Well howdee =)

Next chapter out (WOO!) and I've already half-written the next one XD

This chapter involves my favourite part of the Radio:ACTIVE DVD, and it's the bit right at the end :)
I wet myself every time I watch it. It is that funny :P

Oh yeah, pretty major time jump, but I was bored of them being so young. Now I can have more fun with them, hehehehe.

Enjoy :D

With a panicked expression, Doug pushed away from me and desperately tried to flatten his hair. I found this quite amusing, so started snickering behind my hand.

"Danny!" He whispered harshly, "you march yourself down those stairs now before Tom suspects something."

I rolled my eyes at him, but took the two necessary steps to the top stair and that was when Tom's face appeared at the very bottom and needless to say, it wasn't very happy. In fact, it was bright red and you could almost see the steam coming from his ears.

"I SWEAR you two do this to me JUST to piss me off. Well, I can tell you it works. Happy now?"

I kept my head low to disguise my silent laughter, but I was sure the angry blond could see my shoulders shaking from the pressure of my giggling. Suddenly I felt a vice grip on my upper arm, as the blond in question had managed to climb the stairs without me noticing him and grab it. "OUCH! Jeez Tom, we were just coming…" I tried to reason, but he wasn't having any of it.

"I TOLD you I was coming to get you, didn't I? Hmm? Think you might listen to me next time?" He was dragging me down the staircase, but then turned round and motioned dangerously for Dougie to follow. The boy timidly took one step before Tom shouted "HURRY UP!"

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

After Tom had unceremoniously dragged me into the dining room, he appeared to be in a much better mood. Once Doug and I were both sat next to each other at the table, Harry began throwing us questioning looks in between each mouthful of spaghetti.

James was twiddling the strands onto his fork, with his tongue sticking out of the side of his mouth. The concentration on his face was hilarious, and when the pasta slid off, he sighed heavily and tried again. Silence reigned, so I looked sideways at Dougie. He glanced up at me at the same time, and our eyes met for a split second.

Harry then decided to kick my chair, which meant I managed to flick food into Dougie's lap. He looked at me accusingly, but then motioned with his head to his lap and raised his eyebrows. I was confused at first, but then I realised what he meant and my face turned scarlet with embarrassment.

The Busted boy looked from Dougie to me, and then said "Oi lovers, no flirting at the dinner table. I'm trying to eat here."

I retaliated with my face still burning. "Hey James you tramp, why are you even still here?"

"Matt refuses to cook all the time, and Charlie refuses to cook altogether. Basically, if I don't come here I don't eat, 'kay?" He replied, wiping his mouth on the sleeve of his hoodie. "Also, I know you guys love me."

Harry snorted into his bowl, splattering tomato sauce on the tablecloth.

"Ahhh of course we love you dude!" Dougie said, getting up from his seat to hug James' head. A strangled noise was heard from James and the other boy said dangerously "but if you refer to Dan and me as lovers again, this will officially be your last dinner. EVER."

Then he let go of the unfortunate boy, who began massaging his neck but still said "bit touchy on the subject are we?"

Dougie flopped into his chair, and didn't answer. I twiddled some spaghetti on to my fork, and ate in silence as I watched the things he wanted to say evaporate into thin air.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

I had retired to my room yet again, when I heard a commotion coming from downstairs. I had been sitting in the dark; so many thoughts crossed my mind as to what it could be about.

Then I heard someone thundering up the stairs. My door flew open and Doug stood there, breathless. "D-Dan, come downstairs, quick!" He panted, and I outright panicked.

I ran down about five of the steps, and jumped the rest. Pushing open the kitchen door forcefully, I found that there was nobody in the room. I glanced around quickly, looking from left to right and I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"SHIT!" I cried, and spun round to face Dougie. He was smiling gently at me looking totally innocent. I put my hand on my chest and heaved a breath of needed oxygen. "Wh-what was all the fuss about?"

Still smiling, Dougie answered "I just wanted to talk to you properly, the others have gone to take James back home and with them around it's impossible to talk like this."

"Well what did you want to talk about?"

He simply raised an eyebrow, and rolled his eyes at me.

"WHAT?"

He laughed and said "you're cute when you're angry."

I sighed, and said exasperatedly "Doug, please. Just tell me why the fuck you scared the hell out of me and then told me you just wanted to talk?"

What happened next was unexpected. Dougie looked down at the floor, and I saw a tear splash to the ground. It sounded so loud in the deathly silence, and I didn't know what to do. "Danny, don't be angry with me, please. I just wanted to make sure you would listen to me."

"I'd always listen to you Dougie."

He looked up. "But this is the thing; I don't know if you'll like what I'm going to say…"

I stared into his red-rimmed eyes, but they gave nothing away. I just saw a lot of pain. "How do you know that?" I asked quietly.

Instead of answering my question, he started to apologise profusely. "I'm sorry Danny," he blurted out, "but I can't do this right now."

"Do what?" I asked, slightly panicked by what this could mean.

"This. Me and you. I'm too young; we're too young! We have the whole of our lives to live yet, and I just… I think we need to grow up."

His words hit me like a ton of bricks, but at the same time a small corner of my brain understood what he meant. "So… what do we do now?"

"We dig a massive hole in our heads, and bury this. Bury it for as long as it takes; or…"

"…Or forever." I finished, clenching my fists. Then I turned away and switched off the light, leaving Dougie to hug himself in the dark kitchen.

And that's the way it stayed.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ Nearly 5 Years Later /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"So guys, new album! Tell me about that…" said the busty blonde interviewer, who had a slight tendency to lean towards Dougie and give him an eyeful of her cleavage.

We all looked at Tom, who began his answer. "Well, we went to Australia for ten weeks to record Radio:ACTIVE, and we can honestly say it's the best stuff we've ever written."

The interviewer was obviously not interested, as she was reading the questions off a sheet, and as we answered she simply held a button down on a recorder. She didn't even keep eye contact with us, except to occasionally gaze suggestively at Doug. "Hmm," she said, "and I guess you all have girlfriends?"

The topic was a raw one for me because of previous relationships, and it opened a healing wound. I felt I had to answer. "Tom and Harry do," I said, pointing to them with my thumb, "but Doug and I don't."

"No" Doug added. "We have boyfriends."

Needless to say, the interviewer leaned away from Dougie, cleared her throat and said, "Well that about wraps it up, I think…"

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Back in our black people carrier, Tom was practically pissing himself laughing. "AHAHAHA, DID YOU SEE HER FACE?! She gave Doug a look as if to say 'WTF?'"

Harry sighed, and rolled his eyes, "yes Tom, we all saw it and this is the SIXTH time you've helped us relive the moment."

"But it was freaking hilarious though," Tom insisted, wiping tears from his eyes. "I think it was because we all knew it was coming, and it was such a shock to her! She didn't realise it was a typical Dougie thing to say!" Then he snorted, and dissolved into waves of giggling once more.

Though I wasn't laughing, I couldn't help but smile. Tom has been a different person since we created Super Records; he's more relaxed. While we were with Island, it seemed like he was under a lot more pressure and that made him uptight. Now, he is the joker of the band; always making us smile and I truly believe that's what helped us write better music. It's true what Tom said in the interview, being in Australia helped us to detach ourselves from the crushing pressure of having to record an album in such a short space of time, and it just felt like we were on holiday.

I looked at Dougie, who smiled and laid his head on the door to try and get some well-deserved sleep.

"Where are we going?" Harry asked, counting on his fingers to try and connect the places we still had to go.

Tom had sobered considerably by this point, and answered, "Home, actually. We haven't got another gig until Monday!"

I was elated at this news, today was Friday and that meant I had the whole weekend to sleep. "I bet Doug's gonna piss off with his girlfriend again." I smirked, looking across at the boy pretending to be asleep.

His head didn't move, but he still spoke in a monotonous voice. "I told the lady I didn't have a girlfriend, so why would you assume I have one?" His eyes had been closed as he spoke, but now he glanced sideways at me, one eyebrow arched.

I opened my mouth to speak, but Harry beat me to it. "Doug, you always have a girlfriend!"

"But they don't last long." Tom added, and smirked at Harry.

Dougie snapped then; his face became red with anger and it was like a monster had replaced the boy we all knew and loved. "Shut up Tom! You think you're so great because you've had a girlfriend for like, ever. But you're not! Maybe I like things like this; maybe I like only having a girlfriend for a while, because then I don't fall in so deep I end up getting hurt like Danny. Anyway, I don't have one. I told you."

I was shocked that he used me as a reference, but what he'd said was true. I'd been hurt. "Doug," I said softly, "just ignore them. You can even be gay if you like, we don't mind."

"Maybe I will then." He said seriously, but cracked a smile all the same. And there it was. The smile that still kept me awake at night, the one that I would never get bored of seeing.

Tom turned round in his seat (forgetting conveniently about Doug's outburst) and asked "hey guys, James just texted me. Do you wanna go to his for dinner later?"

I nodded enthusiastically, Dougie replied, "yeah, sure" indifferently and Harry grunted his approval.

We still kept in contact with James; he was the one who'd originally helped Tom to create McFly's first songs. He'd always been a good mate to us, even when both Busted and Son of Dork split and he spiralled into depression. He was writing his own album now, and we were helping him to make the best songs possible. We knew he deserved another shot in the music industry.

"Tomarse?" Dougie asked, grinning insanely, "are you going to be spending the weekend with Gio?" He then winked suggestively at me and nudged his elbow into Tom's ribs by leaning forwards in his seat.

"OUCH! You git." Tom grumbled, whilst rubbing his now bruised side. "You haven't used that nickname in ages. Anyway, if I were staying with Giovanna, would that be any of your business?"

"Yes," Dougie answered automatically, "you must know by know that anything you do is our business." Then he grinned and said, "or anyone you do," and began to giggle.

Tom opened his mouth to argue, so I spoke before he could. "What are you doing over the weekend then Harry?"

He shrugged, and then said "I dunno really. Mum said I could go round hers tomorrow and she'd cook me trout for lunch."

Dougie couldn't pass up the opportunity to take the piss. "You're going to have trout with your mum?" He asked in a strange voice, mocking Harry's fortunate background.

Harry looked offended, but laughed and said "well Doug, what does your mum cook you?" Then he noticed Tom trying to hide his laughter and demanded, "what about you then Tom?!"

The aforementioned boy continued to chuckle, but then put on his best 'posh' voice. "Oh I'm sorry Harry," he said with a slight lisp, "my mum doesn't cook me trout."

I swear I nearly pissed myself, but I was trying to laugh quietly so Harry wouldn't hear. Dougie completely threw that idea out of the window when he started to laugh uncontrollably. I tried to shush him but it was unsuccessful as I was laughing just as much.

Tom carried on taking the mick, "I don't have my own river."

"Oh piss off Tom." Harry said exasperatedly, getting annoyed by the constant digs at his home life.

"I have koi carp in the moat outside my house."

That was it for me, I collapsed into fits of hysterical laughter and Doug did the same. Tom cocked his head and smiled innocently at Harry. The older boy finally caved in, grabbed Tom in a headlock and said "I love you guys."

Y'all review now, y'hear?

'Kay, until next time :D

xxx