Date: Tue, 11 Apr 2000 22:50:36 GMT From: Lucky Redwood Subject: Time Will Tell - Chapter 21 OK, before I get started, I have written a prequel to Time Will Tell giving an insight into Danny's life before he made friends with Trix and that lot. The only catch is, if you want it you have to mail me asking for it. Make the e-mail subject title "Prequel Please" I'm doing it this way because otherwise it will seem out of place in the Nifty archive. Once I have my web site up and running (which could be months yet) I'll stick it in there. OK, so the main reason is I want to get some idea as to how many people read my story! I'm interested OK! If you have any general feedback about this chapter you may as well include it in the e-mail, it won't make much difference I suppose. See your mail soon I hope! Time Will Tell Chapter 21 - Not Quite John Lennon Yet Though! "No, it doesn't go like that though Trix." "We're doing a cover, not a damn carbon copy of it." "Yeah but if it is a cover then the idea isn't to change the cord sequence, we're doing a cover not a re-write!" "It sounds better this way though." "Tell that to each member of the audience who is a fan of Aerosmith. It just doesn't sound right." "Fine we'll leave it then." "Oh don't get like that! You can't expect the audience not to think its weird. You can't just change the song like that." "I don't see the problem myself." "Guy's, guy's, guy's! Chill! Don't fight about it." "It sounds better this way." "It doesn't." "It does." "No, it doesn't." "YES, it does!" "It fucking doesn't!" "That's enough. Your acting like children for fucks sake! Give it a rest. Look, Trix, it may sound better but I think that Danny's right, we should play each of the songs as they're meant to be played, people will find it weird otherwise. We can muck the songs around for fun after the ball." "Fine. We'll play it like it's meant to be then." "Thank you. Should we try again then?" "I'd rather go over your song Danny. I think I've got the bridge worked out now." "Yeah?" "Yeah, are we doing it acoustically then?" "I think it sounds weird otherwise. If we did it plugged we'd need drums." "Uh huh." "What time do we have to be at this audition?" "An hour and a half." "And they have a kit and amps yeah?" "Uh huh. I checked twice, they do." "OK. Let's go through one more time then." "Sure." We had been rehearsing every night after school for about three to four hours each time. Trix and I had really been pushing to get our set as perfect as could be. We were pretty good. I must say though, we'd had some arguments as a band. We had it all planned out, our running order of ten covers and one that I'd written for Conner. It had been difficult to keep Conner from knowing about it, but we had pulled it off. We were ready for the ball but had to go to audition first. There was still four days until Valentines Day so we were well chuffed with our progress. I was surprised as to how good the others were at playing. Trix I knew was pretty good already. Before we got together as a band though I had never heard Sean play plugged in before, Just playing without an amp. Since he only had a bass though he was pretty limited as a player anyway. He was good though, he could keep time and rarely struck out. It was pretty much the same with Trace, I never had heard her play before we got together though. She would sometimes lose the beat a bit, hardly noticeable if she did though. Conner was good, he played for the orchestra so he was a pretty good player anyway. I was proud when he played, he knew what he was doing, how to do it and when to do it. His sense of rhythm was excellent. We were all getting pretty nervous now though. The Valentines Ball tickets had sold out and we were playing in four days. ***** "Hey babes." "Hey gorgeous. I'm not late am I?" "No, the others are setting up the levels though, you'll have to adjust their kit for your size." "Uh huh, no problem. They got everything yeah?" "Yeah. Oh, we're one of four bands auditioning apparently. They're only taking two though so we have a fifty-fifty chance." "Cool." "They want a headlining group and a supporting group." "We'll make headliners. Don't worry." "It would be good." We had walked into the school hall by now where the auditions were being held by some upper sixth guys who were organising the whole ball this year. The others were just about ready. "You better go set up now, we'll start in five minutes or so." "Sure thing." He gave me a smile and made his way to the kit which he began to adjust. The others began playing into our first song to check the levels. I stood and waited for them to adjust. "Danny, check the mic. See if it's OK." "One, two, three, does this sound OK?" "Sing into it dickhead. You can't check levels unless you're doing it how it's meant to be done." I suddenly became very embarrassed. I was going to sing in front of these upper sixth guys and felt weird about it. I was getting nervous. Shit. I managed to do it though. Not quite as forcefully as I would have usually. I sang a little restrained. The others picked up on it and questioned me about it later. We played three of our songs as we were required to do. "Alright lads, that sounds pretty good. I think that we'll stick you guys up as the headliners so you shouldn't drink for the first hour of the ball. That's obviously up to you, but I will be seriously pissed off if you go up there drunk out of your minds and ruin my ball with crappy music." Trix and I looked to each other. He was grinning from ear to ear as was I. I took a look round to Conner who was smiling and he gave me a thumbs-up. "You'll be going up at ten o'clock after your supporting group who do an hour before you. After you've finished your set the DJ we've hired will take over for the rest of the evening so you'll be free to enjoy the three remaining hours of the ball. Good luck then guys. See you on Saturday night." ***** "We got it guy's. You're looking at the headliners of the Year 2000's Sixth Form Valentines Day Ball." "That's fantastic guy's well done." "We knew you'd do it." Kate and Claire were genuinely pleased for us. They had organised to meet us outside school along with Luke to find out how we'd got on. "So, what are you going to call yourselves then?" "I'd never thought about that." I looked to the faces of the others, they obviously hadn't either. "How about, I don't know, this is difficult, err, what do we all like?" "Pizza." Trix replied grinning. "Hardly a name for a band though. Err, something simple though." "Something effective and impressive too." "Like 'Renegade' that sounds cool." "Why 'Renegade'?" "It sounds cool." "A renegade is somebody who deserts something Trix. It's a turncoat." "Well, it's a good idea." "Yeah, how about something like 'Twilight'?" "Bit too girly Trace." "The Beatles, I think that's original isn't it?" "Shut up Conner." "Something with our initials in or something maybe?" "That's an idea. OK, we'll have DO, CS, SO, TR, and TW." "Err, Scoot something maybe." "No there's already a band called Skoot, with a K though." "Nevermind, err, Roost something?" "Nah. Leave that idea I don't think we have enough vowels." "Yeah. How about, oh I don't know." "The Beastie Boy's?" "Conner, shut up." "Something weird then, 'Fluff' maybe or 'Rex'" "No. I don't think so." "The Monkey's?" "No babes we're already the fudge monkey's." The others looked to me in shock. Conner and I just smiled and started laughing to ourselves. Our friends soon joined in on the laughter though. "Right, OK, err, so band names then." "Shall we just think up some ideas and right them down. We can decide tomorrow or the day after even." "Cool. So what are we doing now?" "You can all come back to mine if you like." "Conner's it is then." ***** "Hi mum." "Oh you've brought the troops I see. Any of you hungry? Should I bring up some crisps or something?" "Yeah I'll grab one of the variety bag things mum" "OK then, how did your rehearsal go then?" "We've just come from the audition and we got it. We're playing in the ball." "Fantastic. Well done guy's." "OK we'll be upstairs mum." "OK, see you in a while guys." "My rooms a bit of a tip at the moment so just shove things out of the way if you can't find anywhere to sit guys." He was right, he had clothes sprawled everywhere, plates that once had food on around the place and just general mess all over. "At least it doesn't smell yet Babes." Conner lay on his bed. I joined him, cuddling up from behind with my arm over his waist and us holding hands. I loved being close with him like this, showing our affection towards each other in to our friends. It was wonderful to be able to show my love for him. It was even better for him to be able to show it back though. "You still coming to my match on Saturday?" "Of course." "We're kicking off at ten on the school pitch." "Cool. I'll probably be with you the night before anyway. I'll give you a lift down." "I suppose so." "My baby's first match in the school first eleven." I teased him acting like a proud mum and giving him a little squeeze. "Ah! Sweet, but you better not come on the tour with us though Danny, there's only so much I can take of seeing you two entangled like that." "Tour?" "We go on tour?" "Yeah, in the Easter holidays, every year." "How long for?" "The whole of the Easter holidays basically." "How long is that?" "Two weeks usually." "I have no baby with me for two whole weeks? That's not fair." "Can I get out of it?" "Not without having to quit the team permanently." Trix had depressed both Conner and I. "I'm going to have to quit then." "Don't be stupid! You've only just made the team, you can't quit because of me. Besides it's too good an opportunity to pass up, you'll have fun." "Don't call me stupid!" He had rolled over to look at me in the face. "What's this all about? You don't want me to spend time with you in the holidays?" He looked serious. "No, it's not that. I just don't want you to feel that you should miss out on things just for me." "I want to stay here with you though." "Good, I'm glad. What I don't want though is for you to look back on your school years and feel that you missed out on golden opportunities just so that you could spend a week or two with me. What if you miss out on being seen by a talent scout or something? How do you think I'd feel if some kid was playing for Man U. who replaced you in a first eleven game that you missed because you didn't go on the tour?" "I don't want to be a pro footy player." "No, but I don't want to be the reason that you pass up the opportunity to be one. Do you see what I mean?" "I do, yeah. I just want to be here with you that's all." "Well then. You can, I won't stop you doing whatever you want to do, I want to be with you, yeah, but I don't want to stand in your way either." "I know, I'm sorry." "You don't have to apologise. I love you." "I love you too." And he lent forward and gave me a kiss on my cheek. "Ladies and gentlemen a disastrous argument narrowly avoided." Everybody had gone deadly silent whilst Conner and I had argued. Luke's comment brought about a laugh that cleared the air for the others though. ***** "How are we getting back from the ball then?" "Conner's staying here with Danny and they're going to get a taxi back, I was thinking that maybe we could share the taxi with them, and that maybe you could stay too?" Claire looked a little startled. "Sean, I'm really not ready for that just yet. Don't get me wrong I like you, a lot, I'm just not ready for that side of a relationship just yet. I'm sorry." "No, don't be. I was pushing you, I should be apologising." "No you weren't pushing, not really, I understand you wanting that but I just need a little more time. I want it too, I'm just not sure how ready I am for it yet." "Don't worry. You're worth waiting for." "You're such a sweet guy you know that? You know just what to say at the right moment. You got that from your brother you know?" "Family trait." "Something like that." "OK, well, if you like you could get the taxi back here anyway and I'll walk you home." "If you're sure. I know I don't live far away but if you're too tired or drunk or whatever on the night I'll understand." "We'll get to that if and when it happens." "OK." "Do you want a cup of tea?" "OK. Let's go down shall we?" "Sure." ***** If you've never been to a black tie occasion and you want to know what it's like to have to wear one of those tuxedo's, I can tell you. You're afraid to move in it in case you rip it. You itch like you have ants nesting all over your body and you can't bend forward too far. That's what the one that my mum was insisting was the right size for me was like anyway. "Mum, it's too tight. I think I'd know." "It isn't, it's how they're worn." "Funny that because in the films when they wear them they can still jump over fences and run away from guard dogs, I can't touch my own nose in this one without worrying I'm going to tear the sleeve." "Don't be silly." "It's too tight!" "Fine, try one on the next size up then." "Thank you." I went back to the rail and purposefully picked up one that was two sizes up from the first, trousers, shirt and jacket. I took them into the changing room and slipped them on easily. They were perfect, not too tight, loose. Slightly baggy maybe, but that just added a hint of fashion to my appearance I thought. I left the changing room and was relieved to see my mum smiled at me. I noticed Sean standing next to her with his tux on too. His looked fine. "That's no surprise. You both are far too fashion conscious for your own good." "What do you mean?" "Baggy tuxedo's! So you both know in advance, you are certainly not wearing trainers on the evening!" "That's OK." I smiled at her. "OK choose bow ties and cummerbunds then." I found one that was this weird two-tone thing, you know the sort of thing I mean? You look at it in different angles and it has two colours? This one was red and purple. I picked that one and Sean went for the plain black one which didn't surprise me at all. My mum paid the counter for a week on each suit since we were only hiring them whilst Sean and I changed back into our normal clothes. ***** "Can I have some more paper sir?" "What, again? What are you doing with the paper I give you?" "Writing on it." "Writing what? Whenever you hand in your file for me to check, your notes aren't that in depth for the amount of paper that you use and the essays that you write never take up as much paper as you ask for." Mr. Chambers enjoyed making what he thought to be his witty observations. I smiled and laughed at his poor, poor, poor excuse for a joke. Have you ever noticed that? Teachers have these jokes which you laugh at, not because they're amusing, but because they are so abysmal that you can't help but laugh at the fact that any human being could possibly think themselves to be funny by telling jokes that crap! "There you go Danny, you'll have a rainforest in ruins some day." Oh for crying out loud! "Thank you sir." I waited until Mr. Chambers had returned to the board to make notes for us to copy before I went back to writing lyrics for songs. I had been writing music a lot lately. One that I had written a while ago was the one that we were playing at the ball. That was written when I first started going out with Conner. I had originally been writing it as a piano piece but got bored and gave up. At the stage that I was up to it was easy to adapt it for a rock band in hardly any time ready for the ball. It was difficult though because I had to explain to Trix what I wanted him to do since he had never learnt to read music, he had taught himself by ear. I had started writing a lot of songs though now. Since we had a band and something to make of the things I wrote down I thought of it as being more fruitful. The others didn't know I'd been writing them. To be honest I didn't even know if they wanted to keep together as a band once the ball was over. I'd like to be able to though, it was fun. "Cute." I heard a whisper next to me. "What?" "I said cute. 'Nothing can come between us, Just look into my heart and tell me that you can't see my never ending love.' Is it poetry?" I blushed a bit and half covered the page from James' view. "No lyrics, I'm writing songs. I just can't think of the line before, I need something to rhyme with 'between us'." "Err, if you pronounce it right, 'penis'." I snorted out a laugh a little too loudly interrupting Mr. Chambers. He looked up to me having stopped talking. "Everything OK Danny?" "Yes sir, I sneezed, hay fever starting I think." "In February?" "Err, spring time sir." He gave me a disbelieving look and carried on with his lecture. I went back to my conversation with James. "You bastard! I could have got DT for that. 'Penis'! not the most romantic of words to use in a song is it? Plus I'm not sure if I'd want my audience knowing my preferences." We had the opportunity to talk about that sort of thing in this class, we were on the back row and I had Hannah on my other side and she knew about me too. "Fair enough." "You having another party soon?" "No, parents are staying put for a while. Did Robbie get home alright?" "I think so. Scott hasn't said anything otherwise so I can only assume so." Memories of James and Ryan's party came back to me, especially seeing the state that Robbie was in. I had never truly seen Robbie drunk before, he was really funny though. He spoke with me a lot that evening which surprised me a little. I knew he was trying to be friends again, but it all seemed to happen pretty suddenly, must have been the alcohol. "You had a good time then?" "Yeah, it was pretty good." "I thought it might be fun, you know three gay couples? We should all hang out more often. Without the other straight guy's there next time though." "Could be cool. I met some interesting people there though." "So did I." James sounded a bit bitter I didn't push it any further. I figured that James had intended for the party to have been just for us three couples in the first place but that somehow the others had turned up. It had been a pretty crap party actually! I wasn't going to say that though. Lot's of beer, some weird guys who started preaching about the wonders of modern technology when they found an automatic can opener and decided to cook spaghetti which they let cool down and used to make themselves look as if they were wearing wigs. Conner and I got bored of their antics pretty quickly and made a move out with Scott and Robbie. "What are you guy's talking about?" "We're going to have a gay party." "Cool. What, does err, James, err, know?" "Yeah." "Oh, Hannah knows about you?" "Yeah." "Oh cool." "When did you tell him?" "Remember my last party? Then." "Right before I told him about Ryan Turner and me." James leaned over to talk to Hanna directly instead now. "Ryan who? Oh Ryan Turner, err, year below us? Wow, you're going out with him?" "Yeah." "Cool. How long?" "About a year now." "Long term then?" "Could say that." "Would you three please pay attention back there?" "Sorry sir." We said in unison and sitting up out of the huddle we'd been in to disguise and hear each others whispers. ***** "Wow! You look stunning baby. You scrub up well." Conner smiled at my joke. "You don't look too bad yourself." Conner did look fantastic though. He had a tux on that emphasised his slim athletic build, a blue bow tie and cummerbund that complimented his eyes and had had his hair cut for the occasion. Beautiful. "Are you ready to go?" "Yeah. Let's go." "Oh no you don't! In here both of you. You don't get out of a photo opportunity that easily!" We obeyed realising that there was no way that we could get out of this one and followed Conner's mum into the lounge where she told us where to stand and took three photo's of us with our arms around each other. We said our goodbyes and went back outside to join my mum waiting in the car. "Hi Conner. OK?" "Fine thanks." "Oh! Hang on mum, you got your sticks Conner?" "Yeah. It's kinda hard to forget that I'm playing the kit in front of the entire sixth form you know!" "OK, don't get cheeky! I was just checking!" And we were off to the ball! ***** "Oh shit! This is it! We're on." The other band cleared away their stuff pretty quickly. I had hoped that they would take a while longer than they did, but never mind. I was as nervous as hell. I felt the heat from the lights too, I was starting to sweat already and I was about to have to sing live on a stage in front of my year group and the upper sixth for an hour! I looked around and found that everyone was already all set up, ready to play, tuned and everything. I looked round to Conner and puckered up my lips to him in a fake kiss. He smiled back not able to copy me since he was facing the audience. I turned round and approached the mic. "Good evening, Happy Valentines day. We are your second band for tonight, Sunrise." A name we had thought up on the Friday at school before the ball. It was a favourite all along and had just got the vote over Trix's original suggestion of Renegade. "We're gunna be here for about an hour, so if you don't like us tough." I could make out the rest of our group at a table near to the dance floor. They were waving and giving us the thumbs up. I turned to Trace, who was looking really nervous, so that she knew to start. Since it was Valentine's Day we had decided on a set of mostly love songs, getting a little more up beat towards the end and then finishing with my song which Conner still knew nothing about. Trace started her rhythm, everybody in the room had been silent waiting for us to start. I was surprised since they'd all been living it up just a little while before. The other band hadn't been too bad, their singer wasn't too hot but I wasn't going to slag him off in case I completely mucked up myself. I took a deep breath and tried to clear my mind as best I could. "It's amazing how you, can speak right to my heart. Without saying a word, you can light up the dark. Try as I may I can never explain, what I hear when you don't say a thing. The smile on your face let's me know that you need me. There's a truth in your eyes saying you'll never leave me. The touch of your hand says you'll catch me whenever I fall. You say it best, when you say nothing at all. All day long I can hear, people talking bout love. But when you hold me near, you drown out the crowd. Try as they may, they can never define, what's been said between your heart and mine. The smile on your face let's me know that you need me There's a truth in your eyes saying you'll never leave me The touch of your hand says you'll catch me whenever I fall You say it best, when you say nothing at all." Trix handled the solo well, not too heavy considering he had to do it on electric guitar, there were some couples dancing on the dance floor. I had been trying my best to sing as best I could, I think that I had pulled it off pretty well. Other than the people dancing, nobody else was doing anything. They were just standing around listening, not talking. I couldn't work out if that was a bad thing or not. "The smile on your face let's me know that you need me There's a truth in your eyes saying you'll never leave me The touch of your hand says you'll catch me whenever I fall You say it best, when you say nothing at all You say it best when you say nothing at all. You say it best when you say nothing at all. The smile on your face, There's a truth in your eyes, The touch of your hand, Let's me know that you need me, Yes you say it best, when you say nothing at all." As the chord from the guitar petered out we were rewarded with a large applause and cheer from our audience. I don't think that anything could boost your confidence more than the reaction we got. They liked it, they liked us. Wow! I was ecstatic and not afraid of showing it, my grin had to give it away. I turned to look at the others who seemed to be just as happy as I was, Trace was blushing quite a bit too which made me laugh. We had chosen that song to start with on purpose, we all liked it and it seemed a pretty apt way to start a Valentines Ball music set with. We had played it the Ronan Keating way, I liked the Keith Whitley version more but people wouldn't know it since it was so old. "Thank you." I smiled out to the audience. We continued to play the rest of our set, all carefully chosen and practised pieces. I Don't Want To Miss A Thing, the Aerosmith way, This Boy by The Beatles with Trix doing one of the harmony lines (none of the others were willing to sing the other one), She's The One by Robbie Williams, Yesterday the Wet Wet Wet way, Wonderwall by Oasis, Stand By Me by Ben E. King and Love Me And Leave Me by The Seahorses. Then we got a little heavier with Blur's Song 2, Green Day's Brain Stew and Blink 182's All The Small Things which had only been released the week before the ball but we decided to try and get up to scratch for our set, which we did. The crowd had gone nuts, really enjoying our set. They reacted well to it, got happy when our songs got heavier and stayed calm when the music was softer but cheered wildly at the end of every song. As we finished All The Small Things, I stayed at the microphone and said my thank you's. I turned to Conner who was already getting out from behind his kit. "Go and sit down with the others babes, I'll be over in a minute." "OK." And he left the stage. "Finally tonight guy's, we'd like to finish on one of our own songs. I wrote this one so if you like it and your dad works for a record company, I'm in Mr. Hartley's tutor group and he can send me a contract through him." I took a drink of water from a bottle that I had kept with me on stage all night and turned to Trix, Trace and Sean who were ready to play. "Ready?" I asked them all at the same time. They all nodded and I turned back to the audience who had descended into an eerie quiet. I was the most nervous in singing this song. I was worried that it would sound bad, that the audience wouldn't like it. I could take them not liking the way we played the other songs, but not this one, not my own song. Especially not with all the emotion and feeling that I had put into it for Conner. Trix started his chords, we'd decided it should be acoustic if we had no drums. Deep breath. Take it away. "I can take it like a man, When my life is turned around, And I could shelter from my fear, As long as you are always here. I could stand my ground in war When wounded I'd come back for more Just to hold you by your arm And know that you were free from harm You have been my heart's beat, my conquered feat, my life's special treat And because your love is so strong, how cold I ever go wrong Knowing that You love me. I would spend my life in vain, Trying to shield you from all pain. And I could spend my dying day, Happy if you were OK. I can hold my head up high, Knowing you feel the same inside. Just to have you safe with me, And to know that you love me. You have been my heart's beat, my conquered feat, my life's special treat And because your love is so strong, how cold I ever go wrong Knowing that You love me? My love is set in stone, Your heart is my golden throne. With you standing by me No fear will bridle me I breathe for you alone. You have been my heart's beat, my conquered feat, my life's special treat And because your love is so strong, how cold I ever go wrong Knowing that You love me? Knowing that You love me." We all finished and I had difficulty getting my breath back. I had written the song in a way that it seemed to flow on without many opportunities for taking breaths, it just happened that way. We had made no mistakes and I had been pleased with the way that I'd sung it. The audience was cheering the loudest that they had done all night, I was thrilled. Trix had said one rehearsal that it was a powerful song and that it was a shame that we couldn't play it plugged in because with heavy guitar to accompany it, we could really make it spectacular. He thought that we were limited with the amount of feeling we could put in it because of it being acoustic. We had compromised and agreed that for the ball we would stick microphones in front of the guitars so that they could play out louder and that I could sing stronger without sounding weird. He was right and it had worked. I said my thanks and left the stage. The others had already put their guitars away behind the stage safely and were waiting for me at the end of the stage. I joined them and we made our way through the crowd that had assembled on the dance floor. As we pushed our way through we were commended with pats on the back from the other students and the occasional "Well done," and "You were really good." We finally made it back to our table and found that Conner was sitting in a chair where he couldn't see me coming up behind him. There was a free chair beside him which I sat myself into facing him. I saw tears on his face. "That was beautiful, Danny. I love you so much." I started to lean in to give him a hug and caught myself in the process. "We have to be careful tonight, that's why I'm sitting here, so that nobody else can see my tears." "Do you think there's anywhere that we can get some privacy?" "I don't know." I took a look around the table and saw that Kate and Claire had tears on the faces as well. "That was so, so sweet Danny." Kate complimented me. "Yeah, it was beautiful. I can't believe you wrote that." "Thanks guy's" "It was a very, very touching song Danny, congratulations." Luke was a little worse for wear on the alcohol front. His slurred words proved that much to me. "Thanks Luke." He gave me a thumb's up, it kind of set him off balance, lifting his arm that is, and he had to struggle to stay on his chair. "Danny? Do you think there will be somewhere we can be in private?" "Maybe if we go on another floor. It's a pretty big hotel, we can find somewhere I bet. Excuse us for a while guy's." "Danny! That's not a good idea. Look how many people in our sixth form are here to see you two together." "Trix give us some credit, we'll go to the top floor or something. Somewhere well out of the way of this lot anyhow." "Then go separately. I'll look a bit sus if you both leave and then come back looking like you've run a mile at the same time." "Good idea. I'll meet you at the lifts in about five minutes OK babes?" "OK." Conner wandered off through the crowd looking absolutely amazing in his tux. "Danny, I've warned you about this sort of thing before. You and Conner are getting too complacent, be more careful." "You're right Trix. Thanks for helping us." "I won't be here every time though. You could get caught so be careful." "Sure." "Danny, maybe you should leave it for tonight, or at least till you're at home." "We'll be fine, trust me." And I wandered off to join Conner. ***** "Slow down babes, we shouldn't try too much whilst we're here. We're too open and might get caught by someone." "I can't help it. I need you now." "Conner we can't, we're on the fourth floor in the middle of a corridor. What if someone from the ball has a room up here tonight?" "We have to find somewhere then. Now." I was enjoying Conner's sexual advances so I didn't disagree. "Where then?" "In there?" He nodded towards a door. "It says private." He tried the door anyway and it opened. He turned on the lights. It was full of the cleaning trolley things they used in the hotel. "In here." "Jesus! You are desperate aren't you. We could still get caught though." "Nobody is going to be cleaning rooms at almost midnight are they!" "Fair enough. Hardly a romantic setting though." I grinned at him not caring about that, anywhere was romantic with Conner! "What's wrong with love in the laundry?" He grinned back at me seeing my joke. "Nothing if it's with you." I said in my best flirting voice. "Yeah? Keep talking, keep talking!" ***** "Where the hell have you been all night?" "Doing laundry." I laughed along with Conner. "I won't even try to pretend I understood that one." Kate and the others often gave up on trying to understand us when we had our own little private jokes. Conner and I rarely shared them with the others. "Hey guy's get drinking! This DJ's pretty good Danny." "You want a drink Conner?" "Sure, I'll have a Bud please." Conner offered me money but I didn't take it. He always tried to pay for everything, for me as well as him. I wouldn't let him though. I'd feel like I was using him. I made my way up to the bar and leant against it waiting for the busy bartender to get to me. There was nobody around that I would count as a friend, people I knew and smiled to, that sort of thing but nobody who I was close to. "Great song Danny, who was it for? Who's yer boyfriend?" My heart froze. So there you are. Remember if you want that prequel, you have to mail me with the subject as "Prequel Please." It might be quite important to the next chapter for you to understand. wanna_get_lucky@hotmail.com