, not until he hit two million or was promoted. Just here for life, because they were people. But above all, Rye wasn't ruined by the industry yet.

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I hope you like it, even though it's open-ended and a bit weird. Thank you so much, Ari, for inspiring me today, writer's block is hitting me harder than you could imagine. I'm sorry it's a day late <3

Jo xx