demons » joshler

6

they're playing madison square garden. it's the biggest venue of their life. thousands of people are here. they sold out the place.

josh paces, light-headed, trying to still his breathing. tyler is collapsed over the couch doing half-hearted vocal warm-ups. is he not nervous? not even a little?

of course he isn't. he's tyler. superhero tyler, who has depression but battles it so bravely, an idol for the modern age and generation.

actual quote from a magazine they were just published in. an interview that asked josh exactly one question ad promptly ignored him. but no, he's not bitter.

tyler calls out to him. wishes him good luck, his eyes sparkling in awe. this is a thrill for him.

right, josh agrees, and repeats the sentiment back to tyler. suddenly he's pulled into a hug.

look how far we've made it, tyler's saying, grinning. let's go out there and kill it.

yeah, we'll kill it alright, josh thinks.

so there he is, hiding behind his drums, pale pink hair falling into his makeup-rimmed eyes, shaking.

people are screaming as he hits out a beat, watching tyler, his breaths getting tangled in the bandanna tied across the lower half of his face.

no one notices when the drumsticks slip from his fingers and he slides from his seat, gasping for breath, the whole world going black.

he just passed out on stage. how's that gonna go down in the news?