Ooooh 'ello, I'm back from the dead!
Just kidding. But seriously though, this has taken me literally years, because I pretty much forgot about it.
I'm back on it now though, i swear. :)
Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far, and badgered me relentlessly to keep writing. Without you people, this chapter would never have existed!
In this chapter we have the introduction of one of my favourite people in the world, Giovanna Falcone. She's lovely :)
Tom is a lucky, lucky man.
Please enjoy...
As the band gathered in the living room once again, they saw that Tom had set up a few dining chairs in an interview-type fashion, facing an invisible camera. "Wasn't interrupting anything, was I?" Tom asked with a cheeky grin. Harry smirked knowingly, and the blond raised an eyebrow questioningly. Danny ignored them.
"What's this?" He asked, motioning toward the chairs.
Directing his attention to the furniture, Dougie looked equally as puzzled. Tom shook his head, unable to believe they didn't recognise the setup. "Come on guys, look! It's a pretend interview. I want to see how well Danny reacts under pressure."
"We already know I don't react well under pressure." Danny said, "It's no good."
Refusing to get angry, Tom replied, "I'm gonna teach you the answers to some of our more frequently asked questions. Don't panic." Then he gave him a warm smile as reassurance.
Harry looked confused for a second, and he started muttering under his breath. His eyebrows knitted in concentration, and he finally asked, "Tom, why are there five chairs?" He counted five chairs out loud then said, "There are only four of us, you doofus!"
Tom looked awkward for a second. "Well uh…"
The doorbell rang, and everyone looked at Tom with accusatory expressions before he scuttled out of the room to answer it.
Dougie tutted loudly, and Danny felt nervous. Who was at the door? Would they expect him to know who they were? So many questions, but they faded from initial thought as a young woman stepped in the room. She was about Tom's age, and had long, brown, curly hair. Her skin was slightly olive-tinted, and he guessed that from her overall appearance she was part-Italian. She was pretty, but not in an artificial way. Her make-up was simple; it enhanced her natural beauty.
Harry grinned at her in welcome, and Dougie hugged her tightly. Then she smiled brightly in Danny's direction and said, "Hey Dan! How're you doing?"
"I… uhh…" Danny started, and she pulled him into a bear hug.
Suddenly, he saw a flash of images, stronger than ever, move across his shut eyelids. Her face was beaming in every single one of them, and he understood her familiarity, even though he still didn't know entirely who she was. He pulled away, and she looked hurt and confused.
"Danny..?"
Tom pulled her gently away, and held her hand delicately. Then he said quietly, "Danny's still not well Gio. He's on his way, but… not yet."
She looked disappointed, and like she was ready to burst into tears. "Oh I'm so sorry honey! You must have been so freaked out when I walked in and just hugged you like that." Now there really were tears brimming in her eyes, and Tom clutched her hand tighter. "I'm so sorry you're not better yet, you're like a brother to me."
Gio wiped her eyes, and Dougie rubbed her back slowly in a calming manner. "Dan, this is…" he began, but Gio sniffled and stopped him.
"No, let me. Danny, I'm Giovanna. Giovanna Falcone; Tom's girlfriend." She stuck out her hand for Danny to shake, but he was hesitant to accept. This girl seemed nice enough, but he couldn't remember to what extent he liked her. Was she as close to him as she said she was? Danny decided to give Gio the benefit of the doubt. With this in mind, he did shake hands, and she smiled warmly.
For a little while there was quiet, other than Tom talking softly to Giovanna. Dougie observed them with what Danny thought to be jealousy; but then he realised he felt exactly the same.
A terrible thought smacked Danny in the face in that exact moment. His surprise must have shown, because Tom asked worriedly, "Danny, what's wrong?"
"Uh…" He swallowed, not wanting to hear the answer to his question. "I… I don't have a girlfriend, do I?" Dougie snorted with laughter, and Danny shot him an evil look.
Tom smiled gently and said, "No Danny, you don't. You haven't had a girlfriend for nearly a year now."
"Okay then. Harry, do you have a girlfriend?" He asked, turning to the drummer.
He grinned widely, and Gio did the same. "Yeah I do. She's called Izzy."
All of a sudden, Danny felt incredibly lonely. Dougie obviously didn't mind not having a girlfriend, but he did. He wanted to have the security that Tom and Gio had, but at the same time, a girl didn't really appeal to him. He found his eyes drawn to Dougie again, for what must have been the hundredth time that hour, and wondered whether he could drag him away to actually kiss this time. Obviously, Dougie was feeling the same.
"Look Tom, is this going to take long? I have some uh… unfinished business I need to take care of." He shuffled and looked at his feet while his face turned a conspicuous shade of crimson.
Harry started laughing. "Dougie, what the hell? It sounds like you're in a James Bond Film or something!" Then he began to do his terrible impression of Sean Connery, "'I have shome unfinished bishnesh to attend to.' See?" He continued to laugh, but everyone else in the room just cringed at his impression.
Ignoring Harry who was still chuckling to himself, Tom replied with an eyebrow raised, "We won't be long, but what are you so desperate to do? You've been twitchy all morning."
"None of your beeswax," Dougie muttered.
"Now that's sorted," Tom said with glee, "Danny, please take your seat. I'll try to make this as painless as possible."
Danny gulped. He was more nervous than he thought, and as he sat down, he took a deep breath. This was going to be difficult.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
A couple of hours later, Danny sat on his chair, rocking. "No more Tom, please! I get it, can we stop now?" He pleaded. His hair was messed up where he'd kept grabbing it, and he was a pitiful sight.
Gio had a hand over her forehead and she smiled at Danny sympathetically. "Tom, come on, he's done so well. Everybody's obviously tired; I think we should stop." She rubbed Tom's arm with her other hand in a loving manner, and Danny felt jealous again. He could see himself and Dougie in that place.
It was wrong in a way; Danny didn't feel good for having these thoughts about Dougie, because for some reason, he still felt that the younger boy didn't like him in the same way. Even though he was happy to kiss him, Danny still felt responsible for possibly pushing Dougie into it. After all, he was a couple of years younger, and though it seemed stupid, it was possible that Dougie was just following along, allured by curiosity.
These thoughts still didn't distract Danny from visions of Dougie floating constantly through his mind. These weren't the visions from his lost memory though; they were purely figments of his own imagination.
"Tom looked resigned, but still desperate to continue. "Okay," he sighed, "Let's stop. I want you to keep running over those questions and answers in the mirror though." He said seriously, with his eyebrows raised.
Over on their chairs, Harry and Dougie had fallen asleep. The younger had his head buried in the chest of the elder, and Danny had only just noticed this.
"Awwwh, don't they just look so cute?" Gio squealed, clapping her hands softly in excitement, and then leaving the room casually to get a snack from the kitchen.
Danny folded his arms, and gave Harry a look that would have melted lead. "No, they don't." He said, deliberately loudly, and both boys began to stir.
"Stop acting like a kid Danny. I've seen you do the same to Harry and Dougie. Or…"
His eyes widened, and Danny blushed bright red. "It's not-"
"Oh Danny it so is! You like him, don't you?" Tom laughed, and he folded his arms authoritatively.
"I- uh… no!" He said with a defensive tone, but still grinned.
Tom shook his head. He couldn't believe it. "Danny, this is exactly like before! We're getting closer to you coming back to us!" He said, being emphatic with his hand movements.
Danny looked puzzled. "Mate, what are you talking about?"
"Before the accident, we all knew you liked Dougie in more than a… uhm… best friend sort of way. You know, you kissed him on stage all the time and we were just waiting for the day when you two finally got together. But then… well, you know what happened next." Tom said finally, and he smiled sympathetically.
He was getting timed of seeing that smile. "It's probably just that I'm gonna like him, whether I'm brain-damaged or not." Danny said miserably while staring longingly at the peaceful, sleeping boy.
Gio came back in the room just then with a half-eaten cookie. She was munching happily; but then she took in the atmosphere, swallowed thickly and asked, "Why the long faces, eh? What did I miss?"
"Nothing Gi," Tom said with layers of affection, pulled her close, and then kissed her tenderly on the forehead. She grinned, completely forgetting the situation. The blond boy winked at Danny.
Then, Dougie rubbed his eyes sleepily and woke up slowly from his nap. Danny couldn't help but grin, and Tom, seeing the look on Danny's face, grinned even more. "…What?" Dougie asked groggily as he noticed his band mates were looking unusually happy.
"Danny's just admiring your beauty," Tom said, giving Gio a smile.
Gio grinned like a maniac, "Well we all know he's bloody gorgeous, eh?" She giggled, and Tom winked at her secretively.
"You guys are nuts." Dougie mumbled as he stretched his body out of sleep. As he lifted his arms, Danny watched a strip of pale stomach become exposed from under a creased shirt. He was hypnotised by the snail trail that went down, down…
"Danny?" Tom barked, waking him from his daydream.
"Mhmm?" He was a bit peeved, but as he casually turned back to look at Dougie, the view was gone, and instead the young man was staring him down.
Tom looked at the large clock mounted on the wall meaningfully, then addressed Danny. "Don't you think you should be getting to sleep?"
Danny looked sceptical. "Mate, it's barely ten!"
"I don't think you understand me here. We have to be out, in the car, at five a.m. tomorrow." Tom pressed his hands into the small of Danny's back and gently pushed in the direction of his bedroom. "Also, you need as much sleep as you can get. We can rehearse quickly in the morning!"
"But-" Danny started, and then had to stifle a yawn.
"I SAW THAT MR. JONES. Go on, get to bed. We'll tidy up." Tom said with a smile, and gestured for Danny to leave.
Danny opened his mouth to argue, but on seeing the look on Tom's face, decided against it. He shuffled into his room to get changed, and settled on his bed to relax for a while.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Finally, Danny heard the front door shut for the last time. He'd lain across his bed for half an hour listening to the banging and hushed talk from just outside his door. He still felt like an outsider in the group; he didn't remember any inside jokes, any good memories had been lost and he was a different person. He could sense that in the way the others talked to him.
Quite sure that everyone had left, Danny cracked open the door just a touch. Glancing around, he saw that the furniture was back where it belonged, and Tom had even wiped all the surfaces down. He felt a rush of gratitude for him then, and felt terrible about any previous negative thoughts.
He settled on a sofa and barely had time to slump before someone knocked on the door. Feeling ever so slightly cautious and remembering he was famous, Danny approached the door on tiptoe, hoping he didn't creak any of the real-wood floorboards. When he got there, he noticed a peephole. Thanking god he didn't have to open the door first, he peeked through and his heart stopped.
On the other side of the door was Dougie. He looked nervous. Danny spun round and rested on the door, taking a deep breath and shutting his eyes momentarily. Then, Dougie knocked again. Danny's heart skipped a beat, and shyly he grasped the door handle and opened.
For a couple of seconds, both men stared at each other in awkward silence. They were alone; truly alone for the first time since the night before.
"I…" Dougie began, but stopped when Danny shook his head.
"Shh, don't talk." He swept Dougie into his arms and kissed him fully on the lips. His stomach exploded with butterflies and his knees nearly buckled when Dougie placed his hand on the back of Danny's head and gently entwined his fingers in loose curls. They stayed that way for a while, until Danny began to get a splitting headache.
"Agh!" He cried, letting go of a concerned Dougie, who watched as the older boy clasped his head in agony.
"Danny," he said calmly, "Are you okay?" He reached out a hand to comfort him with, but Danny only flinched.
He sunk to the floor, still clutching his head and riding the waves of pain as they came. Images flashed past his vision of Dougie smiling, laughing, and grinning in a sexy way. Each was more vivid than the last, and suddenly, they stopped. This was the most prominent flashback yet, but still, he did not feel right. He let go of his pounding skull, and he felt tears well in his eyes.
"Danny?" Dougie asked again, becoming more and more worried. "Are you… do you remember me again?"
Danny stood up. "No," he choked. "I'm… I'm so sorry. Dougie, I thought that would help me remember you. But it didn't, it didn't." Then he began to cry. He sobbed into his arm until Dougie took him in his arms and did his best to comfort him.
"It's okay Dan. It's not the end of the world is it?" He whispered soothingly, but Danny only seemed to react negatively to the comment.
"What if it is? I mean, I'm never going to get better am I? We've tried everything and I can't do this to you anymore Dougie, I just can't." He buried his head into Dougie's neck and mumbled, "I just love you too much."
"Danny, don't be stupid." He muttered, "We can work through this. I know we can. We love each other now, and that's enough, right?"
Danny sniffled, opened his mouth to speak, but shook his head in a dismissive way.
Dougie sighed. "You need to sleep." He sounded dejected and let down, but Danny couldn't sympathise or empathise. His head was throbbing in a nasty way. All he did was nod, keeping his eyes focused on anywhere but Dougie's face.
The young boy didn't know where to look. He rubbed his sandy hair, feeling out of place, and reached for the door. He hesitated, just for a while.
"We'll find it Danny. I promise you, we'll find that trigger even if… even if it kills me." He looked as if he was going to say something else, but decided not to. He was out of the door before Danny even had a chance to reply.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Needless to say, Danny didn't sleep very much that night. He stared at the luminous red numbers on his alarm clock until they read 01:46, and then he drifted off into a nightmarish sleep, in which Dougie cried endlessly, and he himself was locked into a tiny cage and laughed at by faceless people.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Tom knocked on the bedroom door at four a.m. sharp. A rumpled looking guitarist opened the door and yawned in his face.
"You ready?" Tom asked with obvious trepidation.
Danny shook his head just once before bursting into hysteric, fitful tears.
I'm dying to know what you think.
Hope this wasn't too much of a let down... ;D
