Danny's POV:

I woke up with excruciating pain in my ribs, and my head pounding. F*ck, the pain killers must've worn off. The room was pitch black. I glanced at the big clock on the wall. 2:46 am. I realized that I had fallen asleep on the sofa, which is literally like sleeping on concrete. I looked around and saw that Aoife was fast asleep on the sofa opposite. I immediately felt guilty, I was the reason that she was here.

I painfully heaved my protesting body onto my feet. Woah, headrush, I must've stood up too fast. My legs trembled underneath me. Once I regained my balance, I staggered over to the kitchen where I found the painkillers.

I had no idea what I should take, as the nurse briefed Aoife when I was asleep. I knew Paracetamol and ibuprofen were good for pain, so I took a few of them. They scraped down my throat as I swallowed them. It even burned to swallow water. How the f*ck was I gonna eat? I'm already thin as it is...

It said on the packets that the drugs would start to kick in about an hour after taking them. Great another hour of agony. However they did advise that sleeping it off would help. Even with all the touring I do with the lads, I haven't ever felt this bad. I was shattered. I should go to bed.

As I placed the pills back on the counter, the Paracetamols fell on the floor. Without thinking, I bent over to pick it up, and I completely regretted it...

Indescribable pain shot through my body. I couldn't stop the scream of pain that escaped my mouth. Crap, that was gonna wake Aoife up now. Another stab of pain pierced my ribs "F*CK!!!!" great that was really gonna wake her now.

I leaned against the counter in defeat. I could feel the panic rising inside me. I was paralyzed in agony. Any movment literally crippled me. I was trapped in my own body and there was nothing I could do. I'm not ashamed to admit that I didn't stop the harsh sobbing and the waterfalls streaming down my face. All I wanted now was the pain to go away..... I suddenly heard a small voice.

"Dan?"

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Aoife's POV

I woke up startled. I looked around uncertainly and realized that I had stayed over at Dan's after he came home from hospital. I looked across the room to the sofa, expecting to see his unconscious body fast asleep. But the sofa was empty.

I glanced up at the clock seeing that it was 3am. Where the f*ck had Dan gone at this time of the morning in his state? Suddenly I heard screams of agony coming from the kitchen. Oh my God.....

I jumped to my feet and strided to the kitchen. The sight before me literally teared my heart in two.

Before me, I saw Dan leaning heavily against the counter, his head down and back turned away from me. His body trembled violently. Sobs escaped from his mouth as well as another cry of the pain. He breathed rapidly, clearly in agony. I approached him quietly.

"Dan?" he literally jumped out of his skin. Startled, he turned around, cursing hoarsely as pain shot through his body. I looked up to see his red, tear-stained face and bloodshot eye. Deep bags had already formed under his eyes, mingling with the bruises. He looked terrible. I noticed the pack of Paracetamols on the floor by his feet. He suddenly reached out and hugged me tightly to him. He didn't hold back the tears. I wrapped my arms around him, rubbing his back.

"Hey, hey calm down, it's ok, you're ok...." I attempted to sooth him. He only cried harder though, sobbing violently, shaking in my arms. After a few minutes, he spoke up.

"I-i-itttt h-h-h-hurrtts" he croaked. His voice was worse than ever, it barely there at all.....

"Where does it hurt Dan?" I asked concerned.

"E-e-everyw-w-where" at that point he doubled over coughing hoarsely. It literally sounded like he was coughing up a lung...

He eventually stopped coughing and leaned back against the counter weakly. He was exhausted. He breathed deeply, desperate to get oxygen to his lungs. I could see the sweat gleaming off him, I reached out and felt his forehead. He was burning up, yet he was shivering violently. It was like his body couldn't cope with anything....

"Dan what were you even doing in here?" I asked him gently, rubbing his arms trying to stop him trembling."I woke up in agony so I figured that I'd go fetch me self some painkillers... I took some paracetamol and ibuprofen but dropped the pack on the floor. Without t-thinking I bent over to pick it up and it kicked all this off" he croaked, pointing to himself. I immediately felt guilty, he had been awake and suffering while I was asleep....

"Dan you should've woken me up, I hate to think that you were suffering on your own" his expression hardened.

"I know, but I thought that I could do simple things on my own" he whispered gruffly, anger towards himself bubbling. "But I obviously can't even do that. I'm so useless..." his voice cracked at the end. By now he was avoiding eye contact with me, desperately trying to hold back the tears.

"Dan c'mon you're not useless... You're hurt and suffering. You're ill. Just please let me look after you, you'll be right as rain again soon" I tried to lighten the mood a bit. He wiped his eyes roughly and refocused his gaze on me. He opened his arms and pulled me into his embrace, burrying his head in the crook of my neck. I reponded by rubbing his back lightly, carefully trying not to hurt him.

"Thank you" came the small, quiet reply, muffled by my neck

"For what? I asked confused

"For always being there for me, even though I'm being a complete dick" I chuckled at his response.

"And I always will be" I whispered. We stood for a few moments in eachothers embrace when I decided that we both needed to go back to bed.

"Right then mister, time to go back to bed yeah?" He nodded tiredly before slinging his arm around my shoulders as I guided him to his bedroom. I took his boots and jacket off before putting him to bed. I kept his clothes in his wardrobe and turned back to wish goodnight to find that his eyes were closed and he was breathing deeply. I switched off the light and was about to exit the room when he startled me.

"Please stay with me? I'd sleep better if you were with me" here whispered. Awww he was so sweet. I remember back to when we stayed over at each other's as kids....

Flashback- Dublin, 1986

"Daniel, Aoife c'mon it's time for bed" bellowed Shay O'Donoghue down the stairs. I was staying with the O'Donoghues for a few days while my mam was away on business. This was My first time for me to stay with them.

As Danny was the youngest of six, the house was constantly jammed full of people and the sound of laughter and music could be heard from the end of the street constantly. Lots of faces dropped in to see Shay, Danny's father, the most musically talented man I had ever seen.

Shay was the literally everyone's idol. Of medium height and build, he was also very handsome. He was also very kind and caring, always making time to talk to you. He thought the world of Ailish and his family. When he played the piano, everyone fell silent, watching and listening to him in awe. He was a multi instrumentist, almost everyone's inspiration.

"Race ye!" Shouted a 7 year old Danny in a high pitch voice, turning on his heels and sprinting up the stairs and to his bedroom, where his father was waiting for us. Already being tall for his age, he strided up the stairs, easily beating me top. He dived under the covers of the his bed, shifting over to make a room for me to get in. We always shared beds as they never really had spare ones. But we didn't mind, we enjoyed keeping each other company as we were best friends back then too.

I remember us always falling asleep with our hands entwined together tightly, somehow protecting each other as we slept.

End of flashback

"Of course I will Dan, just like old times yeah?" I said, walking back over to the bed and lifting the covers, getting in beside him and made myself comfortable.

I felt his weight shift as he immediately moved closer to me, looking for comfort. He settled on resting his head on my shoulder, breathing deeply. His breath sent tingles down my neck. I warmed up straight away, but I couldn't help but think that he was unnaturally warm.

Concerned, I reached up and felt his forehead again. He was dangerously warm I thought. He really was burning up. I decided to question him on it.

"Dan does your head hurt?"

"M-m-more than anything" he croaked, trying to bury his head in my neck, groaning. I could tell that his head was literally pounding as his pulse throbbed against his temples. I turned on the light and had a look at the cut at the back of his head. The bandage had been removed now, letting the me see the huge gash that had been stitched up yesterday. It looked perfectly normal. So if that wasn't causing his pain, what was it?.... I decided to go get a thermometer and a wet cloth to cool him down.

I prised myself from him and walked to the bath room. I found a cloth and soaked it, ringing it afterwards. I searched in the cabinets and found a thermometer too. My lucky day. Satisfied, I walked down the hall back to Dan's room to find him sprawled out across the bed. Eyes closed, he groaned loudly. He began sweating again.

"Let me take your temp Dan" he opened his mouth letting me slip the thermometer under his tongue. "Ok good, keep it there". I waited anxiously for the thermometer to bleep loudly but it was taking forever. The only sounds filling the room was Dan's rattley breathing and his agonized groaning. I ran my hand through his hair, settling for stroking it gently, trying to sooth him. Suddenly the monitor bleeped. I looked at it, horrified. Oh my God.....

"W-w-what d-does it s-s-say?" Dan rasped. I didn't answer straight away. "Aoifs?"

"Dan, er ummm I-it says your temp's 40℃....." He opened his right eye slowly to look at me tiredly.

"T-t-that's bad, isn't it?" He asked. I couldn't bluff him. He seriously needed to cool down or we would be re-visiting the hospital all too soon. I was determined not to show my worry though, I had to reassure him that he'd be okay...

"Yeah but you're gonna be okay, alright? I'll look after you." With that I placed the cold damp cloth on his forehead, covering his eyes to cool him down. He sighed contently at the feeling. It was now 3:30 am and we were both exhausted. We needed sleep.

I walked over to the door, killing the light and tiredly making my way back to Dan. I climbed into the bed beside him, careful to give him enough space so that my body heat wouldn't make him warmer. But Dan had other ideas. He returned to his earlier position of resting his head on my shoulder, burying his head in the crook of my neck. Soon enough he was fast asleep, snoring away. My heart bleeded for him, I had never seen him so ill. I stroked his hair subconsciously as I fell into a deep slumber.

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I woke up to hear someone retching violently. Then I realized that Danny was no longer fast asleep beside me. I dragged myself out of bed and walked down the hall to the bathroom, where the noise came from. I pushed the door open to find Dan knelt down in front of the toilet, throwing his guts up. They really weren't kidding when they said he would suffer from the side-effects. He eventually stopped vomiting and got up, shaking.

He turned around, spotting me in the doorway. He was ghostly white and he looked worse than ever. The sweat was cooling on him, making him shiver violently.

"Dan how long have you been here?"

"N-n-not l-long" he stuttered. I didn't believe him though. I could hear his teeth chattering together. He was still only in his t-shirt and skinny jeans.

"C'mon, let's get you a bit warmer" I said taking his trembling hand and I leading him to the bedroom and dug out a black oversized hoodie. I motioned for him to lift His arms up and slung it onto his slim figure. I found a beanie cap to and put it on his head. After a while, he stopped trembling. But he still sat stiffly, all hunched up on the bed.

"Is that better?" I asked him him quietly

"I guess so" he croaked, avoiding eye contact with me. I kneeled down in front of him so that I could see his face. He looked so sad and exhausted. His features still pale and agonized. His black eye if anything, had grown bigger.

"What's wrong Dan?" I asked knowing exactly what was wrong. He lifted his head slightly to gaze at me, features hardening.

"What's wrong?! I'll tell you what's wrong! I found a out that my ex girlfriend who accused me of cheating was actually the room one cheating on me. Not that only that, her boyfriend decided to 'teach me a lesson' and f*cking me up, so now I it doesn't matter what I do, I'm either left crippled by agony, fainting, coughing and throwing up. And you're asking me WHAT'S WRO-" he was interrupted by a hoarse coughing fit, gasping for air. He finally continued "I guess when you've had enough of me, you'll leave me just like everyone else does..." He whispered. Once he finished, he realised what he'd done and completely regretted it.

I had tears streaming down my face in shock at his outburst . I felt so guilty that he felt that way. He was so insecure and always put himself down to nothing. It was  my fault that he went to see Irma. If he hadn't listened to me, he wouldn't had been beaten up and  hurt so badly. It was my fault that he was in this state.

"I-i'm sorry, I shouldn't had said that. This is all my fault..." I didn't answer him. I just remained silent in my own thoughts. "A-aoifs, please? Say something?"

"Dan it's not to your fault, it's mine. If I hadn't told you to go see Irma, you wouldn't had gone... It just hurts me so much to see you like this..."

"Aoifs, it's not your fault. I was gonna go see the her regardless of what ya said, as I'm just plain stupid" I giggled at him

"I suppose you are" I said teasingly, a wicked grin on my face

"Hey! You weren't supposed to agree!" He said giggling himself, Wincing as it hurt his ribs. I pulled him into my embrace and he wrapped his arms around me. We held each other in silence, I was trying to numb his pain....

"We'll get through this together Dan, I won't leave you, I promise"

"Thank you" he whispered quietly, relieved that he wasn't gonna be be alone.

He sent shivers through me and a warm sensation tingled inside me. I really felt sorry for him. But I couldn't show my feelings for him. He surely didn't feel the same? No Dan of course not, he's just got out of a relationship, he doesn't fancy me. But I guess that glimmer of hope that he did still shined somewhere in this dark world....

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Hey guys! I've finally updated, yay! Lol. I've been really busy at school recently and haven't had time to write. But I'm back now! Thanks for all the reads, can't believe this is doing so well! I'll try to update on the weekend ish :) please keep the votes and comments coming! It means a lot! Thank yis xxxx