Danny sighed impatiently, leaning his head back against the back of the hot tub. “What’s the big deal about these things?” he asked bluntly.

A lazy smirk curled on Dougie’s lips as the blond lounged beside him, his body stretched out down one end of the tub. “They’re relaxing, Danny,” he said calmly. “They soothe the muscles and calm you down after a stressful day.”

“They’re boring!” the Northerner complained moodily. “We had a choice between a holiday cottage with a basketball court, or one with a hot tub, and we choose the hot tub?!”

“We took a vote and you lost.”

Danny turned his head sharply to look at Dougie, whose eyes were closed in peaceful bliss, “I didn’t vote.”

“Didn’t matter. The rest of us wanted a hot tub.”

Danny made a noise of indignation, shoving his hands forward in the water so a perfectly aimed wave of chlorinated water smacked Dougie in the face. The blond spluttered as the wave hit him, sitting bolt upright in the hot tub and staring at Danny, who was laughing freely now, having found a way to entertain himself. “Do you mind?” Dougie demanded.

Danny created another little wave, which hit his younger band-mate in the face, “Not at all. Carry on.”

At that, Dougie’s face became stony, and he launched himself across the hot tub, landing on top of Danny and spectacularly forcing him under. For this, he received a kick in the thigh as Danny fought his way out, his perfectly straightened hair now dripping wet and no doubt about to curl.

Danny seized Dougie around the neck, and dragged him under with him, but the blond drove an elbow back into Danny’s gut and managed to free himself. As the brunette surfaced, gasping for breath, he was hit in the face by what felt like a mini tidal wave. Blinking past the chlorine, he saw Dougie, arms extended in front of him, and laughing his head off.

“That was a bit cruel. You barely gave him time to breathe, Doug,” another voice said, and Danny turned his head to see Tom walking calmly across the small garden of their holiday cottage to the hot tub. It was freezing outside, but Tom didn’t show it.

“He started it! He should have seen it coming,” was Dougie’s defence. He leaned on the side of the hot tub, grinning up at Tom, “You gonna join us?”

Tom burst out laughing as Danny crept up behind Dougie and grabbed the teenager’s ankle, pulling him under once more, “Not if I’m going to be caught in the middle of this.”

“Sorry. We’ll behave,” Dougie promised, holding out a hand to Danny, who shook it after a moment’s hesitation. Dougie couldn’t shove him under with a handshake.

“Glad to hear it.” Tom reached over and patted Dougie on the cheek condescendingly, chucking as the bassist beamed with pride. Then he hung his towel up on the hook next to the hot tub and slid in. Danny watched him, fixated. He still didn’t know what to do with himself when he saw Tom topless. Ever since that fateful audition all those years ago, he’d had a severe crush on Tom, and he wasn’t sure how to proceed with it.

As Tom seated himself in one corner, he smiled at Danny, making the brunette’s heart flutter, “You okay, Dan?”

“What? Oh, yeah. Great.” Danny cleared his throat, trying to hide the fact that his voice had just gone up an octave or two. Then he caught the knowing look on Dougie’s face. Damn it! That boy could pick up on anything!

“You know… I’m gonna go back in and dry off. I’ll see you later.” Dougie rose, despite Danny’s frantic snatching at his wrists. He kicked him off his ankle casually as he got out, and walked off across the grass, grabbing his towel on the way and hurrying because it was cold.

“Oh, well,” Tom said dismissively, stretching his legs out along the side as Dougie had done earlier. “More room this way.”

“Yeah. And no-one making my hair curly,” Danny lamented, tugging on a sodden strand. Just how he wanted to look in front of Tom…

“You look fine with curly hair. You leave it curly when we go into town tonight, and I bet at least five girls will eye you up. Wait, okay, five people. Can’t discount the possibility that men might find you hot.”

Danny only wanted one man to find me hot, and he was the one telling him this. “Place a tenner on it?”

“Twenty.”

“Even better.” They shook on it, and Danny moved back into his place with his hand tingling pleasantly.

“Are you dating anyone just now?” Tom queried.

“No.”

He nodded thoughtfully, “Didn’t think so, but I thought I’d check in case you’d snuck one past me.”

“Nope. Single as usual.” Danny sat up, leaned his arms on the rim of the hot tub, “What about you? Still going out with-?”

“We broke up.”

Danny’s jaw dropped before he could stop it. That was something he hadn’t anticipated. “Why?” he blurted out. Then he caught himself, “I mean, erm… Never mind.”

“It’s fine,” Tom reassured him with a light chuckle. “He broke up with me because he said I was too frigid. Jut because I wouldn’t sleep with him until I was ready. I think I might just go back to being straight… Life was so much easier when I was straight…”

“Look, that was one arsehole,” Danny promised, shifting in the hot tub so he was sitting next to the blond. “You’ll find a guy who understands you soon enough. Just give it time.”

Tom blew a childish raspberry, “That’s what people always say. ‘Give it time.’ Like that’s going to solve everything. You can’t just wait for life to sort itself out- you have to act.”

“So you’re just going to give up guys?” Danny asked.

Tom turned to look at him, and his lips curved smoothly, making Danny’s heart rate soar, “Well… If I found the right guy…”

“And what would he be like?”

“He would know me…” Tom explained. “Understand me. He would be funny, nice. Not too serious, but not too frivolous. Downright gorgeous. And maybe Northern.”

“Northern?” Danny repeated in shock, before Tom closed in on his lips, kissing him softly. The brunette just let instinct take over, swinging his leg over so he was straddling Tom, and he could get a better angle on the blond’s mouth.

The kiss was sweet, lustful, powerful, and exactly how Danny had imagined it would be. His hands moved up to tangle themselves in Tom’s hair as the older man ran his down his back, making the skin warm and tingle where he travelled.

Danny felt his back hit the side of the hot tub as Tom took control, and he allowed him it. He had been dreaming of this moment for years, and he wasn’t going to let it pass now.

Then suddenly all pressure was gone, and Tom moved back slowly. He cocked his head to the side in consideration, “Maybe I might give guys another chance…” He nodded slightly, then stood up, leaving the hot tub and walking along the grass casually. Danny sank down into the hot tub, the water coming up over his nose so just his eyes were visible, and the water bubbled in front of him as he made a silenced scream of triumph.