Remember that time Busted and McFly went on tour and killed a cat?
No?
That's because I made it up.
"Ahahaaa. Lalalalalaa, happyhappyhappy."
Tom gritted his teeth as Danny skipped down the tour bus, and back up to the other end... and back again.
And repeat.
"Ehehee. Happylalaa... La."
Harry walked around him, obviously straining not to yell at him as well. He took the seat across from Tom and began flicking through a sports magazine.
"Lalalalalala."
Next came Dougie, who ducked under Danny's swinging arms and sniggered. He was the only one who could put up with Danny's antics and still find him amusing- they'd been living together for two months, and the two were thick as thieves. Quite literally, in fact, as Tom had found out one day when his peanut butter had gone missing and he tracked it down to the garden shed, where Danny and Dougie were sitting eating it with spoons.
"Lalalalalalalalalalalalalala lalalalala-"
"DANNY!" Danny stopped and blinked owlishly at Tom, then grinned. As he opened his mouth (probably to launch into another round of 'La's') Matt and James entered the bus.
"Alright, guys?" Matt grinned, throwing himself next to Dougie, who's eyes lit up. Harry hid his smirk in his magazine- Dougie's admiration for the three Busted members was so blatantly obvious.
Matt threw an arm around Dougie and grinned.
"Ah, tour. It's the best part of being in a band, I kid you not. You'll fucking love it, boys." His face grew animated as he spoke, and he spread out an arm in front of him, which Dougie watched. "The screaming girls-"
"And dudes." James tacked on.
"-And dudes, the huge lights, the parties... God, it's fucking immense." He looked down at Dougie, who was still gazing at the hand he was waving around, and ruffled his hair. "Especially you," He grinned fondly. "I have a feeling you're going to be the best tour animal since... well, me, obviously."
Dougie grinned widely.
James, meanwhile, was talking to Danny.
"...no, it's not 'Lalala', it's 'LalaLAlaLAlalaa."
Danny nodded slowly. "LaLAlala-"
"No, LalaLAlaLAlalaa."
"lalaLALALA-"
"No..."
As the singing lesson continued, Harry looked around. Matt and Tom were talking excitedly about the upcoming tour on the other side of him. He sighed and glanced back at the cricket pages, then looked up at the ceiling. He hated being the one who never joined in- there was Danny and James, who were as nuts and out of it as each other, then Matt and Dougie, both bassists and avid fans of all the same stuff.
Then Matt and Tom could talk for hours about the pros and cons of a Fender guitar, and Tom and James could write five songs in one sitting and not even break a sweat.
And then there was Danny and Matt. Both of them used to be twats at school; both had 'rebellious' natures; both were the sluts of their respective bands, and neither was usually seen without a cigarette hanging from their mouth. Naturally, the two were destined to be some sort of a bad-ass duo.
Which left Charlie.
But even though Charlie and Harry had gone to the same school and had all the same interests, they had never been that close. Harry suspected age difference- related issues; Danny suspected, as he had once so elegantly put it, 'boarding school fun. If you know what I mean.'
Harry had to concede that yes, he did know what Danny meant but, to the Northerner's (slightly disturbing) disappointment, gay sex between himself and the Busted member was not the case.
As if on cue, Charlie strolled onto the bus. He paused, taking in Danny and James and their astonishingly bad singing, then shook his head and came to sit across from Harry.
"Alright?"
"Yeah, mate. You?"
"I'm good. I'm good..." Charlie's attention was caught by Dougie, who was listening to Matt's tales of touring with a rapturous expression.
"...and this chick, she was like, begging me to sign her tits. And I was all, 'Get away, you freak', but she wouldn't leave me alone. So James just comes up behind her and goes 'I'll sign your shoulder boulders, hot stuff. While we're at it, if you like, I could leave a message in your va-"
"Lovely weather, isn't it!" Tom cried with a slightly wild look in his eyes. Matt considered him.
"No, that is not what he said."
"Matt, don't you think Dougie's a little, ah, vulnerable to be listening to your- admittedly educational, but nontheless disgusting- stories of band life?" Harry said, amused.
Dougie scowled. "Am I fuck!"
Danny looked over. "You are, indeed. LalaLALALAlala."
Tom leaned his head back against the seat. "I need a drink."
"LALALAlalaLAAAAAA,"
"Bit early to be drinking, mate," Matt commented. "Although come to think of it- hey, Doug, did I ever tell you about the Morning Codka Shot Incident of '04? Man, that was a good day. Well, me and James were on the bus one day..."
And thus began the beginning of the Crash And Burn tour, and the end of Dougie's fifteen- year- old innocence.