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A Secret to Hold Close Chapter Nineteen When Danny woke up the next morning and it took him a minute to realize where he was. The last thing he remembered was leaving the pub. Ugh, another forgotten night... but one not worth remembering� He tried to open his eyes but bright sunshine was flooding his room though open windows that were normally shrouded in dark curtains and he let out a groan as arrows of pain shot through his hung-over head. Trying to save his head, and his sanity, he yanked the sheet and blanket over his head and gave another loud moan. He heard some footsteps approach his door, pause and then his door creaked open. �Danny? Hey, are you up? You know it�s almost noon.� Tom�s voice asked. Danny wanted to ignore him but he knew that his friend had something to do with him getting to his bed so he gave him an incoherent grunt-like sound while still under the blankets. Tom gave a weak chuckle. �Well that�s better than some mornings. Come on we�ve got somewhere to be.� Danny peeked out from under the covers at his friend. In a rusty voice he asked, �Oh? And where is that?� He wasn�t ready for Tom�s next move. His friend physically picked him up and started to haul him towards the bathroom. �Hey! Tom! What the hel�� But Tom didn�t answer. Danny tried to struggle, not really understanding what was going on, but he wasn�t having much luck. Tom shoved Danny into the shower and started the freezing cold water that splashed down onto his friends head. Danny yelped and tried to worm his way out of Tom�s grip, causing his friend to get just as wet as him, but Tom wasn�t letting him go. Harry and Dougie came running when they heard the racquet and stood, shocked, at what they saw. Tom finally let Danny go when he was thoroughly soaked and the blond singer finally saw a sense of alertness in Danny�s eyes that had been missing for a while. Without his friend�s grip to hold him up, Danny weakly slid to the shower�s floor and Tom flicked the water off. With that Tom took one look at himself and with a shake of his head he plopped down on top of the toilet. Harry finally found his voice and asked Tom, shock in every word, �Tom? Can you please tell us what is going on?� Tom looked up, �I was sick of dealing with a drunk or a hung-over Danny. This is the fastest way I could think of to get him sober.� Danny looked up angrily and shouted, �Is that what this is about?� Tom just looked at his friend impassively, not rising to the argument Danny was trying to start. �No Danny that�s not it. There is someone you need to talk to.� And with that Tom pulled his phone out of his pocket, dialed a number, and lifted the phone to his ear. Danny just sat there shivering, totally shocked by Tom�s behavior, and Dougie took pity on him and tossed him a towel. �Hey baby. Yeah he�s sober. Do I think he�s ready? Well� he�s as ready as he�ll ever be. Yeah, well give me another ten minutes and then we�ll call again. Ok, love you.� Tom hung up the phone and turned to Danny. �So as I said there is someone you need to talk to. I�m being nice enough to give you a chance to get into dry clothes. Then again, I don�t want you in wet clothes on my couch. So you can get up and change yourself or I�ll drag you back to your room just as easily as I got you here.� Tom stood with his arms crossed. �Fine! Fine! I�m going.� Danny said, jumping up. He went into his room and slipped out of his wet clothes and into dry ones. When he came out Tom was leaning on the wall across from Danny�s door. Danny had given up trying to understand what was going on and he followed Tom without a complaint into the living room. Harry and Dougie had both found seats and were waiting expectantly. Danny plopped sullenly onto the couch and Tom pulled out his phone again. He dialed a number and then set his phone for speaker phone so that everyone could hear it. It rang a few times and then a familiar voice answered, �Hey Tom?� �Hey babe. You�re on speaker phone and everyone�s here.� �Okay. Hey Doug, Harry� Danny.� Dougie and Harry chorused their hellos but Danny stayed silent. He had instantly recognized the voice of Sarah Larson and was very confused. �Danny I really need to talk to you� there is something that needs to get said and I couldn�t wait for her to quit being stubborn.� Danny gapped at the phone. �Are you telling me that the reason that Tom acted like a complete freak this morning has something to do with Mylie?� he said, anger radiating from every word. But instead of backing down, Sarah retaliated with her own anger, �I don�t know what Tom did, all I asked him to do was let me know when you were sober.� �Yeah? Well your boyfriend pulled me out of bed, drug me into a freezing cold shower and then plopped me down to talk to you.� �Tom! I asked you to tell me when he was sober not make him sober!� Tom grinned sheepishly, �Well that doesn�t happen often and we had to hurry� so I took things into my own hands.� �Well I�m sorry Danny. I didn�t mean for it to happen this way.� Sarah apologized. �I just wish you would tell me what this was about.� Danny said, blowing off the apology. �Okay� okay�,� Sarah paused and then sped through the rest of what she had to say, �Danny, everything that Mylie told you that night was a lie. She�s didn�t ever cheat on you because she never had a boyfriend. The reason she lied to you is that she is very, very sick and she didn�t want to be a burden to you.� Tom shot a look at Danny and his friend was staring at the phone like he couldn�t believe what he was hearing. Harry and Dougie didn�t seem to be believing anything either, they both had a look of surprise on their face. Suddenly Danny exclaimed, �Is this a joke? You must be kidding!� Anger started taking over, �How do I know she isn�t hiding there with you listening to this whole thing? Why should I believe you?� There was dead silence and everyone seemed to hold their breath and suddenly Sarah voice came back over the phone, �Because, Daniel Alan David Jones, this is not something I would joke about. How dare you think that of my sister and even worse think that of me. I have been nothing but kind to you.� At this point Danny was looking thoroughly cowed but Sarah wasn�t dropping it. �I called not just because Tom and I though you needed to know the truth but because things aren�t going well over here�� Danny glanced at Tom, �You knew?! And you didn�t tell me?!� But Sarah answered for her boyfriend, �No Tom didn�t tell you because Mylie made me promise not to tell and I forced Tom to do the same. Don�t blame him� blame me. I should have said something sooner but I wanted Mylie to be the one to tell you.� �She should have told me�� Danny started to say. �Yes she should have but she has completely given up on idea of life and of you forgiving her.� Danny shot Tom a confused look but it was Sarah who finally answered Danny�s unspoken question. �Danny� she�s dying.� Back |