It took Dougie two hours and twice as many cups of tea to explain the story to his former bandmates. When he was finished, they sat across from him with jaws nearly touching the table. Several awkward moments passed as Dougie shrank back in his chair and away from the disbelieving stares he was receiving, his face buried in his tea. Eventually, Jasper broke the silence.

"Mate, you could win an Oscar if they made a story of your life." The comment broke the tension and there was laughter from all areas of the table, Dougie feeling more and more relaxed. He wasn't entirely sure his friends believed him, but there was no outright denial that what had happened had ever happened. And it was pretty unbelievable, Dougie knew that. If it hadn't actually happened to him, he would never in a million years believe it could have happened to anyone.

A harsh ring cut through the laughter, and all six boys automatically reached into their pockets to check their phones. Confusion twisted Jasper's features as an unfamiliar number popped up. Familiar fear flooded back through Dougie's veins as his best friend pressed the answer call button and stood up, pacing away from the table so that the boys couldn't hear his conversation, just in case. Dougie studied Jasper's face as he spoke, but the boy remained poker face. He walked back to the table five minutes later, guilt evident on his face.

"Dougs…that was your mum" Jasper told him, ignoring the shocked gasp that came from the boy across from him. "Don't look at me like that, I had to tell her where you are. She was hysterical mate, you can't do this to her" Dougie sighed, knowing Jasper was right.

"I know" he said dejectedly. He wasn't sorry for finding his old friends, if anything his experiences had taught him that friends were more important than he'd ever realised, and he was never going to lose contact with his old friends again. Dougie bit his lip. If he knew his mum and his friends, they'd all be here as fast as they could. He needed a distraction. "Hey, lads. I've definitely spoken about myself enough. I want to know what's been happening with you guys!"

A pleasant half hour passed as the friends all caught Dougie up on what had happened in their lives after Dougie had left, and he almost began to forget all about Mcfly and the kidnappers. He was brought back to reality with a thump when the door to the coffee shop banged open and a whirlwind of band members entered in a hurry, Dougie's mum heading them.

"Dougie!" seven different voices yelled his name and Dougie let his head fall with a thump onto the table.

"Shit" he murmured, his friends around him looking over at Dougie's band mates with interest. They rose and greeted the terrified looking men as they came to the table, glances being thrown Dougie's way.

"Is he okay?" Tom asked, the familiar worry evident in his voice. Jasper smiled fondly, and nodded.

"Yeah, he just really didn't want to be seen" he explained. Tom's forehead creased with a mixture of confusion and hurt. Jasper saw the look and shrugged.

"You'll have to ask him the answer to that one yourself" was the only reply. Tom nodded, and dropped into the vacant seat next to Dougie as the rest of all three bands began introducing themselves and discussing music.

"Dougs?" Tom asked, his hand hesitantly hovering over Dougie's back as he debated whether to touch Dougie or not.

"No" was the reply he got, and Tom bit his lip.

"C'mon man, you have to at least tell me why you ran" he pleaded. Dougie shook his head resolutely.

"You're acting like a child" Tom retorted, folding his arms and stuck his tongue out at Dougie's back. The boy in question had raised his head just in time to see this, and an eyebrow shot upwards.

"And you're not?" he asked. Tom sighed, admitting defeat with that one.

"Fine, but you have to tell me anyway" The other boys had stopped talking shop and were taking an interest in the conversation, all wanting to know what had been going around Dougie's head.

"I just…I wanted to stop ruining your lives. I wanted to fix everything I'd spoiled. If I wasn't there anymore Mcfly and Busted could be Mcfly and Busted again and you guys could focus on your music and get back to what you really love. And then I had to come here and fix what I'd fucked up with my old friends, because friends are really fucking important. And then I was going to go home and hide" Dougie told them all, letting his head fall back to the table again when he was finished to hide his embarrassment.

Dougie was expecting mixed reactions. What he wasn't expecting was for each and every one of his friends, including his mum, to burst out into peals of laughter to the point where tears were basically rolling down their cheeks. He lifted his head again and looked around at the group in amazement.

"Dougie mate, you really are the world's biggest twat"


A/N: short, sweet, and very overdue. I'm only anticipating there will be one more chapter to finally, finally wrap this very long first fic of mine up if there are still any readers.) I make no promises, but I will definitely try and have the final chapter up by the end of the weekend.