"Hey, we headin' off to Danny's now JB?" Charlie called to James. The blonde was busy putting on a new shirt and jacket. His clothes had been quite tattered when the crowd had finally let him get back onto the stage.
"Yeh, as always. It's a bugger it's gotten so bloody famous though. Now people will know we go there all the time."
Josh wandered into the change room. The three lads hesitated. Josh had still been pretty peeved with them for not considering the new guitarist he had wanted. But it was a girl after all.
"I think we pretty much...SLAUGHTERED tonight!" Mattie yelled triumphantly at Josh after a moment’s silence. While the other two cheered, the Irish lad just shrugged.
"You're going to have to find a guitarist soon anyway. During this break. Just came in here to say take care on your holiday and don't get pissed too much. I'll see you in a month." Then he left.
The band stared at each other incredulously.
"In a month?!" James repeated. "He's not serious right? He's meant to come out and celebrate with us and help us keep it together these holidays! Jaysus, he must be pretty stropped at us." The three lads looked at each other aghast.

They walked into Blue Bar half an hour later. Danny saw them straight away, and spoke briefly to Sarah who nodded without turning around. She didn't notice the band members checking her out.
"Ouch, who's the hottie Danny's picked up?"
"Jaysus, that is one seriously fit girl! Do you reckon he's in the mood to share?"
"Would you share a chick like that with anyone?!"
James was the only one who didn't notice. He was busy worrying about Josh's behaviour. The Irish boy normally accompanied them everywhere to make sure they didn't do anything stupid. He would nag at them and cover their behinds. It felt odd without him.
"Boys, how's it going? How was the concert?" Danny seemed keen to steer them to their normal spot in the corner of the club.
"Awesome. Who's the babe?" Charlie cast his eye back at Sarah's back. Danny grinned conspiratorially.
"She h8tes your guts!"
"What?!"
"I mentioned you guys, and you should've seen her face! She's got some serious issues against Busted."
Mattie and Charlie instantly scowled at Sarah's back.
"Well, I don't like her then," Charlie announced, obviously miffed by this piece of news. He was soon preoccupied though, as both he and Mattie spotted a pair of girls glancing casually over to them.
"Later JB," Mattie called as he and Charlie began to move in on the girls. James rolled his eyes with a sigh. Danny plonked himself down next to him.
"Whatta up JB?"
James' brow was furrowed and his lips twisted slightly. He sighed again.
"Ah nothing. The casanova is still peeved-o with us about not giving his pet girl guitarist a go, and now I kinda feel bad about it." Danny nodded and passed him a beer. James' eyes passed over the club briefly until he spotted a girl at the bar. She had her back to him, but he couldn't stop staring. Wavy brown hair with highlights cascaded down her back. She was pretty small, especially compared to James' 5 ft 11 frame. Maybe 5 ft 6. Her jeans covered slim legs and her tank top made James feel like going over and offering his jacket to her. It got pretty chilly these days, he noted with an absent smile. And she'd probably need it in the morning. Danny watched his face closely.
"She's bloody gorgeous isn't she?"
James snapped back around to his friend. "Oh...yeh."
"You didn't seem to appreciate her as much as we all did when you first came in."
"Oh...Was that the girl you were talking about? I wasn't really listening."
Danny nodded.
"Uh...Is she with you?" James hesitated slightly, but he had to know. Any girl that had been staked out by a mate was definitely out of bounds in his books.
Danny shook his head regretfully.
"Wish I could say she was mateage. She seems to be the 'let's-just-be-bloody-friends' types. You could have a go if you like, but be warned- she can be a feisty cat at the snap of the fingers."
"Her? Pft, get out of here. She looks like a bloody angel."
"You should have seen what she did to David from Genesis. She caught him with a left upper cut, out of the blue and BAM! He was down! And she's not even a left hander."
James turned to Danny grimly.
"What was David doing to her?" His voice was frosty.
Danny hesitated. James and David had gone to the same highschool and were sworn enemies. Apparently something happened between the two of them and a lass, but Danny wasn't sure of the details. Plus, the whole of Busted hated David in particular, because he was notorious for getting away with abusing people, particularly girls. James' blue eyes were cold and his voice was incredibly quiet and slow. That was a danger sign.
"What did he do to her."
"Nothing, just thought it would be cute to grab her. The bouncers hauled him out of there before she could kick his buttocks any more."
"He still here?"
Danny eyed his friend warily. "Yeh, on the dance floor. Don't worry, I don't think he'll come near her again. He was pretty pissed off with her last time."
James gritted his teeth and his jaw clenched. "All the more reason for him to try again. Maybe we should go warn her or something..." Uneasiness flickered over his face. He was remembering what happened three years ago, and it hurt like hell.
Danny shook his head and got up. "She doesn't need a warning, and if you do try, don't say I didn't warn you." He headed back over to Sarah. She looked up and smiled at him. Danny almost collapsed.