Freak Show

Mikey knocked nervously on the door. He heard a slightly muffled response and took it as a cue to open the door. Brendon was sitting at a desk, his arms folded. He was facing away from Mikey, making him seem like one of those cartoon villains you'd see on TV. Mikey cleared his throat, trying to get Brendon's attention.
"You... wanted to uh, see me?" He asked, his voice sounding small and terrified even to himself. Brendon turned around and stood up. He stepped to Mikey, who realized they were roughly the same height at this point.
"I did... I heard you had called somebody, Michael." Brendon said, using Mikey's full name. Mikey involuntarily shuddered.
"Yeah... I-I called my b-b-b-brother." Mikey nervously responded.
He definitely wasn't prepared for a strong fist to his gut. Mikey felt his knees buckle as he fell onto them. He gasped for air and tried to look back up at Brendon, who was looking down on him with a death stare.
"Why?" He asked, his voice practically laced with venom as he lit a cigarette. When Mikey didn't reply, he grabbed him by his hair. He held the lit cigarette barely an inch away from Mikey's neck.
"Answer me when I talk to you, you little shit!"
"I was worried!" Mikey finally cried out, tears beginning to form. Brendon slapped him, hard. Mikey felt the soft carpet under his cheek as he noticed Brendon kneel down. The latter blew smoke into Mikey's face tauntingly.
"Did you buy a cellphone?" Brendon asked. Despite himself, Mikey shook his head. Brendon laughed manically.
"You're a terrible liar, Way." He stated before kicking Mikey's stomach. The latter cried out, hoping that someone would pop out and save him. Brendon practically read his mind and responded. "Sorry, but /no one/ is gonna save you now. Not Alicia, not Wentz, not anyone."
Mikey felt a fist collide with his face as he tried to stand. He fell back to the ground, not really wanting to get up. Brendon slowly brought his face up, lifting it with his hand.
"Now, Michael, I'm quite sure that you've learnt your lesson. Tomorrow, the entire show will be practicing and performing and I want everybody to have a clear head. So, I don't want you telling /anybody/ about our little chat. You understand?" Mikey didn't move. At this point, he felt numb all over. However, when Brendon lifted his foot over his stomach, he quickly responded.
"I understand!" Mikey leaned against a wall as he tried to stand.
"Oh, and Michael?" Brendon started. Mikey turned to face him as he opened the door. "You should watch the practice tomorrow."
Mikey stumbled out as the door slammed in his face. He held his stomach and limped back to Alicia's bunk, noticing it was already night time. He knocked twice, his entire body aching.
"Oh my god! What happened to you?" Alicia asked, a worried expression on her face.
"I- Nothing, I just tripped." He said, catching himself. Alicia gave him a questioning look before grabbing something from her closet.
"Lie down, Mikey." He did so, watching Alicia take out a first- aid kit. She lifted up his shirt and saw bruises on his stomach. "Mikey, these can't be from a 'trip'. Who did this to you?"
Mikey looked away from her as she spread ointment on his stomach, wincing. She occasionally mumbled apologies whenever he groaned in pain.
"Mikey. Who did this?" She asked again, this time sterner.
When Mikey didn't reply again, she sighed. She began to spread the ointment on the slap mark Brendon had made, attenpting to ignore Mikey's groans of pain. After checking the rest of his body for any other injuries, Mikey finally piped up.
"Um, Ali? How're we gonna sleep tonight?"
"Well, last night we slept by you taking half of the bed since you were unconscious at that point and me taking the other half, so I guess that's the plan. Sound good?" Mikey slowly but awkwardly nodded. He changed into pyjamas (a somewhat loose shirt with shorts), as did Alicia (a tank top that barely touched her knees with tights) and the two climbed into bed. Neither fell asleep immediately, rather staring outside the window in Mikey's case and staring at the ceiling in Alicia's.
"Hey, Mikey?"
"Yeah?"
"You should take off your glasses." Alicia rolled onto her side, closing her eyes.
"Oh. Thanks." Mikey removed his glasses, laughing to himself. He looked at the dark blue sky, decorated with stars splayed out against it. The moon looked almost white, but was as radient as ever. He slowly closed his eyes and let sleep overtake him.
-----
What Mikey woke up to was... unexpected, to say the least.
Alicia was still sound asleep, but for some reason clinging to the fabric of his shirt. A smile was playing on her lips as she unconsciously shifted. Mikey's eyes had barely opened when he noticed her right arm was also sprawled over his waist, as if to hold him close. Mikey rubbed his eyes before moving her arm off him, instead putting it onto the place he used to be. He checked his phone (which was charging) amd saw that all the contacts he had were gone. All forms of communication were cut off. He groaned and placed his head in his hands. Mikey checked the time; 9AM. Wonderful, he thought. He saw the other performers rush between their bunks and popped his head out of Alicia's. Patrick ran up to him.
"Hi there Mikey! How're you?" He cheerily asked.
"I'm good. Why's everybody rushing around?"
"Oh, we're going for practice after breakfast. You should probably hurry too, breakfast'll be pretty heavy and ready in like, 20? See ya later!" Patrick said, jogging away. Mikey waved goodbye sheepishly as he turned back, beginning to nudge Alicia awake.
"Ali, hey. Wake up." The latter groaned a bit and tried to cover her face with her pillow. Mikey thought for a moment before having an idea. He began to tickle Alicia who at first refused to do anything, but overtime started to howl with laughter. He tickled her sides until she swatted his arms away. She was gasping for air by the time Mikey stopped.
"Hmmm, I'm awake. Breakfast?" She asked. Mikey nodded.
"Could I, like, take a shower? I think I stink like a skunk right now."
"Bathroom's over there." Mikey looked at the door and hurriedly showered, using a decent amount of soap. He soon realized: shit, his shirt was outside. He braced himself for Alicia seeing him half-naked as he opened the door and threw the beloved Anthrax tee on. Alicia saw, watching him in a mocking fashion. Mikey sprayed some deodarant at his underarms while Alicia took a similiarly quick shower. She stepped out of the bathroom with soaking wet hair and in a simple dark blue blouse and white skirt. She threw on a pair of flats as Mikey threw on some Converse sneakers and his glasses. The two headed down to the food hall and dug into their breakfast: two grilled cheese sandwiches and a nice mug of coffee. Lindsey was waiting for them, a disgusted look on her face.
"Hey, you want my coffee? I don't want it..." She trailed off. Mikey's eyes lit up as he slowly took the mug. "I'm getting some tea."
"You like coffee, huh?" Alicia asked. Mikey nodded cheerily, gulping down his mug of coffee. It was strong and more bitter than he was used to, but he was grateful that the train even gave coffee. Brendon stepped out again, briefly locking eyes with Mikey, who avoided his gaze. The former cleared his throat.
"Practice in 10, everybody!" He declared, stealing a piece of a grilled cheese sandwich from Ryan, who scowled at him. Lindsey chuckled to herself.
"Those two totally have the hots for each other." She whispered to Mikey and Alicia. The former snickered while the latter giggled. Soon, everyone was back in their bunks and preparing for their acts.

Notes

hey hey hey! this is pretty short, but i'm kind of proud of this. thanks for reading, hope you liked it! <333