It had been a little under five years since the Monkees had split up. It was the anniversary of the day the Monkees had signed their recording contract and Davy had gone for a walk, without even realising where he was headed, he found himself outside 1334 Beachwood drive. He hadn't seen, or spoken to, any of the other Monkees since they had finished the last ever Monkees album, but he had followed their careers. Mike has become a highly successful solo artist with a string of number one hit records. Micky had opted for a career in television and had achieved a reputation as one of the best directors in the business; Davy had heard that he was about to begin shooting his first major motion picture. Peter had disappeared for a while but emerged recently as one of the best song writers and session musicians of the time and was highly sought after, there were rumours flying around the showbiz grapevine that Peter was considering trying out a solo singing career. As for Davy, he had kept his head down for a while, moving back to England for a time and only returned to America to begin a touring production of `Oliver' playing Fagin, the opening night had been the night before in Malibu Beach of all places. Davy would be touring for six months before settling on Broadway for the foreseeable future. The opening night had gone brilliantly and Davy was so excited to be back doing one of the things he loved more then anything in the world, the theatre.
Davy looked up at the building that had been his home for so many years, and a million memories came rushing back to him like someone had opened the floodgates in his brain. A small smile curled around his lips and he tried the front door, to his surprise it was unlocked. He pushed open the door and walked in. He stood for a moment taking in all the features of the old pad. It looked a lot more run down then he remembered, there wasn't much furniture, but what did remain was covered in white dust sheets. He walked over to the spiral staircase and ran his fingers along the banister, remembering the time Micky had slid down it and landed face first into a cake Mike had been carrying, he chuckled at the memory. Then something on the veranda caught his eye; he looked up and wasn't at all surprised to see Peter standing there, his back to Davy, leaning forward resting his elbows on the wall. Davy smiled again and walked over to the screen door, noticing the small bandstand, that Micky had built when they first moved in, had been taken away. The door was propped open by a wooden wedge and Davy looked out for a moment, closing his eyes and feeling the sea breeze on his face.
"Man, I miss this feeling," He said out loud. Peter's head snapped up, he had been lost in his thoughts and wasn't sure if the voice he heard had been one he had imagined. He turned his head and saw Davy standing there.
"Hello David" Peter said, smiling a little to himself at the sight of his old friend. Davy walked over to him.
"Hello Peter, what are you doing here?" He asked. Peter shrugged his shoulders.
"I have no idea" He admitted "I went for a drive and found myself here. The old place hasn't changed much."
"It sure hasn't" Davy replied feeling the wind on his face again then looked at Peter "It's good to see you again Pete, how have you been?"
"I've been good, kept my head down for a while after um... well, you know but I've been good. Moved on, you know, exorcised a few demons and learnt to accept a lot of things."
"I'm glad, I've kept track of you over the past couple of years, you've done well for yourself."
"As have you. I was at your opening night last night" Peter told him.
"You were! Why didn't you come back stage?"
"Dunno really, I felt a little weird to be honest. It was a strange thing to be there but I'm glad I was. You did really well, I'm very proud of you."
"Thank you Peter, it means a lot that you were there" Davy replied. Peter just nodded. They were silent for a moment, both of them looking out into the ocean and neither one quite believing they were both there. It was Peter who broke the silence.
"Man, I've missed this place. We made some great memories here didn't we and we were so quick to give it up for the big houses in the hills and the fast cars."
"Not to mention the fast women," Davy added and Peter laughed.
"Well that was never really a change for you Davy was it" He said. Davy grinned.
"No I guess not," he said.
"Do you remember that time Millie moved in with us and that time Micky dressed as Mrs Arcadian so we could have a chaperone for that party?"
"Yeah don't remind me. I never did get the honeymoon in Venice and I had to give back the ring!" Davy and Peter turned round to see Micky standing by the door "What is this? Some sort of family reunion?" He asked, grinning from ear to ear.
"Hello Micky, how long have you been there?" Davy asked, grinning also.
"Not long, I've been downstairs in the storage room and ran in to an old friend" Micky said and picked up something from behind the large bay window and presented it to Peter and Davy.
"Mr Schneider!" Peter and Davy both cried with delight.
"He's been down in that dusty storeroom since we left so I thought I'd bring him up for a breath of fresh air."
"Great idea Mick, It's great to see you Mr Schneider, you too Micky" Peter said with a smile.
"What are you doing here anyway? Surely this isn't a place for a big shot movie director" Davy said.
"Aw Davy you flatter me, I'm not a big shot movie director yet. No, in fact the reason I am here is because my crew and I are scouting locations for my first attempt at directing a movie and I thought I better swing by the old place, see who's hanging around" Micky told them.
"Just us" Peter replied.
"And Mrs Purdy, great name for an album Pete, by the way" Micky said with a grin before continuing "Anyway I ran into her earlier today and you'll never believe what she told me."
"What was that then?" Davy asked.
"Well she told me, once the Monkees got famous Mr Babbitt auctioned off all our old stuff, furniture, pictures, posters that kind of thing. Apparently he made a fortune and is now living in a big mansion in Beverley Hills."
"You're kidding!" Davy and Peter both yelled, absolutely flabbergasted and Micky shook his head.
"I kid you not. Mrs Purdy showed me a picture of him. He looks great. Lost a lot of weight."
"Well I'll be!" Davy said unable to stop himself letting out a chuckle "The guy's done great out of our fame then. I'll have to go round and see Mrs Purdy later."
"Me too, I wonder if she's baked any cookies lately, I used to love those" Peter added.
"She'd love to see you. She told me how proud of us she was. She said she always knew we'd make it, she even brought all our records."
"Wow, that's great" Peter said. They were silent again but this time it was Micky who spoke first.
"Hey Peter, I just wanna say, I'm sorry," He said, facing Peter and the goofy grin being replaced with a serious look.
"Whatever for?" Peter asked, genuinely puzzled.
"For socking you in the mouth that day in the recording studio. I never apologised to you for that did I?" Micky explained and Peter smiled.
"It's okay, Mick. I forgave you a long time ago; we were all stressed and frustrated. You don't need to apologise" Peter told him.
"Thank you big Peter, but I do need to apologise. I was out of line and I lost my temper, there's no excuse for that" Micky said. Peter was about to respond when Davy interrupted them.
"Hey guys, look down there, is that who I think that is?" He asked.
"Look down where?" Micky replied.
"Down there by that big rock, that tall lanky figure down there" Davy said, pointing his finger.
"It looks like him" Peter said "But I'm not sure."
"Well there's only one way to find out" Micky said "OI MIKE!" He yelled, jumping up and down and waving his arms in the air.
"Real subtle, Mick" Davy said shaking his head but smiling at the same time. The tall figure stopped and looked up. Davy couldn't make out his facial expression but the guy suddenly started running towards the steps that lead up to the beach house veranda.
"I think it's him," Micky said confidently "Hi Mike" He yelled, waving again. As the guy got closer Davy saw that it was indeed Mike. A smile tugged at Davy's lips. He couldn't believe they were all together again, on this day of all days. Mike ran up the steps and stopped at the top.
"I thought it was you guys but I wasn't sure, well not until Micky's hollering anyway," He said.
"I do my best" Micky replied, pretending to be embarrassed.
"Well if it isn't Mike `I don't need the Monkees' Nesmith" Davy said, playfully.
"Yeah okay, I deserved that, I was a real jerk" Mike replied.
"You were a big jerk, but you were also right, you didn't need The Monkees. Can't walk into a record store these days without seeing your ugly mug staring back at me" Davy told him.
"Hay don't forget, Jones, your ugly mug used to be right next to mine" Mike reminded him and Davy grinned.
"It's great to see you Michael" Peter said.
"You too, Pete, it's great to see all of you again, Hey look it's Mr Schneider how you doing, good buddy?" Mike said.
"Can you believe we're all here. On this day of all days!" Micky said, looking round at each of them, grinning like a Cheshire cat.
"I didn't think you'd remembered" Davy said.
"Of course I remembered. You don't forget the day that changed your life" Micky told him.
"Amen to that" Mike replied.
"Hey Mike, I've got every record you've made" Peter told him. Mike Smiled.
"You have? Thank you Peter that means a lot" He replied.
"Guys, while we're all here. I just want to get something off my chest. I'm sorry for the way things ended, I..." Davy tried to say but Micky cut in.
"Whoa just hold it right there, don't say another word," He said holding up his hands "Davy, it wasn't your fault no one blames you. In fact you did the right thing."
"I did?"
"Yeah you did" Mike told him "I for one am grateful that you said something when you did, I was turning into someone I didn't like, hell even I didn't like being around myself most of the time, so I have no idea how you guys put up with me."
"So you're saying you're no longer a big jerk?" Davy asked and Mike smiled.
"Well I have me moments, who doesn't, but I'm getting better. At least that's what people tell me." He told them.
"Mike and Micky are right, Davy. It took me a while, and a couple thousand dollars in therapy, to figure it out but you did the right thing, you stopped it from getting worse. Who knows what would have happened if we'd carried on in the state of mind we were in. I don't blame you Davy, I thank you" Peter told him.
"Me too" Mike said.
"Me three" Micky added and Davy smiled.
"Thanks fellas" He said.
"Right well now all that mushy stuff is over with, I dunno about you guys but I'm hungry," Micky announced.
"No change there then" Mike said and Micky playfully hit him on the arm.
"Shut up, Nesmith. I was going to suggest going for lunch, my treat" Micky said.
"Yeah that would be great" Peter replied.
"Yeah sound good to me" Mike said.
"Davy?" Micky asked.
"Yeah, I wouldn't miss it for the world" Davy told them.
"Great!" Micky said grinning again "Let's go, I found this really great burger joint that opened a couple of years after we left" He told them. So, Micky picked up Mr Schneider and the five of them left.
As he watched his three friends banter and tease each other, Davy finally felt at peace with the decision he had made all those years ago. He knew everything would be ok now. He knew he had his friends back, and he knew he had them back for good, and that made him happier then he had ever been.
