Jake sat on the couch of his band's tour bus, warming up by playing some scales on his guitar as they drove down the highway to their next destination. It was fairly early(at least in tour standards), but his guitar wasn't plugged up, so he wasn't concerned about waking anyone up by accident.
He enjoyed getting up before everyone else, having some time to himself was rare when you lived on a bus with twelve other people for months at a time, so he cherished these moments greatly.
Jake had decided to stay on the old bus for a few days, the newer bus was great and all, but things were a little too crazy over there, and he just wanted some peace and quiet.
Peace was something none of them were experiencing during this tour. The Resurrection was a hilariously ironic name for a tour that was quite literally killing them. The only thing being brought back to life was the misery they had dealt with during 2014-15.
Jake missed being in the van.
As strange as it seemed considering they were in not one, but two beautiful buses now, he missed the early days.
It wasn't necessarily the van itself that he missed more so than how fucking simple things were back then. He missed when they all hung out and spent time together, he missed sitting outside the venue smoking cigarettes and shooting the shit.
He missed his fucking band.
Jake startled when he felt the couch dip next to him, but the familiar smell of expensive cologne, and the sound of paper rustling told him who it was, and he smiled.
"You're up early." He commented, not looking up from his guitar.
All he received in reply was a halfhearted grunt. Jake chuckled in amusement at that as Andy began writing what he could only assume was a song idea that couldn't wait until later.
Jake hummed as he started playing a random song, listening to the sound of Andy's pen scratching against the paper of his notebook. "How's your throat?" He asked.
Andy had gotten laryngitis, and they had to postpone a few shows so he could recuperate. It wasn't an ideal situation at all, but there wasn't anything they could do about it unless they wanted Andy to destroy his vocal chords and in turn the band.
Though that was going to happen to the band whether Andy lost his voice or not, it seemed.
"Better." Andy said, clearing his throat. Jake winced at how raw and weak his voice sounded.
"You sound better." Jake said because unfortunately it was true, Andy couldn't speak above a whisper a few days ago.
Andy merely shrugged at this as he scribbled in his notebook.
"Have you been doing all the shit that the doctor has said for you to do?" Jake asked.
"Yes, mother." Andy croaked out sarcastically, making the guitarist snort. Even when he was sick, he still had to be a smart ass in some capacity.
"Don't talk back to me- seriously, you shouldn't be talking period." Jake laughed. "I know not talking is hard for you, but you need to at least try so we can get back to playing shows." They've only missed a couple so it won't be hard to make up those shows end of tour.
"Don't worry, I won't fuck anything else up, I promise." The singer whispered since it was too painful for him to talk any louder than that.
Jake stopped playing his guitar, and turned to look at Andy, his face serious as he studied the younger man.
"Andy, you didn't fuck anything up. It's not your fault you got sick." He said, frowning when Andy wouldn't look up at him.
"Not according to some people." Andy mumbled, doodling on the page.
"Oh fuck Ashley, he's a fucking jackass! Don't listen to him." Jake huffed out, already knowing the culprit. He had heard more than enough from the bassist to know he had probably said shit to Andy.
Andy chuckled slightly, wincing at the pain the action caused. He waved the guitarist off, not wanting to think about any of that.
"It's fine, I'll live sadly." Andy mumbled, continuing to write.
Jake stared at him hard for a long time, waiting for the singer to meet his gaze, but Andy's stubbornness wouldn't allow him to look up as he wrote what was essentially nonsense.
Not to be outdone, Jake moved to kneel on the floor in front of Andy, and cupped his chin, gently forcing him to look him in the eye.
"You are the only thing keeping this afloat. Don't let anyone make you think otherwise." Jake said softly.
The look in Andy's eyes made him seem impossibly older. Years of stress, anxiety and torment have seemingly caught up to him. This wasn't the eyes of a twenty-seven year old rockstar on a world tour. This was a broken, exhausted man who clearly wanted to go home.
"Do you want some tea?" Jake asked. God he wanted to fix this, he wanted to make everything right, but he couldn't. He hated this.
Andy nodded weakly, watching as Jake stood and made his way to the kitchen portion of the bus, and began a cup for the singer.
This was the most time he and Jake had spent together in... well, years. It reminded him of when they used to live together and life was simple.
God he missed when life was simple.
He missed when he could drown his sorrows in a bottle and pass out. Andy wasn't going to relapse though. He has worked far too hard to get sober just to throw it away because his bassist was a nightmare and was destroying his band.
He startled when a batman mug appeared in front of him, and gently took it from the guitarist. The heat of the tea bleeding through the ceramic and warming Andy's perpetually cold hands.
"I put a shit ton of honey to help with your throat." Jake said, sitting down next to the singer.
"Thank you." Andy replied, taking a sip. The hot tea and the honey soothed his throat almost immediately.
Jake sat there for a long moment, unsure of what to do or say before he carefully wrapped an arm around Andy's shoulders, pulling him into his side.
Andy melted against the older man, letting out a sigh as he rested his head on Jake's shoulder, and continued to drink his tea.
Jake used to do this when they lived together. Whenever Andy was stressed or anxious, Jake would pull him into a side hug and the two would stay like that until Andy felt better. It was simple affection that hadn't been a thing with them for- well, years at this point.
It didn't take long for Andy to finish off the tea, his throat feeling significantly better now than it had in days.
The guitarist decided to take a risk, and run his fingers through the younger man's hair, gently scratching his scalp with short nails. Andy hummed at this, pushing his face into Jake's neck.
Jake chuckled at this, but didn't cease the movements. A few minutes went by, and based on the deep, steady breaths against his collarbone, Andy was asleep.
Andy always had a hard time sleeping on tour, so Jake would be damned if he woke him up. Andy looked so young like this. All the stress and anxiety that this tour has caused melting from his face. His expression now relaxed, his hair hanging in his face as he curled further into the guitarist.
Jake pushed the dark locks away from the singer's ivory skin and rested his head on top of Andy's. His eyes felt a bit heavy so he decided resting them for a few moments wouldn't hurt.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yanni made his way towards the bus he, the crew, and their frontman was currently staying on. This tour was a shit show to say the least and he was counting down the days for it to end. It was annoying for him, but it was killing Andy, and he couldn't watch the singer be hurt over and over every day again.
The band needed to end for everyone's sake.
Don't get Yanni wrong, he loved Black Veil Brides. This band is what started his career in the industry. He loved at least four out of the five members, and Andy especially was like a little brother to him.
It took everything in him not to take the bassist behind a venue and beat some manners into him. But alas, he unfortunately owned half of the band so Yanni couldn't get away with it.
'Well if he's dead-'
No.
Unfortunately murder wasn't an option.
Yanni unlocked the bus door and walked inside, pausing at the threshold to take in the scene before him.
Jake and Andy were wrapped up around each other fast asleep. Andy's arm around Jake's middle and his head on Jake's shoulder, Jake's nestled in Andy's hair and his arm wrapped around Andy's shoulders.
Part of Yanni wanted to startle them awake or take pictures to tease them with later, but he did neither, merely walking past the two quietly to go into the back lounge.
This was probably the most peace either musician has had the entire tour, they needed this. God knows it will only go down from here.
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Short but cute, the opposite of me😌 I'm trying to post more regularly cause I've been slacking big time. I'm hoping for at least a one-shot a week and I'm gonna finish a couple of the books I have on hold slowly but surely. I'll probably complete them and then start posting the chapters that way y'all are guaranteed a finished story😌 anyways love you lots, have a great day🖤