Summary: When Tom, after a night out, is no where to be found the other band members are enraged and disappointed in him believing that he has run off with his girlfriend, leaving them and McFly behind... but is everyhting really the way it seems to be?

Pairings: TomOC I guess. This is not slash.

Time: Set before the release of MitO but after Wonderland and the release of JML.

Rating: Nothing too graphic is going on, or described so it should be okay for most to read. 15 to be safe.

Characters: It's Tom centered but involves all band members as well as their respective family members. Tom's girlfriend, in this little piece of fiction, named Sarah, is also present.

Disclaimer: I do not own the members of McFly (duh!). They're their own people I'm just borrowing them in a non litteral way (sadly) for this story. The only character owned by me, is Sarah, which is completely made up and created by me even though a real person has inspired me in this case. Whom, is not of importance though. The story line and plot is also made up by me so I guess that makes it mine and if you'd like to borrow anything from it, please, do ask me first... not that I think anyone would like to though. Enjoy and please tell me what you think of it.

Authors Note: This is also posted on the Official McFly Boards.

Lost and Misplaced
Chapter 1

The music seemed to be everywhere... the walls vibrated and even the air seemed to move along with the tunes boosting out of the speakers. As the clock stroke midnight the club was crowded to the extent that you could no longer decide on your own in which direction you moved... the crowd decided for you and the energy seemed to push the jumping and cheering crowd here and there and Danny felt as if he was floating above the floor as one song ended and a new one begun. The crowd never stopped cheering and it all seemed a bit surreal to him. He'd almost forgotten what it was like standing in the crowd like this... just enjoying the music and the energy that raged around the room with a force strong enough to make him feel weak in his knees at times.

On stage was a local band that they'd befriended earlier that year. The young members were really talented and Tom and the others had not forgotten how much they appreciated the help they got from Busted in the beginning and were happy to use whatever influence they had to help them get started. It had really worked and even though the newly formed indie influenced band wasn't on MTV or anything yet, they were well known in the area where they grew up and the word would spread. The Internet alone can do wonders these days.

Danny caught a glimpse of Dougie and Harry fooling around with a couple of Harry's friends off to his left and he smiled as Dougie "accidentally" bumped in to a hot girl next to him... Danny turned his gaze to his right and his smile broadened as he saw Tom enjoying himself just a couple of feet away. There were quite a few people standing between them but Danny could still see him. He was definitely having a good time. Danny felt relieved. Tom hadn't had a good time in a very long time now... for weeks and weeks he'd been down and blue.

Dougie was probably the one worst off besides Tom. He wouldn't say anything but Danny knew that Dougie felt like he had lost his best friend in a sense. Tom and Dougie were always the ones who'd sit giggling about nothing for hours. Even the smallest thing would crack them up and there'd be no stopping them...

Lately, things had been different though. The bubbly Tom had not been himself and there'd been no trace of his big smile for weeks and weeks. They all felt kind of lost without him being, well... him. "What would happen to McFly now?" was the question that had been on everybody's minds lately but tonight he did look like he was having fun again.

Maybe things can go back to normal? Danny thought.

The five thankful band members on the stage ended their gig with a little cover of I'll Be Okay and the four members of McFly laughed as they recognized the tune. Harry pushed his way through the crowd, making his way to Danny.

"What do you say, should we go up there and show them how it's supposed to be done?" he yelled, his mouth close to Danny's ear, to make himself heard over the loud music and the never ending screams from the crowd. Danny laughed. Yeah... maybe they could start having fun again?

She played with a strand of her blonde hair as she nervously and angrily paced by the bar. The whole idea about them coming here tonight was just a really stupid one from the beginning and the young woman cursed Tom and his stupid band mates, under her breath, for agreeing to show up to this thing. It was lame, and it was ridiculous...

She'd worked hard to get Tom to understand that these things were not good things... there were way too many people around that would want to come in between them, young girls, fans of McFly, other people in the business...

She could feel her heart ache as she mentally listed all of the different groups of, well mainly females that could possibly ruin what she had with Tom. She'd finally, after a lot of hard work started to get through to him. He wasn't out late with the others anymore and he wasn't joking and messing around in interviews like some stupid, cuddly teddy bear anymore either. No he was on his way of becoming hers, entirely, and tonight, he'd taken a step back, in the wrong direction again. Something had to be done and she knew it.

She sighed deeply, looking his way, trying to make out the form of her boyfriend in the crowd on the big floor below but could just really see the back of his head. She knew he was enjoying himself though and he was enjoying himself without her. She pursed her lips and continued her pacing.

She'd known for a long time that things wouldn't last. Nothing good ever lasts, she thought as she fished her mobile out of her pocket. She was expecting a call... a call from the one and only person she trusted 100. She had hoped that Tom would join her brother on that list though but as he had proved to her tonight, he clearly didn't deserve her trust.

Tom had met her brother, John, on a couple of occasions and she remembered Tom laughing after having met him for the very first time telling her that this brother of hers scared the crap out of him. Thinking about it now, afterwards, she realised that that comment from Tom had made her feel proud of Tom for noticing the greatness of her brother but she also felt proud of John for inflicting that fear in Tom even though Tom had said it as a joke.

There was a great deal of truth behind it and she knew it... Her brother was quite intimidating if you didn't know him. This feature of his had proved to be a convenient one in the past and soon, she thought as she stared at the now illuminated screen of her mobile, it would prove itself to be very useful to her once again.

She pressed the 'answer' button and pressed the phone to her ear as she pushed her way to the exits telling the person on the other end to hang on a second. The cold night air slammed into her as she made her way outside. She shuddered as the cold air met her warm skin. She'd been sweating slightly inside and now she was freezing.

"I've been waiting for ages!" she half yelled into the phone, not even bothering to say hello.

"Sarah, I've got everything covered." Her brother was completely calm and confident. He was ready to roll if she was.

"Good! I want nothing to go wrong with this John..." she wrapped her free arm around herself as good as she could letting her gaze travel back to the entrance of the club, making sure that Tom wouldn't come barging out the doors looking for her. It must have been at least two hours since she parted from him claiming she had to get a glass of water, not feeling too well. He'd been a bit too willing to let her go off on her own to claim that glass of water and she still hadn't forgiven him for it.

"Well that's entirely up to the two of you now, isn't it? I've done my part and that's all I can do. I trust you to keep things under control but I can't say the same about your boy there... you know he wants to know what's going on around him. Do you really think he'll agree to this?"

"He'll come through for me don't worry!" she snapped at him, sighing deeply afterwards regretting her harsh tone. "Just show up alright..." she added in a softer voice and with that she knew she was forgiven by her big brother, if he even got offended in the first place.

"Lover boy better show!" Her brother stated before hanging up the phone leaving Sarah with the dull sound of the dial tone in her ear. She pocketed her mobile phone and rubbed her temples. Tom still hadn't showed up and she felt anger and frustration rise in her chest putting pressure on her already cold heart. He could at least have searched for his potentially ill girlfriend, she thought walking up to a lamp post in the middle of the small parking lot. She leaned against it and crossed her arms over her chest. Inconsiderable bastard!

Surely she'd feared that he would come through those doors while she was on the phone. She did not want him to overhear that conversation, even if it was only her part, but at the same time, she'd subconsciously longed for him to come outside looking for her. He hadn't and she was starting to believe that he wouldn't...

Tom laughed in a way he hadn't laughed for months as Harry threw his arms around his neck from behind, putting all of his weight on Tom.

"I never want to grow old Tom!" Harry giggled as he continued to lean on Tom from behind.

"And I don't want to break my back but I might if you don't get your drunk ass off of me in a near future!" Tom laughed back at him trying to shrug the drummer off.

"Oooh!" an excited and equally drunk Dougie squealed in amusement as he came running their way. "Excellent idea Harry, I don't know for how much longer my legs will carry me tonight." And with that he threw himself around Tom's neck as well jumping up to wrap his legs around Harry and Tom.

Tom yelped as the extra weight was put upon him and his tired legs and they all came crashing down to the floor where they ended up in a big giggling pile. He wheezed slightly trying to catch his breath and as his chest rose and fell with his laughter he couldn't help but noticing how alive he felt. Danny joined their heap on the floor after having taken a photo of his band mates all flustered and tangled up in each other.

"This could totally 'cause a stirr on the Internet, it's not exactly clear what you're doing down here..." Danny laughed referring to the newly taken picture as he rolled around so that he was lying on top of Tom. "But it looked like brilliant fun so I wanted to join in!"

Things like this had been taken for granted before by the four band members but these days they seemed to be nonexistent. Dougie felt the urge to tell Tom he loved him just for hearing him laugh again but decided against it. He just laid there on the floor, his legs starting to hurt a bit since they were covered by Danny's legs and to some extent some body part of Harry's. He was to lazy and to drunk to even lift his head to check which one though and he wasn't even sure he wanted to know. A big grin decorated his face and if only he could get ten more seconds of this he knew that smile would stay on there for days...

Tom turned his head slightly and caught Dougie's twinkling eyes. He smiled back at the younger boy. Somewhere in the back of his head there was a nagging voice telling him that this was how life used to be.

His expression changed suddenly and he pushed Danny off of him, playfully but still firmly, determined to get his band member out of his way. Something was vibrating in his pants (no this is not a slash! ). He scrambled to his feet and managed to get his phone out of his pocket. He had an unreadable expression on his face as he read the name that kept blinking on the lit up screen. He'd totally forgotten about Sarah. She'd be angry with him for sure... I could ignore the call... claim that I didn't hear it ring...?

He looked down at Danny who was still at the floor and he noticed how Danny's face fell as he realized who was calling Tom. The blonde shifted his gaze towards Dougie who looked at him hopeful. He could just ignore the call and Tom knew that Dougie was hoping for him to do just that. He could feel his heart beat faster in his chest and his palms getting wet with sweat as the phone kept vibrating angrily in his hand. His thumb hovered over the 'answer call' button but he just couldn't bring himself to actually push it.

To Tom it felt like hours had passed when the vibrations finally stopped and the notification that he'd missed one call replaced the 'Sarah calling' that had been flashing on the screen earlier.

Harry had gotten to his feet by now and patted him on the back. "I'm proud of you mate!" he smiled and Tom felt like throwing up. What kind of relationship was he in when he didn't want to answer Sarah's calls and his best friends felt happy with him not doing so. He brought his free hand up to his forehead to help his neck holding his now heavy head up and he could see worry entering Harry's eyes.

"Tom what's wrong?" he asked and Tom wanted to yell that everything was wrong in his face but stopped himself.

"Nothing..." he muttered to his friend instead and took a deep breath as the notification once again changed on the screen of his phone. A text message had arrived this time.

Anger flashed over Harry's face and he stole the phone out of Tom's sweaty hand, a frustrated grunt escaping his lips. He pushed the button fiercely and read the message aloud, without mentioning who it was from, they all knew the answer to that question.

"I'm outside. Come meet me and you know I don't appreciate you ignoring my calls!" Harry spat his whole body tense.

Tom's mind felt clouded and everything around him had suddenly become grayish and heavy as if his entire world had been covered by a thick blanket. Simple things as breathing and moving seemed extremely hard but somehow he managed. He could hear Danny calling his name behind him as he made his way across the floor, aiming for the exits. He had no idea what he'd tell her once he got his ass outside but he knew he had to do and say something. They couldn't go on like this... he knew he couldn't go on like this.

A smile appeared on Sarah's otherwise gloomy face as she spotted Tom exiting the club and as Tom strolled across the parking lot a car came to a halt behind her. She knew that car without even turning around and her smile grew wider. This would work out just fine after all. John exited the car and slipped into the backseat, just like Sarah had told him to and as Tom came close enough to her she called out to him.

"I knew I could count on you after all babe" she flashed him a wicked smile and Tom felt himself cringe.

"We need to talk-"

She cut him off. "I know, would you come with me first though? We'll just have to drop John off at his place and then we can go somewhere and talk all you want." Sara stepped aside and revealed the backseat window of the car and Paul gave Tom a wave through the window. Tom only glared back at the older man. He tiredly turned his gaze back to Sarah.

"I really don't-" Once again she cut him short.

"If you love me you're coming with me!" she sulked.

"W-what? I…" Tom gave up with a sigh. "We're coming back here afterwards, right?" He didn't even know why he agreed to this.

"Sure" she smiled at him and Tom realized how uncomfortable it made him feel. Sarah hardly ever smiled and here she stood before him grinning like a maniac. Maybe she's drunk? Tom thought as he reached out to open the car door.

"Sit in the back with John will ya?" Sarah chirped from the other side of the car. Tom shrugged and did as he was told. He was too tired and possibly a bit too drunk to care about where in the car he sat and why. Sarah for one had noticed that he wasn't really sober. That would surely be a good thing, she thought. The sober Tom is way to keen on staying in control to let himself be taken away like this…

Tom rested his warm forehead against the cold, thick glass of the car window and felt his eyelids getting heavy as the inner city scenery flashed by and became more and more blurry as the high he'd reached with the help of his band mates and alcohol left his body and mind as if it'd never been there at all. He'd been reunited with his girlfriend less than 30 minutes ago and he'd already lost any willpower and determination gathered earlier… he vaguely recalled some sort of wish to talk things through… somewhere deep inside him he knew he'd been ready to break free as he stepped outside that club but something told him that he'd done just the opposite the second he gave into Sarah's request and got inside the car.

If only he wasn't too tired and worn down to realize just how right he was…

To be continued...

Thanks for reading and feel free to review and tell me what you think.