Heyyy
I hope everyone is doing alright :)
This is kind of two requests in one, from hornswaggled and Shittydaysinlife. Thank you so much for requesting, sorry for the wait. I hope you like this!
This one plays during their "Versus Tour" :) (*cries in europe*)
I'm not really sure if everything alinges with their schedule, but I tried my best ♡
-
Matt was exhausted. Completely and utterly exhausted.
Don't get him wrong, he loved being on tour. He adored doing the shows, spend time with his brothers and meet all of their incredible fans, but he had been struggeling to sleep recently, especially on the bus, due to his anxiety, the constant time changes and other things he couldn't quite pinpoint. He never got more than a few hours each night, leaving him overtired and barly functioning.
While he tried his best to be energetic on but also off stage, it was getting more and more difficult every new day, his head heavy and his mind constantly overthinking the show to come.
Of course his brothers noticed, they always did and they tried to help him but there wasn't really much they could do. Nick had asked Laura if they could stay in hotels more often, instead of sleeping on the cramped tourbus all the time. That turned out to be extremly difficult, because they often didn't even have 24 hours for getting from one venue to the other. They had no other choice but to drive through the night.
At the moment the five of them, Matt, his brothers, Madi and Laura, were in a small restaurant somewhere in Nashville, where they had another show tonight, eating breakfast. The pancakes Matt had ordered looked delicous, but he couldn't bring himself to eat more than a few bites, mind already imagining everything that could go wrong in the evening. Even though the last thing he ate was a small bowl of cereal yesterday afternoon he had no appetite whatsoever.
Someone nudged his shoulder, making Matt lift his head and look over to Nick next to him. He nodded at the pancakes on his plate. "Are they not good?" Nick asked, frowning slightly. Matt quickly shook his head. "They taste good, I'm just not hungry." He told his brother quietly.
Nick's eyes were filled with worry, like so often regarding Matt the past weeks, eyes scanning his younger brothers features. He had dark bags under his eyes, a stark contrast to his pale skin. "Do you feel sick?" Nick continued to question him. Matt instantly shook his head again. "I'm really just not hungry." He answered Nick honestly, hoping he would leave it at that. Luckily, Nick nodded, even though he didn't seem fully convinced. Matt sighed, picking up his fork again and eating a little, for Nick.
~°~°~°~
They left the restaurant around an hour later, getting back on the bus and driving to the location of tonight's show. The drive was about 45 minutes long and Nick told Matt to try and sleep some more. Matt declined, knowing he wouldn't be able to. He stayed on the couch, next to Nick, his head resting on his older brother's shoulder.
Matt half-listened to the conversation of the others, not adding anything to it. He felt his eyelids grow heavy and blinked slowly, keeping them from falling close. If he fell asleep now, it would just make it even harder to get up in half an hour.
He must've dozed off at some point anyway, getting startled by someone snapping their fingers in front of him. "Huh-?" He mumbled, trying to blink away the blurriness of his vision. Chris was standing in front of him trying to get his attention. Matt was still laying on top of Nick and quickly sat up. "We're at the venue." Nick told him gently and Matt nodded, running one hand through his hair. He somehow felt even more exhausted than earlier.
They all got ready to leave the bus, Matt put his hood up and stayed close to Nick while they left the bus. He had been like Nick's shadow since tour started, always following his brother around, seeking comfort. They passed a long line of fans who were waiting to be let inside, screaming and shouting when they reconized the triplets, making Matt want to cover his ears, shuffeling closer to Nick.
They entered the venue, being lead to the backstage area, where they could leave their stuff and stay in for some peace before the show. The small talks would start in just under an hour, after that they would take pictures, again meeting fans. Later the show would start and after the show they would do the second round of pictures.
Just the thought of the tight schedule and the amount of human interaction this evening made Matt want to curl up in a ball and disappear forever.
He didn't even got the time to chill out a little in the room, immediately being told that they had to do soundcheck now, before the small talks.
Soundcheck had never seemed so endless and boring, at least for Matt. Chris and Nick were in a good mood, as most of the time on tour. Chris had their vlog camera in his hands, filming Nick who was explaining something. Matt distanced himself a little, not really feeling like being exposed to the camera right now. He sat down on the other side of the stage, watching his brothers fondly as they messed around, laughing loudly.
~°~°~°~
They were lead into the room for the small talks fifteen minutes before the first fans would be let in, so they had time to prepared themselves. Matt immediately stumbled across the room and plopped down on one of the chairs, pulling his legs in and resting his chin on his knees. He had been a little dizzy earlier, probably from the lack of sleep and food in his system.
Right now it was just Matt and Chris, plus a few security guards, in the room and honestly Matt had no idea where Nick was. For some reason that made Matt anxious, even though he knew his brother was most likely just using the bathroom. But why didn't he tell them where he was going? Or that he would take a few minutes longer than them? Matt nervously picked at his nails as he watched the door of the room, waiting for his oler brother to walk in.
"What's up?" Chris asked, suddenly appearing in front of him. Matt jerked and lifted his eyes, immediately meeting Chris'. "Nothing." He mumbled and fumbled for his phone. He was going to text Nick. Before he had even opened messanger Chris spoke up. "Nick's picking up something to eat, don't worry. He'll be here in a bit." Matt nodded hesitantly, not really surprised anymore that Chris could read him so easily.
When Nick entered the room, Matt immediately got to his feet, ignoring the headrush, and rushed over to Nick. "Where were you?" He asked, the question sounding more like an accusation. "Chill out, I just got food." Nick told him, holding up three sandwiches and a can of pepsi. "Sorry." Matt sighed, realising how much he had overreacted.
"It's fine. Here, I got you a sandwich." He held out one of the in plastic wrapped sandwiches. "I'm good, thanks." Matt immediately rejected it, crossing his arms over his chest. Nick rolled his eyes, not moving his arm. "Eat." He said, placing the food on top Matt's arms, not leaving any room for arguing. He turned to Chris without another word and gave him his.
Matt sighed, slowly unwrapping his sandwich and taking a small bite. It didn't taste too bad, but again, Matt wasn't hungry in the slightest. His mind was racing, worrying about the few minutes he was going to spend with fans. He knew that those minutes meant so much to them, so he wanted to make it as special as possible for each one.
Matt was deep in his thoughts and almost dropped his sandwich when Nick threw an arm around him. "Don't worry Matty, it's going to go great today, I can feel it." He told him. Matt huffed at Nicks' enthusiastic words. "Oh yeah, that fixes everything." He mumbled, rolling his eyes, but still shuffeled closer to his brother and leaned against him, taking in a deep breath.
Nick changed the awkward bro-y side hug into an actual hug, wrapping his arms around him and holding him close. He knew Matt better than anyone, together with Chris, and could read him like a book, knowing that Matt needed the physical touch and support right now. Moments later Chris also joined the hug and for a few seconds they just stood like that, holding on to each other.
Then, a security guard caught their attention with an awkward cough, telling them it was time to start the small talks. Matt was feeling a little more confident now, ready to face their fans.
~°~°~°~
"I'm exhausted." Matt groaned, falling down onto the small leather couch in their backstage area. They had just finished the show, Matt had won which came as a big suprise, especially to himself, he had not expect that at all. Now, they would get 30 minutes to relax and after that they would continue with meeting fans. If Matt was honest, he would love to just leave now and not take the pictures, but the fans had paid for it and he couldn't let them down.
"I know kid, just a few more hours and then we can leave." Nick had sat down next to him and Matt was quick to sit close to him again, laying his head on his older brother's shoulder. Chris was standing in the middle of the room, eyes glued to his phone, doing god knows what.
"We're staying in a hotel tonight right?" Matt asked after a few minutes of comfortable silence. He felt Nick nod. "Yup, but we're driving to Atlanta first, which means we'll only arrive at the hotel at like 2 am." He explained, scrolling on his phone. Matt sighed, another night were he probably wasn't going to be able to sleep until 3 or 4 in the morning. "But we don't have anything at all the next day, which means you can sleep as long as you want." Nick added. Matt knew that wasn't going to change much, he was probably just gonna end up awake early again anyways.
"I just wanna sleep." He mumbled, rubbing his eyes and pulling his legs in. "Me too, buddy, but we got no choice." Chris voiced from the other end of the room where he was sitting in an armchair, also on his phone.
In addition to the fact that Matt was completely exhausted, his head was now also bothering him. It felt like someone was constantly hitting him with a hammer, pain pulsing in his forehead.
"Do we have any advil here? My head hurts." Matt grumbled, massaging his temple. "Uhh, I don't think so." Nick answered, locking his phone and looking up. "I don't have any either, sorry." Chris answered, forehead furrowed in concern.
Matt sighed, now he had to survive the next hours not only completely exhausted but also with a major headache.
~°~°~°~
He had no idea how, but somehow he made it through the endless talks with fans. Leaving the venue, he felt a little light headed, blaming it once again on the lack of sleep. His vision blurry and his legs shaky he followed his brothers and two security guards through the building, falling behind a little. Neither his brothers nor the bodyguards noticed, not even when he stopped completely.
He felt dizzy all of sudden, the world spinning around him, not being able to think straight. "Nick..?" He mumbled, grabbing for something to hold onto but reaching into the void, his hands not being able to grasp anything. "Hm?" He could hear Nick ask distant, the voice dull. Matt could see his figure a few feet away from him, looking at him worriedly and confused. Before he could answer, his legs gave out and he fell into darkness.
~
"Matt!" Nick rushed forward, trying to catch his brother, the moment he saw his legs give out. He wasn't quick enough though and Matt landed on the floor with a thud, his head hitting the wooden tiles.
Nick crashed to his knees next to his brother, a little lost for a second, before a security guard kneeled down opposite him. He started touching Matt, feeling his pulse and saying his name.
"What happened?" Chris eyes were wide, the fear written on his face, as he sat down next to Nick. "I- I don't know. He just fell." Nick's hands were trembling when he grabbed Matt's, his brother's hand was cold and sweaty.
Suddenly two paramedics rushed over, followed by their second security guard. They told them to make room but Nick didn't move an inch, he was going to stay right here, next to his brother. The other bodyguard got up though, so it seemed not to be that big of a problem.
They started checking Matt over, before telling them that he was severly dehydrated, which probably lead to him passing out. Chris also mentioned the fact that he hadn't been sleeping well recently. One of the paramedics, a young woman, agreed that this probably also played a big part in him fainting.
They hooked Matt up to an IV which Chris was told to hold upright. Nick held onto Matt's hand the whole time, not letting go once.
Matt opened his eyes around 5 minutes later, blinking slowly, eyes adjusting to the sudden light. There was a piunding behind his eyes, making him wince. He looked around disorientated for a few seconds, confused on why he was laying on the floor.
The amount of people surrounding him, startled him a little, especially when he noticed the two paramedics. One kneeling next to him and the other talking to Chris a few feet away. "Matt." He heard someone gasp next to him and turned his head. It was Nick, who was sitting next to him, their fingers intertwined.
"What- what happened?" Matt mumbled lifting his other hand to rub at his eyes. "You kind of passed out." Nick told him softly and Matt frowned and whispered a small: "I got dizzy." Matt remembered calling oout Nick's name, falling and then, nothing.
"Hello, Matthew." The paramedic spoke up for the first time and introduced herself to Matt. She told him all the stuff she had already informed his brothers about and checked his vitals once again. After giving them the all clear, that everything was looking good, they were allowed to leave.
They called Laura, who booked a hotel in Nashville where they could stay for the night. The next morning Matt was able to sleep until 3 pm, something he definitely needed. In the evening, after Matt asured them a few times that he was really alright, they loaded the bus and continued their way to Atlanta.
The rest of the tour, they all made sure to look out for their health a lot more and Laura was able to organuze a few extra nights in hotels instead of on the tourbus.
The tour ended up being incredible, even though the beginning wasn't the greatest and Matt was glad to have his brothers always by his side.
~
Okay wow, the ending was super rushed, but I really wanted to get this done. What did you think? Pls tell me in the comments!!
Sorry for any spelling or grammar mistakes, I haven't proof read it yet.
I start school again tomorrow and I really really don't want to lol
Also, my mum told me she liked the triplets today and watched a car video with me 🤭
Anyways,
have a wonderful morning/day/night and take care ♡
Matilda