Danny's POV:
We went into the pizza restaurant that they had and all grabbed our plates. We walked over to the buffet and I picked up Dougie as he wasn't tall enough to reach the food.
'What do you want to eat Dougs? Pizza or pasta?' I asked happily, boosting him up, holding him loosely in only one arm.
'Pizza!' He replied excitedly, wrapping his hands around my arm to support himself.
'And do you want chicken, or pepperoni, or cheese?' I asked again, looking down at the different choices of flavour.
'Cheese!' He smiled at me and so I got us both 2 pieces of cheese pizza and a small piece of garlic bread before sitting back at the table with Tom and Harry. I looked down at their plates and saw that Tom had the same as us while Harry only had one piece of pepperoni pizza. We all began eating and after about 2 minutes, Harry spoke up.
'I'm full. I'm just going to the toilet. Back in a sec.' He said hurriedly before rushing off to the toilets.
'What does he mean he's full? He only started off with one piece and he's not even eaten half of it.' I asked in shock as Harry usually ate way more than both of us.
'He's just not feeling very well. He'll be back in a second.' Tom reassured me before continuing with his meal. I finished mine and, realising that Harry still wasn't back, stood up from my chair.
'I'm just going to check on Haz. You stay here and look after Dougs.' I said to Tom before walking into the toilets.
'Haz? Harry are you in there?' I asked, knocking gently on the door of the only closed cubicle. He didn't reply and so I knocked harder.
'Harry? Please don't ignore me mate, you're worrying me now.' I said to him, concern showing in my voice. There was still no form of answer and so I picked the lock open. The door swung open to reveal Harry sat with his back against the wall, eyes closed, beside a vomit-filled toilet. I crouched down beside him quickly.
'Harry? Harry please wake up for me! Just wake up, that's all I need you to do!' I said worriedly, taking his face in my hands. Luckily, his eyes gently flickered open.
'Dan? Where am I? I'm tired.. What's going on?' He asked with a slightly croaky voice.
'You're in the toilets mate. You've been a bit ill so I'm going to take you to bed, is that okay?' I asked as softly as I could. He nodded and so I helped him up from the floor before flushing the toilet and slowly leaving the bathroom, supporting him as he walked.
'Dan?! What's wrong with him?!' Tom asked worriedly, running over with little Dougie in his arms.
'I don't know, he's been throwing up, I found him passed out. I'm going to take him back to the room to sleep and then we'll take him to a doctor when we get back tonight.' I said in reply. Tom nodded and we walked Harry back to our room at the hotel. Once we got there, I laid him in bed and he fell asleep instantly.
'Hawwy not okay?' Dougie asked in a tiny scared voice, motioning for Tom to put him down.
'He's just a bit poorly Dougs. A bit icky like you the other day.' I said with a small smile, trying to make him feel better. Tom placed him down on the floor and he nervously shuffled over to Harry's bed, stumbling over his own feet at one point. Once he got beside the bed, he raised his arms up to Harry's quilt and grabbed hold of it, gently picking it up and pulling it further over Harry's arms and chest. He then carefully climbed onto the bed and gave Harry a small hug and a kiss on the head before asking me to pick him up. Once he was in my arms, he explained.
'When I sick, Hawwy telled me that it all get better and I asked how and he sayd that hugs and kisses and sleeping makes you feel better. He's alweady sleeping so I gives him hugs and kisses and now he going to get better like me.' He said sweetly, playing with a loose string on my shirt.
'Thats very nice of you Dougie! When Harry wakes up, I bet he'll have a big, massive thank you to say to you.' I replied with a big smile, giving Dougie a hug. I found it adorable how even though he could have been having fun on all sorts of rides, he chose to take an extra 10 minutes out of his day to make sure that Harry felt better.
'Which one of us should stay with Haz?' I asked Tom quietly.
'I'll stay, you go and have fun worth Dougs. If Haz wakes up and he's feeling better I'll give you a ring and we'll come and meet you.' He replied kindly. I nodded and gave him a hug before leaving with Dougie in my arms. We got back to the park and I set him on his feet.
'What do you want to go on next Dougs?' I asked happily once we got there.
'You choose!' He replied with a big smile.
'Well there's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, or The Runaway Mine Train, or The Twirling Toadstools. Which would you like?' I asked him, wanting him to have some say in it.
'Twain!' He said excitedly and so I nodded and we got in line for the train. We queued up for about 15 minutes before getting put into a carriage.
'Are you ready Dougs?' I asked him happily. He nodded eagerly and the ride set off. It was finished within a couple of minutes and by the end of it he was giggling madly.
'Was that fun Dougs?' I asked him, knowing what the answer would be. He nodded eagerly before pointing over to something else.
'We go there?' He asked, bouncing up and down happily. I looked over to where he was pointing and realised it was DUEL, Alton Towers' equivalent of a haunted house.
'Are you sure Dougs? It's scary in there.' I said wearily, crouching down to his level and buttoning up his little hoodie as it was getting a bit cold.
'Scawy?' He asked looking confused.
'Yeah.. It's not a ride. It's like a big scary room where monsters and ghosts pop out.' I explained to him.
'Oh.. We allowed to go to Chocolate Factowy instead?' He asked me, suddenly changing his mind. I laughed slightly before nodding and taking the Sky Ride over to the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory area. We queued up for longer this time before eventually getting into one of the huge boats they had. Dougie burst out laughing when he saw the doll of Augustus Gloop they had shooting up the pipe, and he didn't stop until we got to the area with Veruca Salt and the squirrels. When we got into that section, he suddenly screamed, causing everybody to look at him, before he nuzzled his head into my arm.
'What is it Dougs?' I asked, slightly confused as to why he was scared.
'The.. The.. I no like scirrels..' He muttered, a few tears escaping his eyes and forming a small wet patch on my sleeve. I pulled him onto my knee and gave him a soft hug.
'Its okay though Dougs, because they're not real squirrels. They're just toy ones, so there's no need to be scared.' I reassured him, lifting his head out of my chest and making him look around.
'So they no hurt me?' He asked nervously, still looking worriedly around at the squirrel toys.
'I promise, they won't even be able to touch you Dougie, just calm down and we'll be out in a second.' I repeated to him, gaining a brave little nod in reply. We got out of the boat after just a couple more minutes and stood waiting for the 'Glass Elevator' to arrive. In that time, a woman, who can't have been older than 30, approached me and tapped me on the shoulder, causing both me and Dougie to turn and look at her. She was beautiful. Her hair wasn't quite curly, neither was it straight, it just had a nice natural wave to it as it fell perfectly on her shoulders. Her eyes were a perfect shade of sky blue and her lips were small and plump. She was just taller than me by a couple of inches and she had the most perfect figure, where she wasn't bulging, but she wasn't just a skeleton with skin either.
'I'm sorry to disturb you, I just had to say it, your little boy is absolutely adorable!' She said happily to us. Dougie just looked at her with a face of utter confusion while I went about replying.
'Oh he's not my little boy..' I replied awkwardly.
'Oh sorry.. Your little brother!' She tried again.
'Not exactly.. You see, me and my brothers are babysitting him a-' I said before being cut off by Dougie.
'I no baby! I gwown up! I almowst 5!' He said in a proud voice, before resting his head back onto my shoulder and lapsing back into silence, looking pleased with himself.
'Okay.. Moody bum. So we're looking after this grown up boy and we've just grown quite close. My brothers would be here but Harry's sick so Tom's looking after him, they're in the hotel.' I explained to her, smiling towards the end.
'Aww, that's sweet. I recognise you for some reason. Were you in the news or something a while ago? I think I remember seeing your face on there..' She asked me, causing me to panic a little.
'I.. Erm.. Well.. Something happened.. Erm.. With my mum and dad and.. Yeah.. Is it okay if we don't talk about it?' I stuttered out timidly.
'Of course, I'm sorry for asking. So, what's your name little guy?' She said kindly, turning to Dougie and sticking her hand out for him to shake. He just stared at her hand in horror before he began trembling a little and he buried his head deeply into my chest.
'Sorry.. He gets really shy.' I said quietly to her, receiving a nod and a smile in reply.
'Its okay, I get it, I work in a playgroup. That's why I'm here today actually, we brought a few of the kids as a treat.' She replied.
'Come on Dougs, this lady's nice, she's not going to hurt you or anything.' I said comfortingly to Dougie, pulling his head slowly away from my chest.
'Is she a meanie? Like before? Will she shout at me?' He whispered nervously into my ear.
'No, she's not like him I promise. Go on, just say hello and tell her your name. You could even tell her about the dinosaurs we went to see.' I said, trying to coax him into a conversation. Luckily, his face lit up at the idea of him being able to tell somebody about the dinosaurs and so he slowly turned around to face her.
'Hewwo.. I.. I Dougie.. I 4 and I went to see some dinysaws with Danny and Hawwy and Tom but I falled over and cutted my knee and that why I have a plaster on my leg. Danny gived me a plaster because Danny my new big bwother.' Dougie said timidly, but smiling slightly and stuttering less by the end of his little introduction.
'Wow! You're right, you are grown up! Were the dinosaurs big and scary?' She asked with a huge grin on her face.
'No.. They cool.. I going to live with a T-Wex when I older.' He said proudly to her before the doors swung open.
'It was nice to meet you.. Err.. What was your name again?' I asked her as the rest of the crowd walked into the elevator.
'Grace.. My names Grace Kinbrough. And it was nice to meet you too...' She told me, trailing off towards the end. What a beautiful name.. Grace.
'Danny Jones. I'll see you soon Grace.' I said before me and Dougie walked into the lift. I'd fallen for her, I knew it, and I'd fallen hard.
'Did I do okay? Do Gwace like me?' Dougie asked nervously.
'Yeah, course she does! She loves you Dougs!' I told him, receiving a massive grin in reply. The final part of the ride finished quite quickly and we were soon out and back into the open. I checked my phone and noticed a text from Tom.
Hey Dan. Harry's just woken up and he's less tired now but he's throwing up again. We might come out in a bit but its up to Harry. Have a good day x
I smiled slightly and sent him a quick reply before picking Dougie up in my arms again.
'Where do you want to go next Dougs?'
'We allowed on muswoom?' He asked smiling up at me.
'Of course we are Dougs, come on let's go.' I said before we headed off. We didn't have to queue at all for the huge Twirling Toadstool. We sat in two of the chairs and within seconds we were up in the air. Dougie enjoyed the ride thoroughly although half way through, I began to worry. I could see his little shoe slipping further and further off his foot before it finally flew off. I burst out laughing along with Dougie and within a couple of minutes, the ride had lowered back down to the ground. I quickly pulled Dougie out of his chair and ran off the ride with him in my arms.
'Did you see where it landed Dougs?' I asked him, still chuckling. He shook his head and giggled before yawning widely.
'Are you tired Dougs?' I asked him, bouncing him up higher in my arms.
'Nope!' He said defiantly before we set off in search of his shoe again. We managed to find it after about 10 minutes and then Dougie decided that he wanted to go on the tractor toys at the back of the park. I took him over there and we sat in one of the tractor toys before it started moving around the track. I looked over at him half way through the ride to see him shivering a little and almost fast asleep. I pulled his coat from the backpack I had before getting his attention.
'Are you cold Dougs?' I asked him, causing him to sit up straighter, looking startled for a second, before nodding. I pulled him onto my knee and put him in his little coat before allowing him to lean against my chest and close his eyes, falling into a peaceful land of dreams.