Star Girl // McFly

One

"So...what are you doing this Valentine's Day, Dougie?"

 Tom, Harry, and Danny always bothered Dougie with the same question every year, even when they already knew the answer. 

"Bite me, Harry." Dougie replied. 

"Oh come on, Doug." Tom chimed in. "We only ask because we care."

 "And because it's been so long since you've had a proper girlfriend." Harry added. 

"Did you not hear me say bite me?"

 "We just want to see you happy, Doug." Danny smiled. 

"The moment I become unhappy, I'll let you all know first." Dougie answered. 

"You can't spend the rest of your Valentine's Days with a take away watching Love Actually." Tom sighed quite audibly. The way someone might when they collapse on a sofa after a long, labor-filled day.

 But Dougie did think he could spend the rest of his Valentine's Days like this. Truth was, this question didn't actually cause Dougie any trouble. It's not like he didn't know it was coming. It was more that he was tired of hearing himself talk about the subject. His answer made him sound like a broken record. Plus, the last people Dougie wanted to get relationship advice from were his bandmates. He loved them, but they had all found their soulmates well over ten years ago,  during the early years of McFly. They were the lucky ones. He wanted to tell them most people don't find their soulmate when they're eighteen and stick with them for the rest of their lives. He wanted to tell them they were the abnormal ones. Not him.

 It had gotten worse since he had turned thirty. It was almost as if people thought if you weren't married by the time you were out of your twenties your love life was doomed. 

And it's not like Dougie never went on dates. He did. And they weren't all bad. Most of them were average to good. He just couldn't see himself with anyone long term. Forever. He thought it was that word that caused him problems. Forever. The idea of having one constant thing, unchanging, in his life until he died was a bone-chilling thought. 

But he still tried. He always tried to be a gentleman (advice his mum had given him many years ago). He held doors open for girls and if he saw one really drunk at a party he'd keep his eyes out to make sure no jerks took advantage of her. Honestly, though, Dougie liked being single for the most part. He could always go to after-parties, unlike his bandmates, who often had to get home to their wives and children. He could hog all the bed covers at night, eat whatever he wanted for dinner and leave the washing up in the sink until the morning if he felt like it.

 As he got older, he tended not to feel like it. But still. It's the fact that he could that mattered. 

He liked to think of his life as ice cream and being in a relationship as the sprinkles. Ice cream was amazing on its own. Sprinkles were just a bit of fun on top. They weren't necessary for ice cream to taste good, but they were nice. Special, even. 

 It was too bad Dougie had a lactose sensitivity.

 It was February now, which meant that by the time Dougie had stopped being harassed by his friends and made his way home from rehearsal, it was already dark outside. Like Tom had said, Dougie did like movies. And he wasn't ashamed of that. He watched a movie almost every night. It was hard to resist the temptation when he was faced by his film shelves (a bookcase that ironically didn't hold books, but rather, hundreds of DVDs organized by year; His books were kept in a much smaller, much less grand set of shelves nearby). Despite being a bachelor, however, Dougie didn't eat takeaways every night. He used to when he was younger, but that was also something that changed as he got older. He only allowed himself a takeaway once a week, on Fridays. Other nights, he cooked, which he was surprisingly good at. He got plenty of practice experimenting with different recipes from cookbooks his mum had bought him, what with being a vegetarian and all. 

But today was Saturday, and there were leftovers from the night before from when Dougie had stopped by his favorite curry take away place after a meeting with WWF UK. 

McFly was always Dougie's number one priority. The same went for all the band members, but they were also doing their own things. Danny had put out a few solo songs, Harry was a fitness guru and Tom was a best selling children's author. Dougie too, had an impressive resume, being a wildlife ambassador and activist on the topic of nature, and no matter how many fans wrote to them or commented on their social media, they weren't focusing on writing an album right now. They still had periodic rehearsals, regardless of the fact that they hadn't put out an album in nine years, and even though at least once a month news outlets would put out fake stories that said they broke up, Dougie knew, in his heart, they never would. When the day came that the other guys were less busy with their new families and were ready to continue putting out music, Dougie would be there. He was waiting patiently.

 As the curry was heating, Dougie went over to his film shelves and went directly for the 80s section, pulling out a classic, E.T. He had never been one of those kids who had been afraid of movies like E.T., Jaws or Jurassic Park. He liked them. He wished he could be in one if he was guaranteed survival come the end of the plot. Things like that, pieces of nature which were seemingly unknown; dinosaurs on a lost island, a Great White shark who ends up somewhere it doesn't belong or aliens? The idea of stumbling upon such a discovery was a dream come true in Dougie's eyes. 

Of course, he knew it would never happen. He wasn't naive to the fact that dinosaurs were extinct, most likely with no chance of return (especially after a film franchise such as Jurassic Park). It was doubtful he'd find a Great White Shark considering he lived in England and rarely went to the beach, and aliens? Come on. But maybe it was the fact that he did know, deep down, he would never find one of these things, that made it all the more exciting.