Why Don't We Sickfics

Faking Sick (Pt. 2: Karma)

Daniel flopped down on his bed, waiting for the boys to leave the house. He already had a few song ideas that he wanted to try out, but it wasn't safe to work until the boys and Jon weren't there to randomly check in on him.

He bundled himself up in the blankets, just in case, and kept a glass of water beside his bed in case he needed it. Faintly, he heard Jon trying to give the band a pep talk-- or was it a lecture-- about their marketing meetings and why they were so important.

A smidgen of guilt crept into his mind. While it felt amazing to be able to get out of the boring and seemingly pointless marketing meetings, he had to admit that he felt bad for putting more pressure on Jonah and the others.

They did the week of meetings twice a year, so it was pretty much the same every time. They weren't really planning on reinventing their image. And they already had enough songs, or scraps of songs, to make a couple albums that reflected them. So why would they try to write songs based on an unfamiliar style when they were already fully invested in their current one?

Daniel always left the meetings feeling slightly frustrated. It's like what they were, and what they were doing, wasn't good enough. Because if their style was fine, they wouldn't need a team of stylists to pick out and explain multiple looks and themes to them. And if their visual concepts were fine, they wouldn't need a team of marketing specialists to analyze everything. The truth is, the companies were there to make money off of the band's success. And while he admitted it was good to have a marketing team, they certainly didn't need as much help as they made it seem.

He quickly pulled the covers up around his neck when he heard someone coming upstairs.

Jon and the band had come to tell him their goodbyes and wish him well. He did the best acting as he could, pushing the weakness and sickness character, but not so much as to make them seem unrealistic.

"I don't want you guys to leave me." he said in a tone that was nearly a whimper. "I don't want to be alone." He shivered and pulled the blankets higher up.

Jonah nodded solemnly. "We're so sorry that we have to leave. But you know you can't go while you're this sick, and you know we can't stay. You can always call us if something happens. Please don't be scared."

Daniel nodded, the guilt almost driving tears into his eyes. He was starting to feel really bad about this decision. Yeah, it sounded like a good idea in his head, but now that they were actually standing around his bed with pitiful, apologetic expressions, he almost regretted it. "Okay." he whispered hoarsely, almost wanting to jump up and admit the truth and beg for forgiveness.

"Alright, we gotta go. Sleep it off. Get better, yeah?" Jon said as he herded the boys out the door. Daniel's mouth opened as if about to protest, but they were gone before he could admit he was just pretending.

Okay. Inhale, exhale. You made your decision. You can stick with this. This is what you wanted. Jonah's doing all this for you, so you can't give up on the plan. Everything will work out and you'll get your chance to make music.

Daniel had just gotten out of bed and was just about to turn his computer on when he heard quick footsteps coming up the stairs. Panicked, he dove into his bed and covered himself in the blankets, peeking out of the covers.

Zach slowly opened his door and tiptoed in. "I hope you're asleep so that it doesn't seem creepy that I'm coming in. I just accidentally left my phone here."

"S'okay." Daniel muttered in a tired voice.

"Okay, got it, bye!" Zach whispered, quietly closing the door before he bounded down the stairs louder than the banging on a drum. It was kind of funny how much he thought the doors in the house were soundproof.