Danny slipped himself off the wall puzzled by Anya's words, he wasn't sure what she'd meant by 'Sorry I couldn't save her' but whatever it was he had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach that bubbled away, he looked down at the perfectly squared piece of paper in his hand curious to know what it contained.
A small smile appeared on his face as he noticed Lolly's handwriting and started to read what she had to say to their daughter.
As every word sunk in, a part of his smile faded away and all the happiness he felt minutes before had drained out of him leaving him pale faced and completely numb inside, His attention then came across to the picture that Lolly requested Anya to show his mum, he rubbed his thumb lightly over the glossy image of the younger Lolly as he remembered that day as if it was yesterday.
Flashback:
A heatwave decided to hit the country one weekend and Danny's family had planned a trip to the beach, Lolly was invited to join them for the day as her parents had to work.
After finding a place on the sand to lay their blankets and prop up their sun brollies, Danny and Lolly went to the public changing rooms to dress into their swimming clothes as they couldn't wait to jump into the water.
"I'll race you to the sea Danny" Lolly suggested just as Mrs Jones finished applying the last bit of sun cream on to Lolly's arms "I'm going to win!" He shouted already heading out to the huge mass of water in front of him "Danny!...thats cheating" Lolly whined and shortly followed in the same direction They were in the water for hours, playing around and splashing each other until they had no energy left to play, they waded out of the water onto the soft sand where the water just skimmed their toes and Lolly looked over to where Mrs Jones was sat reading her book with her sun hat and glasses on
"My legs are too tired, I don't think i can walk all the way back up the beach" Lolly said pouting at Danny He flashed her a cheeky grin and crouched down offering her a piggy back
"Come on then, jump on" He said as she struggled to mount his back Once Danny had a good grip on Lolly's legs he traipsed through the sand back to his mum, she looked up from her book with a smile on her face and swapped it for the camera
"Come on children, smile for the camera" She said That was when Lolly decided she would give Danny a peck on the cheek to pose for the picture, she could feel his face form into a smile which she copied
"Thanks for the lift Danny" She whispered in his ear and planted another kiss on his cheek before she slipped off his back to feel the soft sand inbetween her toes again, she walked back to her belongings and turned to face Danny while she was drying her hair with a towel and shot him a confident smile.
That was the moment when he realised he'd fallen in love with Lolly Martin.
End Of Flashback
*Back At The House*
Anya stormed through the door as the tears still escaped her eyes, she barged into the sitting room and froze on the spot to a sight that she wasn't expecting to see...
Tom and Becki were sprawled out on the sofa passionately kissing each other and pulled apart as fast as they could when they saw Anya stood in the doorway and pretended that nothing had happened. Becki stood up and straightened out her clothes.
"What's he done now?" she automatically said assuming Danny had done or said something to upset her and embraced Anya into a hug
"He hasn't done anything wrong, i'm just upset because mum should've been here with dad... this is what she dreamed of doing everyday and even you know that Becki, we could've been a proper family" She sobbed into Becki's shoulder The sound of the front door closing could be heard and Danny walked into the sitting room scuffing his feet as if his legs were to heavy to lift off the ground and had a glazed look in his eyes as if he was in some kind of autopilot mode.
He just passed by everyone as if they didn't exist in the room with him and flopped down into his chair still gazing into thin air Tom became overwhelmed by the sudden sadness that had now dawned inside the house and was frightened to speak to anyone just incase his words made things worse as he had a tendancy to speak before thinking. Danny then spoke.
"She's gone and she's never coming back, i won't get to see her sparkling blue eyes or hear her laugh or see her smile and i won't be able to touch her ever again, i can't believe it" He said as his voice started to tremble and tears filled up in his eyes. He slumped over in the chair with his head firmly in his hands, discreetly letting out small sobs in the hope that nobody would notice, but he wasn't fooling anyone.
Anya wiped away her own tears with the back of her hand and looked over at her dad with empathy and felt the need to be strong for his sake, she knelt beside him resting her head on his shoulder and smoothed his back for comfort
"I loved her so much Anya, but i was a selfish little boy and put myself and my career before her, i've felt nothing but regret ever since" He said truthfully sniffling in between his words
"Dad...Just so you know, Mum was really proud of you and she loved you to bits, she was a huge fan of your band, we attended some of your live shows as well from when i was the age of 13 and she cried every time she saw you up on that stage and blow you a kiss at every show, she always used to tell me you were always her favourite member of the band and the kiss was for good luck"
Danny freed his face from his hands and looked up to Anya with red puffy eyes and relaxed slightly as she tried to crack a smile causing a small smile to escape his lips too, he sat up in his chair and pulled Anya in for a wanting hug "Where is she now? I mean, where is she...buried?" He asked uncomfortably and looked at his daughter for an answer with the sadness still visible in his eyes. Becki intervened on the conversation knowing Anya felt just as uncomfortable as Danny was
"Lolly was cremated and she wanted her ashes to be buried near her mother's in the cemetery down the road from the school we used to attend"
Danny just nodded his head and gave everybody a weak smile, he took a deep breath and tried to act as if everything was back to normal again
"So, i'm going to have a beer, who else would like a drink?" He asked.
~*~
Danny had offered the girls to stay for a few days in the 2 guestrooms he owned, he enjoyed having their company even though Becki snuck out quite alot to go and meet up with Tom, her excuse being she was leaving Danny and Anya to have quality 'father and daughter time'.
While the 3 of them sat at the breakfast table one morning, there was one question that kept playing on Danny's mind he just blurted it out without any thought
"Did Lolly ever have anyone to... you know, replace me?" he asked not knowing if he wanted to hear the answer or not Anya looked up from her bowl of cereals just before she put a spoonful of them in her mouth, she placed the spoon back in the bowl as she didn't want to be rude talking with a mouthful of food
"She dated a few men, but nothing serious" Anya said and leant to the side slightly on her chair and dug her hand in her trouser pocket and pulled out her mobile phone
"There's something I've been meaning to show you dad, I feel it's only fair as everybody else has seen it"
She flicked through her phone until she came across that 'something' she was looking for and passed it to Danny, he pressed a button to make the mobile backlight appear and he stared hard at the image of Lolly in front of him, it shocked him how frail and limp she had become, he hardly recognised her and felt guilty for not being there to support her though that tough period of her life, his lips started to tremble and a fresh batch of tears filled his eyes, he tried his hardest to hold them back and ran his thumb over the picture refusing to remove his eyes from her image, even though himself and Lolly had parted on bad terms, there was still so much love for her stored away in the deepest part of his heart aching to be set free, his bandmates were unaware of this fact but it started to drive him crazy, so he let it out the only way he could and that was to write a song just for her.
Flashback:
"That's a wrap guys, the new album is finally finished, you should be proud of yourselves" McFly's manager said giving each of the guys a man hug and pat on the back, all except for Danny who was lounging on the studio sofa with his foot resting on the edge of a glass coffee table and a notepad resting on his knee with the end of a pen in his mouth
"Is he doing what i think he's doing?" Their manager asked seeing Danny had removed the pen from his mouth and started tapping and humming a tune before jotting something down on the notepad
"Is he writing lyrics?" Tom asked in shock
"It looks like it to me, but you never know, this one could be good for a change, he really seems to be getting into it" Dougie said a bit too loud
"Guys, i can hear every word your saying" Danny replied looking up for a brief moment
"Danny, When you've finalised your song, i would like to hear a demonstration of it in my office and we'll see if it's good enough for the next album" Their manager shouted across to him
Everyone grabbed their belongings that were placed near Danny's feet and tried to have a sneak peak at what he had written, he was very good at keeping it hidden.
It took a few days for him to finish the song making it worth his while.
During that time the guys had asked Danny over for drinks, he never touched a drop and sat in the corner concentrating on his writing making the guys a little annoyed as he was being unsociable, but they could see he was determind to get the song finished and that got them curious to know what was causing him to be writing with such determination.
The day arrived when Danny had to sing his song to the management and the band, he stood in the office at the head of the table with all eyes on him, he cleared his throat.
"This is called 'The Way You Make Me Feel'" He announced and started to sing his heart out
I think yesterday And all the times I spent being lonely
I watched the young being young
While all the singers sung about the way I felt
The days are here again When all the lights go down, what do they show me?
The rules are all the same it's just a different game To tell you how I feel
Although it seems so rare I was always there
Ooh, ooh I can't stop digging the way you make me feel
Ooh, ooh I can't stop digging the way
Ooh, ooh I can't stop digging the way you make me feel
I took a little time
Scripting all the things that I tell you
I'll send them through the mail And if all goes well it'd be a day or two
I spent some extra nights Trying to forget the things that I've shown you
By now the smoke is cleared And all along I feared it would turn out this way
Though it might be wrong My light is always on
Ooh, ooh I can't stop digging the way you make me feel
Ooh, ooh I can't stop digging the way
Ooh, ooh I can't stop digging the way you make me feel
Ba, ba, ba, ba, ba, ba, ba Ba, ba, ba, ba, ba, ba, ba Ba, ba, ba, ba, ba, ba, ba Ba, ba, ba, ba, ba
Look at us now, ask me how did this get so
I'll tell you how, drag my shoes on the ground
But I'm taking em' off, taking em' off
And I'm ready to walk, yeah
Ooh, ooh I can't stop digging the way you make me feel
Ooh, ooh I can't stop digging the way
Ooh, ooh I can't stop digging the way you make me feel, yeah
I can't stop digging the way you make me feel
(McFly - The Way You Make Me Feel Lyrics)
The song ended and the room was completely silent, Danny looked towards the guys sat at the table to see them all gobsmacked, they had never known Danny to come up with a song filled with so much feeling and emotion.
"Wow, i think that is the best lyrics we've heard from you to date, what's the story behind this song?" Their manager asked clasping his hands infront of him on the desk
"It's obviously to do with a girl" Dougie interupted
"No shit sherlock" Harry replied elbowing him in the arm Danny took a seat beside Tom and ran his hand through his hair and sighed, he could see they were all waiting for answers and he leant back in his chair making himself comfortable.
"She was my highschool sweetheart i was madly in love with her, so far nobody has come close to making me feel the same way as she did, but i blew my chance with her and i haven't seen or spoken to her since, so this song contains my feelings about this amazing girl" Danny explained
End of Flashback
"Would you excuse me just one moment" Danny said and placed the mobile phone on the table before he pushed his chair back allowing it to scrape across the floor and grabbed his coat rushing out of the house before a word could be said Anya glanced across the table at Becki not knowing why he'd left so suddenly, they both thought it would be best to let Danny have some space and return home when he was ready so they carried on eating their breakfast and tidied up after themselves
~*~
Hours had passed and it was almost dinner time in the Jones' household, the girls started to worry as Danny still hadn't returned home. Becki had called Tom expecting Danny to be there discussing everything that was on his mind, but too her surprise Tom hadn't seen him all day.
Anya sat on the window sill with her knees tucked into her chest and watched the people walk by the house in the hope that one of them would be her dad returning home, she sighed heavily as there was no sign of him and perked up a little when she saw Tom walk down the pathway to the front door, he had kindly offered to go and look around some local areas that Danny tended to go when he had things on his mind Anya knocked window frantically and waved at him like a mad woman to get his attention, he looked in her direction and she signalled for him to come inside.
Becki was straight in his arms for a wanting hug as soon as he walked through the door, Tom rubbed his hand up and down her back and kissed the top of her head
"I take it you had no luck?" She asked pulling away just slightly to look up at his face
"I don't understand where he could be, he's took the car with him which makes finding him a bit more of a challenge but there's only so many places he could go around here, what caused him to take off in the first place?" Tom asked looking at both girls in turn
"It was my fault, I showed him a picture of my mum a week before she..."
Anya paused for a moment as the thought popped into her head of where her dad might be, she jumped off the window sill and slipped on her shoes as fast as she could
"Why didn't i think of it before?" She asked herself as she tied up the last of her laces
"What's up love?" Becki asked concerned as Anya was in such a rush to get ready to leave
"Perhaps he's gone to the graveyard to see mum" She said quite positive he'd be there
"I'm so glad you've got a smart head on your shoulders, another trait of your mothers" Becki said as she embraced her and rocked her sided to side
"Tom, Would you be able to give us a lift, pleeeease?" Anya pleased and pouted at him
"She may have her mothers brains, but she's definately inherited Danny's charm!" Tom chuckled and pulled his keys from his pocket
"Come on then, lets get a move on" Anya paniced and they all stormed out the door towards the car
To Be Continued...