My Cat, Your Dog and Us - Natepat (Discontinued)

Awake and Alive

• 47 •

| Matt |

'Who will you trust when the world collapses at your feet?'

I awake to the sound of a clock ticking, to the sound of rain hitting off of a window and the sound of two people arguing. It's hard to distinguish their voices.. who are they? I try to sit myself up but I find myself paralysed, unable to move. At the thought, my eyes snap open. I'm greeted by the sight of a metal frame, with lines running vertically from two sides. I recognise this.. the under-frame of the tour bus beds, what am I doing here? Finding out that I can move my head, I look out from the bed to see Nate and Andy, they're shouting at one another but their words are jumbled, I can't understand them. I look back up and hold back a hiss of pain. I open my mouth to speak but nothing comes out. What's happening? I try to say to no avail.

Suddenly, a voice between the shouts becomes clear. "Guys stop it! It was nobody's fault!" Amanda's voice.

I don't know where she is but at least she's the voice of reason here. Why can I only hear her? Before I can really dwell on it, Skip hops onto the bed and perches himself on my lap. He lays down on my chest and licks at my cheek. I can't help but smile, it's almost as if he knew I needed the comfort. I find myself able to move my hand, I use my newfound power to stroke Skip's fur, resulting in me getting a purr out of him.

'Who will you trust when the one who's soul is connected to yours lets you fall?'

I blink a few times, having not noticed that I blanked out. By now, Skip's fallen asleep and the shouting has come to a cease. I move my hands and run them through my hair, not noticing how I have control over my body now. I shift, holding back a wince as I feel stiff and weak.

"What happened?" I whisper.

Skip's ear flicks and he looks at me with slight irritation, I must've woken him up. My bad. Huffing, Skip hops off my chest and stretches himself out, he yawns and hops off the bed, heading off to where I think Rylo is. I take this chance to get out of bed myself, falling to the ground when I realise just how stiff I am, it really hurts. I breathe out and force myself to stand back up, putting a hand to my head; I crane my neck to first look up at Nate's bed then at Andy's. Neither are there. I look back down and to Amanda's bed, she's there, sleeping peacefully. It's kind of calming in a sense, but I find that sense of calm diminish as I see her face; scrunched up and upset. I feel a sigh escape my lips, what did I miss?

Shaking off any stiffness I have, I walk into the other room, the one with the couches, and find both Nate and Andy asleep on two different couches. They have blankets covering them and their heads are resting on the arms of the couches. Well, I guess Amanda turned into a mother of the two, sent them here to make up and to have them stay and not return to bed due to their actions. I'm guessing. I wonder what they were even fighting about? I look over to Nate, seeing him cuddling up to his dog, Rylo, and seeing Skip curled up to said dog. I would have found it absolutely adorable if not given how confused I am. Without a second thought, I walk over to Nate and shake him awake. He mutters a small 'stooop' as I do so, strange. I didn't take him for a sleep complainer. I stifle a laugh and shake him harder, saying his name over and over again in an incredibly annoying way. Eventually he wakes up and trains his sleepy eyes on me.

"Matt..?" His voice is low and slightly strangled due to just being woken up.

"Hey Nate." I say, taking my hands away from him.

Nate rubs his eyes and sits up, he shakes his head rapidly to wake himself up. His eyes widen. "Matt!"

Before I can tell him off for shouting I see him quickly sit up, he reaches out and grabs me, dragging me down into a hug. Rylo and Skip hop off of the couch at the sudden action. Smiling softly, I hug Nate back. Andy stretches himself out as he wakes up due to Nate's shout, me and Nate ignore him though.

"Oh god, you're awake.." Nate mutters, holding me closer.