A/N: Fillerish, but important. Don't get too bored, yeah? More interesting stuff will happen in future chapters.
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Dougie sent Riha's letter out with all the rest of his fan mail and, thank Heavens, his bills. Harry had come over to his house the day after his chaotic morning to help him organize and clean up. They had spent the entire day going through his entire flat (apart from his bedroom. Harry had said Dougie would have to deal with that on his own,) cleaning and paying off his debts. He really did have the best of friends didn't he?
"Yo dumb ass, pass me the fucking ketchup." Dougie rolled his eyes and he handed the bottle over to Danny who was working on his fourth hotdog. They had finished up another day in the studio and had decided to congratulate themselves by a horrible barbeque at Tom's house. None of them were great cooks, so most of their food had burned, but Danny enjoyed it all the same.
"Tom! What's this big black thing that's lying in the sink?" Tom's girlfriend of three years called out to them from his kitchen window.
"Um… we're not quite sure. I think it was a burger, though it looks more like a hotdog." Tom replied, looking apologetic.
"Come taste it and then we'll know!" She yelled back, angrily.
Tom and Gio seriously were the best couple around. Though none of the guys would admit it, they all kind of worshiped the relationship that the two had. It was like the ideal boyfriend-girlfriend powers. They actually did love each other.
"Only if you taste it first!" Tom called back, laughing as he hopped up from his seat on the deck and ran inside to try the unknown food with Gio.
"If he gets sick, he still has to sing tomorrow." Danny grumbled as he bit into his fifth dog.
"Dude, if you get sick you'll still have to sing tomorrow too." Dougie laughed, reminding his friend that he was a lead singer as well. Danny shrugged his shoulders, untroubled by the thought.
"I wont get sick. These things are great!" He replied enthusiastically, biting into the black dog.
"They're disgusting. Dougie, that's the last time we'll ever let you work the grill." Harry laughed as he ate some crisps.
"Practice makes perfect, my friend. Maybe next time I won't forget that I put them in there." Dougie shrugged his shoulders, honestly unperturbed by the fact he wouldn't have to cook again. "You all volunteered me anyway."
"We'll never make that mistake again. Turns out the black thing was burned bread. When did you even put that on the grill?" Tom asked as he walked back outside, his face showing he didn't enjoy eating the black unknown substance.
"I didn't?" Dougie replied confused.
There was complete silence for a moment until everyone burst out laughing, not bothering to actually find out where the bread had come from.
"We're all going to be puking on stage tomorrow. The fans will hate us forever!" Tom laughed as he recovered his breath.
"Maybe they'll enjoy it. They liked it when we got our kit off." Danny argued, sipping his beer.
"I think that barfing is a bit different from stripping, Dan." Harry put in, rolling his eyes at his not-so-intelligent friend.
"Who knows? I bet that there is one fan out there that'd love us to barf on them. We've got some crazies, mate." Danny put in, as though he knew was he was talking about.
"But that crazy? I hope not." Tom said, looking slightly worried.
"Dude, I got twenty five marriage proposals in our last fan mail bunch. But on top of that I got thirty requests for locks of me hair. That's like… fifty crazy birds right there." Danny said, looking convinced.
"Dude, that's fifty-five." Harry corrected him, as though it was normal.
"See my point?" Danny had won.
"I didn't get any request for locks of my hair. Is it weird that most of my letters were from dudes?" Tom asked, flipping his blonde hair out of his eyes so that his friends could see his serious face.
"Um… well… probably not mate." Danny laughed, teasing.
"Most of my letters were from girls. I only got twenty proposals though… dude and one death threat!" Harry laughed, as though he was proud.
"Seriously? What'd it say? Dear Harry from Mcfly, I do not like the way you play drums. I will steal your drum sticks and poke your eyes out!" Tom's voice went down a few octaves as he spoke, causing everyone to laugh.
"Not quite that descriptive, no. And I think it was from a girl. I think she's just jealous though, personally." Harry replied, shrugging his shoulders.
"What about you, Doug? Did you just get the normal stuff again?" Danny asked, looking at Dougie interestingly.
Dougie wasn't quite sure if he wanted to tell the guys about Riha's letter, or his own response to it. Sure the guys were great friends, but pen paling was not there sort of thing. Danny and Harry would make fun of him forever, and Tom would probably just laugh it off. It was probably better to just not mention it.
"Meh, I got the norm again. I did get one sex story for Danny though. Seriously, she like full out described what she wanted to do to him. I replied back saying that her letter was accidentally sent to your mum, Dan." Dougie said proudly, smiling as though proud of himself.
"No way! Did you save the letter?" Danny asked, interested. The guys burst out laughing again, rolling their eyes at Danny's idiocy.
"No, Dan. I didn't."
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"Hello London! How you all doing tonight?" Dougie absentmindedly fiddled with his bass while Tom spoke to the crowd. Tom usually was the one who promoted their albums during their gigs, meanwhile Danny and Dougie made faces to one another in order to refrain from laughing at Tom's serious mode.
Harry was making crude hand gestures behind Tom as he sat at his drum kit. The crowd enjoyed their stage antics, laughing loudly as Tom tried to speak. He eventually turned around to see what was so funny, just to find Harry looking up at the sky, whistling suspiciously.
"Guys, I don't feel so good!" Danny's voice rang out loudly through the venue as he held his stomach in his hands and smiled, joking around.
"Maybe it's because of the ridiculous amount of hotdogs you ate yesterday." Tom suggested in a motherly tone.
"I did it for the fans. Those freaky, freaky fans." Danny replied, earning a loud cheer from the crowd.
"And how would making yourself sick make the fans happy?" Tom asked, though he must've known exactly where Danny was headed.
"I can give them my puke as a concert gift!" Danny replied as though it was a great idea.
There was a collective grotesque noise throughout the stadium. The fans didn't really like the idea.
"Knew they wouldn't like it. We should've bet on it. I could've made some serious money." Dougie laughed into his own microphone, sounding upset.
"I bet that I can find one person in here who would LOVE to have my barf." Danny argued, sounding very confident.
"You're on." Dougie agreed, waiting for Danny to start selling his puke to the crowd.
"Who wants Danny Jones Vomit?" Danny yelled into his microphone, looking towards the crowed expectantly. Dougie began shaking his head violently, hoping that they would comprehend his message.
"EWWW!" The crowd shouted back at Danny, laughing as his shock faced looked around the venue.
"I'll give you all locks of me hair!" He bargained, laughing.
The cheering from the crowed was obnoxious.
"Are you kidding me? You all are traders! Danny Jones wants to PUKE on you, and you're up for it if he gives you hair? I'll cut his hair off in the night for you, if you want. But DON'T GET PUKED ON!" Dougie spoke, bursting into fake tears.
The crowd began to make disgusted noises again, turning back to Dougie's side. He was very happy to have won.
"Alright! We know who the clear winner is! Danny, you owe Dougie some money. Now, our next song is one of our new ones. Off the Radio: Active album. Who's got it? WOW, okay, THANKS GUYS! Anyway, here's Down Goes Another One!"
Dougie couldn't stop smiling for the rest of the show. He really did love playing on stage with the guys; it was the most fun anyone could ask for. He got some kind of natural high whenever they were in the middle of a song and he would look out into the crowd to see all the people singing the words right back at them. It was amazing.
His thoughts suddenly turned to Riha, remembering how in the letter she had said she'd never been to one of their shows. She had lived in London her entire life but had never gone to a McFly show? They played different venues in the big city all the time. There must've been a reason she hadn't seen their shows if he was important enough to write to.
Dougie's mind began to wander off again as his thoughts bounced from fan letters, to favorite bands like Blink 182, to all the letters he had written them begging for them to reunite, and then for some reason, back to Riha.
It was a weird train of thought.
"All right, you wonderful, wonderful people. We have one more song for you before we have to go. Yes, I know, it sucks. But we're not allowed on more then this. Take it up with the venue people! Anyway, lovely people, this is The Last Song! Enjoy!" Danny laughed into his microphone, probably upsetting the venue owner just a bit. Way to go, Dan Man.
When the gig was finally over and the guys were loaded up in their van, ready to head back to their respective houses, Dougie suddenly remembered something.
"Daniel, you owe me money." His tired voice drawled out, though he hoped Danny could understand him.
"No I don't." Danny argued back, sounding very stubborn in his tiredness.
"Do too. I won the bet." Dougie's voice didn't' sound very convincing.
"I'll pay you both to shut up." Harry barked from his passenger seat, turning on the radio to block his friends out. Dougie sighed, content without gaining any money from his friends, and fell asleep.
"Dougie! Rise and Shine my friend! We've got T.V. today, so let's go!" Dougie jolted awake as he heard fists pounding on his bedroom door. It sounded as though Tom and Fletch were both there, banging together.
"I'm coming!" He called back, pulling himself sleepily out from under his warm duvet. What time was it?
"Guys! It's six in the morning!" He called angrily, falling back onto his bed.
"We have to be there in an hour!" Fletch said, opening Dougie's door and pulling him up into a standing position. How could Fletch be this awake in the morning? It was humanly impossible.
"I've got coffee going, mate. Take a shower and we're going!" Tom called from his living room, sounding very cozy.
"Make yourselves at home, guys!" Dougie called back angrily as he untangled himself from his blanket again and stumbled his way into his bathroom.
Once he was finished with his shower and changed into clothes that didn't smell too bad, Tom handed him a thermos of wonderfully great smelling coffee and they headed out the door.
"Where're Dan and Harry?" Dougie asked as he, Tom, and Fletch piled into the van. Tom looked a bit befuddled as he replied, rolling his eyes.
"We have to go pick them up. Dan crashed at Harry's last night and they were running a bit late. They better be ready by now." Tom's voice sounded threatening, though Dougie didn't really care. He leaned his head on the window, hoping to grab a few more minutes of sleep. He was barely aware when Danny and Harry hopped into the car, and he paid no attention while Fletch lectured them on tardiness. They had heard it all before.
"Where are we going today?" Dougie mumbled from the back, curious.
"Top of the Pop's." Tom replied, sounding slightly happy. He usually enjoyed T.V. appearances the most out of all the guys in the band. It wasn't because he was the most conceited, far from it; mostly it was because he liked knowing that their band had gone far enough to actually be on the television.
They drove in silence to the studio, trying to catch up on their sleep. No one could honestly say that they were excited about going on T.V., but they usually enjoyed themselves.
"We're here guys. Don't look too bored." Fletch said sarcastically as the boys tumbled their way out of the van. Silently, they walked into the T.V. studio, mumbling Hello to all of the other sleepy workers, empathizing with everyone. No one liked waking up early…
"McFly? Hair and Make-Up is this way. We'll be recording in about twenty minutes, so take the time to maybe drink some coffee or eat something. It should wake you up a bit." A cute girl said as walked up to them. She looked professional, though her small frame gave her the innocent look. Her black headset was blabbering loud enough for all the boys to hear, causing Dougie to wonder how on earth she could focus on all the noise and have a conversation at the same time. He could barely walk and talk at the same time in his current state.
"My name's Melanie and I'll be your manager/techie/everything-important this morning. If you have any questions about what's going down today, direct them to me, okay? Food table's right around the corner over there just incase you get hungry. I'll show you to Hair and Make-Up now though." She said quickly, looking busy.
The guys followed her like puppy dogs, trying not to get lost among the chaos that was the T.V. studio. People were running around, slamming away on computers, and filing random papers that Dougie found unimportant. All he cared about was the coffee thermos in his hands.
"Dougie, honey, you'll need to put that down while I do your make up. Can't spill, can we?" A nice old woman said to him as he sat in the barbershop chair. He complied by setting on the table in front of him as he readied himself for the make-up. It was his least favorite part of the job…
Ten minutes later, the kind woman was finished and he hopped out of the chair with a Thank You. He made his way out of the room, looking for the food cart that Melanie had pointed out before hand. Harry was the only other person who was finished, so Dougie assumed that was where he'd wandered off. After a minute of searching, Dougie finally found the table again.
"Yo Haz," He said, walking up to his friend who was munching on a muffin.
"What's up, Doug?" He acknowledged Dougie's appearance, still looking tired. "Can you get me some coffee? I'm dead on my feet over here." Harry laughed, nodding to the big coffee cooler on the table behind Dougie. Dougie made his friend a cup, handing it to him carefully, trying not to spill any.
"Thanks mate."
"No problem." Dougie said, suddenly waking up more. Finally, the caffeine in his body was starting to kick in.
"That Melanie chick was kind of cute." Harry commented, trying to get Dougie into the conversation.
"She looked wicked distracted. I felt bad," He replied, not really seeing a big attraction. She was cute, yeah, but busy.
"Perfect for you, mate. Once you're done and moved on, she'll forget because she's so busy." Harry laughed quietly, causing Dougie to roll his eyes.
"Sure," Dougie passed off, not really agreeing. Harry had been trying to hook Dougie up with every girl they'd see for a serious amount of time. He believed Dougie needed to at least try to settle down, even though that was exactly the opposite of what Dougie wanted to do.
"You going to talk to her then?" Harry asked, looking hopeful.
"Most likely not." Dougie laughed and the subject was dropped once Tom and Danny appeared at the table.
"Thought you two would be here. How's the coffee?" Tom asked Harry, noticing he had a cup.
"Pretty good. Get Doug to make yours. He's pretty decent at it." Harry said as he reached forward and patted Dougie's head like a dog.
"We're ready for you now, guys!" Melanie appeared at the corner of the hallway, looking frantic. The guys quickly walked over to where she needed them and sat on the couch across the woman interviewing them. She looked nice enough.
"3…2…1… action," The cameraman said, pointing towards the woman to continue.
"Hello McFly! How are you?" She asked, seeming interested.
"Great, and yourself?" Tom asked, politely.
"I'm great as well. I saw you guys at your gig a four nights ago. You four really know how to put on a show!" She laughed, looking happy.
The rest of the interview went in the most basic way possible. Single plugging, new album, tour dates, and then they finished.
"That went very well guys. Now you can all go home and sleep!" Melanie laughed as the boys exited the stage, laughing politely at her joke.
They were headed back into the van when Harry tapped Dougie on the shoulder, shoving a piece of paper in his hand.
"I didn't ask her to give it to you." He laughed as Dougie looked down at the slip.
Melanie: (020) 889326362
"Harry!" Dougie said, throwing the paper at his back.
"What?" He asked innocently, laughing at Dougie reaction. Dougie rolled his eyes, knowing that he would loose the battle anyway.
"I've got more fan mail!" Fletch said, throwing four bundles back to the guys. Harry, Danny, and Tom gave a collective sigh, probably predicting the carpel tunnel syndrome that they would have by the end of the night. Dougie, on the other hand, began going through his letters quickly, trying not to look too suspicious.
And then he found it. Riha wrote him again.
