The next week passed like a dream, with the first proper band rehearsals they had had in months, and what with all the happy vibes, they had written some awesome new songs. It wasn't always easy for Dougie, being so close to Harry again, but the rest of them could see that he was trying really, really hard to make it seem normal again, like it was the most natural thing in the world to sit with his feet on Harry's lap during a film. Even though Harry knew that it was still hard, the effort that it took Dougie meant the world to him. There had been one tense moment, when Dougie had beaten Harry on the playstation and Harry had smacked Dougie across the head in punishment, which made him jump out of his seat, pushing Harry away, before he realised and sat back down, wrapping his arms around Harry as he muttered "sorry."
Dougie was enjoying being close to Harry again. Sure, it made him nervous, but he loved being around him. It was like some part of him finally felt like it was home when they were together. The only problem now was that he couldn't stop thinking about what Tom and Danny had said, about their bet. He felt like he ought to ask if there had been anything between them before, because they had been really close, with a bromance splashed all over the internet, but was it real? Harry was a good-looking guy after all, and it was possible that Dougie had liked him in that way...and if the opportunity had arisen...
"What's on your mind, Mr. Deep-in-thought?" said Harry, nudging Dougie's knee in the dimly lit living room. It was night time now, and the other two had gone to bed quarter of an hour ago, after declaring themselves worn out by a hard day of doing nothing, leaving them to flick through the typically awful late-night TV.
"Hmm? Oh, nothing much...just..." Dougie hesitated. It was now or never; he had to find out, and he hadn't been able to get anything out of the other two except giggles.
"Harry," he started again, "I've been meaning to ask you something, but it might be," he coughed and glanced up at Harry's questioning eyes before looking back down at his fraying sleeve, "well, it might be a bit awkward..."
At this Harry scooted across the sofa to put comforting hand on Dougie's arm, squeezing it as Dougie began to play with the hem of his shirt nervously. "Go on then," Harry said, looking concerned at the bassist's nervousness.
"Well, it was something the others said, the other day, the morning after I came into your room in the night. And. They had had a bet, about something they thought you might say. About us," Dougie said, pleading with his voice for Harry to understand. The look of confusion upon the older man's face showed that he had to go further though, and so he took a deep breath and continued. "They said that you might have said that we were more than friends, that there was something else between us, and I can't stop thinking about it and they won't tell me what they meant and I didn't think anyone else would have known, but then I didn't want to ask you because that would have seemed weird because if it wasn't true then I would seem like an idiot, and if it was true then I would still be an idiot because I can't remember..." Dougie trailed off as he ran out of words. If he hadn't been so worried about what Harry's response would be, he might have laughed at the way that Harry had frozen as soon as he understood what 'more than friends' meant.
"Dougs," Harry said in a croaky voice, before clearing his throat and trying again. "Dougie, you and I, we never really...properly...y'know? I mean, there was some stuff when we were drunk, or just on stage, for fun you know? But never serious...I don't know why they would have told you that. It...it never happened."
Dougie looked down at his hands quickly, before meeting eyes with a worried-looking Harry again. After a second of serious eye-contact though, Dougie felt an insane giggle bubbling in his chest, and it burst from his chest, before he quickly clapped his hands over his mouth, embarrassed at his reaction suddenly.
"What?" said Harry, looking relived and smiling now too.
"Just that," Dougie laughed slightly again, "it's just that I don't know what would have happened if it had been true! I didn't know if they were just mucking about or what!"
"They had a bet though? What did they think I would have said?" asked Harry, leaning back against the sofa and folding his arms across his chest, looking amused.
"Oh, well Danny reckoned that you would say that we had been, y'know, shagging I think it was they said, and Tom thought you wouldn't say anything, so Tom won," Dougie said, having to fight internal laughter at the memory of Tom's ridiculous celebration dance.
"Ahh, poor Danny. Should have known better than to bet against Tom," Harry smiled. He stretched, and rolled his neck left to right before standing. "Well, I'm off to bed now, so I'll see you in the morning I guess. Good-night Dougs!"
"Night," Dougie mumbled at Harry's retreating footsteps. He curled further into the sofa, wondering why he suddenly felt that little bit sadder than before.