The Rhythm Of Our Broken Hearts

Chapter Six: Wild and Running

Chapter Six: Wild and Running

Andy suffered his way through the meet and greet, trying his best to not let on to the fans that he felt like death. None of them really seemed to notice, he'd found out pretty early on that, for the most part, people see what they want to see. It didn't take much to convince them. A little bit more concealer and foundation, a few shots of whiskey, and no one would suspect that his fever was pushing 102.

He assured Matt that he would be fine when his friend started to suggest that maybe he should skip the show, or at least shorten their set. It was just forty minutes, he'd performed through worse.

What started as chills had turned into him sweating profusely midway through the show. He was counting down the songs until he could go backstage and collapse on the nearest couch and try to ride this thing out. The stage lights were only making his fever more intense and all the screaming and squealing was making him feel lightheaded. There was only one song left in the set and he was home free, 'just hold on a little bit longer' he kept telling himself every time his vision would start to fade.

Matt stood side stage with his arms crossed, watching as Andy drug himself through the set. He was clearly not feeling well, nowhere near as active and animated as he normally was. The cocky bravado was notably missing from the show, he wasn't threatening to fight anyone or giving his long-winded speeches to the crowd. The fans ate it up, seemingly clueless to the fact that Andy was borderline killing himself to give them all a show.

John had his eyes on Andy, expecting that at any moment he might pass out. Matt chewed at his lip, nervously watching as Andy seemed to forget the opening lyrics to their last song. He seemed to sway; unsteady on his feet every time he went from one side of the stage to the other. His normally powerful voice faltered on easy notes.

Andy's head was killing him as he bid the crowd goodnight, the nauseous feeling in his stomach getting worse from behind dehydrated. He glanced over and saw Matt standing with John in the wing. The singer forced a smile, noticing the worried look on his friend's face. His legs felt heavy as he made his way off stage, finding it harder and harder to breathe.

The younger man's hand went out, trying to grab ahold of the railing before his body started to fall forward. Matt's arms shot out protectively, barely catching Andy as he passed out, his thin frame going limp in the older man's arms. Matt felt his heart racing as he threw Andy's arm over his shoulder, pulling him out of the line of sight.

"Shit- Andy, hey wakeup" he called, laying the singer down on the ground and tapping at the side of his face.

Jinxx and CC came rushing over, the drummer handing Matt a bottle of cold water. "Fuck, what happened? Did he pass out?" Jinxx asked, looking down at his unconscious bandmate.

"Yeah, he just like blacked out." Matt opened the bottle, splashing some of it over Andy's face.

Andy coughed, rolling over on his side as he finally started to come to, water dripping from his hair. His eyes glanced around at everyone staring at him. Jinxx, CC, and John were all standing around him and Matt was crouched beside him. 'Fuck' he thought, knew that was going to happen. At least he didn't pass out on stage, god knows there would be fifty different videos online the next day if he had.

"Fuck... I'm fine, I'm fine. I just overheated, there's no need to fucking stare at me." Andy waved at everyone, using Matt's hand as support to stand up.

"Shit, you scared me Six..." Matt laughed nervously, fluffing his hair as he stood next to the singer, ready to have to catch him.

"Why is everyone so worried about me? It's not like it's the first time I've gotten sick on tour." Andy didn't like all the attention, it made him feel weak and exposed.