Bad Blood

19.

Most of the party guests had left after the fireworks and those who remained had gone off to relax in bedrooms and on sofas. He had remained at my side the entire time. I was glad but I just needed a moment to think. I managed to shake him off with the excuse of needing the toilet. When I shut the door I looked at my self in the mirror. Maybe he was just being friendly? It was nice that he was there, knowing I'd been nervous meeting so many new people, all of them his friends. But what was the arm around my waist about?

I remembered how I used to feel about him. We'd gone through our childhood as friends, and then as we'd grown up, I had fallen in love with him. We'd had a glorious week of being a couple, kissing and holding hands, until we'd been torn apart. I'd never had a chance to be heartbroken about breaking up because of my anger towards what had happened. For years, my love for him had turned to pure hatred. After all, it had been him that had led those boys to our special tree. Maybe unintentionally or maybe on purpose, it was something that still ran around my brain a hundred times a day. Every time I looked at him I could only see his pained eyes as he lay on he floor with blood seeping from his nose and mouth. I knew he was sorry. And I had tried so hard to put it behind me. I was trying to convince myself that he was a different person now. He'd fallen into the wrong crowd and after years of trying to fit in and he would've done anything to be accepted. Even offer up his best friend as bait?

'You alright?' He asked, concerned, as I joined him in the front living room. 'You've gone pale.'

'Yeah. Feel a bit sick.' I lied. 'I think I'm gonna grab a taxi back-'

'Stay. You're coming with me to the gig tomorrow anyway. Might as well stay here.'

'I erm...I don't know...I...'

'I'll cook breakfast.'

'Definitely going home then.' I teased him. He stared at me with puppy dog eyes. How could I say no? Also, I was tired. I would like a bed sooner rather than later. During my panicked musings in the toilet, I had decided to just go along and see how things turned out. He probably didn't even realize what he was doing. I could have been overthinking things. What other choice did I have? I didn't want to turn my back on a friendship that had gotten me through losing Gran. I genuinely wanted to be friends with him and it was up to me to make it work. I had my demons to conquer.

Somehow we ended up in the music room. I think he'd wanted to show me the gold disks hung on the walls, his BRIT And various other awards. There was a lot. And scattered around the room were various musical instruments. But one took my breath away.

'Oh Danny it's your piano.' The same one we'd sat at as he tried in vain to teach me how to play. 'Play something?'

We sat side by side on the bench and I watched his hands dance across the black and white keys. I don't know what he was playing but it was beautiful. It was almost like he was speaking through the piano. I could've sat and listened for hours, but I'd begun to yawn. I rested my temple against his shoulder and closed my eyes. I felt him laugh a little to himself before he began to sing.

'When you fall asleep with your head up on my shoulder. When your in my arms, but you've gone somewhere deeper. Are you going to age with grace?' He wiggled his shoulder and I smiled to myself. 'Are you going to age without mistakes? Are you going to age with grace? Only to wake and hide your face. When oblivion is calling out your name. You always take it further than I ever could.' He stopped singing but carried on playing. 'I wrote that for you. Actually...I wrote most of the album for you.' I was overcome with emotion. I'd assumed he had stopped thinking about me the day I left. Like most things, it seemed I was wrong.

I wasn't too sure how to respond, so I remained silent. It was amazing that he'd done that for me. I don't think there was anything another human could've done that was sweeter. I wondered now much his bandmates knew? I doubted that he'd told them the full story, just as I hadn't told Olivia.