Daniel's POV

I was standing several feet away from Darren, not really paying much attention to anything around me, when I heard the bellow. It sounded like the pained yelping of a wounded animal.

"DANIEL!"

Immediately, my head shot up and I looked in Darren's direction; my first thought was "Oh, crap�what has happened now? Reporters??? Wha-?" That thought was quickly dismissed once I was able to assess the situation. Let's see�Ben, Lee, and Karl laughing fit to kill over something�and an enraged Darren clutching the fabric of his shirt in one white-knuckled fist�His shirt! My new thought was instantly this, "Oh, holy FUCK. I am so dead!"

Running seemed like a very cowardly thing to do, although I must admit that the idea was tempting. Seeing Darren's face twisting into pissed-off-Diva mode made that particular plan even sweeter. However, I have never considered myself to be the cowardly sort. So, in typical sod's fashion, I decided to brazen it out. Not the most brilliant of plans when faced with Hurricane Darren, but it was the best I could come up with at the time.

"Yes, Daz?" I returned in my most innocent tone. "You screeched?"

Darren turned in my direction, glowering. Some of the look's effectiveness was lost, as he was glowering more at the large potted plant beside me rather than directly at me�but I got the point.

"Danny�" he began in a sweet tone that dripped with hidden malice. "What, may I ask, do I happen to be wearing?"

A snort of laughter from Lee had the other two guys bursting into renewed laughter, and I had to bite my lip to keep from joining in. "What are you wearing?" I repeated. "Why, you're wearing clothing Darren, couldn't you tell?"

"Daniel." There was a clear warning in the way he said my name. As usual, I ignored it. I knew that HE knew very well what he was wearing, but I decided to answer him all the same--just for the hell of it. Call me masochistic�

"You happen to be wearing the cutting edge of fashion for teenage girls everywhere! A lovely tight black shirt that hardly covers your midriff and proudly proclaims to all the world what you really are inside."

Ben, Lee, and Karl erupted once more into almost hysterical laughter at the end of my little speech. Darren didn't look nearly so amused. Angie had a hand on her hip and stood silently just watching the exchange. Elisa was watching as well, only she looked pretty worried about the possible outcome. Leonie was ignoring us completely while slowly wandering off, immersed in her phone conversation.

Darren didn't say anything in return; he couldn't. It was too difficult for him to speak and pout at the same time. Not the pout�please, anything but the pout! Part of me, at this point, was starting to feel quite bad. The rest of me, however, was far too amused and attempting to ignore the Great Pout. "Well, Daz. You said it yourself that you didn't want to be boring! And that shirt is definitely not boring!"

"It's also definitely not normal�" Angie muttered from behind me.

That did it; I could contain myself no longer. With I choking sound, I let loose with a bout of chuckling, trying in vain to keep quiet about it. Darren just sighed in a huff and folded his arms across his chest--a perfect picture of vexation.

"Ohhhhh�somebody's in trouble now!" Ben crowed while coming over to hit me in the arm. "Danny-boy, I didn't know you had it in you�hope you're prepared to deal with him all on your own!"

My good humor diminished slightly. Darren's pout increased.

Still laughing, the rest of our troupe waved or called out their final goodbyes as they headed through the metal detectors and away from us. The three of us remaining stood and waved until the others had disappeared around a corner, then we turned to slowly walk back out to the parking garage. Leonie walked ahead of us in her usual quick gate, mobile still firmly attached to her ear. Darren and I lagged behind, him walking silently and sulkily. I ambled along beside him, my hand on his arm to guide him, trying to gage the expression on his stony face. Was he truly pissed? Or was he merely faking it to make me uneasy and repentant? Whatever the plan, it was working brilliantly.

"Darren?" I ventured.

I was ignored.

"Dazza?"

Silence.

I dropped my voice so low that only he could hear me. "Daz?"

An irritated sigh was his reply.

"Would it help if I apologized?"

Nothing.

"Would groveling appease you?"

He paused in his walking to think about it, before shaking his head with a pout and continuing on.

An evil thought came to mind. Leaning closer, I whispered in his ear, "How about me stripping you naked when we get back to the hotel, and worshipping every inch of your body with my tongue?"

That suggestion got an eyebrow quirk. Then slowly a small smile appeared; he fought it for all he was worth, of course, but the smile did win in the end.

"Maybe�" he told me, pout still fighting to be seen. "But it would have to be a really good worshipping!"

I smiled. "I think that can be arranged. You mad at me, then?"

He was silent for a moment before finally shaking his head with a small laugh and replying, "No, you bastard�I'm not angry. Actually, if you want the truth? I'm rather amused and surprised that you would do such a thing. Pranks aren't usually in your laid back style, you know."

"Love me?" I was kidding when I asked�Really.

"Very much. But that doesn't mean that you are off the hook just yet, understand?"

Any reply I would have made was cut off by an irate shout ahead of us. "Darren! Daniel! I would very much like to leave the airport sometime today�could the two of you please speed it up a little?"

Properly chastised, we both hurried our steps. "Yes, Leo. Coming Leo!" Darren stated, sounding like a little boy who had just been scolded by his mum.

I didn't bother saying anything. She wouldn't have heard me anyway if I had. Quietly, we followed her out to the airport-parking garage and took the small lift to the level we parked on. I was sorely tempted to kiss Darren breathless while the elevator took us up, but mindful of Leonie and any hidden cameras, I resisted.

The drive back to the hotel was long and boring. I took the wheel with Darren in the seat next to me, and Leonie sat in the back still chatting ceaselessly on her damned phone. With a glance in the rearview mirror, I leaned forward and cranked up the radio to drown out her twittering. As I drove, I heard Darren begin to softly sing along with the music playing. His voice was beautiful, even if it wasn't one of our songs he was singing. Listening to him was quite soothing, especially when we hit a traffic jam which seriously delayed our returning to the hotel.

His singing stopped abruptly, Leonie's zillionth phone call ended quickly, and my cursing began immediately as soon as we pulled into the hotel's parking lot. A mob of fans and reporters were lined up around the front of the building holding signs and camera equipment, waiting for a glimpse of us, wanting to get a piece of whatever they could. Several police cars were on the scene attempting to disperse the crowd, but they didn�t seem to be having much success. The noise level in the parking lot was so high that the raised voices could clearly be heard over the sound of the van's radio.

"Fucking hell," I muttered throwing the van into reverse and backing out of the drive before anyone could spot our vehicle.

"Shit, it�s a fucking circus out there�" Leonie remarked, voice sounding both awed and somehow pissed at the same time.

Darren looked apprehensive. "What's going on?"

"Apparently there is a large party in the hotel parking lot and we are wanted as the guests of honor," I told him. I began driving away from the hotel. Fast. "Okay�ideas on how to get our asses out of this mess?"

"Daniel, just drive," Leonie told me. I did so, with no specific direction in mind. Darren huddled miserably in the front seat, silent, all singing forgotten about. Leonie was instantly back on her phone again in the next breath, phoning information to find a different hotel. Ten minutes later, I had an address across town and a new hotel name to look for as she rang up our original hotel.

One thing that can be said about Leonie, which I will never say outloud, is that she is very efficient. Twenty minutes after the first phone call and she had gotten the old hotel to agree to have our things packed up for us, ready to be picked up by her that afternoon. I think that hotel was only too happy to see us go.

Heaven help the new hotel for being daft enough to take us�

tbc