Work Text:
Bang!
Ryan sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose.
The euphoria from the successful tour has already evaporated. Of course, they managed to use this feeling to the fullest and have already written some songs that came out really great, but now they are completely dry. Yes, they are having a real writer's block. For the first time in their long career, he and Jack were completely out of inspiration. All the songs that they created came out ...Not right.
The sound of the shattered jar came from the closet again.
That have to be stopped before something bad happens.
The middle Metzger picked up a first-aid kit and went to the closet door. Opening the door, Ryan saw Jack sitting on the floor. Ryan quickly glanced at his brother and, thankfully, there were no injuries. He sat down next to Jack.
In the past few weeks, all three of them have been on edge. But Jack was nervous the most. The younger brother turned pale, hardly ate and worked to exhaustion. He was constantly singing something, listening to music all the time, trying to catch at least a little inspiration, always carried notebook that Ryan gave him...
But nothing helped. Nothing. At all.
It can’t be that…
“Do you think that's it? The Click is all that we got?”
Ryan winced and looked at Jack. Jack nervously tugged his T-shirt and stared blankly at the wall.
“Jack, of course not, what are you talking about? We already have a few songs, and they are pretty good ...”
“It's not enough, Ry!” Jack glanced angrily at his brother. “Can’t you see? We didn't have a single idea for weeks, that never happened to us!”
“Yes, of course, I understand, it upsets me as much as you, but if you think that I will allow myself, you or Adam to give up, you ...”
“Give up? No, that’s not what I’m talking about ...”
“So, what are you talking about?”
Jack looked away and bit his lip.
“Oh, come on,” Ryan nudged his brother in the side. “You know you can tell me. I see that you have been thinking about something for a long time and it bothers you.”
“Just ... because of all that, a thought occurred to my mind, what if we had listened to them? All those people who told us to be more serious and find another thing to do, another job ... For example, you were interested in film since you were ten, you and I even went to college, but what if you decided to do just that? And Adam could dive into human rights and sustainability. And I could be ... well, I don't know, sportsman, or graduate from college with you and work in the film industry. Would we be happier?”
“I can’t speak for you and Adam, but about myself I can say for sure - It could be nice, I really like studying film and everything connected with it, but that would not be enough for me. College for me is ... a distraction, a way to learn new things, but my creativity needs an outlet through music, so it would be a part of my life anyway.”
“Thanks, Dad,” Jack snorted.
Ryan chuckled and ran a hand through his hair.
“Yep. And to be honest, I wouldn't trade our life for anything.”
“Even ... that?” Jack waved his hand.
“Even that.”
“Why?” Jack raised an eyebrow and looked at his brother in surprise. “For me, this is the worst thing that happened to us.”
“Really? Do you remember how four morons tried to take away our money?”
“Yeah,” Jack frowned. “I've never seen Adam so angry. I thought he’s gonna break that guy's nose.”
“You know, sometimes I think about how our parents allowed us to do this. Back then I didn’t realize, but now ... Anything could happen to us. They tried to steal our instruments, money, the police almost arrested us a few times... Actually, we should have bought pepper sprays or something.”
“I talked about it with dad once. He said that they were very nervous, but if they didn’t let us do it, we could do it secretly. They let us perform in parks because they wanted to know when and where we were going and that we could call if there were any problems.”
“Well, that’s make sense,” A thought suddenly occur to Ryan. “Listen, you…were you ever really afraid to street perform with us?”
Jack looked at his brother in bewilderment.
“Of course, there were moments when I was really scared. I was eight, but I knew that not all people are good and there are those who want to harm us. But I knew that you will look after me.”
“Um ... I ... Thank you? ...”
“For what?”
“For ... What you just said.”
Jack blinked and raised his eyebrows in surprise.
“I… thought it… Well, obvious. You've always protected me ... And we went through quite a lot together. Street performing, and that show when only six people came to see us ... It was pretty bad. I’m glad that it's over. Although remembering this now is pretty funny. Well, a thousand bad days made a thousand good stories, I think.”
“A hundred.”
“What?”
“A hundred bad days made a hundred good stories.”
Jack looked at Ryan as if he grew a second head
“Say it again.”
“A hundred bad days made a hundred good stories.”
“That’s ... That’s great idea! Ryan, this is the concept for a new song!Can you sense it?”
Of course, Ryan sensed it, but for complete happiness he needed something else. Something he hadn't seen for a long time.
“Sorry, my bad.”
“You ... You said that just to ruin the moment, right?”
“Yeah.”
“I hate you.”
“No, you don’t”
Ryan laughed and rested his head on Jack's shoulder. Now, he has everything he needs. Inspiration is back, new ideas started to buzzing in his head, and his brother is smiling for the first time in weeks.
Well, maybe a hundred bad days isn't so bad, because they are followed by a hundred marvelous stories. Stories, that he can’t wait to tell the fans.