Uproar

Chapter 51

Mike

I dried my face off with a towel and looked up at the mirror. My eyes were red and puffy. I've never cried this much in my life.

I tried swallowing down the hard lump in my throat, but my mouth was dry and sticky. I hiccupped and hung the towel back up, turning and leaving the bathroom.

I had such a bad headache. I wanted to lay down, but the soft knocking on the door pulled me away from my bed.

"Mike?" A small voice called. I sighed and opened the door for Dave. He walked in and shook his head.

"Can we at least finish the tour without drama? What happened this time," Dave sighed, crossing his arms and facing me.

I shrugged. "Just, argued with Rob a bit."

"Over Chester huh?"

I nodded. So the band knew about that at least. How was I the last to know?

"I didn't know Rob felt that way..."

"Neither did I, Mike. Look," Dave sat down on the couch, making himself comfortable. "None of us knew until, well, after maybe a year of it going on.

"None of us knew Rob liked Ches in that way. But Chester never developed the same feelings. Rob's just jealous Mike."

"I see," I mumbled. "Rob's never...has he tried to do anything to Chester?"

"What do you mean-- Oh...Oh, no Mike, never."

I nodded. "That's good."

"I talked to Rob earlier; I'm gonna say the same thing to you that I told him. Don't approach him unless he approaches you. There's always too much drama happening  in this band and it's affecting everyone Mike. If this continues, it'll show more and the press might get on our trail. We can't have that right now. Chester, he's...not mentally sound at the moment."

"I understand," I bit my nail and Dave stood up, nearing the door. As he opened the door, he stopped and opened his mouth to say something but then shook his head.

"If...if you hear 'rumors'. Don't pry. Just let one of them tell you themselves."

"Wait, Dave what--"

He closed the door and left me standing there, confused and really wanting to know what he meant.

***

The amount I have been crying was overwhelming. My head pounded and my lips were incredibly chapped. I had been thinking over everything.

Rob, he was right. How could Chester trust me after all these years I harassed him? I felt so dumb. We probably could've still been together, or at least on good terms if I didn't push him away. I wanted him in my arms again...

What was it going to take to get him to love me again?

Chester

"You sure you don't want anything?" Brad asked me again. I shook my head then paused ans nodded when my stomach growled. Brad sighed, handing the cashier his debit card and telling her to add an extra burger meal. I rubbed my hands on my arms and inched behind Joe. Rob was glaring at me.

I didn't need this foul mood, especially after Mike finally changed himself up. I thought things were going to get better. No more late nights of tripping out, no drugs, no more fights, no more pain. And I thought I'd be on good terms with everyone in the band. But by the looks of it, I felt things were going right back to the way they were, but with Rob instead.

Lost in my own thought, the guys were talking excitedly about something. Whatever it was I probably wasn't going to enjoy it as much as they were.

"Did you hear Ches? They finally told us the lineup for Summer Sanitarium!" Joe squealed.

"Oh. Who's playing?"

"Metallica, Limp Bizkit, Mudvanye  and Deftones."

"That's cool," I sighed. I really didn't care much about the line up. Or the fact that we were going to tour with Metallica. If I hadn't suddenly become so numbed to everything, I would've been squealing and jumping around.

Brad came back to the table with a tray full of our food. "I'm real excited to go to Prague," Brad gushed. 

"Is that in Italy?" Joe asked as he took his box of fries and began stuffing his face. 

"It's in the Czech Republic, idiot," Rob snapped. Everyone's smile faltered as they looked at Rob. It seemed unexpected to them, since Rob has never been so harsh like that, but I had seen it coming. Considering what happened earlier this week.

"Um, I didn't know," Joe muttered, putting his food down. Brad shot Rob a look and shook his head, handing me my food.

"Well, anyways. We need to be prepared to shoot another music video. We already have our model for the video and all they need is us to go over there."

I unwrapped my burger and bit into it. It felt good to eat, but I didn't have much of an appetite.

"Really? What's her name?"

The guys discussed the music video model and where we were filming. I couldn't pay attention.  I was focusing on the slight burning sensation I had in my chest. It wasn't the same feeling I had whenever I touched Mike or Rob, it was different. Heartburn? I wouldn't be surprised. This was the first meal I had in awhile and it happened to be fast food.

I took a sip of my drink, hoping the icy burning would go away, or at least clam down.

"So what do you think of the cathedral Ches?"

"Oh... it's--I like it. The architecture." The burning became worse as I spoke. My diaphragm ached as I breathed out.

"Hmm," Brad hummed. "You alright? You look like you're in pain?"

"Heart...burn," I wheezed.

"I have medicine for that, in my stuff," Joe offered. "I can give you a bit of that."

I nodded harshly, not wanting to speak.

"Is it from...like withdrawals?" Brad asked cautiously.

"Most likely," Rob mumbled. That earned him another glare from Brad.

"I'll be in the car," I whispered. I grabbed my food and took it with me so I could try and finish it later. My chest began to hurt and I was panicking.

I sat in the back of the rental car, clutching the bag with my food, too nauseated to even look at it. This was new. I've never had heartburn, but I don't think it was supposed to feel like this. My chest hurt, I felt nauseous, and my mouth had a terribly sour taste lingering in it.

Minutes passed and Joe opened the door opposite from me. Brad and Rob entered and sat in the front.

"Here, just chew it up and swallow," Joe handed me a pink, powdery pill. I put it into my mouth and cautiously began chewing. It took all my might to not gag from the bitter, fruity flavour. I washed down the powder with a sip of my soda and coughed.

When we arrived at the hotel, the pain had gone away a bit, but there was the lingering feeling that something wasn't right.