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The Complete Fic Directory
- All I Do Each Night Is Rehearse The Pray Routine
- Appendicitis
- An Act Of Un-Remembrance
- Beginnings
- Better Than Today - Kylie Minogue
- Black
- Breathe Out
- Christmas Shopping
- Choreography
- Dancers
- Dangling
- Days
- Default Settings/Do You Love Me? [Part One]
- Displacement Theory [Blue]
- DJ (I Could Be Dancing) - Alphabeat
- Enchanted
- Ends (Loose And Otherwise) [Ends]
- Enemies
- Family
- Fine Time To Lose Your Mind - Jack McManus
- Fireworks
- Flat Tyres And Palm Prints [Birth]
- Flu
- Friends: A Dictionary [Friends]
- From Angels To The Moon/The Soup
- Green Light [Green]
- Hell Raisers
- Home Invasion
- Hours
- In My Veins
- Insides
- It Was The Death Of Something [Death]
- Just Like Children [Children]
- Kiss And Make Up
- The Last Time
- Lonely At Christmas
- Love Songs
- Lovers
- Middles
- Midnight Sun
- Mistletoe
- Months Go By [Months]
- More Important Than Fear
- Muddied Stars [Brown]
- Not Enough
- Of Peacocks
- On The Subject Of Angels [Orange]
- Playing House [Parents]
- The Price Of Friendship
- The Prize
- Post-Match Analysis
- Puddles
- Red
- Secret Admirer
- Secret Agent Owen
- Shades
- Shine - Skies Of America
- Slow Dancing In A Burning Room
- Snap
- So Good To See You
- Stage Fright
- Stay (Oh Darlin')
- Study In Motion
- Summertime Feeling - S Club 7
- Sunrise
- Sunset
- Teammates
- That Night In Amsterdam/Do You Love Me? [Part Two]
- This
- Three Sets Of Three
- Twenty-Nine (And A Half)
- Under A Colourless Sky [Colourless]
- We Found Something That Belongs To You [Outsides]
- We Were Strangers Once [Strangers]
- Weeks
- What Did You Say This Time?
- What Will The Papers Say? [Purple]
- White Out [White]
- The Wordsmith/Breathe In
- Years
- Yellow
- Yesterday's Promise
- 3-0 Defeats
- Barlow's Music Shop Series
- Fanfiction Challenges
- The Postcard Prompts
- OT3, OT4 & OT5
- Stories By Band Member
- Stories By Ship
- Stories By Genre
- Stories By Era
- Band-Free AUs
- Prompt Requests
- Other Fandom Fics
- Follow Me
Teammates
They were teammates. Ok, so they were teammates who cluttered up each others’ houses at inconvenient moments, squabbled over their differing football teams and mocked one another mercilessly. But they were still teammates and when one of the team was missing, it took some of the fun out of performing together. The strangest thing was that it was Jason who was sick. Jason never got sick. He never got hurt or ill or even hungover. But they muddled on through it. Gary made a speech of explanation to the TV show’s host and Mark stood on a box and did his best impersonation of Jason to try and cheer Howard up. How could Howard not laugh at the sight of Mark, hands on hips, wittering about yoghurt and backing dancers? But all three were agreed that as soon as they got back they were going up to Jason’s room and refusing to leave until he got better.
“Knock knock!” Howard called, waltzing into Jason’s suite, closely followed by Mark and Gary.
“You do know that shouting knock knock and walking straight into the room is pretty much the same as just walking straight into the room,” a groggy voice pointed out from the darkness and the three men looked over at the bed with grateful smiles at the sound of Jason’s dry humour. Slowly, Jason’s head appeared from under the duvet, squinting at them suspiciously, and Mark grinned happily back, running across and jumping onto Jason’s bed before throwing his arms around Jason’s middle.
“How did you get the key for my room?” he frowned, sitting up slowly as Gary and Howard followed Mark, joining him on the bed.
“Well without you to charm the keycard out of the girl on reception, we had to resort to my chiselled good looks,” Howard grinned making Gary and Mark laugh.
“What he means is, he went over there and she said no, so we sent Mark and she turned to jelly,” Gary corrected, making Jason chuckle huskily.
“What can I say, I’m adorable,” Mark beamed up at Jason, still holding onto the older man tightly.
When you’re part of team you have to put up with a lot. Your teammates will give you stick, even when you’re ill. But for some reason the jokes do you a hell of a lot of good, they certainly made Jason feel better. Besides, they were here weren’t they? A whole day of PR, interviews and even a performance and yet they hadn’t gone straight to bed, they’d come straight to him.
“You feeling any better yet mate?” Howard asked, blue eyes clearly concerned. He really wasn’t used to Jason being broken and he wished he was able to just fix him.
“Better than I was, glad to see you lot…I think,” Jason replied with a playful smile.
“Eh you, be nice – I’ve got a present for you,” Gary smiled, searching his jacket pocket.
“You haven’t got me a present,” Mark pouted mischievously but Gary simply smirked and handed over the folded piece of paper to Jason. Unfolding it Jason saw that it was a child’s drawing of a man he could only presume to be himself sitting with a guitar amidst a vast number of colourful flowers. Underneath was written ‘Get better Uncle Jason. BIG hugs from Emily’ signed off with a great many kisses. Jason smiled, genuinely touched.
“I mentioned you were ill to Em on the phone the other day, so Dawn posted it for her. No ‘I miss you daddy’ card – the Uncle Jason fan club strikes again,” Gary said, feigning disappointment.
“Yeah…when I told Elwood he started threatening to bake you something. I’m pretty sure Emma would rather he didn’t…” Mark commented making the others laugh.
“That’s just coz she does all the work…yet he still manages to make all the mess!” Howard smiled.
“Sound like anyone we know…?” Gary asked teasingly , giving Mark a pointed look. Mark swatted at him, laughter on his lips as the others chuckled.
Sure, being teammates requires a lot of work. First of all you have to learn to live with each other. Then you have to work out how far every tease can go. Once those basics are covered, you think you’re home and dry. But then you realise that the team will permeate all aspects of life – you’ll go places without them and feel lost, you’ll all but move into their house for the weekend, no one else will do in your hour of need. The work’s all worth it for the smiles and the laughter. And the reassurance that you’ll always have a safety net. For teammates like them the reassurance didn’t always have to be serious. It could be anything from a quick hug to a joke…or even to a plate of waffles on an overflowing room service tray.
“See Jay, you think that if you act miserable enough then we’ll bugger off back to our own rooms but…tah-dah!” Howard said, walking back towards the door and returning with a cluttered room service cart that he wheeled dramatically into place.
“What are you lot on?” Jason laughed, shaking his head fondly.
“Complimentary European hotel mints…oh! And a teeny tiny bit of the house wine!” Mark grinned sweetly, pinching his fingers together in front of his face to indicate just how little wine it took to make them go soft in the head.
“We’ve got waffles, ice cream, burgers, fish and chips…” Howard listed.
“All for us of course,” Gary joked with a grin at Jason and Howard laughed.
“Yeah, we bought pumpkin seeds for you,” he teased, chucking the packet towards Jason, who caught it quickly and shook his head, an affectionate laugh on his lips.
“Have we got any more wine?” Mark cut in and Howard rolled his eyes.
“Alright, alright! I was dealing with the invalid first Princess Owen!” he remarked and Mark stuck his tongue out at him.
It’s funny the things that can make you feel better. Sometimes it’s not the out-of-the ordinary but the completely mundane that can raise that against-the-odds smile. Teammates understand these things – teammates never pretend and they never fawn. They’ll spoil you a bit, perhaps. But they won’t miss out on their fun, they’ll just drag you into it with them. Normality will settle and the moment when they’ve made it most clear that they don’t see anything unusual with the situation will probably be the moment that all feels well with the world again.
“I love this song!” Mark exclaimed, bouncing around, waving his wine glass about eccentrically. Jason didn’t complain that they’d put on some bizarre European karaoke show. In fact, as Mark and Gary swayed and sang along, arms around each other’s shoulders, he simply laughed. Howard laughed too and shook his head.
“You pair are going to have headaches in the morning,” he warned, a glint in his eyes.
“It’s his fault, he led me astray!” Gary protested, still swaying in time to the music.
“Just live a little Barlow!” Mark shot back playfully and Gary nodded in agreement, clinking his wine glass against Mark’s in a silent toast before they launched back into their song.
It’s impossible to feel lonely when you’ve got good teammates. Ok, so you’re the only one still sober. Actually, at this point, you’re the only one still awake. But they’re here and they’re choosing to be here, for you. How can you feel lonely when you’re safe in that knowledge? Jason smiled, glancing at the devastation. He had been relegated to the desk chair but he didn’t hold it against them. Over by the TV, Gary and Mark were sound asleep. Mark lay on top of Gary, head nuzzled against Gary’s chest and the TV remote cuddled up by his face. One of Gary’s arms flopped softly across the small of Mark’s back, the other flopping off the edge of the sofa, and the sight was both comic and touching to see. Meanwhile, Howard was sprawled on the bed, snoring softly to himself. One leg dangled off the edge of the bed and in Howard’s grip a half-full wine glass was lolling dangerously. Jason rolled his eyes; Howard held a half-eaten burger caringly close to his chest. Taking a sip of his water and tossing a handful of pumpkin seeds into his mouth, Jason got up, sighing gently.
“What am I going to do with you lot?” he murmured with an affectionate shake of his head. Going over to Howard he smiled, affectionately extricating the burger from Howard’s grip before carefully removing the wine glass. Taking a swig of the wine for himself, he then set the glass and the burger back down on the cart, moving round to the other side of the bed and gently picking up Howard’s leg, putting it back onto the bed. Next he moved on to Mark and Gary. Taking his coat from the back of the desk chair, he moved over to the sofa. Carefully he placed it over Mark’s shoulders and reached over to turn off the TV. He glanced at Gary, wondering if he should save him from pins and needles by trying to move Mark, but he decided against the idea. Surveying the debris of the night with another shake of his head Jason set about tidying up.
As he picked up after his friends, Jason realised how much better he suddenly felt. His throat was still sore and he felt a little drowsy, but the familiar situation of having to pick up after the chaos of his bandmates was comforting, healing almost. Returning to his desk-chair to attempt to get some rest, Jason smiled silently to himself. They were teammates. Ok, so they were teammates who were cluttering up his hotel room, taking up all of the bed, drinking all the wine and eating ridiculous amounts of food. But they were still teammates. And if they hadn’t have ended up in his room tonight then something would not have felt right, it would have taken some of the contentedness out of his peaceful night in. It was strange being the sick one for a change. He never usually got sick. He was usually the one rallying, buying the food and drink and cracking the jokes. But what was done for one was done for all, those were the rules of the team. It was true they were a funny sort of team. Teasing and squabbling and eating waffles at silly times of night. But in Jason’s mind that’s what teammates do for one another. And that’s the last thought he has as he drifts off to sleep.
“Knock knock!” Howard called, waltzing into Jason’s suite, closely followed by Mark and Gary.
“You do know that shouting knock knock and walking straight into the room is pretty much the same as just walking straight into the room,” a groggy voice pointed out from the darkness and the three men looked over at the bed with grateful smiles at the sound of Jason’s dry humour. Slowly, Jason’s head appeared from under the duvet, squinting at them suspiciously, and Mark grinned happily back, running across and jumping onto Jason’s bed before throwing his arms around Jason’s middle.
“How did you get the key for my room?” he frowned, sitting up slowly as Gary and Howard followed Mark, joining him on the bed.
“Well without you to charm the keycard out of the girl on reception, we had to resort to my chiselled good looks,” Howard grinned making Gary and Mark laugh.
“What he means is, he went over there and she said no, so we sent Mark and she turned to jelly,” Gary corrected, making Jason chuckle huskily.
“What can I say, I’m adorable,” Mark beamed up at Jason, still holding onto the older man tightly.
When you’re part of team you have to put up with a lot. Your teammates will give you stick, even when you’re ill. But for some reason the jokes do you a hell of a lot of good, they certainly made Jason feel better. Besides, they were here weren’t they? A whole day of PR, interviews and even a performance and yet they hadn’t gone straight to bed, they’d come straight to him.
“You feeling any better yet mate?” Howard asked, blue eyes clearly concerned. He really wasn’t used to Jason being broken and he wished he was able to just fix him.
“Better than I was, glad to see you lot…I think,” Jason replied with a playful smile.
“Eh you, be nice – I’ve got a present for you,” Gary smiled, searching his jacket pocket.
“You haven’t got me a present,” Mark pouted mischievously but Gary simply smirked and handed over the folded piece of paper to Jason. Unfolding it Jason saw that it was a child’s drawing of a man he could only presume to be himself sitting with a guitar amidst a vast number of colourful flowers. Underneath was written ‘Get better Uncle Jason. BIG hugs from Emily’ signed off with a great many kisses. Jason smiled, genuinely touched.
“I mentioned you were ill to Em on the phone the other day, so Dawn posted it for her. No ‘I miss you daddy’ card – the Uncle Jason fan club strikes again,” Gary said, feigning disappointment.
“Yeah…when I told Elwood he started threatening to bake you something. I’m pretty sure Emma would rather he didn’t…” Mark commented making the others laugh.
“That’s just coz she does all the work…yet he still manages to make all the mess!” Howard smiled.
“Sound like anyone we know…?” Gary asked teasingly , giving Mark a pointed look. Mark swatted at him, laughter on his lips as the others chuckled.
Sure, being teammates requires a lot of work. First of all you have to learn to live with each other. Then you have to work out how far every tease can go. Once those basics are covered, you think you’re home and dry. But then you realise that the team will permeate all aspects of life – you’ll go places without them and feel lost, you’ll all but move into their house for the weekend, no one else will do in your hour of need. The work’s all worth it for the smiles and the laughter. And the reassurance that you’ll always have a safety net. For teammates like them the reassurance didn’t always have to be serious. It could be anything from a quick hug to a joke…or even to a plate of waffles on an overflowing room service tray.
“See Jay, you think that if you act miserable enough then we’ll bugger off back to our own rooms but…tah-dah!” Howard said, walking back towards the door and returning with a cluttered room service cart that he wheeled dramatically into place.
“What are you lot on?” Jason laughed, shaking his head fondly.
“Complimentary European hotel mints…oh! And a teeny tiny bit of the house wine!” Mark grinned sweetly, pinching his fingers together in front of his face to indicate just how little wine it took to make them go soft in the head.
“We’ve got waffles, ice cream, burgers, fish and chips…” Howard listed.
“All for us of course,” Gary joked with a grin at Jason and Howard laughed.
“Yeah, we bought pumpkin seeds for you,” he teased, chucking the packet towards Jason, who caught it quickly and shook his head, an affectionate laugh on his lips.
“Have we got any more wine?” Mark cut in and Howard rolled his eyes.
“Alright, alright! I was dealing with the invalid first Princess Owen!” he remarked and Mark stuck his tongue out at him.
It’s funny the things that can make you feel better. Sometimes it’s not the out-of-the ordinary but the completely mundane that can raise that against-the-odds smile. Teammates understand these things – teammates never pretend and they never fawn. They’ll spoil you a bit, perhaps. But they won’t miss out on their fun, they’ll just drag you into it with them. Normality will settle and the moment when they’ve made it most clear that they don’t see anything unusual with the situation will probably be the moment that all feels well with the world again.
“I love this song!” Mark exclaimed, bouncing around, waving his wine glass about eccentrically. Jason didn’t complain that they’d put on some bizarre European karaoke show. In fact, as Mark and Gary swayed and sang along, arms around each other’s shoulders, he simply laughed. Howard laughed too and shook his head.
“You pair are going to have headaches in the morning,” he warned, a glint in his eyes.
“It’s his fault, he led me astray!” Gary protested, still swaying in time to the music.
“Just live a little Barlow!” Mark shot back playfully and Gary nodded in agreement, clinking his wine glass against Mark’s in a silent toast before they launched back into their song.
It’s impossible to feel lonely when you’ve got good teammates. Ok, so you’re the only one still sober. Actually, at this point, you’re the only one still awake. But they’re here and they’re choosing to be here, for you. How can you feel lonely when you’re safe in that knowledge? Jason smiled, glancing at the devastation. He had been relegated to the desk chair but he didn’t hold it against them. Over by the TV, Gary and Mark were sound asleep. Mark lay on top of Gary, head nuzzled against Gary’s chest and the TV remote cuddled up by his face. One of Gary’s arms flopped softly across the small of Mark’s back, the other flopping off the edge of the sofa, and the sight was both comic and touching to see. Meanwhile, Howard was sprawled on the bed, snoring softly to himself. One leg dangled off the edge of the bed and in Howard’s grip a half-full wine glass was lolling dangerously. Jason rolled his eyes; Howard held a half-eaten burger caringly close to his chest. Taking a sip of his water and tossing a handful of pumpkin seeds into his mouth, Jason got up, sighing gently.
“What am I going to do with you lot?” he murmured with an affectionate shake of his head. Going over to Howard he smiled, affectionately extricating the burger from Howard’s grip before carefully removing the wine glass. Taking a swig of the wine for himself, he then set the glass and the burger back down on the cart, moving round to the other side of the bed and gently picking up Howard’s leg, putting it back onto the bed. Next he moved on to Mark and Gary. Taking his coat from the back of the desk chair, he moved over to the sofa. Carefully he placed it over Mark’s shoulders and reached over to turn off the TV. He glanced at Gary, wondering if he should save him from pins and needles by trying to move Mark, but he decided against the idea. Surveying the debris of the night with another shake of his head Jason set about tidying up.
As he picked up after his friends, Jason realised how much better he suddenly felt. His throat was still sore and he felt a little drowsy, but the familiar situation of having to pick up after the chaos of his bandmates was comforting, healing almost. Returning to his desk-chair to attempt to get some rest, Jason smiled silently to himself. They were teammates. Ok, so they were teammates who were cluttering up his hotel room, taking up all of the bed, drinking all the wine and eating ridiculous amounts of food. But they were still teammates. And if they hadn’t have ended up in his room tonight then something would not have felt right, it would have taken some of the contentedness out of his peaceful night in. It was strange being the sick one for a change. He never usually got sick. He was usually the one rallying, buying the food and drink and cracking the jokes. But what was done for one was done for all, those were the rules of the team. It was true they were a funny sort of team. Teasing and squabbling and eating waffles at silly times of night. But in Jason’s mind that’s what teammates do for one another. And that’s the last thought he has as he drifts off to sleep.