"Oww! Bugger it. Oh shit, that's going to hurt. It does hurt! Ow. Ow. Ow! Bugger it!!"
"Watch your language, Daniel. There's kids around here. What have you done? Come here and let me have a look at that."
"Sorry, Aunt Nita. But - damm! It hurts."
"Put your hand under the cold tap here."
"What have you done, Boy? Show the First-Aid Man."
Tom came over, took hold of Daniel's hand and pulled it out from under the water.
"Okay. That's not too bad. It's just a scratch - or 4 scratches, I suppose. You need to watch what you're doing. We don't want the lettuce flavoured with your blood. Stop flinching, Boy. I'm not going to hurt you. Don't be a wimp."
"Hey!" John looked over from the computer. "My cousin's not a wimp."
"Thanks, John-boy. You're not a wimp either."
"I told you that those knives were too sharp, Tom."
"Nonsense, Nita. Knives can't be too sharp. People just need to be a bit more careful. Sit down, Daniel. I'll put a bandage on you. Give the boy a whisky, Nita."
"I certainly will not. He can have an aspirin."
"I'd rather have a whisky, aunty, if it's medicinal."
"I'm sure that you would, but you're not getting one. You can have 2 aspirins, that's medicinal."
"I'll have a whisky too, thanks." John grinned. "For the shock you know."
"Oh no you won't. A clip around the ear would be more like it. You hurry up and get that homework finished, your dinner will be ready soon."
"We're having bloody salad, are we?" John grinned even wider.
"There's no blood in the salad, it's not that bad. Where is Tony, Daniel?"
"He's over in our room. He still hasn't finished that essay - typical Tones. Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow."
"Well, when Tom's finished with you, you can go and get him. Dinner's nearly ready."
"Oh, wow. I'd better come with you then."
"Why's that, John-boy?"
"To protect you, of course. You're going to be in SO much trouble when Tony finds out what you've done."
"Trouble? Why's that? It was just an accident, and it's my hand."
"Yeah. Your guitar playing hand. You're supposed to be playing at the party at Carver's Beach tonight."
"Damm! You're right. Tones will be okay, but how am I going to play with my hand like this?"
Tom said, "You're not. You won't be playing any guitars for a few days now."
"Bugger! Bugger, bugger, bugger!"
"Language, Daniel. You're not too big for me to wash your mouth out!"
"Sorry, Aunty."
"You're always sorry. Anyway, leave the guitar at home tonight. There'll always be another dance party."
Daniel left John at home, he wasn't scared of Tones. There was no need to be either; Tony was only worried about Danny.
"No problems, Tones. It's just a small cut; I don't think I'll lose my hand."
"See that you don't! You're not playing guitar tonight. The party will have to be cancelled - unless they just play records that is."
"There's no need for that. No need to disappoint everybody just because I'm stupid."
"You're not stupid, Danny. Don't say that. What are you going to do then?"
"Well, you're not playing my baby. You're hopeless."
Tony just batted his eyes at him.
"Okay, stop being cute. You're not hopeless, but you can't play the guitar. I'll give Robbie a call. Time Out are not playing tonight, he might fill-in for me."
"Robbie. Okay, I guess. But he's not as good as you."
"Of course he's not, no-one is - not in your eyes anyway. Robbie will do fine, as long as he wants to."
Robbie wanted to. He was happy to fill in, just this once.
"Sure, Guitar-man. It'll be fun and a new experience playing with different musos, just once."
"Yeah, this once and that's all. Thanks, Robbie."
Toddy drove Daniel, Tony and John out to Carver's Beach. He was the proud possessor of a driving licence now. He shouldn't really have been driving unlicensed passengers, but - whatever. He dropped them off there and drove back to town to get Jinks.
John spotted Brian arriving and ran off to be with him.
Kadie's dad arrived with their mobile stage on his truck and trailer. It was pretty much a permanent fixture there these days. Daniel and Tony helped the rest of Whozzat to set up their gear, in between telling Daniel off for not taking better care of himself.
When the concert/dance party got started and Whozzat began playing, Daniel sat out on the grass in front, watching them. Robbie wasn't bad but he didn't really mesh well with the others. That was only to be expected - he hadn't had hours and hours of practicing with them.
Daniel enjoyed the novelty of sitting out the front and watching Tones and the others, for a while, but he soon got sick of it. He wished that he was up there with them, where he belonged. 'Stupid cut hand.'
"Hey, Guitar-man. Kick you out did they?"
"Hey Shirley. No, I just can't play tonight. That's all." Daniel showed his bandaged hand to Shirley Hunter who had flopped down beside him.
"Whoah! What have you been doing to yourself?"
"It's just a cut. Nothing serious, but I cut my fingers and now I can't play with my baby for a day or two. Dammit."
"And what does your baby think about that?" Shirley looked up at Tony on the stage.
"What? Oh. I'm talking about my guitar. Tony's not my baby. Keep it clean, Girl."
"Tony's not your baby? I thought he was. What is he to you then?"
Daniel looked up at Tony and caught his eye. They exchanged a smile. "Tones is my guy. He's my partner, my best friend and my closer-than-a-brother."
"Do you love him, Daniel?"
"Yes, of course I do. I love my Tones, always have, always will. Didn't you know that?"
"Well, no. Not for sure, but I thought so. Are you guys happy being together?"
"Oh, yes!"
"Good for you then."
From the stage, Tony saw the smiles that Danny and Shirley Hunter were flashing at each other and he got the wrong idea entirely.
'Danny and Shirley? Looks like they're having fun.'
Tony's performance that night was a bit off. For once, his mind was not on the music and his heart was just not in it. Nobody worried that much. Everyone has an off day sometimes and this was just a free concert. Everyone was there to party - dancing in the dark and having fun, and they did. The only person who really took notice and was aware that the singer/dancer was not as good as he usually was, was Daniel.
He didn't understand why. He thought he did, but he didn't. Daniel thought that Tony was not up to his usual lively standard; and that was true enough. It was because of him, but not, as he thought, because he was sitting out the front instead of being there with him, making music on the stage. Maybe that was part of the reason for the lack-luster performance, but mostly it was because Tony thought that he was losing Daniel to a girl!
Tony really loved Daniel. He always had, ever since they'd walked off to school together as tiny wee boys, walking hand-in-hand and facing the world together. Even before that, he'd always loved his closer-than-a-brother. He knew that Daniel loved him, he always had, always would - but.
Tony had always known that he was gay. Even before he knew what it was called, he knew that he was only interested in male to male sex. He'd never experimented with other boys when he was younger, he was never interested. He always figured that if he couldn't have Danny, then he didn't want anybody. He'd never believed that he could ever have Daniel like that.
Now it had happened. Oh, Boy! Had it happened! And it was great. It was all that he'd ever dreamed of. But, he still, even all that had happened, after all this time, he still had trouble believing that Danny was gay.
In all the years that they were growing up, Daniel had never shown the smallest sign that he might be interested in boys. He was personable, popular, talented and not a bit geeky, despite being very good at his schoolwork.
Daniel was good at sports and he was strong - inside and out, and he'd always had lots of girls for friends. Danny had always claimed that some girl, or another, was his girlfriend. Lots of girls had been his girlfriend, though half the time they weren't even aware of it.
That was Tony's biggest fear - that Daniel would realise that he wasn't really gay after all and that he would, one day, go off with a girl. He wouldn't blame him and he wouldn't try to stop him. There were lots of things that a girl could give him that Tony couldn't - like babies and a family of his own, respectability and social acceptance. He'd never get any of those from being with Tony. He'd never get to be a husband and a father. Daniel deserved more that just Tony.
He believed that Danny would, one day, meet a girl and fall in love with her, like any straight boy would. He couldn't really be gay. He was probably, maybe unconsciously, going along with his old friend and having a bit of fun along the way.
Tony was not just having fun, he was, totally, absolutely in love with the boy. He was sure of that. But, he couldn't help feeling that Danny deserved more than just him.
And now, right before his eyes, it looked like it was happening. He was up there on the stage, going through the motions, and Danny was out the front there - in the audience but not really a part of it. He wasn't up on his feet and dancing, he was just sitting in the semi-darkness, talking and laughing, with a girl! He was having fun.
Then, as if to confirm what he was thinking, Tony watched Daniel and Shirley stand up together. (He offered a hand to help her to her feet). They brushed themselves off, and walked off together, away from the lights and the noisy crowd and over to the quietness and darkness of the beach.
Tony watched them go. Watched Danny walking away from him, with a girl, and he felt like crying.
"Oh, Danny."
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