Chapter Text
Coy sat in the driver’s seat, his hands on the wheel and his vision of the road getting fuzzier by the second. They were filming for next Friday's video, as usual, except Coy hadn’t slept a wink last night because of some editing that he’d been determined to finish in one go, and was now quickly regretting. He could feel his eyes drooping more and more as he desperately tried to stay awake, but the seat was just so warm and comfy…
“Coy!”
He sat up with a jolt, automatically turning the wheel to swerve away from a semi-truck they had almost crashed into before slumping back in his seat, making sure he had a death grip on the wheel and his eyes were wide open. He didn’t know who had yelled at him, but from one quick glance in the rearview mirror he could tell it was Anthony. Hanbon looked too shaken up—and a little green, which Coy hoped wouldn’t amount to anything—to have said something, and beside him Will was holding onto the door handle with genuine fear in his eyes, so that only left one option.
Despite what Coy had thought, Anthony didn’t look mad. He was leaning forward, which was probably how he managed to shout right in Coy’s ear, but he didn’t seem angry; instead, his expression read more as worried, looking straight at Coy through the rearview mirror.
“Oh my god, I’m so sorry guys, I’m so sorry, I wasn’t looking–” Coy started rambling, hoping his friends weren’t too upset with him for nearly taking all their lives. “I just didn’t get much sleep last night, and I–”
Everyone stayed quiet for a second until Anthony broke the silence.
“Alright, pull over.”
Coy wasn’t about to question him, so he did as Anthony said. When he saw a free spot by the sidewalk, he quickly parallel-parked and let out a deep exhale to come down from the adrenaline, seeing his friends do the same.
“Is everyone okay?” It was Anthony who asked this, and Coy mentally berated himself for not getting to the question first. It was him who’d fucked up, after all, he should be the one to check if everyone was alright.
Anthony received cautious nods from Will and Bon, who still looked a little spooked by the near-accident they had almost gotten into. Anthony stared at him like he was trying to shoot lasers out of his eyes, only looking away when Coy hesitantly nodded, too, seemingly getting the confirmation he needed.
“Okay, Coy’s DD privileges are officially revoked–” Anthony put up a hand before Coy could protest, “–for now. You’re tired, which you should’ve told us this morning, but there’s not much we can do about it now. It’s fine, it happens to the best of us.”
Coy shot Anthony a grateful smile, one that wasn’t returned but was clearly appreciated by the look in his eye.
“In the meantime, though, you should probably sit in the back. I’ll drive– oh, and Bon’s been feeling carsick, so her and Will should switch too.”
Following Anthony’s command, the four of them scrambled into their new seats without much complaint, Coy instantly relaxing once he was in the backseat, the pressure of controlling the whole vehicle at all times finally lifted. Will settled into the middle seat while Hanbon leaned her head against the window in the passenger’s side, her face finally losing that tinge of green she’d had before to Coy’s relief.
Anthony placed his hands on the wheel with a heavy sigh, as if grounding himself for a moment before stepping on the pedal. The ride went smoothly once they were on the main road again, although Coy noticed how they were going much slower than they were before.
During the entire ordeal, it seemed like everyone had forgotten that the camera was still rolling, and for a moment Coy appreciated that they didn’t do all of this shit live.
“This video is going to be so ass,” he muttered sulkily.
“Not if we actually do something. At this point, like, ninety percent of our clips will be in the car.” Anthony glanced at Hanbon. “How long until we get to this place, Bon?”
Suddenly, it was like she’d been revived, her energy resurging once again as she fished for her phone and opened google maps.
“Uhm, about ten minutes?”
“Great. We should probably do something for the camera, ‘cause im pretty sure all our footage so far is literally unnusable.” Anthony had a point, and they all sat thinking in silence for a second before Coy spoke up.
“What, like eating the hottest pepper in the world?!”
A mix of laughter from Bon and Will and groaning from Anthony erupted in the car, everybody jokingly complaining about the overused joke while still giggling like crazy. It was like the energy between them all had returned, the usual buzz of conversation and hyperactivity back like nothing had happened at all. Coy just sat back with a happy grin, pleased that his stupid joke had managed to lighten the mood so much.
Unfortunately, this attitude wouldn’t last long.
It took about five minutes for everything to go to shit. Hanbon, for some dumb reason, had decided to pick a restaurant in a completely different part of town, so they’d had to drive onto the highway to get to it. All seemed well at first, and Coy almost let himself relax and rest his eyes for the few minutes he had until he’d have to be energetic again for the camera. But it looked like the universe had something against him that day, because the second he closed his eyes, everything went wrong.
“How long is left?” Anthony asked Will, who’d been handed the phone earlier when Hanbon decided she wanted to rest for a bit as well. His voice was distant, sounding like it was far away in Coy’s half-asleep state.
“Only ten minutes. It says if you merge to the other lane and turn right–”
“Didn’t you say there were ten minutes left before?” Coy couldn’t really tell, but Anthony sounded annoyed, which was unusual for someone as laid-back as him. He didn’t act like it on camera, but in real life he was much more calm and collected.
“Well… i don’t know, the map still says it’s ten–”
“Will,” Anthony sounded stern now, “are we going in the right direction?”
Nothing was said for a long moment, when Coy assumed Will was double-checking the directions on Hanbon’s phone. Then, a quiet but definitive: “No.”
“Are you being serious right now?” It was like Coy could see Anthony’s anger rising by the second. “Are you actually fucking serious, Will?”
“I’m sorry, Hanbon’s app is confusing!” Will defended, and Coy could almost envision him throwing up his hands in frustration.
“No it’s not!” Somewhere from the passenger seat, it sounded like Hanbon had woken up.
“Yes, it is–”
“I don’t care if the app is confusing or not, I just want to get to the right fucking place in time so we’re not stuck driving in circles!” Anthony interrupted. “Can you put in the right directions this time, Will?”
“Well,” he said cautiously, pausing before continuing, “The thing is. I think Bon’s phone might’ve just died.”
His voice trailed off by the end, but Anthony had heard enough to understand what he was saying, and without even needing to look, Coy knew he was officially pissed.
“Look it up on your own phone then! Or mine, or Coy’s, just get us the fuck off the highway,” Anthony said, his voice that almost-yell that you do when you wanted to keep cool but were slowly getting irritated.
“Fine, fine.” Will took out his phone from his pocket, tapping away on the screen as he muttered something under his breath.
“What was that?”
“None of this would’ve happened without Coy,” Will repeated, sounding like he already regretted the words. Coy’s eyes shot open.
“Really, dude? I apologised!”
“I know, but you still nearly got us fucking killed!”
“Well you’re still alive, aren’t you–”
“Guys, shut the fuck up,” Anthony said, voice too calm for someone who looked so fed up. Coy instantly knew what was happening; he was at that stage where the anger boiled over, and there was a few minutes of quiet before shit hit the fan, like the calm before the storm. But even knowing this, for some reason Coy got the urge to provoke him.
“Don’t you have something to say? You told me it was okay, that it ‘happens to the best of us’.”
Anthony looked genuinely surprised, eyebrows raised as he glanced at Coy. “You want me to defend you right now?”
“No, but–” Honestly, he wasn’t sure what he wanted. Maybe he did want Anthony to come to his defence, to be his knight in shining armour and stand behind every word he said, or maybe he just wanted a reaction.
“Then please, shut up.”
This was not the response Coy had been looking for, and with his nerves already set on edge, it became the straw that broke the camel’s back.
“No, you know what, I won’t shut up. How about we talk about how you’re always off somewhere, while we have to work around your busy schedule every week just to get a filming day in. You don’t think that totally sucks for us? When was the last time you went out drinking with us, or did anything with us, really?”
Coy knew exactly what he was doing. He was aiming for Anthony’s ego, and from the look on his face, he’d just hit a bullseye, but he didn’t feel gratified at all. In fact, he felt like absolute shit for bringing up something Anthony himself had told him in confidence that he was worried about, and something that he very obviously didn't have any say in.
Before Anthony could say anything in response—a response Coy assumed would be more than explosive, considering his cruel words—Hanbon finally spoke up for the first time during the argument.
“Guys, please calm down,” She interrupted, looking worried as she looked between Coy and Anthony. “I know everybody feels heated right now–”
“No, fuck this. I was only sleepy because I stayed up all night editing, and what did you do, Anthony? What do you do, like, ever? Maybe if you actually helped out with the channel we wouldn’t have to do stupid shit like this!”
“Coy, you could’ve told us. One of us would’ve helped out if it was so stressful–” Coy knew Hanbon was just trying to help, to diffuse the situation, but it was like he couldn’t stop. The words were tumbling out of his mouth like an endless stream that was kept bottled up for far too long.
“Why should I? All of us work so hard every day to keep this thing afloat, and I know Anthony always says he does this and that, but we never actually get to see it. What do you do?”
“Well, for your information, last night I was looking up guitar songs I could teach you since you said you were frustrated that you couldn’t learn any, so I didn’t exactly sleep well either.”
A heavy silence settled in the car, one that felt like everyone was holding their breath in anticipation for what would be said next. Coy just blinked, every ounce of animosity leaving his body all at once.
He wanted to say he didn’t know. He wanted to apologise. He wanted to ask Anthony why he would do something like that for him, why he would stay up for some stupid songs just so Coy could practice guitar. He wanted to say so much, but he couldn’t say any of it, because the moment was interrupted by Will’s scream.
“Watch out!”
The next few seconds were a blur. If you asked Coy to retell what had happened, he probably wouldn’t have managed to. Because all there really was to the story was this; a car right in front of theirs, a sharp swerve off the road, and then cut to black. The last thing Coy heard was his own yell echoing in his ears, haunting in that way one could only sound when they thought they were about to die.
It wasn’t long until the darkness dissipated, turning into a dull ache at the back of Coy’s head as he slowly squinted open his eyes. Everything was too bright, and his vision was still fuzzy from the hit he’d been dealt to the head, but it only took a few more bleary blinks for him to become fully conscious again. He looked around, still a bit disoriented, and that’s when he realised two things:
One, that he was sitting in the driver’s seat of the car, which wasn’t where he remembered being, and two, that when he looked over to his right, he found his own pair of eyes staring right back at him.