Bitter Irony – I have written a Character with a broken nose and a couple days ago I bashed my own against a waterslide and it has swollen up and looks ridiculous.

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Danny and I had made up fajitas, which are one of my favourite foods and Bridget's too. Danny was far more helpful than I would have assumed. According to him, Gordon Ramsey taught him well. Lucky boy. I also whipped up a batch of chicken nuggets and fries for Chris because he still didn't like spicy food. I was hoping that would change soon because his mother and I love it so much.

Dougie, Tom, Gi, and Fletch would be joining us as well. Harry was busy, probably with the models from the other night. He was not growing on me as fast as the others, but I'm sure I'll get used to him eventually. Bells had called moments ago and was on her way over with Bridget and Chris and Danny said the others would be along at about the same time. We used the time we had alone to clean up his kitchen, where we had made a real mess. There were vegetables and stuff all over the place.

Just as we were getting everything put away, Danny's doorbell rang. He didn't bother to go open the door as it swung open of its own accord almost immediately after, Tom, Gi, and Dougie on the other side. Apparently all the guys have keys to the others houses, which kind of makes sense but you would think with the rep the guys have for being womanizers they wouldn't want their boys to be walking in when ever they wanted, but whatever. Bells, Bridget, and Chris were along quickly after. Fletch had called saying he would be late but to please save him a plate for when he arrived.

Chris ran right to me and gave me a huge hug.

"What's for dinner?" He asked in his little voice.

"Fajitas," I answered calmly.

"Oh," he said trying not to show his disappointment. He was so good at being polite I took pity on him.

"But," I started slowly. He perked up, hoping I would say what he wanted to hear. "I also made you chicken nuggets and fries, because you're special."

"Really?" he looked ecstatic. "You're the Best!!" He shouted and hugged me again.

"Anything for you, Buddy," I set him back down and he looked around, clearly hoping to find someone in particular. His eyes landed on Dougie and he took off in that direction.

Bridget said hi and thanked Danny for inviting them over. He of course said it was his pleasure. Everyone say down at Danny's extended table, Chris wedging his way in so he could sit by Dougie, who I'm pretty sure is his new hero. Dougie seemed pretty happy about this too. During dinner, the two of them kept a running conversation going about seemingly meaningless things, but Dougie seemed to be remarkably in tune to what was important to a four-year-old. The adults, if that's really what we were, discussed the charity match and the guys seemed genuinely interested in our endorsement deals. They hadn't ever done anything quite like them before but were familiar with the process.

Bridget seemed to enjoy just talking to everyone. I don't think she gets to just talk at home, like I've said I'm not a fan of her husband and I've got a lot of good reasons. The guys were really interested in her and all the things she's done. She is still a really high profile player and was huge eight years ago. Danny and I were about fourteen then and I idolized her. He got sucked into watching a lot of her games with me and had a healthy respect for her ability to play the game. Settling into a happy relaxed feeling I looked around the table at the people we were with. Tom and Gi were excellent and getting on quite well with Bells. In fact, I'm pretty sure Bells and Gi were in the process of planning a shopping trip. Danny was fascinated by Bridget and the stories she told about where she had played and all the players she knew and had played with in the past. Some of his favourites were on her list. She had been playing for many years and was on good terms with a great number of men's professional teams. Chris was seriously discussing his dislike for spicy food with Dougie who had an identical serious look on his own face. Doug mentioned something to Chris who seemed to consider the comment intently before nodding his head. The two switched one of Chris's chicken nuggets for some of the chicken and green peppers from Dougie's fajita. I watched, amazed, as Chris slowly took a bite and considered as he chewed.

"So," I heard Dougie ask him. "What do you think?"

"Not so bad after all," Chris's voice floated back to me. "But I think I still want my nuggets tonight. Maybe next time I'll have the same as you."

"Sounds like a fair decision, little dude," Dougie answered, clearly pleased with himself and with Chris.

I was in shock. Of all the members of McFly, I had not expected Dougie to get along the best with a kid. But I was so happy, Chris had tried some spicy food and didn't hate it, we were definitely making progress. Or should I say, Dougie was making progress. I had to remember to thank him later.

Dinner ended and Danny and Tom offered to clear the table while Bridget and I retrieved our endorsement research. Fletch walked in just as all the plates had been removed and our paperwork was being spread across the table. Danny and Dougie offered to take Chris outside and play some football and Tom and Gi had to go home. Danny got a plate ready for Fletch and set it in front of him on the table before taking the two boys outside, Bells followed them for lack of anything else to do.

Bridget and I set into our discussion about what we wanted and how to go about making the decisions. She had finally decided to do everything without her husband this time. Even though he was her agent, she was usually not happy with what chose for her, which were usually those with the highest dollar values behind them. Fletch was excellent at answering any questions we had, which was awesome and really convenient.

By the end of the evening, we had both narrowed down all our offers to the ones we wanted to do. Fletch and Dougie had gone home and Bells was curled in an armchair, probably sleeping. Danny was asleep on the couch, Chris stretched out and sleeping across his chest. His small head was nestled against Danny's heart and Danny's outside arm had wrapped protectively around him so he couldn't slip in his sleep. Bridget and I watched for a moment as Chris moved up and down with the heavy breathing of Danny's chest. It was one of those moments where I really wished I had a camera to catch the image. I rifled through Bells' purse knowing she wouldn't care and hoped she still had her camera in there from the party last Saturday. It had been tucked away in a pocket and I pulled it out and handed it to Bridget. I was horrible at taking pictures, but she always managed to get a perfect shot, particularly where Christopher was concerned. She snapped a picture, checked to make sure it would come out alright, and handed it back to me. I tucked it back into Bells' bag and slowly shook her awake. She looked confused for a couple seconds but realized where she was and how late it was. She rubbed her eyes and got up slowly, taking in the scene of Danny with Chris and giving us the "Aww…" face.

I gently tapped Danny's shoulder, hoping he wasn't still as deep a sleeper as he used to be. He was, so it took a minute to get him up, but he managed not to move too much and was therefore able to keep Chris sleeping. He sat up slowly and quietly, holding the little boy gently so he wouldn't wake and walked with us outside where a cab was waiting for us. He passed Chris to Bridget, thanked us for coming, kissed Bells on the cheek, and punched me on the shoulder before going back inside the house and we pulled away.

The night had been successful. Bridget and I had gotten our stuff done and Christopher had managed to procure two new playmates. Both of which I was sure would try to be good examples to him if they were around him at all in the future, which is still more than I can say for his father.

The cab stopped at our place first and I gave some cash to Bridget to cover the ride and she took the cab the rest of the way to her own house. I wrapped an arm around Bells' shoulder as we made our way up to our small flat. We both jumped into bed and she fell asleep instantly. I wasn't far behind, and fell asleep with an image of my favourite little boy curled up on the chest of my former best friend. It was like feeling like I had a big family for the first time in my life and I really enjoyed that sentiment, even though it seemed like it belonged in a Hallmark card.

******

On Friday I carried out the duty of calling all on the reps I had spoken to. I had tentatively decided on Gatorade and Nike, providing I agreed with the marketing plan they put together and I talked to Gatorade about putting something about recycling in the ads and Nike promised to run me through what they were doing to improve the conditions of their third world workers. I would not agree to that one until I was convinced they were actually trying to change.

As far as magazines were concerned, UK Cosmo sounded like fun so I was going to do that one and there was one other sports magazine I agreed to. That one would probably end up just like the Sports Illustrated article, which was fine by me. The weekend was fairly uneventful and it allowed me to get some time in at the gym. I took up boxing a couple years ago. One of my anger management therapists suggested taking it up as an anger outlet and I have to say it worked pretty well. I really enjoy it too, although I was known for getting a little out of control when I was furious, but I could usually take my anger out on the bag before I fought with anyone, so my damage was minimal. I hadn't really hurt anyone in a long time.

Monday was a whole different story.

Bells came back from class that afternoon and brought with her two tabloid magazines. The cover of the first sported a picture of Danny kissing Jayne, I'm not sure where they were. The bottom of the paper had pictures of Dougie dancing with Britt, Danny hugging me at the match, and Danny passing Chris to Bridget in front of the cab the night before. The headline read, "McFly are Cozying Up to the World Cup Team: Just How Many Players are They Going to Go Through?" I laughed out loud. I read the article to find out what they would have to say about each picture, most of it was inaccurate, but I had expected as much.

I was, however, frustrated by the picture of Bridget and Chris because I knew it would not go over well with her husband. He was going to be really, really mad. I'm betting he would rant about her being unfaithful, which would be ridiculous because I was in the cab. You can actually see Bells in the picture, but it's just the back of her head. I just hoped Bridget would be ok.

The second held separate pictures of Danny and myself. In my picture I was brushing hair away form my face and my scarred knuckles and broken nose were both circled. The title of this one read, "Toma's Always been a Fighter, But Was It Danny Jones Who First Broke Her Nose?"

I guess I should have seen this coming. My speech said I had broken it young and I had mentioned Danny's family on several occasions in recent interviews. At the party I said we had been friends several years ago and anyone with even a rudimentary sense of how to do research could figure out that Bells had lived with Mrs. Jones for two years. Not to mention, Bolton wasn't that big and people talk, particularly after they see something like the charity match and tabloids are looking for a story on Danny and I, people are usually more than happy to share one.

I didn't really care what the article said but I knew that breaking a football star's nose was probably not going to look so good for Danny. I wondered if he was back from Manchester yet and thought about calling him but realized that if he hadn't seen it, it wouldn't be a big deal.

RINGGGG.

Danny's name came up on my caller id. Uh oh.

"Hello?"

"Did you see it?" he didn't even bother to say hi.

"What exactly?" didn't want to make him upset if he didn't know yet, although it does seem like he did.

"That I broke your nose and I'm sleeping my way through your team," came his angry reply.

"Well…" I answered slowly. "Yes, I did. But you did break my nose and people already think you're sleeping your way around England, adding my team in there can't be so bad."

"Ok, that wasn't nice," but I could hear his anger dissipate just a bit. "And I can get over the sleeping around thing, because you're right, people already think that. The part that sucks is Bridget, will she be ok?"

"I hope so," I need check up on her today.

"Fletch is going to need to make a statement about your nose though."

"I figured. But I just don't understand why my nose is such a big deal. I mean, it's such a stupid thing for people to talk about."

"Well, a guy breaking a girl's nose is never good, so a famous guy breaking a famous girl's nose is even worse, because everyone knows about it."

"I guess, but I never really thought of myself as counting with that rule before."

"That doesn't mean that the general public agrees with you."

"Fair enough, but it's weird that the general public gives a shit."

"Right, but they do. So we need to do something about this."

"Do you have any interviews coming up?"

"Paul O'Grady on Thursday."

"So tell Fletch to let him know in the pre-interview that he is should ask about it and tell the whole story. No big deal."

"You don't mind?"

"Of course not."

"Do you want to come on the show too?"

"No," like I would want to be part of a McFly interview, "and you can't make decisions like that anyway."

"I could suggest to Fletch that he suggest to Paul to have you come on as a surprise guest. We could tell everyone about it together."

"Whatever Fletch thinks is best is fine by me," I said, hoping Fletch would agree with me. The guys could talk about it and Paul loved them so he would spin everything positively. Problem solved.

My phone was beeping at me. Call waiting and it was Bridget.

"Look Danny," I said quickly. "Bridget's on the other line. I've got to check to make sure she's ok. I'll talk to you later, ok?"

"Yeah, fine," he said, obviously frustrated I was brushing him off, but he'll get over it. "Let me know if there is anything I can do for her or Chris."

"Sure, bye"

"Bye."

I flipped lines quickly, hoping I wouldn't miss her.

"Hey Bridget," I said.

"Can you come get Christopher?" I'm getting no preambles from people today. I wondered what could be so wrong that she didn't want Chris in the house but didn't bother asking. Good friends know when to just agree.

"Sure I'll be there in ten minutes," I answered already pulling on my shoes to head downstairs and call a cab.

"Thanks," and she hung up. Now I was really worried. Her husband must have seen those pictures and read the article. He wouldn't let this go easily. Particularly before she signed the endorsement agreements he wanted her to sign, even though she had picked her own the other night.

I rang the cab company on my way down the stairs and waited outside for a couple minutes before it came up. I jumped in, gave Bridget's address, and anxiously wrung my hands as the cabbie drove the short distance to her house.

The house seemed quiet when we approached and I paid the cabbie. I was going to have him wait but my gut told me to send him and go inside for a while if Bridget would let me. I needed to know that she was safe before I took Chris with me. I put my ear to the door before I knocked, I know it's wrong but I was hoping to get an idea of what was going on inside before I went in. I couldn't hear anything, which I assumed was a good sign and knocked loudly. Bridget was at the door almost instantly, she had clearly been waiting for me to show.

"You ok?" I asked slowly, looking at her carefully. Not that I was worried about her husband hitting her or anything, she'd lay him out if he tried anything like that, but that didn't mean I didn't have reasons to be concerned. He would talk her into doing something terrible or make her cry, and I would hate either of those things. It's actually a really good thing he wasn't around or I probably would have punched him myself, which would stink because my track record has been so good lately.

"Yeah," and she looked like she meant it. "I was just wondering if you could take Chris while my husband and I have a little chat."

"Ok…" I knew I needed to choose my words carefully. She seemed truly frustrated with him, which was really rare and I didn't know where this was going. "Anything else I can do?"

"I might need a place to stay tonight," she said with confidence. "Unless I can talk him into being the one who leaves. He doesn't trust me, believes I'm an idiot, and just told me I shouldn't be trusted with my own son. Which tells me he shouldn't be trusted with our son because he's around less than I am. He doesn't know Chris at all and I'm not leaving him here. So I want you to take him now, before I talk to Aaron. Keep him safe and I'll talk to you later. It might be late." Aaron was her husband, just as a heads up. This was so unlike her, she normally stood up for all the rotten things he said and did and I wondered what sent her over the edge to finally realize how horrible he is, but I'm guessing it had something to do with Chris.

Chris had been sitting at the kitchen table finishing dinner but bounced down and toward me when he heard me talking to him mum.

"Hi Max," he said, a napkin still tucked under his chin. "Mummy says we get to have a sleepover tonight."

"That's right Buddy," I said, kneeling down so I was at his level. "Did you get your stuff all packed?"

"Yeah, it's in my room," and he ran off toward the back of the house.

"I don't care how late it is," I turned my attention back to Bridget. "Give me a call and come over."

"I will," she answered as Chris came running back into the room, a blue and red backpack slung over his shoulders. "Love you Chris." She held out her arms to him.

He hugged her tightly. "Love you too Mum. See you later Alligator."

"After a while Crocodile," she laughed as he grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the door.

"Call me no matter what," I said as she stood in the door behind us. She nodded and closed it all the way.

Chris and I caught another cab back to my place. Just as we were climbing the stairs my phone rang again.

"It's Bells," she said when I answered. "I went back to the library because I'm not prepared for this test I have tomorrow. I'm going to stick it out here then stay at my friend's dorm on campus. Is that ok?"

"Bells, you're an adult, you don't have to ask for permission. Of course you can, study hard and rock that test tomorrow, alright?"

"Sure thing, have a good night."

"I'll try. Bye Sis."

"Bye."

I hung up as I opened the door and Chris bolted past me to jump on my couch, stripping off his backpack. Then he ran to our movie collection. Bells has copies of almost every Disney film that has ever been released on DVD and buys new ones as soon as they are available. Then my phone rang again. This was getting ridiculous.

"Hello?"

"You sound annoyed," came Danny's clear voice. "Should just come to expect this when you answer?"

"Sorry," I answered, feeling only slightly bad that I was always grumpy when he was on the phone. "Stressful evening."

"Who's on the phone?" Chris called from the movie shelves.

"Danny," I answered.

"Ooo, can I talk to him?" Chris was suddenly beside me. He moved pretty fast for a little guy.

"Is that Chris? Put him on," said the voice in my ear.

I passed the phone down and Chris held it to his ear with two tiny hands.

"Hi Danny," his excitement was clear.

"Yep, we're having a sleepover because Mummy and Dad needed to have a fight." My eyes got big at this one. "Sometimes, but Dad yelled a lot this morning." Oh my gosh, this wasn't good. Hearing only Chris's side of the conversation was tough.

"Yeah, that would be awesome. We're going to watch one of Bells' movies and Max always has popcorn and the best juice," a pause. "Cool," another pause. "Yep, here you go," and he passed the phone back up to me before walking back to the shelf.

"I'm coming over," Danny said, "it'll be fun." And he hung up the phone. What is going on right now? I'm lost. I'm actually lost.

"Hey Chris, what did you and Danny talk about?" I asked trying to work everything out in my head.

"Umm, the sleepover and the movie," he said still mulling over his movie selection. Which was funny to watch because I know he can't read so he would pull out each movie so he could look at the cover of each one. I wanted to pressure more information out of him but I knew I had to remember that he was only four and what he took from a conversation was different than what I wanted to hear.

I sat down and waited while he finally pulled out the one he wanted. "Robin Hood" was a good choice because the comedy was golden, even for an older audience. He had never seen it. That's the problem with the Disney Classics, not enough kids are exposed to them anymore, it's sad really. I went to put the movie in but Chris stopped me.

"No," he cried. "We have to wait for Danny."

"Ok, but what are we going to do until he gets here?"

"We still have to change into our pjs."

"Ok," I answered, still not sure how to take this. Danny had been back in my life for a grand total of a week and two days. Why was he suddenly so willing to drop everything to come over here? "Why don't you go change in my room?"

"Ok," he pulled his backpack from the sofa and ran into the back room to change. A couple minutes later when he came out, the buzzer rang from downstairs.