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His manager and publicist were miracle workers and he loved them for it. They had managed to get him in the charity match and he was even going to be a featured player, which was something he had never expected. He had done a week of training prior to the game day and had been sore for most of it. He had hoped to see some of the girl's team before the match began, but it would seem that they were training for the match differently than the celebrities were. He now had to do a bunch of press for the event, which he didn't usually mind, he was quite used to it by now.

It was now the day before the match and the other guys had done a bunch of press that week without him, using the excuse that he was in training as a reason as to why he wasn't there and using it as a plug for the charity match and Danny's involvement in it. He had several radio interviews to deal with, all over the phone and one television interview. The only difference from the usual ones was that he was alone for this and didn't have the guys to do all the talking. Tom and Harry were the responsible ones who always stayed on topic. He was the funny one and Dougie just didn't talk at all. This would be a bit new. He had never done an interview on camera by himself before.

He made himself even more anxious wondering if Max was watching. He was a featured player, but would that even matter to her. Did the team even have any idea who they would be playing with? Did they really even care? Realistically, they were probably more interested in the men's national team that would be joining them as well. What if she wasn't even playing? The commercial had said many of the team was playing but not all. At least she would be here though. And hopefully Bells would show up as well. He had invited Vicky and his mum, just as planned hoping they would get to speak to Max and Bells.

Danny's interview with "This Morning" was starting and he was still a bit nervous. No big deal, he would play it up, make the interviewers and viewers think it was cute that he was uncomfortable without the others.

"And now we would like to welcome…Danny from McFly." Fern announced. The audience cheered. Danny felt honoured that he would be on one of her last shows before she ended her run on the show and Holly took over. He had always had a soft spot for Fern; she was always so sweet to them when they came on the show. At least Phil would still be there.

He waved to the audience as he walked out onto the stage. They cheered louder. He had to love their fans. McFly fans were some of the most devoted fans out there, he was sure of it. He took his seat on the stool and let his nerves show through just a bit.

"Danny," Fern began in her fun voice, "how are you doing?"

"I'm really good. I'm so excited to be here."

"You look a bit nervous, Dear."

"Well, I suppose I am a bit," he said playfully. "This is my first interview ever alone, the guys aren't here to cover for me if I say something stupid." He laughed.

"Well, how about this," Fern laughed with him. "I'll make Phil say something dumber to cover it up, how would that be?"

"Excellent," the crowd had laughed with them through the whole exchange. Good, he was doing fine so far.

"So tell us what you'll be up to tomorrow, Danny," Phil started in."

"Well, I'm playing the charity World Cup game with the Women's and Men's National teams tomorrow afternoon."

"Are you nervous about that too?"

"Oh Yeah," Danny said this with emphasis. "The women are the best in the world right now, aren't they? So I'm going to look like complete rubbish next to them. I plan on being thoroughly embarrassed."

Both hosts laughed along with the audience this time. "So how does the whole thing work? Is it celebrities against the players? Or men against women? What kind of set up can we be expecting?"

"The teams are being split up with half of the women's team on each side and half of the participating men on each side. The 'celebrities' are going to be split up from there. Even we don't know which side we'll be playing on yet. They're not letting us in on it until the morning."

"Are they any people you hope are on your team?"

"I would love to play along side all of them, actually. It really is an honor to even be a part of this match at all. It's supposed to be the biggest charity match ever played in England."

"How has your training been?"

"Excellent, although I'm really sore all the time now. I just go home and lay on my couch every night. I don't have any energy left. But it's totally worth it to be surrounded by players of the caliber our national teams are."

"Is there anyone in particular you are really hoping to meet?"

"Anyone I can," Danny laughed. "I've always loved football ever since a friend of mine taught me when I was about eight."

"Well we wish you the best for tomorrow," Fern told him with her sweet smile. "And of course we wish you and boys the best of luck with everything you are working on this summer and with the newest album coming out in early fall."

"Thanks so much, are you going to be watching?"

"I've actually got tickets," Fern said. "So I'll be watching everything from the stands. I can't wait, I love football too."

"And are you hoping to meet anyone?" Danny asked her coyly.

She gave an almost girlish giggle, "I think everyone is hoping Beckham will show, and I'd love to meet him if he's there."

"Well best of luck on that front."

"Thanks, and thanks so much for being here today. Danny from McFly everyone."

Danny waved to the audience again and waited for the show to go to a commercial before standing from his chair.

"Excellent, Dear. As always."

"Thanks Fern, we're going to miss you."

"Oh, you'll see me around. I love you boys too much to stay away completely." She hugged him gently and he went back to the dressing room where Fletch was waiting for him. He needed to get back to training.

******

"Danny," the coach they had been working with yelled to him. "Focus, you're letting everything get by you. If you play like this tomorrow, the ladies are going to embarrass you even more than we planned for."

"Thanks, Coach," the sarcasm in his voice was evident. "Sorry, I'll do better."

He had just found out that the World Cup team was nearby hoping to train when they were done with the field. He was nervous. What if he ran into her before he was ready? It wouldn't really matter right? They were friends and, while they had lost touch, they practically grew up together. Weird as it sounds, they were like brothers, just like his mum had said, even though Max was, in fact, female. It hadn't felt that way at the time, she was just one of the guys then. He wondered if it would still be that way, even though she was now surrounded by more women, women that were clearly good influences, than she ever had been before.

"Alright everyone," the coach called them in. "we've got to give the team some time. I don't think they have done any training together since the gold metal game. We need to give them some time to get back in the groove."

The 'celebrities' all filed back to their respective locker rooms. Danny held back hoping to catch a glimpse of the team as they entered the pitch. He saw some of them trickle out of the women's room, but not Max and if he lingered any longer he figured he would look a bit weird and he didn't want to deal with that yet.

He went home and crashed early. He was wiped and he needed to be at the pitch early tomorrow for interviews with members of the press who would be present. He was hoping to not be to tired when he got there. The guys would be there, so would Vicky and his mum. He didn't want to embarrass the band or himself. Tomorrow was going to be long. He had all the pre-game stuff, then the match itself, and the after party with the players, coaches, and special guests. McFly had been asked to perform, and Tom had willingly agreed. Danny was just hoping he would still be awake and his voice would hold out for that long as they were performing something from the new album.

It was going to be a long day.

******

The pre-game interviews and everything had gone well and they had just been told if they would be on the red or blue teams. Danny was on the Red team. The whole of the red team now filled the locker room. Max wasn't on his team. His coaches were telling them some of their planned plays and told them what warm-ups they would be doing together so they could blend better with the team.

There would be twenty-four on each side so they could sub frequently for those unable to keep up the way regular athletes could. The World Cup team had twenty players, sixteen of which would be playing today, eight on each side. The others were nursing small injuries and didn't want to make them worse, but were sitting nearest the sidelines to shout encouragement at their teammates. Max was definitely playing. She was a big crowd drawer right now and the team had decided to use it to their best advantage. He heard she might even be doing a speech to thank everyone for coming for the charity event. Apparently, she was easily believable since it was common knowledge her childhood had been hard and this was a Children in Need event.

Eight men from the national team had chosen to play, four on each side. So there were twelve professional football players on each side and twelve others. Some of the other 'celebrities' were musicians as well, but there were also actors, politicians, other professional athletes including a successful Olympic swimmer, a rower who also had a gold, and two cricket players who had been "MVPs" at the Ashes.

Both teams would get time on the pitch alone before any spectators arrived. Danny was nervous to be playing with all these people who were so much better than him. According to the coach he was doing pretty well in comparison to most of the others, but then he had a coach when he was a kid that most people would kill for now. Max had run him hard so she would have someone to play against when they were little.

Each team had a coach of the women's team and a coach that had been working with the celebrities all week so they would know who to use for what and how to run the plays. Danny was amazed at the amount of planning that had gone into this match, right down to the plays. Everything was well thought out.

They ran their practice after the blue team was done and they passed them going into the locker room but Danny still didn't see Max, she must have gone in first.

The training went as well as could be expected for a bunch of people who had never played together before. The national players were really good about not taking control too much, passing to the others and bringing them into their plays. This would be a good game to play. It would be fun and, Danny hoped, it would be entertaining to watch for everyone in the crowd.

Back in the locker room they all suited up and waited for the moment they would be led onto the field. This would be introduced a bit different from a normal game. Each team would enter in a line, but each member would take off separately so the announcer would have time to say not only their names but also their 'claim to fame.'

The red team was first. Danny listened as each of the other players ahead of him was announced. The actual players were announced first, 'celebrities' after them. Danny was second to last. The guy who was last played a doctor in some U.S. based medical show. Danny didn't watch it because he didn't ever understand what was going on. All Danny could remember was that his name was Hugh and even though he looked older, he was still really good on the pitch.

"DANNY JONES," he ran out to the tumultuous applause. "Front man for pop/rock sensation McFly."

They called out the last player as he took his place on the line facing the entrance of the field house. The Blue team would file out next.

The women were called first, but Max didn't appear. This didn't make any sense. All the World Cup players on his team had been called out right away. Where could she be? The announcer was now through all the celebrities but didn't seem to done yet.

"And ladies and gentlemen please welcome the golden ball winner and best young player of the World Cup series…TOMA MAXWELL." The stands exploded as the tall woman burst from the doors pulling up behind her one of the largest British flags he had ever seen. It must have weighed a ton, her hands were clasped one low on the pole and one as high as she could reach and he could see every muscle in her arms straining as she ran the length of the field. Everyone was on their feet now, cheering and screaming wildly, players included. She passed the flag off when she reached the other end and ran back to her place in the line with the rest of her team, waving to the stands as she did so.

He was grinning at her like a mad man and he knew it too, but he just couldn't help it. Seeing her for the first time in over five years was awesome, even if it was from across a football pitch. She finally got to her place in line and looked directly across the pitch. She was looking right at him, he was sure of it. An even wider grin broke on her angular face. He got that super excited feeling in his stomach that he always got at gigs. The feeling like it was going to be great.

A whistle blew and the two teams ran toward each other, shaking hands with the person directly in front of them. Danny actually found he was upset that he had not been last because the doctor/actor guy got to shake Max's hand and he didn't. But as everyone else started to turn away, Max held out a fist. Danny hit it with his own, a huge smile on his face, and they both turned back to their teams. Their ritual was still intact.