It was another normal day on the McBusted tour. The six men were messing around in their dressing room, attempting to work off any nerves for the concert due to start in an hour.
Dougie sat alone in the corner, holding his bass and singing softly, blond hair concealing his eyes. Matt and Harry were doing some ridiculous workout, completing push ups whilst holding weights on their heads. Told you it was stupid.
Tom, James and Danny were doing a 'vocal warm-up'-otherwise known as singing 'Air Guitar' in as many different keys possible.
There was a rather peaceful and calm atmosphere filling the room, but not everyone felt it. Two of the members- Dougie and Harry, who just so happened to be in a relationship- were currently ignoring each other.
They'd argued over something small- Dougie had kissed Matt on stage, causing Harry to become ridiculously jealous. He'd shouted at the young blond, expecting an apology. What he didn't expect was for the bassist to return his yells with bitter remarks of how Harry was 'too protective of him'. Suffice to say, it all went downhill from there.
"Why did you kiss Matt?" Dougie turned around, slightly surprised to see his band mate, and boyfriend, leaning against the wall, watching him with narrowed eyes.
The blond picked up his bass from the floor, pretending not to have heard the rather sudden and direct question. "Oh, hello, Harry. Nice to see you too." He placed his bass on the dressing room table- for that was where he was, in the dressing room. They'd just had a show, and had been getting on the tour bus, when the young blond had remembered to collect his bass. Harry must've followed him here.
Harry crossed his arms, never taking his penetrating gaze from the bassists face. "Why did you kiss Matt." He repeated, but this time, it wasn't a question. It was a statement- a command which the younger man would have to answer.
Dougie raised an eyebrow, a little bit shocked at the aggressive tone in his boyfriend's voice. "Wha-why does it matter so much?" He asked, looking down to avoid the fierce look radiating from the drummer's face.
Harry sighed, trying hard to conceal the hurt look in his sapphire eyes, replacing the feeling with a cold, vicious glare. "Why does it matter? It matters, Dougie, because you're supposed to be my boyfriend. And as I recall, when you're in a relationship, you don't go around snogging other people!"
Dougie opened his mouth slightly, as if to reply with some sarcastic comment, but proceeded to shut it again, knowing full well what would happen if he let this get out of hand. Instead, he closed his eyes for a second, before opening them again, and looking at the brunet with a calm, understanding expression. "It was just a friendly kiss, okay? We do it every night- for the fans, Harry. It means nothing."
Harry shook his head, anger filling his usually gentle face. "No. I've seen the way you two act around each other. I've seen the way you look at him on the stage. Just because I'm the drummer at the back, it doesn't mean I'm fucking blind! It's obvious you want him. Not me." He quickly turned away, tears filling his azure eyes.
Dougie, meanwhile, was looking at his lover with offence, with sadness. "Harry. Hey, look at me." The drummer looked up, blue eyes meeting blue. They held the eye contact for a few moments, before the brunet looked away, cheeks turning slightly pink. Dougie decided to continue his pleading. He knew he shouldn't. He knew that Harry had no right to be angry at him for something as small, something as stupid, as this. But he couldn't help it. He couldn't handle seeing someone else upset.
"You kiss the others all the time. I've seen you kiss Tom. I've seen you kiss Danny. But do I get mad? No, Haz, I don't. Because I trust you. Why can't you trust me?" The blond asked, biting his lip. He had to keep calm, but it was hard. Harry shouldn't be yelling at him like this, but he couldn't shout back. If he did, they would both lose it.
Harry removed his gaze from the floor, instead taking a step towards his boyfriend. "Maybe I would trust you, if you weren't flirting with Matt all the time. If you ever, even for a second, cared to think about how I might feel when I see you two laughing with each other, hugging each other, then maybe I would trust you. But you never do. And I'm sick of it, Dougie!" He finished in a loud tone, startling the bassist. Dougie sighed in frustration, fighting the will to scream, to punch something very hard.
The blond also took a step towards the drummer, so they were standing merely centimetres from each other. Dougie took hold of one of the brunet's hands, then the other. Harry let a tear drop down his face, before meeting the blonds' passionate, gentle gaze. "I love you. Not Matt. Not Ellie. You. I always have done, and I always will. You know that. You know you know that." The bassist finished, willing himself not to lose control.
Harry furrowed his eyebrows, before taking a few steps back, clenching his fists. "Well, it doesn't fucking seem like it. Yeah, you say you love me. How the hell am I supposed to believe that?"
That was it. Dougie kicked a nearby chair, swearing in frustration. He turned back to Harry, brushing his hair out his face.
"You're surrounded by jealously, Harry! You can't even think straight, because you're so bloody jealous. Have you even taken a look at yourself? Have you heard yourself? Because, believe me, you're definitely not acting normally."
"I'm just feeling what anyone would feel if their 'boyfriend' was off flirting with other guys. You would feel jealous, I know you would!"
"No, you're just overprotective. You never let me go out to clubs, to-"
"Yeah, because you remember what happened the last time we let you do what you want? You got depressed! You went to rehab, for goodness sake! You can't even live your own life without messing it up!"
Harry immediately stopped, realising what he'd just said. Dougie, meanwhile, was staring at the floor with hatred in his eyes. "Get out." He said, pointing to the door with a tattooed arm.
The brunet hurriedly took a few steps towards the blond, trying to make things right. "Dougie, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"
The bassist pushed the drummer away, finally raising his eyes to give the brunet a look of loathing and disgust. "You heard me. Get the fuck out of here."
Harry wiped his eyes, desperate to stop the tears spilling out of them. He gave his boyfriend- was he still his boyfriend? He didn't know. He'd crossed the line, he knew that. And he knew he'd cut Dougie way too deep. How could he have been so stupid?
He offered Dougie one last look of sorrow, and of affection, before silently leaving the room. He shut the door, and leant against the wall on the other side, allowing the tears to roll down his miserable face.
This was basically why Harry and Dougie were avoiding each other's glances, refusing to make any kind of conversation with the other, or even be near each other for more than a few minutes. It had been almost a week since the argument, and they didn't show signs of forgiving each other any time soon.
"Hey, Dougie!" Matt suddenly called across the room. Dougie looked up, eyebrows raised. "Yeah?" He replied, plucking a few notes on the instrument in his lap.
Matt sat up, taking the absurd amount of weights off his head. "Go get my bass? It's in that room over there." He stated, pointing towards a small room to his right.
Dougie stood up, sighing and rolling his eyes at his own obedience towards his fellow band mate's requests. "Yes, sir." He mockingly saluted, smirking slightly and walking over to the door.
He entered the small room, and after spotting Matt's bass among the guitars and microphones, picked it up. However, just before he could leave the rather claustrophobic room, someone walked in, shutting the door behind them.
Dougie spun around, startled at the sudden entry. He sighed in relief, and anger, when he saw Harry leaning against the door, watching him with curious eyes, brows furrowed slightly.
The blond bit his lip, before walking towards the door. Harry barred his escape, easily blocking the exit due to his buff, muscular body, compared to the bassist's slim, toned one.
"Move, Harry. I don't have time for this." Dougie said viciously, attempting to shove past the older man.
Harry raised an eyebrow, watching the blond with amusement. "We need to talk."
Dougie sighed, giving up on his 'escape attempt'. He finally looked at the drummer, eyes containing annoyance and sadness. "About what? You think I'm going to forgive you? After what you said? I may be nice, Harry, but you crossed the line, 'Mate'."
Harry rubbed the back of his neck, looking down in shame. "I said I'm sorry. I was angry, okay? We all say stupid things when we're mad, or..." He hesitated, before nodding slightly. "Or jealous."
Dougie smiled, before remembering he was supposed to be mad, and regaining his 'angry face'. "Oh, so you're finally going to admit to yourself that you were jealous. Glad to see you're making improvement."
Harry smirked slightly, shrugging his shoulders. "Yes, I was jealous. But Dougie...come on. Any self respecting boyfriend would be."
Dougie rolled his eyes, suddenly very interested in his nails. "You really should learn to control your anger." He looked up, raising an eyebrow. "Outbursts like that can get you in prison."
The brunet smirked slightly. "I know. I try to- most of the time, I can. I guess I care too much, Doug." Dougie nodded, pleased at finally breaking some of the ice, before looking back down.
"Harry, I can't keep ignoring you. But I can't deal with you yelling at me, and shouting insults at me, every time I mess around with another guy. I just can't." He was close to tears now, wiping his eyes hurriedly. "And I don't know if I have it in me to forgive you for what you said."
The drummer felt nothing but guilt inside him. He couldn't believe he'd hurt the man he loved so badly. He couldn't forgive himself- how was anyone else going to?
He put out a hand, gently stroking the side of his boyfriend's face. He gently wiped away the tears, watching as the younger man smiled slightly.
"You can't forgive me. I get that. Not now, at least. But can we...can we try? Like a...a clean slate? I try to contain my anger. I let you do what you want, no more controlling. We forget the argument." Dougie nodded, knowing that what his boyfriend had suggested was the best way of dealing with it all.
"Yeah. Okay, yeah. But there's one thing." Harry grinned, relieved at their new found peace. "What is it?" He asked.
Dougie smirked, eyes crinkling at the edges like they used to. "We're not having sex till I've forgiven you." He said in a low voice, laughing at the shocked expression on his lover's face.
Harry stared at the blond, before returning the evil grin. "Oh yeah?" He whispered, before stepping forward and viciously tickling the bassist, ignoring his cries and laughter.
"No! I'm sorry- no, Harry, please!" He yelled, giggling as rough hands ran over his rib cage and stomach. Harry chuckled; one of his favourite things in the world was Dougie's laugh, and he'd do anything to get it. Even if that meant tickling the young man till he called for help, and then the rest of the band would simply join in.
He finally stopped, looking down at the bassist with both affection and desire. Dougie smiled at him, before reaching up and giving the brunet a firm kiss, allowing his tongue to slip into the other's mouth. Harry responded with passion, hands running through the blonds' glossy hair. They continued like this for several moments, tongues fighting for dominance, feeling the others soft, velvety lips.
After a while, they broke apart, staring at each other with newfound tenderness. "You want to go back on your word?" Harry asked in a husky voice.
Dougie pretended to look thoughtful. "You know what? I think I do." He laughed as Harry leant down to kiss him once more, deciding that maybe they didn't need to get ready for the show just yet.