Whispers In The Night

Dave watched as the clouds flew past him as he stared outside the aeroplane window. Everyone had been very quiet ever since Bruce, Steve, and Nicko had got into an awful spat again back at the hotel earlier this morning. Things had been on edge for a few months now, and Dave tried to stay away from it all. He hated confrontation.

When he wasn't fighting with Steve and Nicko, Bruce had hardly spoken to any of them except for Janick, his best friend. But now even Jan was not exempt from Bruce's coldness. Dave looked over the seats at them. Bruce was staring out the window, almost appearing to be sulking. Janick was wearing an uncharacteristically sombre expression as he stared down at the book he was reading.

Dave couldn't help but feel a slight bit of disappointment that Jan was not over there sitting with him. They had become best mates, and he was the only person Dave felt comfortable talking to ever since Adrian had left the band, and everyone else in the band had felt tension towards Bruce. And ever since Bruce had thrown Janick out of their hotel room at two in the morning last week, Dave had felt even angrier at him. Janick was the last person who deserved his scorn. He had a slight ache in his heart as he remembered the hurt look on Janick's face as he tried to contemplate what he had done to make Bruce want to leave the band.

Ever since Janick had told him that, Bruce's distant attitude made a lot more sense to Dave. He seemed like he was sick of all of them. But what hurt Dave even more was that Bruce was planning to go and work with Adrian once he left.

Dave wanted to go over and talk to Jan and comfort him as Bruce was giving him the cold shoulder, and let him know that it wasn't his fault, no matter what Bruce told him. He looked hyper-fixated on his book as if he were to break his attention and catch a glimpse of Bruce, he would burst into tears. Dave could tell that he needed someone to talk to. It wasn't like Bruce to just give his best friend the cold shoulder like this. Janick was the last person who deserved it.

As they flew further east into Europe, the mood in the plane grew more sombre. Dave watched as the other four members of the band looked out the windows as they silently stared out at the clouds. They sat quietly, as if anyone were to say a word, another argument may start. Janick was still holding onto his book tightly in front of him. He was trying hard not to let the tears that were threatening to fall from his eyes escape.

The plane landed in Mannheim. Dave reached above himself to grab his carry-on from the overhead bin.

As they walked through the airport, Janick kept his head down, refusing to meet anyone's gaze. Bruce had immediately walked away from him once he retrieved his luggage from the conveyor belt.

Bruce had been acting strange ever since Adrian had left, but had only got worse since the beginning of this tour. During live shows, he seemed to be deliberately singing without any passion or conviction just for the sole purpose of pissing off Steve. But at least then, he was still on friendly terms with Janick. Now he wasn't even speaking to him...

After Steve ushered them all into a taxi, the atmosphere between the five of them seemed even tenser than ever. Bruce glared out the window as the buildings rushed past them. Nicko was glaring at Bruce as if he was looking for any excuse to deck him. Dave was stuck awkwardly in the middle between Steve and Nicko until they reached the hotel.

After the taxi dropped them off in front of the hotel, the five of them filed into the lobby. Rod, their manager, had got there before they had, and was already at the front desk checking them in. He turned around, his round, jolly face lighting up when he saw them, pretending not to notice the tension between Bruce and the rest of the band. He waved his hand in a beckoning motion, and Steve walked over to him. Bruce walked over to stand next to the elevators to avoid everyone else. Nicko glared after him before announcing that he was going to find a payphone to call his wife and check up on his son. This left Dave and Janick alone together in the lobby.