xxPUDDxx - haha! its okay! it must have been hell not being able to listen to music through an ipod, i can't go a day without mine!

516 Harrys POV

I spent hours discussing with Danny what we were going to do with Tom, and then calming the poor guy down, because he really didn't want to let Tom go. So, I came to the compromise, of letting Tom stay for the rest of the year (which was only a few months, he wouldn't change that much in that time...hopefully) and then make him go for help in the new year. That seemed to make Danny feel better, to know that he could hold onto Tom for a while longer. Now to break the news to Dougie, who was sitting in the front room, innocently eating his dinner and watching David Attenborough again.

"Doug, I need to talk to you." I whispered when I found him, pausing the DVD and kneeling down at Dougies side. "its about Tom, isn't it?" Dougie sighed, putting his plate on the floor next to him. "yeah, it is..." I explained to Dougie what I had explained to Danny, what we had discussed. "so, we are sending Tom away?" Dougies eyes filled with tears, his bottom lip quivering madly. "yeah, yeah we are. I'm sorry Dougs." I ran my hand over his cheek gently, wanting to comfort him. "we're, we're not sending him away tomorrow, are we? Because we can't send him away tomorrow! We can't! We can't go anywhere tomorrow! He'll run away! He'll run away anyway, but we can't leave the house tomorrow!" Dougie suddenly panicked, and it clicked what he was talking about.

Tomorrow would be exactly two years since Tom ran away, exactly two years since all of this started. I don't think Danny had realised the date, he was going to go mental if he realised. "no, no Doug, we're not going to send Tom away anywhere just yet. We're going to wait, until new year, and then we're going to either start therapy or take him to somewhere that will help him. Me and Danny are going to go and see someone next week, to see what our options are, alright? So we might not even be sending Tom away somewhere, he could stay here with us and just go to therapy." I explained, giving him a smile to try and cheer him up. "really? He can stay?" Dougie perked up, looking excited now. "well maybe, we'll have to see." I answered, not wanting to burst his excitement, but not wanting to build his hope up too much at the same time.

That seemed to cheer Dougie up a bit more, though he still was weary of the idea of giving Tom help from someone we didn't know. But, honestly, it was for the best, we couldn't carry on like this for the rest of our lives, letting Tom just carry on like he was would eventually ruin him. Danny would never forgive himself if he left Tom to ruin himself, and I don't know if I could have coped with the guilt of not trying to do something to help Tom out a little. At least we had a plan at the moment, and we knew that we were doing something to help soon. So, I allowed myself to relax a little, and actually eat my now stone cold dinner, and cuddle my little Dougie too, who still looked a little upset.

Though, it was nothing compared to how stressed and hurt Danny was the next day, I don't think I'd ever seen him so distressed. It was obvious that he had realised what the day was, and was trying his very hardest to stay calm, and was only just about hanging in there. His arms were wrapped tightly around Toms middle, refusing to let him go, holding on as tight and as close as possible. It was like even considering letting Tom go for a second was out of the question, completely out of the question, like he would suddenly disappear if he let him go. Though, Tom didn't even notice, just carried on sitting there calmly, pulling on Dannys fingers like he had no clue on what was happening right now.

517 Dougies POV

I spent the whole day clinging needily to Tom, not wanting to let him go, 2 years ago today he ran off and left us, he actually ran off and left us. I still couldn't believe that he had actually run away from us, instead of talking things through with us, he had actually run away. And even though he was back now, I knew he was going away again soon, I knew that there was no way we could get away with just letting Tom get therapy, no way. I knew he wouldn't be let off that easily, he would be sent away somewhere far away and there was nothing I could do to stop it. So now, I was clinging to him, needing to hold him and try to tell myself that I would see Tom everyday for the rest of my life and it would be fine. But it was so hard with Danny mumbling and whimpering next to me, his long arms wrapped around an oblivious Tom.

"I love you Tommy, you're not going anywhere today, you're staying right here, where you belong. You belong in my arms, nowhere else, just here, maybe on a stage with us too, but nowhere else." Danny was saying the most randomest of things, he literally couldn't stop talking. It wasn't annoying, I knew why he was doing it, but it was just breaking my wishing of having Tom stay here. That was all I wanted, for Tom to stay here, and get better here, instead of having to be sent somewhere else. Where we couldn't be with him all the time, where we couldn't cuddle and make him happy when he needed it. He needed to be okay, I knew that, I just wished there was another way to do it, and for this decision to have not been made the day before the 2 year mark of the runaway was even worse. I just wanted my best friend, that was all, my happy, geeky, talented, childish best friend. I wanted what it was like 3 years ago. Was that too much to ask?

It must have been, but I had always known it was going to be a while before my best friend came back to me, and now I was really not going to let him go, knowing that he wasn't here for much longer. And what had happened only 2 years ago, this was the worst feeling, just wanting Tom to stay. "you belong here Tommy, obviously, you're not going anywhere today, because I love you. I'm not letting you go anywhere." Danny mumbled again, kissing Toms neck and shoulder, his voice quivering a little. "tickles." Tom smiled, scrunching his face at Dannys kisses.

"good, means you're happy, which means no going away." Danny whimpered a little, tightening his grip on Tom. "ouchy! Hurts!" Tom whined, pulling on Dannys arms. "oh sorry Tommy, I didn't mean to hurt you. I just want you to stay here, I don't want you to go away." Danny pulled Tom onto his lap more, pushing his head into his shoulder, repeatedly kissing him over and over, rubbing his side. Tom ignored him apart from some giggles, looking around the room again like he always did, pulling on Dannys fingers.

"Tommy, you need something to eat, I'm going to get you something, alright? Stay here, with Harry and Dougie, okay?" Danny reluctantly got up, putting Tom down on the sofa again, between me and Harry. We cuddled straight up to him, squeezing the boy in our arms, even though he was reaching out for Danny as he walked out the room. "he'll be back in a minute Tom, don't worry." Harry whispered, rubbing Toms side. "Dan...Dan, want Danny!" Tom whimpered, half clambering over us to look at the door, looking heartbroken just at the fact that he wasn't with Danny.