"DAVY!" Micky yelled after the silence became too much as he bolted around the pad to find him.
"DAVY!" He yelled again, Peter quickly following behind.
"What're you doing?" He whispered but Micky didn't answer him. Eventually, he found Davy in the corner of the kitchen.
"Davy…what the FUCK have you done?!"
"Micky!" Peter yelped, surprised at his friend cursing. Davy only sighed.
"Mike needs to learn that we can take care of ourselves just fine. We're not his children. We can handle the truth."
"Yeah, but, you-you can't just—"
"I did!" Davy declared, throwing his hands in the air. "Is that really so bad?"
Micky sighed, running a hand through his hair.
"Well, throwing him out wasn't the way to go about it." Micky said.
"I know," Davy said finally having the decency to look ashamed, "I didn't really mean to tell him to leave, I just want him to treat us like adults."
"Well yeah," Micky said, "but if Mike wants to keep a few secrets let him."
"It's not just that Micky," Davy said as he made his way to the couch "it's the fact that he does the grocery shopping, he finds the gigs-"
"You found the gig at the roller rink." Micky said.
"I wasn't even looking for it though." Davy said "us three may find one here and there, but Mike finds the majority of them, he needs to learn that we can take care of that stuff as well."
Micky smiled in understanding and let out a sigh.
"Well, you could've just told him that, you know," he joked with a slight shrug. "I don't think things are gonna change for the better now."
Davy let out a sigh and hung his head down in shame.
"I know…"
"Well, you could just apologize to him tonight?" Micky offered. "Then after the gig, you can tell him what you told me. Just…maybe don't try literally beating it into him."
"I'm not going to apologize to him." Davy said.
"Why not?" Micky asked, throwing his hands up into the air.
"Because," Davy said, "I think we need to prove to him we can do it."
"But Davy, if we prove we can do it, then maybe he won't come back." Peter said, his lower lip trembling.
"What do you mean by that?" Micky asked.
"What if we prove to him we can live without him and he feels like he's not needed?" Peter asked.
"Pete, he plays lead guitar in the band. He's needed." Micky said.
"Mike can be weird about things like this," Peter said sadly, sitting down. "I hope he knows that he's needed for more than guitar."
"He knows that, Peter," Micky sighed.
"Yeah, someone's gotta do the laundry and the dishes and–" Davy said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.
"We just need him!" Peter blurted out. "Not for guitar or chores, we just need…" his voice trailed off and he sniffled, beginning to cry.
"Oh Peter, don't cry." Davy said, pulling his handkerchief out of his pocket and handing it to him.
"I want Mike back." Peter sobbed as he wiped his face and blew his nose.
"Don't worry Peter, we'll get him back okay," Micky said "we'll just let him cool down a little bit."
"When?" Peter asked "when will he come back?"
"He said he'll meet us up at the skating rink later," Micky smiled. "He said he'll help us set up and such. It's gonna be okay."
Peter sniffled and wiped his nose, nodding.
"I hope he's not hurt…"
"He's been gone for twenty minutes Peter, how much trouble can he get into?" Davy asked.
Peter shrugged.
"He's a Monkee," Peter said "he'll get hurt or something wherever he goes."
"Well, thats a nice thought, thanks Pete." Micky said.
"Mike's pretty careful though," Davy suggested. "He's good at staying out of mischief if we don't egg him on."
"Yeah." Peter said.
"He'll be alright Peter." Micky said, "give him some time to cool off and let Davy apologize he'll come back."
Peter smiled and nodded, wiping his face.
"Okay," he said quietly. Micky grinned and wrapped an arm around him.
"It'll be alright, Peter. Promise."
"Okay," Peter repeated.
"Let's go practice, huh?" Micky offered. "It'll take our minds off of it."
"Okay." Peter sniffed again but went over and got his bass.
"Guys, what songs are we going to play?" Davy asked "I mean, Mike's not here to go over them and they sound weird without him."
"Maybe you should have thought of that before you jumped on him?" Peter said in an uncaresticly bitter tone.
Davy stiffened and Micky shot a look at Peter.
"Not cool," he said and Davy let out a sigh.
"It's fine, he's right," he said, picking up his tambourine. "We could play ones he doesn't sing. Peter could take on guitar and I do bass, if you think I should."
"Yeah," Micky said "that might be better. Mike did mention that he probably wasn't going to be able to do the gig."
"Alright." Davy said going over and picking up his custom made bass guitar that the other three bought him for Christmas one year.
"How about we start with Mary Mary?" Micky offered. Peter shrugged as he took his guitar and strapped it over his chest, playing the opening lick Micky followed with his drum and Davy came in on the guitar too late. Peter wrinkled his nose.
"Sorry," Davy said, biting his lip.
"It's okay, let's start again." Micky said Ready, one, two, three."
Peter looked at Davy with a frown as he played it again. It was not quite perfect without Mike there, but it was passable. Even though they ran through several songs that afternoon, no one was focused on playing. After going through Twist and Shout, Micky insisted they do that one song, they called it quits and started packing up the instruments in the car.
"I hope he's okay…" Peter whispered, packing his guitar in its case.
"I'm sure he is," Micky sighed, even if he was doubtful.
"How do you know though?" Peter asked.
"He's Mike," Davy said as he put a box of his maracas into the back seat "he'll be fine."
"Yeah," Micky agreed, smiling at Peter. "And he said earlier that he wouldn't leave us even if he wanted to. He'll be fine."
Peter nodded and sighed, doubting it himself, but chose not to focus on those feelings as he packed his things into the car. Finally everything was packed and ready to go. Micky looked at his watch and sighed one last time.
"Okay, well everything's packed and I say we hit the road." He announced "it'll take us twenty five minutes to get there without traffic and then to set up and do mic checks and everything."
"Yeah, okay, let's go." Davy said as he hopped over the car door into the back seat. Peter was quiet as he got in and Micky backed out and they go on the road. All three of them were quiet as they finally found the roller rink and walked in their eyes adjusting to the dim light of the entryway.
"Hi," a worker said, approaching them. "I assume you must be the Monkees?"
"That's us," Micky grinned.
"Wonderful," she smiled. "Well, we're just setting up right now for the tournament. The stage is right over there. I can help you bring out your instruments if you'd like me to."
"We can do it," Davy said, jumping in.
"Well, okay then. There's gonna be people coming in and setting up and contestants warming up around you. Just stay out of their way and they'll stay out of yours, okay?"
"Sounds good." Micky said, taking his drum case and following the lady.
"My name is Candy," She explained "Anything that you need help with or whatever let me know and I'll try my best to get it."
"I bet you're as sweet as your name." Davy said smiling. Candy turned around to face him walking backwards.
"Wouldn't you like to know." She said, flashing her left hand at him. A ring was on her finger.
"Well, here's the stage for you to set up. Make sure all wires and things are out of the way of the rink so our skaters don't trip over them." Peter nodded.
"Okay."
"You'll get paid at the end of the night, go and see Greg at the DJ booth and he'll pay you." She turned and left as a horde of skaters appeared on the rink.
Davy happened to glance out at them as he helped Micky set up the drum set. He smirked.
"You must be joking…" he muttered to no one in particular.
"What?" Peter frowned.
Davy smiled and Micky and Peter turned to face where he was looking. Micky let out a sigh but had a similar grin of his own when he saw. Peter didn't seem to notice what they were looking at.
"What is it?" He asked Micky.
"Peter, it's Mike." Micky said.