The Rhythm Of Our Broken Hearts

Chapter Four: Sic Transit Gloria

Chapter Four: Sic Transit Gloria

"Slam it motherfucker!" CC screamed at the top of his lungs as Andy threw a shot of tequila back before slamming the glass back onto the table.

The drummer cheered, high fiving the singer as the other guys across from them tapped out. Andy smirked at his victory, it was the third drinking game he and CC had won, keeping the Black Veil legacy alive.

People were pouring in and out of the hotel room in droves. The guys in I See Stars had invited a shit load of people from the show as well as all the roadies and bands to their rooms for an insane night. People were trashed; several had already passed out between the three hotel rooms and others were doing god knows what in the bathrooms. Andy had accidentally walked in on a threesome earlier while looking for Jake.

The amount of alcohol coursing through his veins was enough to put a regular person in a coma, but he felt more alive than he had at any point over the last two days. All the anxiety and worries from earlier in the night had vanished after the first couple of drinks, freeing him from the crippling sinking feeling in his chest. Now it was just blissful numbness, exactly how he liked it.

Matt was drunk but compared to the rest of the people in the room, he was damn near sober. The twenty-seven-year-old knew his limits, and he knew how much he could drink and still function the next day. He glanced around at all the scantily clad women in the room, several of them looked like they were probably strippers, and all of them seemed hellbent on fucking a rockstar. Matt considered shooting his shot with a petite blonde who kept giving him the 'come hither' look, she was drop-dead gorgeous with the most amazing set of fake tits he'd ever seen.

He was just about to get up and go over to her when Andy fell back on the bed next to where he was sitting. The kid was absolutely wasted. He was still in his stage clothes, his leather vest wide open, exposing his torso. Matt watched as he rolled over on his side, grabbing onto the guitarist's arm to help pull himself up into a sitting position. He had a wild look in his crystal blue eyes that said, 'I'm going to make bad decisions tonight'. If Matt was a better friend, he might have cut Andy off hours ago and brought him back to his room to sleep it off.

"Andy, dude! Come here." CC called, catching the singer's attention.

Matt looked over to where CC, Ash, and two chicks were cutting up lines of coke on the table. He knew that Andy had tried that stuff before, but he'd never actually seen him do it. Not that Matt had any room to judge, he'd done plenty in his lifetime, but he'd also seen it destroy friends of his. Andy deserved to enjoy his youth, but Matt still couldn't shake the uneasy feeling he got watching him get fucked up night after night. The kid had almost had a full-on mental breakdown because he was sober for two days, that wasn't healthy.

Before Matt could object, Andy was pulling him towards the table where the others were. Ashley rolled up a twenty-dollar bill and did three lines in quick succession. Ash was somebody that Matt couldn't stand, not just him, but guys like him. It was quite clear he wasn't in it for the music, he was in it for the partying, drugs, booze and girls and he was a bad influence. Despite Andy's disdain for the guy he still seemed concerned with impressing him, proving that he could keep up with the 'big boys'.

"All three, Six. Don't be a bitch." The bassist said, passing the rolled-up bill to the younger man.

"Aw man, if we live through tonight, holy shit!" CC exclaimed, whipping his phone out and taking a video as Andy bent over, pushing his hair to the side and doing all three lines.

The rush hit Andy almost immediately, producing a euphoric feeling that perked him back up from all the alcohol in his system. The singer wasn't as into the stuff as some of the other members of his band were, but he had to admit it was a pretty amazing feeling. He turned to Matt, laughing and falling into him, relying on the other man to help him keep upright.