AN:
Before the chapter starts I wanna thank my beautiful reviewer Chocolatepie277!

Music tip:
Adel Tawil - Kartenhaus
youtube: watch?v=FIO-kvr8VgI

For You

Chapter 14:
With a Bang

[Still flashback]

It had been the biggest mistake of his whole life so far.

After the decision of the team to remove Seto from Team Crafted, they had tried to explain it to him via a Skype call. They had no other way of contacting him due to his own strict rules regarding his privacy. Mitch had been the first to talk, self-confident and certain that Seto would understand their reasons and the fact that nothing else had to change.

Of course he had not understood a single reason.
Mitch could still hear his trembling voice, filled with betrayal and anger, as he explained to them how much the team and their friendship really meant to him. It was the first time he really opened up to them and unconsciously Ty's words were replayed in Mitch's mind again.

"What if he decides to do it? What would you do, if he actually wants to get more involved soon and you're just telling him that he's out?!"

Before they had the chance to assure him that nothing had to change, he had logged off and not talked to them ever since. That had happened two weeks ago. In the meantime the team had left the LA house again to fly back to their own homes.
And suddenly Mitch's little residence in Canada had been too big for him alone. The constant silence had steadily raised his doubts, so that he had visited his friends up in Montreal more often. But in the end Mitch knew that he had made a mistake that was irreversible.

Mitch was in a plane on his way to Las Vegas right now, because Team Crafted was participating in a photo shooting. He had a place on the window and hung in his seat with his head resting on his left hand. For several minutes he stared at the screen of his phone and scrolled down without reading any of the tweets. The music he listened to with his headphones had a monotonous beat, which only increased his tiredness.

During the two weeks he had travelled a lot – too much in his mother's opinion.
There was the flight back to Montreal two weeks ago after their Skype call with Seto, then the one to Barbados to see his relatives, back again to Montreal but with a delay in Toronto due to the weather…
Mitch couldn't remember when he had a proper sleep the last time, because after he had arrived home this early morning he had barely managed to record some videos with Mat, Rob and Noah together for his time in Las Vegas, before the taxi took him to the airport again.

Now he was sitting in another plane, absolutely exhausted and on his way to Las Vegas to see his friends.
Nonetheless all the travelling hadn't been the most awful thing during the last two weeks.

Seto's video had been a thousand times worse.

Mitch didn't see it, because he had removed the video soon after the upload, but the damage had already been done. The fans were beside themselves with rage.
So Mitch had tried to defuse the situation by posting a short Vlog about the situation on the following morning after the upload.

Never in his whole career had he received so many hate comments as on this day.
It was wearing him down and paired with his exhaustion he began to worry people. Mostly his mother. Thankfully he wouldn't see his family until the end of the week and with a little bit of luck Mitch would actually find some sleep before he would visit them.

And then there was the rest of Team Crafted.
Mitch had not talked to them about either his statement, or the video. The first who had tried to reach him had been Adam, then Jerome, followed by several Skype calls and text messages. They had been partly surprised, partly angry about his solo action, but even more so had they been thankful for Mitch protecting the team.

The steady beat of the music he listened to drowned out the screaming child in the front row and escaping his thoughts Mitch glanced at the screen of his phone again. Adam's tweet from a few hours ago was visible and with a small and rare smile on Mitch's lips he read it again.

Adam SkyDoesMinecraf · 5h
I want to say so much... I want to say the truth so bad... But I also don't want you to be hated for not speaking truth. I'm still awestruck.

Despite everything Adam had his back.
In the last two weeks they had barely heard from each other and Mitch had feared that his decision to confront the team about Seto had seriously damaged their relationship. His tweet though, referring to Mitch's video and his sugarcoating words to keep the hate on both sides of the fans at bay, had shown him that he still meant what he had said in the LA house.

"It's just… I wanted to have your back. I love you – you know?"

It helped him to keep his thoughts at bay from time to time, but it was still hard to keep pushing on with everyone going up against him. A deep sigh escaped his lips, as he lay back in his seat, crossed his arms in front of his chest and stared aimlessly out of the window.

Finally Mitch fell asleep and didn't wake up until the plane landed in Las Vegas.

"Are you sure you don't want to sleep a bit before the shooting?"

"For the hundredth time, Jerome, I am sure. We don't have the time for that, otherwise we'll arrive too late. I'll manage, don't worry."
Without looking up at his best friend, Mitch kept on walking from the main room of their hotel suite to his own he shared with Jerome, while holding one of the suits in his hand. After he had taken a taxi from the airport to the hotel, Mitch had thrown his bag down to help prepare the various tasks they had to finish for the shooting. The suits they had to wear were sent a few hours before so they could try them on.

Jerome, Ian, Ryan, Jason and Quentin had arrived earlier at the hotel and had picked out their suits already. While Mitch was about to do the same, the others were eating quickly and then all of them would drive off to the photo shooting.

Adam and Ty would not be there.
The reason made Mitch's stomach turn over again and for once he was glad to miss the meal with the others.

Jerome still followed him and both arrived at their room, where Mitch was about to change into the suit. "You know I don't mind bugging you all day long, right? It will fit and those thirty minutes won't hurt anybody. I call Jennifer, I'm sure she'll be okay with it."
The sleep deprivation was responsible for Mitch being on edge, still he tried to hold back the anger and replied as friendly as possible, "I know, thank you. Nonetheless I don't do it. I already slept in the plane, so I'm okay for now. This evening I'll sleep as soon as we'll arrive at the hotel again. No need to force me, because I'm fucking tired and actually aware of it. Now is just not the time."

Jerome still didn't look convinced enough, so Mitch added with a weary smile,
"Believe me, those few hours won't make a scrap of difference now."

With a sigh Jerome finally gave up, nodded approvingly and left him alone in their room to change and join the others down in the hotel restaurant.
A worn out sigh escaped his lips and Mitch eyed the bed for a moment, then he tried the suit on. Of course Jerome had been right, the suit fitted him quite well, even though it was a bit too large around the waist. But even so he looked alright and with a smile on his face Mitch took a photo to send it his family.

He still had ten minutes left, before they wanted to meet at the hotel lobby to get to the Cirque du Soleil Theater together. Without wasting another glance at the bed and the promising sleep, Mitch left the room and went back into the main area to grab his phone. Still no message from either Ty or Adam.
"Dammit!"

Mitch nearly threw the phone against the wall but held himself back in the last second. His rage wouldn't help anyone, especially not Adam who was currently at the hospital because he had been feeling quite sick all day long. Ty accompanied him, so both were unavailable to be at the shooting.
Five minutes later Mitch looked at his phone for the thousandth time and then refreshed Twitter in case they forgot to notify him. Adam's tweet still hurt every single time Mitch read it, but it couldn't compete with what he had felt at the airport, when he had seen it for the first time.

Adam SkyDoesMinecraf · 3h
Heading to ER, cold sweats, constantly vomiting, and headaches. Just feel like I'm dying my god…

It was part of the reason why Mitch was so hesitant to take a nap.

The nightmares he had about Seto and all the hate he received were too much for him already – thoughts about Adam dying… He for sure would be fine without any sleep, until he knew if Adam was alright. Just a few more minutes, maybe an hour or two, then he could enjoy the photo shooting without worrying about his sick boyfriend.

The drive was uneventful and thankfully they hit not a single traffic jam on their way to the famous theater. Half of the time Mitch didn't listen to the conversation of the guys, because his mind was still with Adam. As they excited the car, Jerome was suspiciously watching him due to his silence, but before Mitch had the chance to calm his friend down again, his phone began to ring.

At a record time he took the call, stopped dead in his tracks in front of the entrance and asked, "How is he?"

"He is okay. Adam will be fine in no time, don't worry."
Never before had Mitch been so glad to hear the steady calmness in Ty's voice. Closing his eyes he released a shaky breath and ran his fingers through his hair. The tension in his clenched muscles finally disappeared a bit and Mitch allowed himself a little smile.

"We have to stay a bit longer in the hospital though, until he feels better. It was nothing serious and they gave his some medicine, but I guess he'll explain it to you later in the hotel," Ty continued and Mitch opened his eyes again. Jerome was standing by his side and waited with a worried expression, while the rest of the guys had gone inside already to give him some privacy.

"Thank you, Ty. I'll see you later then."
His voice was shaking, nonetheless his expression was genuinely happy as he ended the phone call and looked up to Jerome again. "See, I told you he'll be fine. Now stop worrying and come. We have some fancy photos to shoot for your boyfriend."

With a laugh Mitch followed Jerome inside and for a short moment he was able to actually enjoy the shooting together with his friends. Adam was safe and sound and Ty would take care of him, until Mitch had the chance to beat and then kiss him senseless for scaring him so much.
The shooting was going well and they already had some good photos, as Jennifer, their mentor and one of their signed managers, suggested to take a pause.

And then it slowly went downhill for Mitch.

As soon as he sat down on the comfortable couch, his body began to relieve from all the stress and the tension of the last hours and days. The muscles in his back relaxed and Mitch was melting into his seat, tired from all the uncomfortable plane seats. At first he was still following the conversation and contributed his share of thoughts, but with every passing minute the exhaustion was finally catching up to him.

With increasing frequency Mitch blinked and dozed off for several seconds, until the dimmed light and the warm couch were too much for him. He gave in to the exhaustion and was already asleep even before his head hit the back of the couch.

"-itch?"

"…sleeping. He must…"

"…travelling is… and with all the stuff going on right now…"

The various voices became louder with every passing second and taking a deep breath Mitch grimaced and then sleepily blinked. Abruptly the voices cut off and as he opened his eyes to look at his surrounding friends, he asked with a coarse voice, "What's going on here?"

He was half sitting, half lying on the couch and after he sat up properly, Jerome decided to answer him. His best friend was sitting beside him, while Ian was standing next to Ryan. Jason sat on the armchair to his right and threw a quick glance towards Ian.
"We're still at the photo shooting, you know? While we had the small break you fell asleep. We couldn't wake you up for a moment, it kinda scared us."

"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to. Is it already continuing?"

"Yeah, they're ready. You're okay though?"
Ian asked, while the others got up to get back to the other room.

Tired of the question Mitch stood up as well and replied, without looking back at him, "I am just tired. Let's get this done and then I can sleep in the hotel. Sounds good?"

"If you say so."
Ian's voice was way too skeptical for Mitch to like it, but at the moment he couldn't care less. Other things were occupying his mind and the exhaustion was still wearing him down. This time the short nap he unconsciously took on the couch didn't help his overtired body and he was longing for a for once peaceful and undisturbed sleep.
He just had to push his body a little bit longer and then Mitch would be able to lie down on a big hotel bed, maybe with his boyfriend at his side.

And somehow it seemed to work.
His mind was completely focused on Adam and the sleep he would get soon. The photos, the short interview with the guy who took a video for their Team Crafted channel and the rest of the shooting…
It all was just passing by and Mitch did what he had to do without thinking of anything else than Adam. Nonetheless he felt the exhaustion grow inside of him and more than once did he have to sit down for a moment, because he was a bit unsteady on his feet. Mitch was glad that Ian and Jerome didn't seem to notice, so he kept on pushing his body until the shooting was finally over.

The car ride to their hotel was surprisingly relaxing and instead of falling asleep immediately, Mitch laughed about Ryan's jokes multiple times and was able to follow the conversation without any problem. His feelings were flying high, because a short message from Ty had informed him about the fact that Adam and Ty would arrive at the hotel a little bit earlier.

"So what the heck is wrong with you? I don't get it," Jerome asked him with a laugh and shook his head, while they excited the car and went to one of the elevators to get to their suite.
"I haven't got the faintest idea to be honest. I guess I've reached the point, from which on I just don't feel the exhaustion anymore. It's crazy, I feel like I could move mountains right now."

Ian sighed and patted him on the back with a smile on his face, while they excited the elevator.
"Don't overestimate yourself, Mitch. You're literally beyond exhaustion right now, I would assume. Just go to bed and tomorrow, when you had a good night's rest, you get the biggest and best breakfast you can think of."

"It's true, this hotel restaurant has the best stuff, no kidding!"
Jason caught up with them and opened the door with one of the keys. The lights in the main room were lit, so Adam and Ty must have returned already.

"I can't wait for it, sounds awes-"
Mitch followed Jason and Jerome into the main area, but all of a sudden he broke off in the middle of his sentence.

The moment, in which he had felt invincible, was over and the exhaustion hit Mitch head-on.
Suddenly he was unsteady on his feet again, but this time it was worse than during the shooting. Taking a deep breath Mitch stopped and grabbed Jerome's arm to support himself, but the dizziness was too intense.

"Hey, are you okay?"
Someone was talking to him and it took Mitch a moment to figure out that the voice belonged to Ian, who appeared at his side.
He had pushed himself too much and not just during the shooting. How much had he slept in the last week? How many hours had he spent working and travelling to different places to satisfy everyone?
Too many and now his body had to pay the price.

"Mitch?"
Adam. Abruptly he raised his head and glanced at his confused boyfriend in the door to one of the rooms. A soft smile appeared on Mitch's lips. Then he finally gave in to the awaiting darkness at the edge of his consciousness, slowly closed his eyes and dropped to the ground.

The last things he noticed were the shocked screams of his friends, Jerome's hand on his shoulder, turning him around–
Adam's face, pale and concerned, while he dropped to his knees beside Mitch.

And then his vision turned black.