"You'll never get me!" Matt cried, sprinting through the house as Dom chased after him, waving a hoodie in his hands. He panted, Dom's longer legs allowing him to catch up easily, and scrambled over the sofa out into the hallway. The little dog skittered around his feet, flashes of black and white darting into his vision every so often and threatening to topple him over.

"Goddamn it, Matt," Dom breathed, running around the sofa and racing after him. Matt flung open the front door and nipped outside. He hurried along the pavement, able to hear Dom whining about the cold behind him, and snickered. Jogging to the nearest lamppost, he allowed Dom to breeze past him before turning around and heading back to the house, able to feel the cold seeping into his body through his bare feet and shivering. As he neared the door, he glanced back at Dom, who was still wearing that playfully angry face, his hair mussed up and cheeks flushed pink.

Unable to see where he was going, Matt's foot caught on a crack in the ground. He flew through the air and whipped his head around just in time to see himself heading for the door. Hands out, he braced himself, hoping to take the fall as gracefully as possible in such a situation. The smile fell from his lips as he landed, and suddenly a searing pain shot through his foot as he crumpled on the floor.

Dom watched in horror as Matt reached the ground again and caught his foot on the concrete doorstep, curling up instinctively and hugging his foot to his chest. His jaw was clenched, teeth gritted and, as Dom got closer, he could see the beginnings of tears pricking in his eyes. Matt shook them away.

"Oh my God, Matt, are you alright?" he asked urgently, bending down beside him and watching his face. Matt nodded, paused, and then shook his head. He pulled his hand away from his foot, slowly straightening out his leg and leaning on his elbows. His palms were grazed, the skin ripped up with blood trickling from a small cut on the side of one hand. His shins felt sore to the touch and his pale trousers had scuff marks around the knees. "I'll go get something for your hands." Dom got up to go into the house but Matt grabbed his hand.

"No, no, stay! Please," he begged, voice cracking slightly. "Could you just...will you check my foot for me? I think I bashed it up a bit." Dom returned to his former position and carefully cradled Matt's right foot in his hands, knowing how much he hated it when people touched them.

"Tell me if it hurts, okay?" Matt nodded as Dom began to test his foot, getting him to circle his ankle and flex his feet. When told to wiggle his toes, however, Matt hissed. Although he still didn't notify Dom of any pain, his boyfriend knew that there was a problem. He gently touched his toes, Matt wincing and pulling his foot away. Dom's lips were pressed together tightly.

"I'm going to take you up to the hospital," he told him in that no-nonsense voice Matt had heard so often.

"What? You don't need to do that. Maybe I just need to rest it for a bit." Dom shook his head sadly.

"I really think you should get it checked out, Matt. It looks pretty serious." Sure enough, when he heaved himself up to sit up properly, he could see that his toes were bent at a strange angle. The front area of his foot looked painfully red and a little bit swollen. He swallowed and held his arms out to Dom, a hopeful smile flickering on his lips. Dom rolled his eyes and returned the grin, putting his hands under Matt's arms and hauling him up from the floor. They slowly made their way to the car, Matt hopping on one foot and looping an arm around Dom's shoulders. He made to get into the car and his foot knocked against the edge of the door, causing him to whimper and screw his face up in pain. Dom apologised profusely, eyes wide, and promised to return quickly.

Matt squeezed Dom's hand, looking anywhere other than his feet. The doctor was currently trying to straighten his foot so that he could put the splint on it, but he seemed completely unaware that he was causing Matt any pain. Every time it flared up again, he would grip Dom's hand and Dom muttered under his breath that he'd be in here for a cast himself before the doctor was done.

Matt's eyes drifted to Dom's face and he gave him a weak smile.

"You alright?" Dom whispered, anxiety lacing his voice. He glanced down at their fingers where they were joined together.

"Yep," Matt croaked. "Fine and dandy."

"There you go, Mr Bellamy," the doctor announced, finally finished with Matt's foot and stepping away from it. Matt sighed with relief. "You should be fine to walk around on it if I give you a pair of crutches, but try not to move around too much just in case. It's not too disastrous an injury, so you can resume your normal routine after about two weeks, but definitely don't be as active as usual for the next few days." Matt's mouth fell open and he turned to Dom, who was also struck with horror.

"We're going to have to cancel the shows," Matt mumbled, running a hand through his hair and dropping his head to his chest, eyes squeezed tightly closed. Guilt flooded him as he thought of the plans they'd had for both themselves and the fans, and he swallowed nervously. Dom looked away and stared out of the window.

Matt shuffled down the corridor, the crutches constantly swinging out from underneath his arms. When they clattered onto the floor for the ninth time, he leaned against the wall and gave an aggravated sigh. Dom picked them up and handed them back to him with a huge grin, perpetually amused by Matt's inability to walk. The smaller man still hadn't quite grasped how to walk with the crutches and was making slow progress down the corridor towards the car park.

"Oh man, these next two weeks are going to be great," Dom chuckled, just thinking of all the things he could do. "All those times you pushed me over, teased me in interviews and laughed at me...ahh, revenge is sweet." Matt scowled, sticking his tongue out at Dom.

"If you dare trip me up whilst I'm on crutches, I swear to God, I will murder you." Dom raised one eyebrow.

"How are you going to do that? Bash my head in with the end of your crutch? I'm sure I could run away before you get to me. Oh! And now you can't spill pasta sauce on my favourite hoodie and get away with it anymore."

"Just remember, Dom." Matt smiled at him angelically. "People always believe the injured guy."

It turned out that having Matt at home in bed wasn't as funny as Dom had initially thought. Every time he tried to leave the room, Matt called him back, demanding something more.

"Dom, I'm hungry."

"Dom, I'm cold, will you fetch my socks?"

"Dom, I really fancy a back massage. All this lying around is getting uncomfortable."

If he was being quite honest, he was getting sick of it. He didn't mind caring for Matthew and he treasured the moments that they might not have had if Matt had been able to wriggle out of his arms and sneak off to the music room, but he was growing tired. Matt's demands grew more and more ridiculous as the days dragged on, and on the fourth day, Dom snapped.

"Why don't you go and make your own pasta? You've got crutches; damn well use them!" he shouted, pointing at the crutches that had been left neglected on the floor. Matt fell silent, his lower lip protruding as he fiddled with the bedsheet. Dom wanted to rip his hair out but instead scratched his neck, began to speak, closed his mouth, and then opened it to speak again. "Matt, I'm sorry. I don't mean it, honestly. I'll go and make your pasta now."

"No, Dom, wait," Matt called. "Don't worry about it, I'm not hungry anymore. Come and sit with me." He patted the space next to him on the mattress and shuffled to the edge so that there was room for Dom on there with him. The blonde lay beside him and Matt rested his head on his shoulder, comforted by his presence. "I'm sorry I made you do all those things. I shouldn't have antagonised you so much."

"It's not your fault, Matt. It's my job to care for you when you need me, and I guess this is one of those times." Dom wrapped his arms around Matt and they curled up together. All they could hear was the other breathing and the soft sound of sheets slipping over their legs. "Only you would be so stupid as to break your foot before we go on tour." Dom shook his head, a smile pulling at the corner of his lips, and Matt pelted him with a pillow.

"Cheeky bugger."