Trigger warnings: Anxiety, mention of weight/body image. Maybe I should TW for Trashley being mentioned too.

Stood with their instruments (CC being sat behind his drum-kit), the four watch their front-man as he talks in a hushed tone to their tour manager. On his face is a fixed frown and his right hand is drumming absently at his thigh. In his left, he's holding a cup of coffee. They can't quite hear what's being said, but know it's got something to do with the phone call their manager had received earlier. No doubt a fuck up with one, God forbid more than one, of the venues. It happens on most tours - there's a lack of communication or a double booking or even a failed booking - and every time, Andy is the same. Every time, he takes the news as though he personally is responsible for the problem, that it's entirely his fault. He'll apologise profusely, insist he'll sort it out, that it'll be fine, though always seems to be the only one who never thinks anything will be fine. 

They watch him - Jake, Jinxx, Lonny and CC - nodding, listening, interrupting as he often does, all while his right hand taps against the side of his thigh and he repeatedly takes sips of the coffee. "What's going on?" Lonny asks finally. A question that's been on the tips of all their tongues. 

At the loud voice, Andy turns sharply to look at them. He seems as though he could be in pain as he shakes his head and says, "Nothing, don't worry about it." 

"Tell that to your face," Jake says, trying to lighten the mood. 

Andy is tense. That much is obvious. He puts the empty cup down on the side where the computer is. "London isn't going to plan," he then tells them shamefully. "But it's fine, we're dealing with it. I don't hear much music." 

"We were waiting for you." 

"Waiting for me to practice a guitar solo?" His voice is edging on rude. He looks at Jake and then adds, "Please, just rehearse. We don't have time to sit around gossiping all day." 

The three (Jinxx, Jake and CC) share knowing looks, and Lonny wonders if this is what they meant by him getting overly stressed about everything when a tour is around the corner. They then agree just to do what he wants before he loses his temper and yells, like he does when he's stressed. 

A few minutes pass until Andy joins them in playing through the set list again, though he stops midway through the third song to ask, "Wouldn't it make more sense to have Lost It All nearer the end?" Despite the fact they haven't even gotten to that song yet and, clearly, he's thinking of a million things a minute. 

"Not too near the end," Jinxx says. 

"No, but nearer. It's too close to the start at the moment, I don't feel like it makes much sense. I mean, it comes right after Coffin, for Christ's sake. Who puts a ballad after Coffin? No, it needs to be near to Saviour. Let's move it to just before Saviour." 

"Are you sure? Then we'd have two ballads really close together." 

"Saviour isn't a ballad, Jinxx, come on. We're moving it. Where's the paper?" He steps away form the microphone and finds the sheet of paper with the set-list written on, crossing out Lost It All and writing it in before Saviour. "Right. Sorted. From the top." Despite his orders, none of the others seem ready to begin again, and when they don't, Andy sighs, irritated. "Well, fucking say if you don't agree with it," he huffs. "You're all looking at me like I'm crazy, what's the problem?" 

"I don't think we should move Lost It All," CC tells him sheepishly, getting nods of agreement from the guitarists. 

Andy closes his eyes and shakes his head. "It doesn't work where it was before," he insists. "It's a ballad. You don't have a ballad after a song like Coffin, it's ridiculous." 

"The audience won't want two sad songs together." 

"Oh, so you know what every single person in every audience wants now, do you? How marvellous." 

"What if we just took it out?" Lonny suggests. 

The singer stares at the bassist in disbelief. "We're not taking it out," he says dryly. "We're not taking it out, Lonny. Come on, you're all being fucking stupid today. It's not Halloween for another two months, stop acting like complete fucking clowns. We're not taking it out. Get a fucking grip, man." He shakes his head. "It's going before Saviour, and if you have a problem with that, you can bring it up with my lawyer. From the top." 

Again, they share glances, this time with slight concern for Andy, for how he could possibly be so upset over a set-list that he created in the first place. With the same thoughts, they decide to bring it up later, perhaps after they've had a break and consumed something more than caffeine and nicotine. They begin playing but this time, Andy walks away. He leaves the room and after a moment, Jake decides to go after him. He leans his guitar against the back wall and follows the man out, finding him in the car park. "What's up?" He asks. 

Andy looks at him and shakes his head. He's been doing that a lot recently, Jake has noticed. 

"Look, man, we're all stressed about tour. We're only trying to help." 

Andy sighs, then nods, then sighs again. "Sorry," he says. "I didn't mean to get snappy." 

"You've got to stop putting all this pressure on yourself." 

"It's literally my job, Jake." 

"No, it's our manager's job. Your job is to sing and try not to break any fucking bones. You need to let them deal with the venues." 

"What if no one likes us anymore?" Andy asks suddenly.

Jake puts a hand on his shoulder. "We've sold thousands of tickets already, people still like us. If people didn't like us, they'd have said so. You know they would." 

"Everyone loved him, Jake. You heard them chanting for him all the time. What if they only came to shows for him?" 

"Then they can go somewhere else because we don't want his fans at our shows, do we? He's a fucking piece of shit. Is he selling out venues in England and Germany? No, he isn't. Seriously, the best thing you ever did for the band besides writing all the songs and singing them and being the best performer is kicking him out." 

"I just need this to go well." 

"I know. We all do. And it will go well, regardless of what that venue in London is doing." 

Andy nods and presses a smile, but behind the smile, he's screaming - I really need to get those abs before this tour starts. They always loved his abs.