Comforter

Backstage

It had been a long tour and we were all a little nervous for the concert that was coming up later that day.
Mike was pacing around the room while Billie was plucking at the strings of his guitar, reciting the lyrics of 'Holiday' for the thousandth time.

They always got nervous before gigs, but this one was being filmed for a DVD so this time I guess they had a reason to be nervous.
I mean, I was too, but most of the time I was hidden away behind my drums so the focus didn't have to be on me.

"Come on guys, lighten up!" I grinned, throwing a drumstick at Mike and narrowly missing his head.
He smiled thinly, picked it up and threw in gently back.
I caught it in one hand and sent it sailing back, but towards Billie this time.
It landed inches from his feet and at first he didn't react, but after a few seconds he messed up the chords and growled with frustration.
"Fuck sake, Tré! If I screw this up later there'll be hell to pay!"

"Bill, calm down, you're not gonna mess up! You've done it a hundred times, you're great."

He mumbled under his breath and carried on so I rolled my eyes at Mike. He grinned and strolled off to speak to Jason.

I sat next to Billie and stared at him. He played for as long as he possibly could and then slapped the strings, "whaaaattt" He whined.

"It sounds fine, Billie. Honestly."

"It doesn't sound right"

"Well then play it again and let me listen." I was going to argue against him, but I could tell that's not what he wanted to hear, and he obliged, taking the song from the top. It sounded perfect-as usual-and I assured him that there was nothing wrong with the sound.

"Okay." He sighed, putting the guitar down. "Thanks."

We were on less than an hour later and the crowd was breathtaking. Everyone was extatic to see us, and you could really feel it in the atmosphere.
As soon as we played the first song, all the nerves went and we were back to our usual bubbly selves...

That was until "Wake Me Up When September Ends" started...

Billie was okay at first, it was all going so well, but then I started to notice his voice cracking. I could see he was struggling to keep a straight face from my position behind him, and later Mike would tell me that he was even screwing his eyes shut near the end of the last chorus. I kept playing and hoped that he'd pull himself together before it got too noticeable...

Luckily he did and we finished the set with screams and cheers echoing behind us. But as amazing as the night had been, I was more concerned for my friend who had nearly broken down in front of millions of fans. What had happened...?