rapture ► j.n.

𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐮𝐞

tw: this chapter deals with the bus crash, so tw for that as well as grieving (in unhealthy ways) and just all the other stuff with that.

❝ 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐨𝐦, 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐳𝐞. ❞

↘︎ " shine on you crazy diamond pts. 1-5 " by pink floyd

♦︎——————— ♦︎———————♦︎

❝ 𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐚𝐫 𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐬 ❞

♦︎——————— ♦︎———————♦︎

ride one

Crying wasn't something Elias usually did silently but he stood there on the side of the road with tears rollings down his face. It was almost like his throat decided the one time his friends, his family, truly his weird-ass words of love he just couldn't bring himself to speak. Pathetic. So he just stood there, limply, staring at the blurry motions of the swarming police officers, the medics who were checking up on everyone who had been in the bus, the crane operators. 

Roughly he was dragged away from the scene and none-to-gracefully shoved into the backseat of a car. Squished into the seats next to a haggard looking Kirk who actually flinched when he saw Elias. That hurt more than he expected, at least he thought it should but right now Elias had no idea what he was feeling if he was feeling anything at all. He stared down at his hands, they were shaking . . . . guess he wasn't as calm and cool as they all thought. The gently sway and motion of the car almost made him sick, he didn't know if he could deal with this. 

And deal with it he didn't, no one did, Elias was curled on his side with the comforter pulled up to his neck. A random sandwich laid abandoned and forgotten on one corner of the bed but Elias was staring at the rug. His were bloodshot and ringed by puffy, red skin the air was thick with silence and smoke. He didn't care about the cleaning bill that'd be shoved into his hands tomorrow.

"this is bullshit . . . I can't-"

ride two

Elias stared blankly out of the car window as the scenery blurred together, he shut his eyes willing that the tears would fall. How he still had any tears left cry was beyond him, the last few weeks had been a surreal whirlwind of flights, fights, alcohol, bleary-eyes, and a ton of weed, at least on Elias' part. He knew his friends were probably elbow deep in whatever liquor the could find, they could barely bring themselves to look at him since the accident. Too much of a harsh reminder he supposed. 

But here he was, sitting in the back seat of his parent's car letting them drive him home. Driving him away from his friend who was now six feet underneath the ground. That friend was the reason he was here, that he had this job. Cliff had been his friend since high school, they'd been around each other ever since but now . . . . he was going to have to live the rest of his life without him. That hadn't been part of his plan, fuck, did he even have a plan?

"Eli, we're home"

His father's hand on his shoulder guided him out of the car and into the house where Elias broke off from his parents to go up to his room. Behind him he could hear his parents murmuring, his mom saying something about bringing some food to the Burtons. He closed his eyes and landed face first on his bed, willing himself to just sleep the rest of the day. Tomorrow he'd start fixing himself.

ride three

Elias' hands were tight on the steering wheel, he had always been a cautious driver but now he was more than just hyper aware of his speed, the weather, and the other drivers around him. But his heart was still heavy. He had his parents and other friends he could turn too, Jennie had basically fought her way back into his world to show him that he was okay and he'd be okay. But the other guys, they didn't have that . . . . and they weren't doing good. After a handful of days of getting radio silence Elias had driven himself over to visit them. Having been greeted with the strong stench of depression made his stomach churn.

They only looked at him through unfocused eyes, allowing him to pick them up and patch them up for that day. But none of them could be together for too long, Elias knew he was walking on eggshells. So he didn't linger much longer than he needed to, escaping from that suffocating house. Fleeing to his car as he drove away from his friends, hoping they'd pull through.

ride four

Pulling into a free parking spot there was a coil of tension building in his stomach, barely an hour ago he'd gotten the call that they'd found their new bassist. Elias had been in and out over the audition process, coming in to drop off equipment and set it up in the morning then take it down in the evening, not lingering anywhere to long.

Much of his time was spent in his cramped apartment just willing his own fingers to work, he'd been musician before he'd agreed to be Cliff's tech, but Lars had called him in to meet their new bassist apparently his name was Jason. So he had gotten himself to the studio having to borrow his father's rarely used car. 

But he managed to arrive only a little later than Lars had asked him to get there, easily walking into the studio. He exchanged small greetings with everyone, getting a tight hug from Ray which nearly made him cry, before he was introduced to Jason. The poor guy looked both terrified and excited, but who's to blame him? He's replacing a famous bassist in a huge metal band which is still reeling from the traumatic death of said bassist. So Elias swallowed his fear and gave him a crooked smile, giving a two finger salute in greeting.

"I'm Elias Wheeler, I'll be your bass tech. Any questions you have, I'll usually have an answer for 'ya"