Disclaimer: I don't own a single thing. Nothing is real (which depresses me so much that I'm drowning in an ocean of tears). Well, except for McFly and mentioned girlfriends. You know what I mean.
A/N: I heard the song Two Of Us by The Beatles - which I highly recommend you listen to before or while you read this, which means you'll have to repeat it multiple times ;D - and I've been obsessing myself over the beautiful songwriting/brotherly relationship that is Lennon/McCartney, so that's the reason I wrote this. I love Flones as a couple, but their real life love/sometimes-hate friendship is just as great, so I thought I'd focus on that for once.
A/N 2: Yeah, it's been a while since I've been on, haha. I hope this makes up for it because I've literally been working on this since last summer. :D
Two Of Us
Day 1
"It's an earthquake," Danny reckons. He's standing in the middle of an unknown city, although it looks damn well like London to him. No, wait. He sees the InterContinental hotel right across him. He looks down and he realizes he's standing in Hyde Park. Danny smiles to himself, despite the rumbling and shaking that's happening right underneath his feet. Nothing seems to be breaking, which is quite odd. The earthquake should be destroying everything around the Boltoner, shouldn't it? And why is he in his pajamas?
"I would usually wear something at least half decent," Danny ponders.
Suddenly, he's not in Hyde Park anymore. His eyes are heavily shut and filled with sleep, his face is pressed against a pillow, and the shaking seems to come from a pair of soft hands. Danny is ripped away from his dream by a feminine voice that sounds like a lullaby and Danny could easily fall asleep to that, but the voice has enough edge in it to slap him awake.
"Luv, somebody's waiting for you downstairs," the voice urges, her soft hands leaving Danny's body that is completely hidden underneath the sheets. Danny misses the warmth all of a sudden and decides he should get up. He looks up from the pillow and smiles sweetly up at his fiancé. Georgia returns the smile and holds up a stuffed duffel bag in one hand and a guitar case in the other. Danny furrows his eyebrows, confused about why Georgia is holding up these items and where he's headed. Then he remembers. Danny's off on another writing trip.
He sighs tiredly and gives Georgia a quick peck on the lips, then says, "I'll get ready first?"
Georgia nods at this and replies, "You're not eating breakfast here, though."
Danny raises an eyebrow in question. "Oh?"
"Apparently you two wanted to try a new café," Georgia reminds him, handing Danny some fresh clothes and leads him to the bathroom. "Hurry up, you slept a bit late."
After Danny looks himself another time in the mirror, he rubs his eyes lazily and steps out of the bathroom, picking up the duffel bag, guitar case, and a backpack filled with a few necessary recording equipment that Georgia left outside the bedroom door. He drags himself down the stairs and nods his head at the blonde sitting on the couch, who nods his head back at him.
"Tom," Danny greets, taking the extra mug of tea that Tom was handing to him. Tom smiles at him in reply, his dimple poking out, a knowing look going between the two musicians. They have conversations without actually having one all the time. Despite the friendly bickering they have all the time, the only time they ever actually talk in peace is through each other's eyes. It's amazing how so many words are said with one look when a single word is never uttered.
"You know, we never actually planned out this trip. All you told me is that we're driving in your Mini to... somewhere," Danny recalls, taking a big sip from his mug as he wonders where the pair is headed for this trip. All Danny knows is that their writing trips usually consist of either Danny, Tom, and Dougie, or all four of them together in a nice cottage somewhere far away. Sometimes James is involved, or he just invites himself. When Tom asked Danny three days ago if he could take a few weeks (or more, he wasn't very specific) out of his time to take a writing trip with just Tom, Danny was taken aback. The last time they ever had a writing trip together was when they were writing their first album, and they didn't even know they were writing their first album for a short time.
It wasn't that they didn't like writing together, it's just that they didn't want to exclude the other two. It wouldn't be right, considering Dougie had writing talent of his own and sometimes Harry could conjure up a clever lyric now and then. And James can give a lot, considering Tom thinks James is a genius and James never minds. Besides, Danny felt that he didn't have the intellect to write a song with Tom. He could easily write a hit on his own. If Tom needed someone else to write with, it would be best that he wold go to James or Dougie. Danny knew he was just too dumb to compare to those two. They related to Tom a lot more than Danny did. Sometimes Danny felt like Tom did things like this, let alone stay his friend, because he felt pity for the Boltoner.
Tom didn't say another word, though. Again, they were having another conversation with their eyes. Danny rolled his eyes. He took one look at the mischievous glint in Tom's chocolate-colored eyes and knew that this might not be the typical writing trip they'd usually have. Danny shrugged at this and took another sip out of his mug. At least he'd have some time with Tom.
"You guys should be heading out by now! It's almost noon. You'll never make it to wherever you're headed to, at this rate," Georgia fussed, taking the pair's mugs away from their hands and shooing them out the door, Danny giving Georgia a quick goodbye and kiss before following Tom to his blue Mini.
"Uh, where are we headed, anyway?" Danny asked, shoving his duffel and guitar case in the back seat of Tom's car.
"I didn't tell you the first time you asked, so of course I'm not going to tell you," Tom replied with a smirk. Danny scoffed. Tom was up to something.
"Are we headed to Liverpool to check out The Cavern Club, where The Beatles first played? I know you've always wanted to go there," Danny snorted, dragging the equipment to put it in Tom's trunk, where Tom was arranging some stuff inside it for Danny to stuff his backpack filled with recording equipment in.
Tom grinned at this. Danny may not be the most relatable friend, but he is Tom's closest friend, and Danny cared a lot about Tom. He seemed to know a lot more about Tom than Tom did. It was the same for the Boltoner, too. Tom knew a lot more about Danny than Danny did. The two cared deeply about each other, despite the many differences.
"Sure, we can stop by there," Tom said, making a mental note to drive by Liverpool during their trip.
Danny raised an eyebrow. "'Stop by'? Tom, where the hell are we headed if Liverpool is just a place to 'stop by'?" Danny questioned once again. He said it in a much more authoritative tone, a tone he doesn't use often. Tom was impressed by this, since he was usually never the victim of a stern Danny.
He leaned against the car, and looked straight into Danny's eyes, and said, "I don't know."
Danny rolled his eyes. Tom can say whatever he wants, but the look in his eyes always says something else.
"You're such a liar. You're not fooling me, Fletcher," Danny scoffed, crossing his arms in determination.
Tom breathed out lightly, replying, "I'm telling the truth, Jones. We're not really headed anywhere. We're just gonna drive around and stuff."
Danny, seemingly amused by this, smirked with excitement. "Really? I thought you said to me that you couldn't stand more than three hours with me stuck with you in your car. I do recollect you tweeting that one day."
Tom furrowed his eyebrows together, trying to remember that tweet. Tom couldn't possibly remember that tweet, because he tweets ten times too many every single day. His twitter account is practically a frequently updated auto-biography of his life on its own. It even has pictures.
"I don't remember tweeting that..."
Danny snorted, leaning against the car next to Tom. "Of course you don't. You tweet so much, mate. I get so many notifications every single day..."
"You set up your account to get notified of when I tweet? Aw, you're so sweet," Tom cooed, placing his hand on Danny's shoulder affectionately, causing a roar of laughter to come from Danny, and even Tom himself.
Danny looked from Tom's hand to Tom's eyes, and the two shared a comfortable silence of looking at each other for a few moments, sending each other sentences that no one else will be able to hear. If you took a picture of them in that moment, you wouldn't be able to tell if they were in love or distracting each other while they continued the longest staring contest in history. The looks are not translatable.
"We should get going, yeah?" Tom said, deciding that they had enough 'chatter'. Without waiting for Danny's reply, he sat himself in the driver's seat, while Danny settled himself beside him moments later.
"So, where are going first?"
Tom and Danny arrived at a quaint café in Birmingham that sold pastries that are barely bigger than your hand and fresh coffee that tasted like shit, but it's only because they used local ingredients and whatnot, so it's actually good for you. Danny didn't remember the two of them wanting to try a new café for breakfast as Georgia said earlier that morning. He hadn't talked to Tom after the day he asked Danny about this writing trip.
"Might as well get some food to start us off for the day, yeah?" Tom suggested, although it's a useless question, since they're already at the café and they already fed the parking meter enough to last them an hour. Danny nodded anyhow, following Tom inside the café. Not only did the outside look like it was about to rust away, so did the interior. Danny didn't feel like buying anything in here, but the old and frail woman behind the counter looked so... well, frail, that he couldn't just walk out. It would be too rude.
"Hi Tom!" The old and frail woman greeted the blonde with bright eyes. Tom chuckles and greets the old and fragile woman with a polite nod. Danny looks between the two with confusion, wondering why Tom knows this woman whom he's never met before or heard about and if it's going to be like this everywhere they stop by, because the trip so far has been really weird. But Danny finally realizes that they're celebrities, and he finally comes to his senses. He needs to start remembering that more often.
Without asking Danny, Tom orders themselves a small bowl of oatmeal and a medium-sized cappuccino each. Danny blinks a few times to make sure that he's seeing this right.
"How'd you know I order that?" Danny asked as they sat themselves in light blue, vintage looking chairs by the light blue, vintage looking table, giving Tom an incredulous look.
Tom scoffed and snorted at the same time - which Danny thought was humanly impossible, but Tom just did it right in front of him - and replied, "Danny, I've known you for past a decade now. I know the three different types of drinks you would order Starbucks. It shouldn't be something new for you."
Danny shrugs at this in agreement. He's quite forgetful, seeing as he's known Tom for more than a decade, too, and he rarely remembers much about his blonde friend.
Tom looks at him with a funny face and says, "Hey, do you happen to remember my birthday?"
Danny returns the look, but starts by muttering, "J..."
Tom raises an eyebrow, obviously thinking that Danny's not going to remember again. He never does.
"July 17th, innit?" Danny says finally, wearing a crooked and hopeful smile. Tom puts on a wide and toothy grin, throws his hands in the air and says, "Hallelujah! Danny Jones remembers my fucking birthday!"
Danny shakes his head at this but giggles furiously. It's not often that Tom jokes stupidly, and when he does, it's usually with Danny, because Danny's the only person Tom can ever be stupid around. Tom has to be smart around everyone else. Danny appreciates this and for a second, he realizes that maybe that's why Tom is still here being his best friend.
The old and fragile woman comes out of the café and places the two bowls of oatmeal and two cups of cappuccino on the light blue and rusty table. "Enjoy."
Tom and Danny nod their heads at the old woman and munch away at their breakfast and drink their crappy cups of cappuccino, chatting away like two five-year-old boys, their adulthood seemingly fading away.
Day 4
But I climbed one, two flight, three flight, four
Five, six, seven flight, eight flight more
Up on the twelfth I'm ready to drag
Fifteenth floor I started to sag
Get to the top, I'm too tired to rock
The crowd's applause is wild and blaring and the brunet man with shockingly blue eyes bows down politely, moving his acoustic guitar behind his back. He reaches towards his microphone and speaks into it with a pant in his voice.
"Thank you Liverpudlians!" The crowd chuckles in reply, keeping their voices low to hear more of what the rock star has to say.
"I'll be back up here with the blonde wanker in the back in about half an hour, so don't start a riot, yeah?" He assures, the crowd laughing along once again. It's no wonder he's the front man of the band. He's the entertainer; the one that everyone can't get enough of because he's so approachable and so friendly.
The brunet saunters off the stage, setting the acoustic guitar against the brick wall, taking a drink the owner of the place offers to him. "It's pina colada; you'll like it," the owner - bald and scrawny - says with a persuasive smile. The brunet snorts and replies, "Of course I'll love it. These things were the only drinks I'd chug down when we traveled to South America for a few weeks." The owner guffaws at the statement and disappears into the crowd. The brunet continues to make his way to the back of the club, thanking those who were complimenting him on a great cover, great voice, and great him. He's enjoying it a bit too much. As usual.
He finally makes his way to the bar in the back and stumbles into a seat next to the 'blonde wanker' he mentioned moments ago, offering him a sip from his pina colada. The blonde man takes it with great pleasure and smiles at his friend thankfully.
"Ugh, I've been waiting for the bartender to get me a cold beer for so fucking long that I'd rather walk out of here and buy a gallon of milk or something," the blonde complains, downing about half of the glass. The brunet frowns. That was supposed to be his. Eh. It's his fault he offered in the first place.
"I thought you don't drink, Tom," The brunet laughs, taking his pina colada back, much to the blonde's dismay.
"Well, I do. Only when I'm with you, though, Danny. I wouldn't dare do it around anyone else," Tom chuckles. Danny smiles at this. Tom does a lot of things only with Danny. Danny's quite grateful for that, because that means that Tom is only himself around Danny.
"Hey, you were great up there, doing that Eddie Cochran song," Tom compliments, yanking Danny's pina colada out of his hands and drinking down the rest. Danny scoffs, but lets it pass, because Tom did a solo set up there twice as long as Danny's. "Twenty Flight Rock, right?"
Danny nods and looks back at the stage. Tom does too and they both look at each other in complete ecstasy. It's their third night performing at The Cavern Club, and they're not really sure why they did this in the first place. When they first arrived here, they were only here to fangirl about the fact that they're standing in the same club The Beatles performed in fifty years ago. Then after a few hours of talking and rehearsing, Tom and Danny got themselves a gig for a few nights, seeing as the owner of the club didn't have anyone to hire. This is their last night to perform, and they've got one more song to perform. They've been told that they must do a Beatles song. Apparently it's a thing that all acts have to do.
"Y'know, Paul McCartney sang that song-"
"When he first met John Lennon. I know the story, mate," Tom smiled, shooting Danny an apologetic look as he handed back Danny's empty glass. Danny waved his hand and held out a fresh and cold beer, to which Tom scowled at him. That was supposed to be his.
They visited the church where John first met Paul and yesterday, they snuck into Strawberry Field. Tom felt extremely guilty about it, since it should be a place that should be left alone in honor of John Lennon, but Danny had felt a bit rebellious that day, so he convinced Tom after he jumped the gate and ran off to find a nice spot to settle.
They played countless songs on their acoustic guitars and opened beer bottles - Tom revealing that he felt "seventeen again" then prayed to God that he actually wouldn't turn seventeen again like in the movie - they bought from a gas station down the street and for the first time in a long time, Danny revealed a pack of smokes from his coat pocket, surprising both Tom and himself. Danny hadn't smoked in ages, and Tom's never let a cig touch his mouth.
Tom felt Danny's elbow nudging his side and looked at the Boltoner. In his hand he held out the same box that once held the twenty cigs that both of them smoked out.
"We can put this in our little scrapbook," Danny snorted, waving it in Tom's face with a laugh. Tom shook his head and pushed Danny's hand away. "Please, don't remind me. I still feel guilty as fuck."
"Hah! At the time, you weren't feeling a single ounce of it. It was me with all of them," Danny complained sarcastically, although he did still feel guilty as well for letting Tom smoke a few.
"Then why did you still let me have like five of them?!" Tom shrieks, his eyes wild, causing a few people around them to look their way for a few moments.
"Tom, you were practically begging me. You said you wanted to be like me, be a dragon and all that."
Tom raised his eyebrow embarrassingly.
Danny shook his head and patted Tom's back comfortingly. "'S alright, mate. We should head up stage for that last song, yeah?" He slides his half full beer bottle into Tom's open hand and Tom takes a huge swig before giving Danny a nod.
"'Ave you decided what we're singing?" Tom asked, grabbing onto Danny's shoulder tightly after he almost lost him in the crowd. "'I Saw Her Standing There' or 'Help!'?"
Danny's mind suddenly turned into a blob of colors. That's usually how it goes when Danny has to make decisions.
"You'll figure it out," Danny chirped, making Tom extremely nervous. He liked everything planned and organized unlike Danny.
Tom sighed and shakily followed Danny up the stage, grabbing his acoustic and slipping the strap on his shoulder securely. He looked over the small crowd uneasily. He peeked towards Danny next to him, who's been easing up the crowd with a few stupid gestures. He rolled his eyes. Typical Danny.
"How are all of you doing tonight?" Danny asked into the microphone, capturing everyone's undivided attention and earning their optimistic cheers.
Tom laughed heartily. Again, it's no wonder why Danny's the frontman.
"Good, good. Now, I mentioned earlier that I would sing one last song with this blonde wanker standing next to me. You heard him sing some lovely tunes a while ago. Tom, right?"
Danny looked towards Tom with a humorous wink. Tom rolled his eyes again and nodded. "You know my name Danny. We're in the same band, you idiot," Tom scoffed, the audience egging him on with a few whoops and cheers. Danny smiled. If they weren't in a band, they'd definitely work well as a duo.
"Ah, yes. Now, Tom, I'm gonna need your help with this song, okay? I'm gonna need everyone else's help, too. Sing along if you know this tune!"
Tom sighed with relief. He finally knew what song they were doing. He made a mental note to help Danny with his organization skills at some point in his life. Maybe before he has children.
Suddenly, Danny struck a chord on his guitar and growled the first lyric of the song, looking back at Tom to echo in response. The two were able to urge the crowd to help them out, the smiles on their faces inevitable.
Help! I need somebody,
Help! Not just anybody,
Help! You know I need someone,
Help!
Day 7
After their last performance in The Cavern Club, Tom and Danny earned themselves a couple hundred quid (much to their refusal) and drove their way... nowhere, really. They've woven through random roads, spending those few nights taking turns sleeping in a sleeping bag on the car floor and underneath one of Tom's quilts in the back seat. They used the few bags they left in the back seat as pillows. Sleep seemed rare for the two as they usually stayed up all night talking to each other about life. Most of the time, they're reminiscing and bickering (in a friendly and useless sense).
Though Milford Haven is only four hours away from Liverpool, it took them a long time to get there, considering the countless hours they wasted sitting in cafes, parks, clubs, and sometimes a kind stranger's house if they felt like it writing pieces of shit.
"We haven't written anything," Tom sighed. Deciding that he's driven enough, he parked along the side of the road and near a deserted and green field, finding a perfect spot to stop so they could have a nice view of the port. Danny looked out Tom's window and unconsciously smiled at the slow yet beautiful sunset.
"So? It's not like we had a goal or anything," Danny shrugged without a care, munching away at the bag of crisps they bought at a nearby grocery store with The Cavern club money. "I feel like shit spending this money."
Tom took some crisps from Danny, sighing in agreement. "And I wonder why I didn't make up a goal in the first place. It's so unlike me." He looked down at the pile of crisps he attained. "I feel like shit eating this. Why do I feel bad using money we earned on our own compared to the band in whole?"
Danny tapped at Tom's shoulder, his eyes pointedly looking at the quilt in the back of the car and at the wide grassy field in front of the shimmering water, just waiting for them to frolic in it. Tom understood this and the two piled out of the car, taking the quilt with them and laying it down in the middle of the field, settling down on it in time for sunset.
Danny shrugged again. "It is. All of this is really unlike you." He looked at the bag of crisps then at Tom's guilty expression. "You know you don't have to eat them if you don't want to. I can have it all to myself."
Tom snarled at him, making a point by snatching the bag of crisps from Danny's hand and munching away on a few handfuls. Danny chuckled. "There's my Tommy," He said proudly with a pat on Tom's head.
"This is fun though, isn't it?" Tom questioned, suddenly feeling guilty again, only because he just hogged the entire bag of crisps, which is again, quite unlike him. He handed Danny the bag.
"Yeah, it is. It reminds me of the early days, ya know?" Danny pushed the bag back to Tom. The crisps were making his mouth dry and he really wanted some water. He headed back to the car and found some water bottles in the trunk before going back to the quilt.
Tom hummed in agreement, accepting the water bottle Danny was handing to him. "I was kinda hoping this trip would be something like that, I guess."
Danny smiled contently, taking a big sip from his water bottle. "Well, you did a good job. Although we're missing one thing."
Tom furrowed his eyebrows together, trying to figure out what he forgot.
"We haven't checked into a hotel yet, Tommy," Danny pointed out, flicking Tom's nose.
"Mm, we'll get to that sooner or later," Tom said, lying himself down on the quilt and admiring the darkening sky. For once, the stars were easily seen and Tom could point out a few constellations.
"How long are we going to do this, anyway?" Danny asked, folding up the bag of chips and positioning himself like Tom, scooting himself closer to the blonde since the weather was turning quite chilly.
Tom shrugged. "I dunno. We'll see. Although I assured Gio and Georgia that we'd be back within a month or so. Is that alright with you?"
Danny shrugged in response. "Sure. I don't have much of a choice now, do I? That's sloppy planning on your part."
"Tom Fletcher does not plan sloppily. In fact, while you were buying food, I bought Richard a postcard. I remembered he's always wanted to come to this part of Wales."
Tom fished around for the postcard in his back pocket and displayed it to Danny, who instantly hooted at the sight of it. "It looks so corny!"
Tom snorted, replying, "It's a the kind of thing Richard likes. I don't know why."
"Since when did you care about our manager's tastes?" Danny asked after his laughs died down.
"He's our manager, Danny. I think that's all the explanation you need." Tom rolled his eyes. He turned around so he was lying on his belly, Danny doing just the same. "D'ya have a pen or pencil, mate?"
Danny shook his head and went to retrieve on in Tom's Mini, successfully finding a pencil in one of the cup holders. "What're we gonna write?"
The two looked at each other mischievously and passed the post card back and forth, occasionally erasing useless words and adding a cheeky phrase here and there. It seemed to be a letter more than a postcard. They continued to write until the sky became too dark for them to see, both agreeing silently that the letter is written in its highest quality (even though Danny's handwriting is the equivalence to actual chicken scratches), they'll mail it when they find the first mailbox they see, and they really should star-gazer because the stars look absolutely beautiful.
Dear Richard,
This is Tom. Yeah, I went to Milford Haven without you. Yeah, I went with Danny. By the time you get this, you'll probably still be pissed because we missed one of your famous impromptu meetings. Danny and I are eternally and gratefully sorry. Anyway, don't get your knickers in a twist, we haven't run off from the band to start as a duo called 'Doofus and The Brain' (that idea has always been a joke between Dan and I, don't take it seriously). We're on a writing trip.
Richie! This is Danny! Hey, I hope you're alright. I'm guessing not, considering Tom just told me that he never told you we'd be gone. Who knew he was actually a shit planner! IT WAS AN IMPULSE. NOT. SLOPPY. PLANNING. Anyway... we'll be back whenever. Don't kill us when we're back, yeah? You'd lose half of the greatest band your dirty little hands has ever held. Haha, I'm kidding. Love you, Rich Rich! See you soon!
Sincerely,
From the bottom of my heart,
Thomas
D-dawg
Day 10
"I'm back, honeyyyyy!"
"Please don't."
"Don't say that, sweetums, when I managed to find you the scones you've desired so much."
"Don't call me 'sweetums'."
"Don't make me go feed these to some homeless people who actually deserve these scones a lot more than you."
"Darling! Come over here and give me a kiss, will you?"
Danny shook his head with a small laugh and closed the door with his foot, carrying a paper bag filled with groceries into hotel room. He glanced up from the table, seeing Tom sitting at the bed, giving him an obviously fake grin, his eyes looking right at the scones that Danny had just taken out of one of the bags.
"God, you are hopeless."
Tom rolled his eyes with and replied, "Scones are my kryptonite. Now, give me the scones."
Danny raised an eyebrow and scoffed, giving Tom a judgmental glare. "Excuse me?"
Tom groaned, letting his head hang until he looked back up with another one of his fake smiles, saying sweetly, "Can you feed me one of those scones, babe?"
Danny snickered and grabbed a scone out of the bag. "Here, feed yourself, you twat." He tossed Tom the blueberry scone, the blonde barely missing the delectable treat. "Me? A twat? You're joking," Tom sneered, taking a bite from his precious scone and going back to plucking some random chords and scribbling down a few words.
Danny smiled at the sight as he unpacked the few groceries he bought, putting the beer in the mini fridge and everything else on the table. After their night in Milford Haven (where they actually fell asleep on the quilt in the field and Tom stupidly forgot to lock the car), the two decided it's time to move from sleeping in the car (even though those nights were the best fun they've ever had - in a non-sexual way) to sleeping in an actual room. After much consideration - actually, they just drove random roads and continued to spend their last nights sleeping in Tom's Mini until they ended up in Great Yarmouth. They're not really sure how they got there, but so far, wherever they end up never mattered anymore. As long as it was somewhere.
They ended up whipping out their credit cards for the first time. Tom drove on until they reached the edge the city, finding themselves at a hotel with small french windows, lace curtains, a crème colored and Victorian styled exterior that faced the beach and the sea. Without a single word uttered between them and a knowing glance into each other's eyes, they booked themselves a room on the second floor in room 3. It was the only available room left, and to Danny's dismay and Tom's odd excitement, they had to share the bed.
"Did you want us to top and tail on that bed or...?" Danny questioned, trying to start a conversation. Tom looked up from his notebook then back down on the bed. "I dunno. We've slept together without doing that. We'll see, yeah?" Danny nodded, continuing to organize the groceries. As much as he wanted to get out and maybe do a bit of jogging while Tom is writing his song, Danny would rather want to get involved with that song. The nagging feeling in the back of his head is saying you want to write a song, Danny. He's been itching to do some writing.
"You're writing a song," Danny said, saying it more as a statement than a question, his smile still plastered on his face. It took Tom a lot of convincing, since the blonde has tired himself out the past week, but with Danny promising he'd be back with scones if Tom had something written down besides a title or their names. Danny knew that Tom would do it, and he would have to bring back scones either way.
"Yeah. I've got a verse down and a few chords I want to play around with, but that's it," Tom muttered, his eyes never tearing away from the notebook lying in front of him. He held his acoustic guitar in his hands and strummed the chords lightly, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration, and his pencil getting chewed on roughly.
Danny waited for Tom to say anything else, but he sighed in disappointment, seeing as Tom wasn't going to ask for any help. Danny expected this. Of course he wouldn't. As much as Tom wanted to keep a promise, he rarely kept his when it came to poor little Danny. Without another thought, he decided he would help Tom anyway. He grabbed his acoustic guitar out of its case and sat next to Tom, who scooted closer to the edge of the bed so Danny had more space.
"Mind playing the chords for me?" Danny asked softly, making sure he wouldn't annoy Tom. The blonde usually gets a bit moody when he writes, so Danny's never sure how he feels during the process.
Tom nodded and grabbed the pick up from the bed and strummed a few chords and sang the words he wrote for the verse, his transitions slow since he was still unsure about them. Danny watched Tom carefully, writing down the chords that Tom forgot to write himself on the bottom of the page.
After Tom had finished, he looked at Danny for any second thoughts, to which Danny smiled to himself about. Finally. Tom was actually letting Danny help him write again.
Danny looked down at the page. He frowned at the top of it, titled Written by Tom Fletcher. This encouraged him to get brain working. He wanted his name to be there, too.
Danny strummed the few chords Tom had played moments ago and began to sing the single verse.
You spend a lifetime waiting,
Tomorrow chasing,
With a cracked open shell of somebody you love.
Tom's expression brightened when Danny had finished singing the verse. "You know, you're voice suits the song better than mine. Your grit makes all the difference."
Danny blushed, shaking his head in disagreement. "It's not even a full song yet."
Tom smiled. Danny could see the gears in Tom's head starting to whir. "It will be-" Tom slid the notebook closer to Danny and placed the intensely chewed pencil in Danny's hand. "-and you're going to help me write it."
During an hour of intense brainstorming and random chord playing and scattered humming, the clouds began to form and darken, causing the pair's light source to become less and less available. Suddenly, rain began to pour down, creating drips and pitter-patters, the sound beginning to crescendo quickly.
Immediately, the two musicians looked at each other with that same glint in their eye that only they can understand. Another conversation without actually having one.
They spent hours on that single song - Danny's voice straining every time he had to re-sing the chorus they had written and Tom making up a silly rain dance as he sung the outro - eventually finishing it by the time the long rainstorm had ended.
Danny picked up the pencil and wrote on the top of the page in his horrible handwriting, Touch The Rain - Written by Tom Fletcher and Danny Jones.
Day 13
It shouldn't be right to wear rain boots and trunks while you're walking to the beach. To Danny, it's the coolest things he's ever had to wear together. To Tom, it's absurd. At least we know who's 'normal' in this situation.
"C'mon Tom, we're burning daylight here!" Danny whined, searching around the parking lot for a large puddle to splash in. After two days of straight rainfall in Great Yarmouth, the sun has finally decided to keep the dark clouds away for the time being. Tom and Danny decided it's time to stop thinking about writing songs and going insane about it. It's time to go to the beach for once.
"You're like a little kid," Tom scoffed, lugging the big beach bag with him. Unlike Danny, he wore flip-flops. And unlike Danny, he isn't up for splashing around in puddles. It's much too dirty for him.
"Am not!" He argued. Danny giggled when he spotted a large puddle on the sidewalk across them and sprinted over to it, jumping perfectly in the middle of it, his feet and shins getting soaked in dirty rainy water. He looked up at Tom, who was shaking his head. "Okay, point taken."
They arrived at the beach an hour later (it could've been earlier, but Danny took too long in a gift shop and he took way too long when he found an even bigger puddle), Tom sighing in relief when he found the perfect spot to plant his towel, umbrella, and arse on.
Despite being completely covered by the shade of the umbrella, Tom proceeded to cover himself in sunscreen. Twice. His skin is extremely sensitive to the sun, whether it's touching his skin directly.
He laid himself down on the towel, his elbows propping himself up. He watched Danny trot over to an isolated area of sand not too far from Tom's view. He chuckled at the sight of Danny trying to build a sandcastle. It kept collapsing, much to the Boltoner's dismay.
Shaking his head at Danny's idiocy, he held on to his huge bottle of sunscreen (SPF 80!) and made his way to Danny's sorry excuse for a sandcastle. He was going to leave Danny in his misery, but he would have to hear Danny's complaints later on when he gives up, and Tom doesn't want to lose his sanity. "Mate, have you even made a sandcastle before?"
Danny looked up from his lump of sand and shot Tom a look that said, "I need help but I don't wanna admit it out loud."
Tom smiled sympathetically and handed Danny the sunscreen bottle. "Slather yourself in this first. Your freckles are popping out." Danny's eyes widened and he looked down at his skin, groaning at the sight of blotchy red skin and unmistakable freckles. He took Tom's advice and covered himself in a thick coat of sunscreen as Tom headed towards the water with Danny's bucket. He filled it with a tiny amount of water and went back to Danny, who smiled boyishly as he handed Tom the sunscreen bottle. Tom returned the smile and filled the bucket with sand, sloshing the water and sand around until it turned dark brown. Danny watched carefully.
Tom slammed the bucket upside down and patted the bottom of it, slipping the bucket up until a sandcastle was revealed. It didn't collapse. Danny whooped in excitement and ecstasy. "Yes! Thanks Tom!" He gave Tom a huge side hug and a sloppy kiss.
Tom chuckled and wiped away the saliva Danny left on his cheek. "Uh, no problem, Dan. Can I go back to my towel and umbrella now?"
Danny sighed dramatically. "Fine. I guess you don't want to make the biggest sandcastle in the world. I'm gonna make a world record and this time not you or the boys will have your names with it."
Tom rolled his eyes and without a single care, he sauntered back to his towel and sighed in relaxation as he settled down back on his soft towel. That day, he realized that Danny Jones is practically his equal in terms of childishness. And determination in making really big and tall things.
Day 15
It's been two weeks and after another day in Great Yarmouth, Tom and Danny hop back into the Mini and take a day long trip to Scotland. They decided that if they wanted to end their trip around this time, they would end it in Scotland on a high. For the first time in their trip, they quickly planned a week and half worth of things to do once they arrive.
They drove up to a small cottage called The Bungalow. Isolated from a majority of civilization and entirely surrounded by nature, Danny was lucky to book them exactly a week and a half (considering they only allowed a week to be booked, but they're half of McFly, so why the fuck not?) before the next guest would arrive. Tom and Danny weren't sure what they were going to do exactly, but it happened to consist of hiking, relaxing, biking, photography, and mainly, songwriting. Just the right way to end their songwriting trip. Even though they only wrote and recorded a full demo of a song and only small ideas and random lyrics so far.
Tom and Danny took up separate roles right away, Danny unpacking all their bags in their respected rooms and his recording equipment in the living room and Tom organizing the loads of groceries they had bought in the kitchen. They decided that junk food for two weeks has been long enough, and it's time to actually cook.
After all of that was done, they were quite pooped. To the pair's dismay, their stomachs were not empty enough to be filled with some real food, so they decided they best take a nap, because the last time they've had a nap was probably a short period during their tour last year.
"I'll see you in a few hours?" Danny grumbles without waiting for any response from Tom as he drags himself to the nearest bedroom of the three that happened to be in the cottage.
He flops himself onto the bed and crawls under the covers, sighing dreamily into the fluffy pillow because it's not a stiff car seat or a smelly car floor. It's a soft and lavender-scented pillow and Danny is in pure bliss.
Seconds before he feels himself drifting off to sleep, he feels another weight dip on the bed beside him. Danny is too tired to turn around to see who it is because he's slightly panicking, thinking he forgot to close the door, but it's definitely Tom. He doesn't try to ask why Tom is invading his space once again. Instead, he ignores the fact that Tom's back is touching his and Danny feels a lot of comfort from the familiarity of Tom's body sleeping against his. It's like the olden days again.
Hours later, Danny is the first one to wake up. He looks down at his watch and it reads "8:30 PM". They slept three and half hours. Danny sighs, knowing that they probably won't be able to sleep until the late afternoon tomorrow. He looks beside him and he sees Tom sleeping peacefully, his mouth slightly open with a small trail of drool sliding down his face. Danny tries not to snort or take a picture of it and makes his way to the kitchen, getting out the needed ingredients to make whatever the hell he thinks is okay to eat for dinner. For the two of them, at least.
As soon as Danny lets the chicken sizzle in the pan, he hears Tom enter the kitchen with a yawn and a clearly audible scratch on the bottom. "Evenin'," Tom greets, leaning against the counter next to the stove, looking in the pan of chicken. Danny nods at him, grabbing some pepper and sprinkling it into the pan.
Tom sniffs Danny's creation and asks, "What'cha making?"
"It's called 'chicken adobo'. It's good stuff," Danny explains briefly. He's actually not sure how good it is because he hasn't cooked any Filipino food in a few years. It smells awfully good though, so that's enough to convince him it'll be delicious. Tom nods and retreats to the dining room. Danny can hear Tom take out a piece of paper and a pen and some scribbling. The only things he thinks Tom is doing is a) writing the beginnings of a song, b) drawing something random or, c) a list because Tom adores writing lists.
After a while, Danny's done making their dinner. He brings their plates full of chicken adobo and rice to the dinner table and he's partly right; Tom's making a list. Tom sniffles and looks up to see his dinner and smiles at Danny thankfully. Danny returns the smile and starts to eat his dinner. The two share a comfortable silence with the added here-and-there sound of a pen writing something on Tom's list. Danny suddenly chuckles and Tom's watching him with an amused expression.
"What's so funny?"
Danny's chuckles turn to outrageous laughs and he can't contain it anymore. Tom joins in out of nowhere because Danny's laughter is really infectious.
"Us. We're like a pair of idiot boys who barely know each other one day and an old married couple the next," Danny says after his laughter starts to fade away. Tom looks down at the table and Danny sees that he agrees with this. He's not sure what sign is giving this away, but he knows. It's an old married couple thing.
"I guess so," Tom chuckles. He leans against his hand and takes a bit of his food. "You know, I like the fact that out of all the lads, you're the one mate I skipped the 'brother' stage with."
Danny furrows his eyebrows and leans his elbows on the table, his head leaning forward as well, indicating he wants Tom to continue because he doesn't understand.
"We don't have to guess what the other is saying, thinking or feeling. It was just natural. Like, we'd have a conversation just by looking at each other or when one of us does a certain motion or when you have that gut feeling that the other is feeling a certain way or how we finish-"
"Each other's sentences," Danny cuts in, earning a small laugh from the blonde.
"Yeah, exactly. You just became my life partner right away, you know? A soul mate, or- uh, a wife, if you will," Tom says with a wink. Danny chuckles, taking his elbows off the table and leaning his back against the chair.
"I'm the wife in this relationship? If anything, I should be the husband," Danny argues with a smug expression. Tom snorts. "Yeah, yeah. Whatever you want, honey."
Tom and Danny are at it again with the weird having-a-conversation-without-actually-having-one thing and they're just staring into each other's eyes, words being thrown at each other back and forth without their mouths opening for one second.
"Even though we bicker sometimes and disagree on some things, we'll always love each other, yeah?" Tom adds sincerely. Danny nods with a smile. It wasn't often they'd say they love each other, because they really do. It may be taken a different way to some people, but nobody will ever understand the kind of love Tom and Danny share. It's platonic, but it's familial and romantic at the same time. A combination of the three would best explain their love without going into detail.
"God, we are an old married couple if we're talking about our relationship and stuff over dinner," Danny laughs as he takes another bite from his dinner. Tom returns the laugh and looks down his list.
"Anything you wanna do over the week, luv?" Tom asks in an overly sweet voice to which Danny reacts by rolling his eyes.
"We should go camping sometime later in the week. On the last few days maybe," Danny suggested. He smiled when Tom decided to write it down. The blonde tapped the end of the pen on his large chin and added, "We could hike up the large hill that overlooks River Feshie? Set up a tent there?"
Danny nodded. Then he stopped mid-nod, replying, "We don't have a tent, Tom."
Tom stops writing all of sudden in the middle of his list of what to do when they do go camping, then he smiles brightly and says, "We'll drive to town and get whatever we need. I'm sure there's a store there that'll have what we need."
After that, the two are going back and forth on things to do over the week (mostly the camping trip) and are once again talking to each other like an old married couple, finishing their dinners and laughing jubilantly here and there.
Day 17
Danny sighs heavily and leans his guitar against the couch, staring at the untouched fireplace in front of him. He's just finished writing part of a song that Tom has helped him start and for the past couple of hours, he's been waiting for Tom from doing whatever the hell he was doing. Danny was polite enough to wait for him and not shower because Tom didn't, but he was losing his patience and he was irrationally thinking that maybe Tom ran out on him and took his car and left. But that wouldn't be right because Tom's car keys are right there in the middle of the dining table. So without another stupid thought running through his mind, Danny slips on his coat and Vans and steps out into the surprisingly chilly afternoon.
He's not sure where Tom's slipped away exactly, but he can hear distant clicks by the rushing river past the thin woods. Maybe that's Tom.
He follows the clicks and he's right; Tom's crouching by the river and he's taking pictures with his fancy camera. Surprisingly, he's not using his iPhone to take Instagram pics. That's new.
Tom hushes him as soon as Danny started making really loud crunching noises with his shoes against the rocks. Danny's mouth is slightly open and he furrows his eyebrows together out of curiosity. But he's making silent steps towards his friend and he's crouching on Tom's level.
"What're we looking at, mate?" Danny asks quietly, looking at Tom, who hasn't let his camera off his face yet.
"A red squirrel," Tom whispers back, taking the camera off his face and gazes at the squirrel in awe. Danny follows Tom's gaze and his eyes fall on the said red squirrel. It's not hard to spot, seeing as it's literally on the other side of the narrow river taking a few sips of the water. Danny wonders how long its been there and why it hasn't left. But maybe it knows that Tom would never hurt it, let alone a fly. Maybe.
Its eyes suddenly meet Danny's and Danny tries his best to not to make a move. Or breathe. Its pointed ears are moving rapidly and its tail is waving back and forth in a hypnotizing fashion.
Tom hushes him again and slowly brings the camera to his eye and zooms in on the squirrel. He takes a picture and both the squirrel and Danny don't move one bit. Tom turns a bit so the camera has Danny on one side of the picture and the squirrel on the other. He takes the last picture and suddenly, the squirrel is gone.
Tom puts the camera down and holds it up Danny. Danny looks at the picture with a soft chuckle. The squirrel and him look so interested in each other as if they were having a staring contest with each other.
"That's wicked," Danny smiles, patting Tom's shoulder and puts his hands on his knee, starting to get up. "Let's finish that song, yeah?"
Tom nods and takes a longing look at the river before reluctantly following Danny back into the cottage.
Day 21
"This is by far your worst idea. Ever. I can't believe it wasn't me who thought this up, or Dougie, but you. Out of all the people-"
"Danny, I get it. Just get on the board."
Tom had attached his skateboard to the back of his Mini with a rope he found in the trunk of his car. He's not sure where the idea came from, but he thought it was a good one. Danny, however, was completely reluctant. This wasn't something Tom would approve of. Then again, Tom revealed himself to be a completely different person than anyone else ever thought he'd be, and Danny was proud that he would probably be the only person to see this person Tom actually was.
The two boys aren't completely sure if this would get them in trouble, but then again, they're in a rural area, and no one would know or care for what they would be doing. At least, that was Tom's thinking.
"You have your helmet?" Danny asked hopefully. He started to play with his thumbs and bit his lip nervously. He convinced himself that this would be an experience and that he shouldn't back down. Danny hasn't done it before and there was no way he'd get another chance to do this. Even if it is 100% stupid.
"I do. Stop worrying," Tom chuckled, patting Danny's shoulder comfortingly as he handed the shaky brunet his beat up helmet that he barely uses.
"I'm not worried. I'm... I'm concerned...?" Danny replied questionably more to himself than Tom.
Tom scoffed. "Same thing, doofus. I'll start at 20 then I'll speed up. I'll stop when we're about half way there, yeah?"
Danny nodded without a word. They planned to camp out somewhere in the hills of the forest not too far from the cottage for a few days near the end of the trip and found out there happens to be a store in the town nearby with the supplies they need.
"Let's do it, then."
Tom revved up the engine and Danny positioned himself on the board, feeling he was about to piss himself once he put the helmet on and held on to the other rope that attached to the car.
"If I survive this, I'm never going to ride in the same car as Tom ever again," Danny thought once the car started to move out of the driveway. "Oh no. Shit, shit, shit."
Tom did as he promised; he drove the car at 20. But only for a few seconds. It seemed to rev up to 40 afterwards after Tom started driving down the street. Danny tried his best to relax, but he felt his hands start to sweat and the rope start to loosen around his hold and he started to panic. He inched himself more towards the car by pulling at the rope. At least his feet wasn't slipping off.
Tom looked out the window and smiled in relief that Danny was still there. "Having fun, mate?"
Danny glared at him, but he did have to admit, this isn't as bad as he thought. "I'm not dead, so yeah, I guess."
Tom guffawed and smiled evilly. The Tom Danny once knew was no longer there once he saw that expression. All of a sudden, Tom's head was gone and Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana was blasting from inside the car. And Tom sped up, too. Danny could see a lot more cars surrounding them and the road get a lot wider. They were on the fucking highway.
"Damnit Tom! Fuck you, I'm gonna kill you!" Danny screamed. He continued to scream when Tom switched lanes to the other side of the road. Danny's heart started to beat wildly because he almost hit a few cars and he was afraid that one of them might be a police car.
After a few minutes, he found that screaming was very pointless and he felt impolite to the other drivers who were trying to drive in peace. So he shut up and tried to enjoy the next song that came on, which happened to be Seven Nation Army. Danny sighed and sang along. He could hear Tom's voice singing along too. "That bastard," Danny thought. "Of course he would enjoy this."
Soon enough, Danny's heart stopped beating as fast as a cheetah's paws can hit the ground when Tom started to slow down at the side of the highway. "OH MY GOD THIS BASTARD I WILL SLIT HIS THROAT I CAN'T BELIEVE I DID THIS I CAN'T TELL IF I'M HAPPY OR WHATEVER GOD I'M SO BIPOLAR."
"My turn. Go easy, yeah?" Tom said when he got out of the car and received the helmet from Danny. Danny rolled his eyes and pushed Tom playfully, returning Tom's 'friendly' smile with a vicious smirk.
"Oh yeah. Definitely."
Danny didn't are about the guilt rising up in his stomach, he went 60 right away and drove the hell out of Tom's Mini.
"Danny! S-stop! Slow down, you idiot!"
Danny chuckled evilly. "No," he thought. "You're on your own."
While he hummed along to some catchy One Direction song on the radio with Tom's insistent screams acting as the background vocals, Danny followed the GPS's instructions to get them to the camping store.
After what seemed like an hour, the pair arrived at the store; Danny in one piece and Tom shattered in half. At least, that was what he said in his most dramatic expression.
"You're alive mate, that's all that matters," Danny had replied flippantly.
"Just shut up and find what we need," Tom grumbled as he stomped off to the back of the store. Danny dismissed all focuses of trying to find another sleeping bag because Tom seems really pissed. Usually he would let this one go, but there was no one to tell him to leave Tom alone.
"Oi, don't go giving me orders like that! We need to find this stuff together," Danny said exasperatingly.
"No, we don't," Tom argued. He stopped in an aisle labeled 'Sleeping Bags'. Danny looked around and smiled. This was the aisle he was planning on going to, anyway. Great minds think alike.
"Yes, we do. You order me, I hold what we need. Simple as that," Danny explained calmly. Tom looked at him angrily before giving in and nodding. "Fine."
The pair worked diligently and an hour later, they bought all the camping gear they needed and got it all in Tom's Mini.
"We're not gonna use that again, are we?" Danny sighed, pointing at the skateboard.
Tom shrugged. His irrational anger towards Danny had faded away, but he still wanted to ride it. No matter how stupid it is.
"I will. But, go easy, please," Tom said with a bit of reluctance, earning an evil chuckle from the brunet.
Day 22
Tom sat on the couch, playing the B chord endlessly on his guitar. He's been waiting almost three hours for Danny's stupid ass to come back from wherever he said he was going in Tom's Mini. Tom wasn't and still isn't sure why he trusted Danny with his car, but Tom hasn't been much of 'himself' lately, so he didn't have a good excuse.
For all Tom knew, Danny could've ditched Tom and drove all the way back to London. But he couldn't have done that.
Thankfully, to Tom's relief, he heard something crush the gravel outside and an engine turn off. Tom pretended he wasn't worrying his head off about Danny taking his car and continued to play the B chord on his guitar.
"Hey," Danny smiled as he entered the cottage, tossing the keys on the kitchen counter. He entered the living room and flopped on the couch, resting his head against Tom's shoulder.
"Hiya," Tom greeted, rolling his eyes and playfully kissing atop Danny's head, still playing that dumb B chord.
"How long have you been playing that chord?" Danny asked, the smirk evident in his voice. Tom rolled his eyes again. Danny could always read his mind, couldn't he?
"A while, now that you ask."
Tom continued on that chord, eventually playing around with the B and switching off to a B7 and hammering on a few funky notes. And ultimately, he asked Danny the question that's been bugging his mind after the brunet took a small nap on Tom's now numb shoulder.
"Where did you drive to?" Tom asked softly as Danny yawned awake.
He stretched his arms high in the air and replied, "To town. Sorry I was gone longer than expected. I rented us some bikes."
Tom furrowed his eyebrows together, his fingers stopping the strings. "Why?"
Danny shrugged, adjusting the way he sat so he wasn't leaning against Tom but against the armrest of the couch instead. "I dunno. I saw the store while we were driving to buy camping gear yesterday and it kinda just ran through my mind the minute I woke up."
Tom laughed, shaking his head. "And it didn't cross your mind that you would have to ask me first before impulsively renting us bikes?"
Danny smiled sheepishly, crossing his arms. "Sorry. Well, do you mind?"
Tom smiled. It wasn't like he had much of a choice, anyway. "Eh, why not?"
An hour later, the pair set themselves on the driveway in their most comfortable biking clothes and slipped on their helmets.
"We should have a race," Danny stated. He overlooked the thin woods and the grassy hill that looked over River Feshie. He estimated that at the most, it would take him about an hour of steady biking to make it up that hill.
"No, we shouldn't. We should bike slowly and enjoy the scenery," Tom replied seriously. He wasn't about to have anymore antics with Danny. Yesterday was good enough. He just wanted to bike around the woods surrounding their cottage and take some nice pictures with his cool camera.
"No, we should race," Danny argued. He didn't mean it seriously though. If Tom wanted to do that, he could be okay with that. But at the same time, he wanted to race. So bad.
"Let's make a compromise then," Tom said. "We'll bike the way we want up the hill you said you wanted to go to. We'll race back down after chilling up there for a bit. Sound good?"
Danny contemplated this for a moment before nodding in agreement. "Okay!" Then he dashed off on his bike, his butt lifted off the seat and his bike dodging the small amount of trees and easing its way around the river and towards the hill. Tom shook his head and slowly biked his way along the river, stopping every so often to take a picture. He hoped to take enough pictures to print out and make a photo book of for Gio.
Later, Tom finally made it up the steep hill and set his bike next to Danny's. He found Danny quite far from their bikes. He sat right at the part of the hill where you can overlook most of the land below.
"Took you long enough," Danny chuckled softly as Tom sat next to him. Tom smiled at Danny's relaxed expression. He's never seen the Boltoner this much at peace. At least, who couldn't when you're sitting on the greenest grass, gazing at the beauty nature has to offer underneath the perfectly baby blue sky?
He looked back towards Danny after taking some time to chill and forget about everything, and he sees a look he's never seen on his friend before. A look of worry, concentration, and thought. Something you'd never think you'd see on Danny. Ever.
"Mate, you alright?" Tom asked, worry laced in his voice. He inched towards the brunet.
Danny doesn't respond and Tom can tell Danny's lost in another world just by looking at his expression. He wonders what's gotten his friend out of it.
"Dan."
Danny sighs. He brings his head to his knees and leans his head against them, taking another big breath and absorbing as much as he can from the view. He knows he should answer Tom, but he also knows Tom is patient and he'll let him have his moment for a bit. Let him process what he wants to say before he says it aloud.
And Tom does just that, because he knows how to behave around his oldest pal.
"Do you think I'll be a good husband?" Danny finally says, his shoulders relaxing and the frown from his face disappears.
He hears his friend scoff and nudge him hard enough against the side that Danny is momentarily knocked out of 'la-la land'.
"C'mon Jones, have you really been thinking badly of yourself of this late?" Tom chuckles, shaking his head and looking off into the distance with Danny.
Danny shrugs in reply. He knew Tom would laugh at him. Danny's not the type to doubt anything about himself. "Honestly? Yeah. I've shit myself about it ever since I proposed to Georgia. Or, actually, ever since I knew I would propose to her."
Tom stops giggling and realizes that Danny's actually serious. It's not everyday you see the sensitive side of Danny Jones. The last time he saw that side was at his own wedding and he saw Danny crying during his speech/song.
"Danny, you're gonna be a great husband. I mean, Georgia's the first-"
"Please be honest, Tom," Danny says almost pleadingly, and Tom is thrown off by that rare quiver in Danny's voice.
"But I-"
"Tom. You know what I mean. Just for one moment, don't be my best mate. Don't be my annoying brother. Be my crabby and judgmental wife."
Tom snorts. Why is it always they refer to each other as an old married couple?
"Aren't I always?"
"A lot more than I expected you to be," Danny replied teasingly. But there was an edge in his voice, and Tom knew he had to give Danny a serious answer at this point.
"There's no doubt that most of the time, you tend to be as thick the smoothie Dougie tried to make for us the first day we hung out in the band house. I have no doubt in my mind that you and Georgia may go through some tough times together, and I feel like most of that will be through misunderstanding of what you will mean when it comes to conversation," Tom started slowly. "But you know what? You shouldn't give any shit whatsoever about whether you're going to be a good husband or not. You're practically getting married to your best friend, and being a husband won't seem as hard as you think. All that matters is the kind of husband you don't want to be."
After a while, Danny said, "I don't want to be the husband my dad was, that's for sure." The sun was near setting, and Tom knew that they would have to start their race soon if they wanted to beat sunset. He also knew that the subject of Danny's dad is a touchy subject that isn't brought up often. Although it's often brought up in song, it's something that Danny doesn't like to think or talk about at all.
Tom remembers the many times Danny has come over to his house when they were young. At that point, things had just started going downhill for Danny's family, and he remembers Danny bonding with Bob Fletcher very well. Sometimes Tom had found himself watching Danny and his dad talking about football and music for the longest time when the pair were supposed to be working on songs or just hanging out in Tom's old room.
Although from what Danny has told him about his dad, Tom knew that Danny's father wasn't all that bad before the downhill of it all. Danny had told him the many times where his dad actually sounded like a pleasant guy to be around.
"Well, I guess not," Tom agrees. He knows Danny and him shouldn't waste anymore time talking about his dad; long emotional talks aren't of Danny's interest, comfort, or forte. "You know, it's getting pretty dark quite fast."
Danny nods. "Yeah, it is."
Tom slowly smiles as he gets up from the soft grass. "Don't you think it's about time we had that race, Jones?"
Suddenly, Danny's once somber face is now lit up and he's already dashing to his bike, crying out that he can't wait to see Tom's defeated face when he makes it back to the cottage first. All Tom does is giggle and feel relieved that he could help his friend.
Day 24
After preparing everything needed for their night out in the woods (mostly Tom's job) and aimlessly wandering around the house, unsuccessfully trying to write a song (mostly Danny's job), the duo were finally ready to start their journey into the woods and set up camp for the last night of their 'writing trip'.
"Don't forget to lock up the car, mate," Danny reminded as he put on his moderately heavy backpack.
"Did that about three times, considering the fact that I was the one doing all the work," Tom scoffed to which Danny smiled sheepishly at.
"No matter; are you ready to go?" Tom asked as he adjusted his backpack.
Danny nodded and the two set off into the woods to find the perfect campsite.
After about a few hours, the pair had still not found the perfect place to settle down. It was mostly because they couldn't agree.
For example, "Danny, this area's just right! We're not that far from the cottage and-" "Oh my God Tom, the reason we're finding a campsite is to be as perfectly far away from the cottage as possible." "But-" "No."
And, "Tom! There's nothing to worry about! I mean, c'mon, it's just-" "Have you learned anything from horror movies Daniel Jones? You want to stay as far away from the creepy looking abandoned and worn out house as possible. That way, we have a higher survival rate." "You're such a pussy." "Says the man who has one." "Hey!"
I couldn't possibly forget the previous one as well, "We've walked a thousand miles and we've passed about fourteen great places to set up camp. Tom, I'm about to go crazy." "IF I COULD FALL INTO THE SKY, DO YOU THINK TIME WOULD PASS ME BY? 'CAUSE YOU KNOW I'D WALK A THOUSAND MILES IF I COULD JUST SEE YOU TONIGHT!" "This isn't because I said 'a thousand miles', is it?" "IF I COULD FALL- OOF!" At that moment, Tom had tripped on himself and fell face first into the semi-muddy dirt. Danny tried with all his might to not burst into laughter and helped his friend back onto his feet. "That's what you get for singing about falling, mate." Tom glared at him while he tried to get the mud off his face. "Shut up."
The other half of the reason it took them so long was because they couldn't help but make a game out of it all:
"Hey, Dan?" "Yes?" "Did you notice how the woods got thicker than before?" "Yes." "Don't you think that's kind of weird?" "If you're asking me if I think the simple growth of nature is weird, then yes, it creeps the fuck out of me Tommothy." "You're a prick." "Thank you."
"No, but seriously." Tom smiled mischievously. "I think it sounds like a nice idea to play hide and seek."
Danny sighed heavily. "I don't like it when you start thinking about stupid things to do, Tom."
"No, it'll be fun! I swear."
"Says the guy who thought riding a skateboard attached to a speeding car on the highway was the ideal of what 'fun' would be."
"You're starting to sound like me," Tom stated with furrowed eyebrows.
"Same to you," Danny realized.
"Anyways, can we? Please?" Tom whined.
"Okay, geez."
Danny regretted agreeing. He ended up panicking and searching for Tom for an entire hour until he found him up a tree.
Finally, once the sun had started to set, the two musicians decided they'd camp out on the hill they biked up to a few days ago.
"I can't believe it took us that long to decide we wanted to camp out here," Tom sighed as he dropped his heavy backpack onto the ground.
"We're that bad, I guess," Danny chuckled softly, copying Tom's actions.
"You can set up a tent, right Tom?" Danny asked as he stood up from getting some of the tent supplies out of his backpack.
"Yes dad," Tom smirked.
Danny rolled his eyes. "I'm gonna go get some firewood. You better get that finished before the sun goes down."
Tom didn't get it done.
He was too busy taking pictures of creatures passing by.
"Goddamnit Tom," Danny sighed as he shook his head. He knew they wouldn't be able to set up this tent until dawn and he wasn't planning on being the one to set it up while Tom holds the flashlight. He rolled up all the supplies neatly and set up his sleeping bag a safe distance away from the firewood.
"Sorry Dan," Tom shrugged with a meek smile. He didn't think he'd feel so bad for not setting up the tents since he had just realized the tents they bought were extremely faulty, as in there-are-literally-so-many-holes-and-rips faulty.
Danny returned the smile weakly and muttered an "okay". "Just get your sleeping bag set up and the cooking supplies and I'll set up the fire."
Tom nodded and did as he was told. A few hours later, Danny had set up a steady fire and Tom was already cooking themselves some leftover dinner from a few days ago.
"How long is that going to take?" Danny asked politely as he lied down on the soft grass.
Tom stood up from his crouching position near the fire and lied down near Danny, replying, "A while, considering you put our dinner in the freezer instead of the fridge."
Danny chuckled quietly. "Sorry 'bout that."
"It's okay," Tom smiled.
The two men lied there silently and made a few shuffling noises as they tried to make themselves comfortable.
"Hey Dan."
"Yeah?"
"I'm gonna try and telepathically ask you a question."
"Are you sure I'm going to get it? My skull is really thick, you know."
"And your brain's microscopic, but you'll be able to get it."
"How can you be so sure about that?" Danny laughed.
"We're practically a married couple. It was in the contract," Tom joked.
"Alright wife-y. Telepathically send me a question."
Tom stared into space and tried as hard as he could. He had the question formed in his head and imagined it flowing towards Danny's brain. He giggled quietly at the thought of the question not being able to penetrate Danny's incredibly thick skull.
Danny looked at Tom a few times to make sure he was getting this right. If he was actually right, they could probably telepathically talk in the future and rule the world or something.
"I think I got it, Tom."
Tom grinned excitedly. "Awesome. Lay it on me."
"My best man for Georgia and I's wedding will be-"
"Oh my God, you got it!"
Danny burst out into a long fit of laughter, and not to far behind, Tom joined in.
"My best man will be my step-dad," Danny finished with a smirk.
"Really, mate?" Tom scoffed, turning his head towards Danny and raised an eyebrow.
Danny returned the smirk with a joking nod.
"Aw, shut up. Be honest, mate."
"Are you kidding me? You, Dougie, and Harry are gonna be my best men. No one's been through more with me than you three."
Tom smiled contemptibly. "Good."
"Did you think I was gonna choose someone else? Is that why you asked?"
Tom shrugged. "Kinda."
Danny furrowed his eyebrows. "Who did'ya think it'd be?"
"Me. Just me."
Danny's eyes widened and jutted out his lip in thought. That would make some sense, but Tom did choose all three of them to be his best men, so why should Tom be the only best man in his wedding?
"That wouldn't be quite fair, would it, mate?"
"Yeah, I know, but I just thought that since, you know, we're the closest and all and-"
"If it makes you feel any better, you can be my main best man and Harry and Dougie can be my co-best men. I just can't let that be a public title," Danny suggested.
Tom contemplated this idea and said, "Okay. I'm cool with that."
Danny nodded. "So. You're gonna be a dad."
Tom shifted uncomfortably, but managed to smile as if the topic of discussion was okay with him. "Yup."
"You excited?" Danny said, a smile inevitable in his tone.
"Of course! Why wouldn't I be?"
"Well, for starters, you suddenly stood up and walked towards a random direction in a matter of seconds," Danny pointed out, sitting up from his position. "Do you not want to talk about it? It's okay if you don't."
Tom shook his head. He looked back at Danny and sighed heavily, sitting himself down next to the Boltoner.
"Honestly, I'm really nervous. I feel ready, considering all this stuff Gi and I have done to prepare ourselves and the baby, but it's going by so fast. I have doubts that I'm going to be a great dad. I mean, you and Harry would be incredible dads. I don't know about Doug, but if anyone's going to be awesome dads, it would be you and Harry, but mostly you," Tom confessed, not realizing he was spitting his words all over Danny's face. Literally.
"Whoa, you're overreacting here, mate. I mean, you own so much toys and you act like a boy almost all the time. There's no doubt that you're going to be the greatest dad out of all of us. You're gonna be more than just a dad to that little bump; you're gonna be their best friend. And I would be glad to give up my title as best mate to the little rascal." Danny smirked and ruffled Tom's hair, causing the blonde to frown at him. He shook off his hand playfully and smiled genuinely.
"Thanks Dan, but I can't allow you to give up your title as best mate. As much as I'll love my daughter or son, I don't think I'll love them enough to call them my best mate unless it's you."
Danny shook his head, eyes watering and his smile shaking. "You're a twat, don't lie to me like that."
Tom uttered an "oomph!" as Danny tackled/hugged him to the ground, causing the two men to laugh like two young schoolboys.
"Love you, Tom," Danny muttered, kissing the blonde's forehead playfully. Tom chuckled softly and pulled away from the hug, but remained lying on the ground. "Love you too, Danny."
So the two idiots just laid there, looking at the sky and trying to trace out as many penises they could with the stars before they eventually fell asleep.
Day 25
"Do ya think Richard and Fletch are gonna be mad at us?" Danny wondered out loud as they pulled into Danny's driveway.
"If anything, it'll be worse than just mad," Tom chuckled, putting the car in park. "But it's okay. They don't have the heart to kill the best band he's ever managed."
Danny snorted in agreement. "Yeah."
Suddenly, the car lurched to a stop and Danny looked out the window, realizing they were at his house now. After almost three weeks of being on the road, he almost forgot how much he missed Georgia, his dogs, his garden, his studio, his house, but most importantly, Georgia. At the same time, after being on the road for almost three weeks, he wished they were still on their road trip. It would've been cool if they ended up flying out to somewhere they haven't been before, like Hawaii or something.
"You okay?"
Danny looks at Tom and nods with a blank expression. He doesn't attempt to move. He honestly doesn't want Tom to stop driving. He almost tells him to step on it and drive their asses back to Liverpool. That was his favorite part of the trip. He wishes so badly to be 'Doofus and the Brain' again.
Because they're somehow able to read each others' minds, Tom smiles knowingly. "I know. That gig back in The Cavern Club was sick, wasn't it?"
Danny returns the smile and chuckles at the memory of it. "It was sick. We would've made a badass duo, yeah?"
Tom laughs and pushes Danny's shoulder playfully. "Sure, but there's only one problem about that."
"And what's that?"
"You're a doofus."
"Fuck you, you twat."
Danny collects his things from Tom's trunk and lugs them to the front door. Tom leans against the Mini and just as Danny's about to get off the front steps to bid Tom 'farewell', the front door whips open and the two musicians are startled by a shrill and genuinely happy squeal. "Danny!"
Danny twirls around and grins widely at the sight of his fiancé. She literally leaps into his arms and Danny grunts at the immediate contact, but is able to lift her in his arms. "I've missed you," he mumbles into her soft blonde hair.
"Ditto," she giggles giddily into his shoulder.
Tom realizes that this is kind of a private moment and he gets into his Mini. Danny quickly releases from the embrace and gives Tom a grateful smile and a small nod before Tom drives the short distance to his house.
He pulls up and he sees Giovanna sitting on the front lawn with their cat Leia.
He gets out of the car and smiles. "There are the three most important people on earth! Hope you don't mind that I've been gone for- oof!" Giovanna hugs Tom as hard as she can, even though she has a large bump that makes hugging a bit more difficult than usual.
"I know you said you wouldn't be gone for long, but three weeks is a lot, okay? I'm still never used to you being away for more than a few days, to be honest," says Giovanna.
"I know. Me too, Gi," Tom sighs. As much as he likes to admit out loud to some people who Danny can end up feeling like he's his real wife/soulmate (as a joke, of course), he really does love Giovanna. And he never understands why he doubted himself as a father. Danny was right. He was gonna be a great dad. As long as he had Gi, he was gonna be a kickass dad.
"So, how was your getaway with Danny?" Giovanna asked, leading them both inside the house, also reminding him to get his stuff from the car later.
Tom's tempted to tell her everything. How he forgot to lock the car door when him and Danny slept outdoors with practically nothing but a blanket and a bag of crisps. When they were able to play three nights in The Cavern Club. When they went to the beach and Tom felt almost like a dad when he helped Danny make a stupid sandcastle (it was actually really tall and cool but Tom didn't want to admit that out loud). How he rode on a skateboard attached to his car on the freeway. How Danny had gotten him to smoke a quarter of a pack of cigarettes.
But he stopped himself from saying any of that. Because that trip deserves to be something only Danny and him will know and reminisce.
So instead of an exaggerated tale of the two's greatest adventure yet, Tom says instead, "It was fine. We were just cooped up in a hotel for three weeks, that was all."