Poomf.

Rhuben reached her arms above her head and caught the soccer ball with ease. She rolled it across the ground back to Danny and said, "Too high."

Danny nodded and extended his foot, pressing it atop the ball. Then with a flick of his feet, he bounced it back and forth across the tops of his feet before bringing it to his knee. Then he backed away to allow the ball to bounced once on the ground before driving his foot into it. This time the ball spun to the side and Rhuben shifted a few steps to the side and caught it before it slammed into her stomach.

"Too wide."

Now Danny frowned, placing his hands on his hips, watching the ball with an air of disdain when it crawled to a stop back to his feet. He spun around and walked away, running a hand through his hair. He reached up, ripping off his sweatband to toss it aside before glancing back at the house before turning towards the mountain range that stretched out behind them. Unbelievable. He'd been playing soccer for years, had the chance to join a national league right before going into the band, and he couldn't do something that may have been breathing to him.

"Dan," Rhuben called.

"I got it," Danny said, lifting a hand in the air.

He kept his back to her, resting his hands atop his head, trying to calm down. They were up in the mountains that was a beautiful landscape, very different from the city-life and countryside he routinely saw in England. This was supposed to be a place that would give them inspiration for their music and to have fun and the last thing he needed was to get stuck in his thoughts. Especially when he didn't have them so often. He was a man that liked to act, not one that liked to think things through so often.

If something messed up or he made a mistake, then he'd deal with it when it came. But when those nagging thoughts didn't leave him alone, no matter what he did to try to push them away, that's when he became cranky. Something that people rarely saw, considering how often he smiled and enjoyed making other people happy.

Finally, Danny turned back towards the ball. He pumped himself up, jogging in place for a few seconds then took a step back. He wiped his hands off on the sides of his shorts then jogged forward, quicks-stepping at the last second and slammed his foot into the side of the ball. It shot towards the goal and Rhuben quickly dove to the side and caught the ball. Danny hung his head before letting out a growl of frustration. Rhuben stood up, cradling the ball against her stomach as she walked over to him.

"Normally, you could give Beckham a run for his money, mate," Rhuben said when she came to a stop. Danny lifted his head and stared at her, pressing his lips together. "Or at least Gordon Ramsey." She dropped the ball and folded her arms. "Mate, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," Danny denied.

Rhuben's eyes narrowed and she titled her head. "So you've got nothing on your mind at all?" Then she lifted her eyebrows. "Though, I reckon that's not a surprise."

Danny managed a small smile before sinking to the ground. He stuck one let out and pull the other in so that his foot pressed against his thigh to stretch. "There's always something on my mind," he said. "It just depends whether or not I want to give any thought to them."

"Ah, so your dad again, yeah?"

"Have you been watching me?"

"I've known your for almost ten years now, mate, it'd be said if I didn't." Rhuben looped her arms around her legs and rested her chin on her knees. Then she noticed the knowing smirk on Danny's face and—annoyingly—felt herself flush before quickly clarified with, "If I didn't know you, mate. I don't watch you."

"It's alright, love." Danny reached out and patted her knee. "You can admit it. I won't tell anyone."

"You won't get the chance when I knock your teeth you," Rhuben shot back. She smiled, tucking her hair behind her ear. "Honestly, Dan, I don't get why you're still trying to get into contact with him."

"I'm not, he's trying to get in contact with me." Danny licked his lips and looked away. Droplets of sweat continued to roll down his cheeks and dripped off his chin. "After seeing him at our show with Vicki, he's been saying over and over he wants to meet up. I ignored him at first but he wouldn't stop asking, kept saying he wanted to make things right."

"A few years too late, don't you think?"

"Yeah, just a few." Danny rolled his eyes, unable to keep his frustration out of his voice. A drastic difference from his normally jovial personality. "That's why I was constantly disappearing back then. I was going to meet up with him but every time he stood me up. And he keeps bloody asking me. And every time, like an idiot, I get my hopes up." He drew his arm across his forehead, smearing away the sweat. "I'm so angry at him but every time he tries…"

Rhuben watched him for a long moment, giving him the chance to let out the grievances he hadn't been able to before. Not a lot of people knew Danny more than the silly front man of McFly who never seemed to frown. Who wrote songs as easily as he breathed and had emotion course through them like they were nothing. Who was a lot more emotional than people gave him credit for. The guy she dated for a good while and knew better than anyone else.

"You know, I say it a lot, but I do get it," Rhuben said quietly. She brushed her purple strand of hair form her eyes. "You still have love for him and are ashamed that you do, even if he continuously lets you down. Continuously lets you angry." She sighed heavily, feeling a weight from her chest as she said, "It's sort of like what our Uncle did."

Danny's eyebrows came together in confusion. Not so weird, Rhuben noted. He'd never heard her mention this uncle before. "I thought your Uncle Christian was happy to have you guys in Canada?" Danny scratched right behind his ear, face screwing up in confusion. He'd heard of that uncle many times. She and her siblings talked about him enough.

"He does, for a few weeks at a time before we start to work on his nerves." Rhuben tilted her head, giving a teasing smile. "I recon we made him prematurely go gray." Then her smile faded and she started to tug at her shoelaces, keeping herself preoccupied while she said, "I'm talking about my Uncle Talon. My dad's brother."

Now Danny looked dumbfounded. The same way he had when she said she thought they should break-up long ago. The exact same expression. Rhuben frowned, suddenly feeling very…sad. How much did their breakup actually hurt him? He played it off well enough when she said she thought he was starting to and was inevitably going to get bored of her. He denied, it, tried to keep them together, even apologized—though she knew he didn't know what he was apologizing for—but knew there was no way to change her mind. And still, Rhuben had watched his expression despite the tears coming to her eyes and the feeling of immediately wanting to run to her sister and explain what happened and why they broke up. He'd apologized once more before rubbing his neck, a movement he made when he was nervous.

Somehow they still managed to be friends through it, no matter how long it took them to actually get back to being where they had been before. But Danny didn't need to apologize for this. "I didn't know your dad had a brother," he said.

"Not a lot of people do; we don't talk about him and he doesn't talk about us," Rhuben explained. She kept her blue eyes on Danny's studying his expression, trying to figure out what he was thinking, feeling. It used to be so easy before, but he'd matured now, changed. Sometimes it disarmed her how much he had. But she'd changed as well. He'd helped her do that.

He showed her how she was valuable as a person, valuable as a girlfriend even. That she wasn't all of the cruel things that Robert had trained her to believe as easily as saying the sky was blue. That she was a good person and how to like herself. There were enough things she kept from him, maybe he truly didn't know her at all?

"How come?" Danny's voice brought her form her thoughts.

"Because my dad died." Simple as that. "They were really close, only a year apart. He even thought of my mum as a sister when my dad only just met her. Once he heard the news…he couldn't stand to see us. I think because we reminded him of them so easily. Didn't go to the memorial service. Didn't go to the funeral. Didn't even go to the ceremony to dedicate a science wing of dad's office to him. My grandparents hated him for that as much as they understood how much it hurt. I haven't seen my Uncle Talon in…" she thought quickly to calculate. "13 years." She ran a hand through her hair. "Sometimes we think about contacting him but know he wouldn't respond. And sometimes we really get angry because a lot of the pain we went through could've been avoided if he had helped our grandparents take us in and not just Julius. But I understand his decision."

Rhuben waved a hand. "I know it's not exactly the same, but I know what you mean about getting your hopes up. Every few months or so we hear about how he's doing and how he'd like to see us, but then it doesn't happen. It's still too painful for him."

Danny's eyebrows rose as he listened to her story. Then he opened his mouth and asked, "His name's Talon?" Rhuben laughed and nodded. She wasn't mad. He didn't always know how to talk through heavy conversations. "So your grandfather's name is Teak, your dad's name is Reed, and your brother's name is Talon?"

"Actually, my dad's name is Tate, his middle name, which he mostly went by, is Reed." Rhuben laughed again then leaned back, resting her hands against the ground. She turned and looked around at the mountain range.

They sat in comfortable silence for a long while before Danny finally said, "Thanks, love."

"You're welcome, mate,"

"No, I mean it. I don't think I could've told any of the other guys this stuff," Danny said. He paused and bobbed his head back and forth. "Not without getting really drunk, first."

"What else is new? You lot turn into blubbering messes the moment you're pissed, yeah?" The two laughed. Rhuben looked at her watch then responded to Danny's question of playing a one-on-one game—though she was also very aware of his other implication—with, "Can't, I need to take a shower and get some food before Gen and Jacqui get here." She dusted off her hands before Danny reached out and grabbed hers, pulling her to her feet.

Rhuben smiled at her ex-boyfriend in thanks seconds before rolling her eyes as Danny teased, "Aww, getting tired of all of the handsome men around you?"

A snort escaped her lips. He wasn't even trying and yet he continued to make her laugh. "You try living in a house with a bunch of boys for most of your life and see their disgusting living habits and laziness. Then tell me you still think they're handsome."

Danny finally dropped her hands, making Rhuben notice the missing heat. "I don't know, Tom's been looking pretty good lately," he admitted. He flashed a hammy grin to show he was kidding.

Rhuben laughed hard enough to make tears come to her eyes. For her stomach muscles to burn. "Don't let any of your fans hear you say that, mate," she said. "It's slightly better you're not related but not much. There are some people who are convinced me and Noah or Riles and Pat are in a relationship. And that's only the tame stuff." Danny made a face. "Believe me, we can laugh about it now. But it's fucking weird, mate."

Danny laughed.

"I'll see you later, mate," Rhuben said, backing towards the house. "I need to take a shower."

The moment the words left her mouth, Danny's eyes lit up and his lips pulled back into a charming smile. "Want some company? Conserve water?"

"Sure." Rhuben smirked at his intrigued yet wary expression. "If you have a death wish."

"Ah." He nodded, undeterred. "But what a way to go."

"I'll say."

With that, Rhuben turned and walked into the house, smiling the whole way.

"Move your arm. You're elbowing my fucking spleen."

Riley grinned, shaking her head. "You don't even know where your spleen is."

Matt smiled. "Maybe not, but you've got bony elbows." He shifted aside, resting his hands behind his head while Riley sat up on the couch, pulling her laptop closer to her lap. "Hey, I didn't say anything about not cuddling. Just that I was afraid you were trying to fucking kill me."

A patient breath sucked through Riley's lips. "Firstly, mate, you can live without your fucking spleen. All it does it level your bodily fluids, yeah? It wouldn't kill you if it were harmed. Secondly, your spleen is below your ribcage so I'd have to break your rib to fucking get to it. Thirdly, I'm doing my homework. You were the one who collapsed onto the couch and watched me for ten bloody minutes."

"I just wanted to know what it's like to still be in school," Matt said. He crossed his legs at the ankle, resting his heels on the arm of the couch. "Doesn't look very fun."

"It's not." She pushed her glasses up her nose and continued to read her email, frowning when she saw a few she'd missed over the last couple of days. Judging by the all caps on a few of the subject lines, they probably weren't good. "Not recently anyway."

"Why?" Matt lowered his hands from behind his head to rest on his stomach.

"Well…" Riley twisted to the side on the small amount of space she had between Matt and the back of the couch. She draped her legs across his lap, making him remove his hands from his stomach and rest on her shins. "With the program I'm doing at USyd, I've basically completely everything I need to finish in three years. But with going on tour so much I've had to go a little longer."

"Right," Matt said.

"I've been able to do most of my stuff online which has been beauty. But you can't do any surgeries or clinic rotations online. It's basically the last of what I have to do for my degree but I have no time to get it done and because of that I'm,"—she held her fingers a few inches apart—"This close to being kicked out of the program."

Matt's face scrunched up, his green eyes shifting back and forth as he tried to come up with a solution. "But, since Syd is saying that he wants to take some time away from the band, can't you finish up school?"

"I could, I have seven years to do it and I'm on year 4…" her eyes scrunched up. "I think. I get a lot of my work done fast, but I keep having to put off my actually being there and I don't think they can do that much longer."

"Well, all the more reason to put it down in a song," Matt said with a laugh. "I write about teachers I want to bang and you write songs about people you hate."

Riley laughed along with him. "I've never written a song about people I hate." She tilted her head to the side. "Of people I've wanted to kill, maim, beat up, am pissed off at, yeah. But not those I hate." A sweet smile came to her lips. "That would be cruel."

"Well, it's not going to help much if you stress." Matt finally stopped stroking her leg and grabbed her laptop. "You need to relax before your head pops off your neck. It'd be cool, but thankfully it's not my time to clean up the mess so…" He leaned out of the way, still holding her laptop when Riley punched him hard in the side. "Let's watch a movie. I didn't come all the way down here to listen to negativity about school."

"Excuse me, Mattie, I was minding my own business when you forced your way onto the couch and sat here and watched me. Creepily, I might add." Riley grabbed her computer back and shifted her legs to the side so that they were lying down side by side.

"It's not creepy, it's filled with love. I have a lot of love to give."

"I've noticed." A smirk came to Riley's face. "How many girls have you had come in and out of your revolving door once you started your band?"

"Hey, that stopped as soon as I started dating Emma."

Riley's eyebrows came together as she thought of what Matt said. It was true, he had changed from being the member of the band that took great advantage of the many fans he had. Honestly, even she, Rhuben, Patrick, and Noah had taken advantage of it every now and then. But the hadn't had it come out in the tabloids and other superficial rags that sprinted to get pictures of him drunk, falling over, and whomever it was he sleeping with by that point.

But when he met Emma Griffiths, he'd done a quick turnaround with his life. She was someone who really helped him figure out what it was he wanted out of life and helped him get into rehab. It was her ultimatums that had him truly understand what he was doing and throwing away. Since then, he hadn't had a drink or done any drugs, yet he also hadn't spoken about her.

"You don't talk about her, much," Riley pointed out. She opened her Netflix page and scrolled through the list of movies in her queue, trying to find one to watch.

Matt shrugged. "Never saw the point. I haven't seen her in a while." To that, Riley made a face. Didn't see the point of talking about someone who had a really big impact on his life? As far as she knew, which was basically firsthand knowledge, they broke up amicably. No reason to want to keep it a secret, to stealthily move through the crowd when they'd be in the same place. He noticed her look and asked, "You don't talk about your ex much."

"That's cause he already has another girlfriend."

She hadn't meant to say that, honestly. Though it was hard to ignore. Not many people were aware of how sensitive she could be. She took breakups hard; already hesitant to potentially have her heart broken and time wasted, anyone who could get past her walls were special enough.

But it sucked, with a capital 'S', when that romance played out online and fans became invested.

How many days in a row had she had fans in her Twitter and Instagram mentions saying they wished she and him were back together? Saying they were always going to be fans of the two them…

There weren't many things in life that made Riley blind with rage, but having others invested into her relationship and continuing to bring their opinions on it got her to that level in .5 seconds. How she managed to keep calm every time she got a new notification with a similar message was infuriating.

"What do you mean, 'already'?"

"Just…" Riley lifted and lowered her right shoulder in a shrug. Should've kept your mouth shut. "It didn't take him very long." Was she punching her computer keys? It sounded like it.

"Yeah, well, he's an idiot," Matt said simply.

Riley smiled her thanks before her eyes drifted to her forearm. She pushed her computer aside and grabbed his arm with both hands, leaning forward to look at the tattoo that covered his forearm. She studied the black and white of a woman's face then started to laugh. "Not as idiotic as you are, mate." A grin came to her face. "I'm impressed by a lot of tattoos, but I never figured you'd get a pin-up. You know there's a superstition about them, yeah?"

"I never believed in tattoo superstitions," Matt said. A slow grin pulled at his lips. "Besides, it seems to be working out so far." He paused, watching as Riley's eyebrows lifted. "It's you."

A shock of surprise made Riley tighten her grasp on his forearm. Matt winced and tried to pull his hand back, but found himself locked into Riley's grip. "No. That's not me!" She tilted her head, eyes narrowing to scrutinize it even further. There's no way he's that fucking stupid, she thought. "That's not me."

"What, you don't see the resemblance?"

"I sure as hell don't." Finally, she dropped his arm and leaned back to look him in the eye. "That's not me." Matt continued to smile at her. "I swear to God that better not be me! Are you crazy? Do you want our friendship to fall apart?"

He quirked an eyebrow. "I thought it was that if you were in a relationship and you got a tattoo of the other person in some way that broke them up."

"That too!" Riley looked up as Rhuben jogged in through the back door of the house and waved her twin over. "Rhu! Look at this! Matt has a pin-up tattoo on his arm."

"Really?" Rhuben walked over curiously. She leaned over the tattoo and smiled. "That's awesome, Mattie."

"Yeah, he's saying it's of me," Riley said.

Rhuben's smile widened and she patted Matt on the shoulder. "Then it was nice knowing you, Mattie." She exchanged a look with Riley when Matt finally burst out into loud laughter, wrapping his arms around his stomach. "What? Is it me?"

"No," Matt finally got out.

"Oh." Rhuben's shoulders slumped. Now she swatted him on the arm. "Then why'd you get my hopes up?"

"You want to get hit by the curse?" Riley asked her twin.

"I'm not dating him, what would it do to me?"

"It's of Emma," Matt finally explained. "I got it after getting out of rehab."

Riley's eyebrows twitched upwards. "Well, that explains it." She then leaned over and punched Matt hard on the arm with Rhuben punching him on the other one. Then the two girls leaned over him, pinching and prodding every area they could reach as he tried frantically to defend himself. Matt leaned out of the way, sliding onto the floor with Riley and Rhuben continuing to tickle him.

Riley flipped her hair out of her face and listened as she heard Dougie call, "Riley!"

"What?" Riley shouted back, making Matt wince and pull his ear away from her mouth.

"I need you!"

"Coming!" Riley untangled herself from Matt's arms and climbed off the floor.

"You think it's serious this time?" Rhuben asked, concern evident in her voice.

Riley opened her mouth to respond. Wanted to say she would rather be pulled away for something small than ignore him and find the worst later. Wanted to say that in this circumstance it probably was, but also knew the moment she said anything it'd just have Matt give her more than the knowing look he already was giving her. Annoyed, she decided to keep her mouth shut. No one other than her family knew what she was about to say and it wasn't anything she wanted to mention now.

Besides, it wasn't his business.

A/N: What McBusted songs do you think this one was inspired by? Not all of them will be like that, but, you know, they're supposed to be on a writing trip so they need to get some inspiration somewhere! Lol.

~Riley