Tom looked up as the front door opened. He set down his comic and poked his head out the living room door to see Dougie struggling through the front door, loaded down with various bags from the supermarket.
Tom rushed over to help, grabbing a few off him and lugging them to the kitchen before turning back to the seventeen year old.
"Where's Danny? Isn't he supposed to be helping y-"
At this moment, Danny strolled past, eyes glued to the Kerrang! Magazine he was reading.
"I would comment on the lack of sympathy you apparently have for Dougie's non- existent ability to carry more than two bags at a time, but I'm too stunned that you're actually reading something." Tom said drily.
Danny and Dougie both turned wide eyes on him.
"You what?" In unison.
Tom shook his head. "It doesn't matter." He and Dougie began unpacking the bags, Dougie rattling off a monotone to fill the silence- "And they didn't have any honey bread, so I got the pumpkin stuff instead, cause you said once you missed that from home, and Danny said you said you wanted chocolate milk and I'm pretty sure he made it up but I got some anyway, just in case..."
Tom smiled slightly as he listened, then pulled out a small rectangular plastic case from one of the bags. Dougie went silent, then:
"That's, um, for you."
Tom blinked at the C.D- a Beatles Compilation- and looked at the blushing boy in front of him.
"...For me?" He echoed, confused.
"Um. Yeah. Mum sent me some money, and I wanted to... get you it, cause you said you wanted it."
Tom laughed, fell silent, then laughed again, bemused. "Cheers, mate, that's really... sweet." He looked at it again and his smile grew to a grin as he read the list on the back.
"All my favourite songs, as well..." He flashed a grin at the beaming blonde, and placed it back on the table as they continued unpacking.
Later on that night, Harry nodded slowly as Tom finished telling him about the present. He held the case in one hand, and Tom frowned as he failed to answer.
"Jealous?" He laughed, confused.
Harry looked up from the disk. "Nah, that's all good, mate. Sweet of him. But I don't get," He held the case up and flipped it over, "Why the security tag is still on it."
Tom fell silent.
"Oh. Oh, shit."
When Danny wandered in two hours later, he was immediately pulled down on to the sofa by Harry, while Tom stood in front of him.
"Woah, woah." Danny looked at them both, confusion and slight fear on his freckled face. "Whatever it is, I didn't do it."
Tom rolled his eyes, then held up the C.D. "Danny, did Dougie pay for this?"
Danny frowned at it. "Didn't even know he got it... why?"
"He gave it to me, and the security tag's still on it."
Danny looked at him. "He filched it."
"Stole," Tom translated for Harry, then looked back at Danny. "He said his mum sent him the money."
"His mum don't send him fuck all, she's poor as."
Tom bit his lip, and Harry leaned back; he could translate that for himself, and he knew as well as the others what was going on.
"Why?" Tom murmured.
"Cause he wants you to like him." Danny said flatly, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world and he had this conversation everyday. He then looked at Harry. "You can let go of me now."
"Oh, right. Sorry." Then, "But he knows Tom likes him."
Danny sighed, bored. "He wants to make sure. It's like when you... I dunno, when you top up your credit on your phone, make sure you still have some, just to be sure. He's pretty insecure, yeah?"
Tom and Harry digested this, then Tom opened his mouth, and Dougie walked in.
He stopped when he saw their serious faces, and blinked. "What's wrong?" His eyes moved down to the C.D.
Tom waited for him to go pale, walk away, look scared, but he didn't. He just raised his eyebrows and waited.
"Dougie," Harry asked from behind Danny, "Did you buy this?"
Dougie hesitated. "Yes."
"With money?"
"What kind of a question is that?"
"One you need to answer."
Dougie's expression turned petulant. "Fine. No."
"You stole it?"
Dougie's eyes narrowed, and his arms folded. "Yeah."
"Why?"
"He wanted it! There's nothing wrong with getting stuff for people!"
Tom stepped in before tempers got out of hand. "You said your mum gave you money."
"She ain't got any money."
"Then you lied? So you knew it was wrong?"
"I knew you'd think it was wrong!"
"What's that meant to mean?"
"You have money, you can buy it! You never need to do it, you don't know what it's like to want to do something nice but not be able to- anyway, I got you a fucking C.D for no reason, least you could do is be grateful! Jesus!"
And he stormed out.
"Well," Danny said absently, "That went well."
"Dougie, I've stolen stuff for people before."
Dougie turned to see Danny leaning against the wall behind him. He glowered and turned back to the pool he had his bare feet in.
Danny came and sat down on the tiles next to him, pulling off his sandals and splashing his feet in next to Dougie's. They sat in the sun for a while in silence, then Dougie spoke in a quiet voice.
"What're they gonna do?"
Danny rolled his head back to look at the sky. "Prob'ly tell your mum, make you give it back, ground you."
Dougie looked at him. "Did they tell you?"
"Nah, mate, they did it to me when I filched a football last year."
Dougie blinked. "You did? I never..."
"Knew about it?" Danny completed. "They wouldn't have told me about this if it weren't for that I'd know why you did it, mate. They ain't complete assholes, they just wanna know the truth. It ain't right, nickin' stuff."
"It is if it's for someone else."
"Two wrongs don't make a right."
Dougie rolled his eyes. "Now you sound like Harry."
"He preaches to me a lot, it rubs off. Anyway, you should go talk to them about it."
Dougie shook his head, and Danny sighed, not unkindly.
"Want me to get Harry out the way?"
He knew how it felt, to have been caught stealing by the richest member of the group, who would never consider such a thing.
Dougie nodded.
"Alright, mate."
Tom looked up and smiled as Dougie watched him from his bedroom door.
"Come on, Dougs," He said kindly. "Let's go return that C.D."
The day after Dougie's three weeks of being grounded came to an end, Tom looked up from his comic to see Dougie holding out a C.D and a slip of paper.
It was a Beatles Compilation C.D, and a receipt.
