xxPUDDxx - Tom just can't understand and believe that everything Danny says is true, and he doesn't know how to react to it :/
136 Toms POV
Didn't Danny know that I knew we had a interview on TV in 2 days? Of course I knew! I was dreading it so much! I didn't want to go, I wanted to stay in and hide under a mound of blankets and toys in my bedroom! I was going to make us all look so bad, then once we flunked so far, Fletch would fire me. It was going to happen, I knew it. It was just a waiting game, until Fletch and everyone decided that enough was enough and I wasn't worth the trouble.
It was half the reason that I was outside, so I could either catch a cold so I couldn't go in (or have an excuse as to why I looked so deformed) or if that didn't happen, I could be a few shades darker. I was wondering if I looked better tanned or not, and was trying to tan so I could see which was better on me. I was trying everything to look better, but the list was huge, and not even Mellissa was going to fix me temporally.
2 days later, I was still wasn't tanned, or any darker, if anything, I was paler than usual. Now I really looked like a ghost, a deformed, 15 year old wannabe ghost. My arm was getting very, very itchy by the time we got ready in whatever clothes we were going to wear. Luckily, I had my own dressing room, the guys giving me some space so I didn't have to be around them, disgusting them with my deformity. "what are you so down about in here Tom? This is what you wanted, isn't it?" Mellissa asked, fiddling the my hair, making sure I looked 'good'. "yeah, just nerves, again." I sighed, fiddling with my fingers, noticing how badly they were shaking.
"ah, you and your nerves. Just remember, whatever happens, we'll all be behind you. We're always here to catch you if you fall. You don't have to speak if you don't want to either, the guys will do most of the talking if you don't want to. You just have to sing during the performance." Mellissa lied, I had to speak, present myself like I usually did, like I didn't know that no-one cared about me and I was generally unwanted by everyone. No-one was going to be there when I fell, I would be left to fall onto the hard floor, and everyone would laugh.
She moved onto doing the mammoth task of doing my makeup, she luckily made me look a little tanned, and not so death-pale. I must admit, the makeup made me look a little less deformed, which was good, and I did look a little more my own age, now to decide what clothes to wear. "I'll leave you to get dressed, if I don't see you before, good luck. You'll do great, I'm sure, if not, we're always here to help you." Mellissa smiled, hugging my shoulders and kissing my hair before running out. I even disgusted her, she couldn't wait to get out of here and be with the pretty people.
I found only 1 average looking outfit out of everything I had to choose from clothes wise. It was a long sleeve grey tshirt, with a black jacket over the top, and dark blue skinny jeans, topped off with a pair of black boots. If I had worn anything else, I would have looked like a 15 year old again, which I didn't want. Staring in the mirror, it didn't look too bad, still like I was trying too hard, but I didn't look awful.
"Tom, you ready? We're on in 5." Danny poked his head round the door, biting at his lip and gazing at the floor. "huh? Yeah, yeah I'm ready." I nodded, not looking at him either, he was just so beautiful, how could I cast my unworthy eyes on him? The door closed and footsteps came closer to me, arms wrapping hesitantly around my waist. "good luck, we'll be proud of you, no matter what you do." Danny whispered, he was so awkward, I could only presume he was forced into this. "yeah, thanks. Good luck to you too, you'll do great, I'm sure." I stepped out of his arms, wandering to the door, finding Fletch.
"we need to talk, okay?" Fletch pulled me off down to a deserted corridor, pushing me against the wall there. "now, heres whats going to happen in this interview. You're going to be happy and cheerful, the normal Tom that everyone knows, alright? And you're going to sing and play guitar, and be generally Tom-like, okay? We need the impression that everything is still okay and you're not going off the deep end. So be Tom, okay? Not whoever your turning into, we need this." Fletch glared, putting more pressure on the hand he had on my chest. "Fletch, I can't breathe, let go of me, please." I whispered, feeling my chest tightening. "promise me you'll be Tom, shy yet confident, childish, singer and guitarist Tom first." Fletch hissed, applying more pressure, he was actually scaring me now. "I promise, I'll be 'normal' as you put it. Don't worry, I'll put on a good show, I'm not stupid." I tried to glare right back at him, but it didn't really work. "good, now get going." Fletch let me go, shoving me into the arms of Paul the body guard, who led me back to the guys.
137 Dougies POV
When Tom came back from Fletchs talk with him, he didn't look at all happy. "what did Fletch want now?" Danny asked, stepping forward so he was closer to Tom, fingers twitching to grab him into a hug. "just wished me luck and told me that it would be okay." Tom put on a smile, standing in the place he had been told to stand in earlier. Right now, we were all in a row, Harry in front, me behind, the Danny, then Tom. We had to sit at the back today, because this interview was going to be directed at Tom, so everyone knew that he was back and 'completely fine'.
As we walked out, Harry grabbed my hand, telling me he was there for me, it made me smile a little more, despite the nerves as about 200 audience members clapped (some screamed) for us. The presenter was Paul O'Grady, it had become ritual to go on his show every year at least once, for whatever reason it was. Usually it was for a new album or tour, this time it was to straighten out rumours. I sighed, this was going to be a tough one, I could tell.
"well, welcome back boys! Its been a while since you've been on this sofa...or any sofa for that matter!" Paul laughed, he was a nice man really, and put us all at ease usually if we were nervous for whatever reason. "its good to be back! We've missed this sort of thing!" Danny smiled, jumping straight into the jumpy hyper Danny he usually was. "I guess you have, so, can you explain whats really happened this past year?" Paul asked the dreaded question, we had known it was coming, but it didn't make any less difficult.
"erm, I have a, er, problem. Mentally, I mean, which means I don't properly...understand some situations and read them wrong. Also, it, erm, makes me think really, really stupid things. So last year, a few things happened and it set me off thinking some really stupid things, because I read the situation wrong. Things, sort of got out of control, so I ended up thinking that I had to run away to get away from it, and not actually get the help that I need." Tom tripped through the explanation, somehow managing to keep facing the audience, and not look too nervous. If drama school did anything, it was to teach him how to act confident.
"but you were gone for a full year, did it really take you that long to realise it was wrong to run?" Paul prodded, Harrys hand squeezed around mine more because I was shaking. "no, I realised early on that it was wrong, but I was just scared to come back home. I thought everyone would hate me for doing this to them, and I wouldn't be excepted anymore. Luckily, I was proved wrong a few months ago, and now we're here. And I'm staying, for good now." Tom sighed, his hands were shaking, in fact, his whole body was shaking. The only thing that wasn't was his voice, his voice just sounded sad and regretful, and maybe a little bit scared.