Danny's POV

When I registered Aoife's plump lips kissing mine back, all of the nervousness and doubt swept clear from my thoughts. I couldn't believe my luck, she actually likes me! I was so scared that she'd push me away. That would've been so awkward! I felt her grasping my neck, pulling us closer together. I could feel my heart pounding against my ribcage in excitement. I suddenly heard the snapping of camera lenses and saw the blinding flashes. I pulled away, starled, lifting my gaze to see a mob of paps surrounding us. Shit. I looked down to see Aoife's confused face.

"RUN!" I shouted grabbing our luggage and sprinting towards departures. I looked back over my shoulder to see that Aoife was still frozen to the spot, surrounded, while being bombarded with questions left, right and center. She was trapped. I could feel the anger bubbling up inside me. I can't believe how pathetic they can be...

I left the bags and retraced my steps back to Aoife and the annoying paps. Their attention immediately turned back to me, asking never-ending questions

"Who is she? What's her name? Are you dating? Where are you going? What happened between you and Irma?"

"No comment." I answered dryly, before reaching forward, taking Aoife's hand in mine and leading her away from the crowd, towards departures. Aoife hadn't said a word, she stared blankly into space, almost in shock.

"Aoifs? Are you OK? F*ck, I'm so sorry" I stammered, grasping both her hands in mine, turing her towards me. She lifted her gaze to look me in the eye. "Ye must hate me for putting ye on tomorrow's front page.... I'm such an idiot" I could feel the panic rising in me. This was all my fault.

"Hey, Dan shhh, it's ok" she cooed, pulling me into a tight hug, which I immediately returned. " I'm fine, I don't care about that, alright? I love you" she confessed, her cheeks blushing. God she's so perfect, my heart literally exploded with happiness.

"You have no idea how long I've wanted to hear ye say that" I whispered, pressing my forehead against hers.

"And ye've no idea how long I've wanted to admit it." We both giggled childishly. I really can't believe my luck. She loves me, and I love her. I was shaken from my thoughts by Aoife's angelic voice.

"Ain't ye gonna say it back?" She asked, hurt clear in her gaze. Shit, I was so engrossed in my thoughts that I completely ignored her. "Dan are ye ok?" She asked, concerned.

"Ye I'm grand, was just caught up in my thoughts...." I mumbled, pressing a kiss to her lips. Her eyes widened in shock. "I love you too" I whispered. She gave me the most adorable smile, before kissing my cheek softly. I then held her at arm's length, gazing deeply into her eyes. God they were so pretty....

"So ye think we could give this a go?" I pointed to her and myself, grinning hopefully. She returned the smile before grabbing my hands in hers.

"Yup" she stated, popping the p. We giggled childishly before grasping each other's hand, dumping the cases at the gait. We then checked in properly and were sat together on the plane, claiming window seats, holding each other's hands. Aoife yawned, obviously exhausted from the lack of sleep. The flight would be just over an hour, but I decided to let her sleep anyway.

"Catch up on some sleep if ye want babe, I'll listen to me iPod" I whispered in her ear. She mumbled an agreement, before learning into me, settling her head on my shoulder. I wrapped my arm around her, pulling her closer to me, as she layed her arm across my stomach. Sighing contently, she closed her eyes and let sleep take over.

Not long after, I could feel my eyelids starting to get heavier by the second. I had a banging headache, probably from tiredness.So in defeat, I carefully layed my head on top of Aoife's, letting darkness take over.

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Aoife's POV:

I was woken up just an hour later by Danny, who shook my shoulders firmly. I buried my face deeper into his hoodie, groaning. I could feel his laughter vibrate against my cheek.

"Aoifs, c'mon we're here!" He exclaimed, prising my head from his hoodie, giggling. God, he's so cute. I glanced at my phone to see that it was now 6:45am. Not bad. I returned the smile and reached forward to grab my hand bag that lay by my feet on the floor. I stood up, extending my arms and grasping Dan's hands before heaving him up onto his feet. He grabbed bag and we walked towards the exit, hand in hand.

As we walked from the plane to the airport, I couldn't help but shiver at the cold morning air. I was wearing a parker coat, and skinny jeans. However the cold wind pierced through them. Danny noticed this, as he pulled me closer to him, wrapping an arm around me in attempt to warm me up. With his free arm, he pulled the thick green beanie off his head before shoving it on mine. I smirked when I saw that his thick, unstyled mop looked even messier than it was earlier. It literally looked like he'd been dragged through a hedge backwards.

"What ye smirking at now?" He asked, a cheeky smile on his face. I decided that he would soon find out later, I wanted to tease him

"Nothing...." I said innocently, giggling at his puzzled look. He narrowed his eyes at me suspiciously, before shaking his head, a small grin on his face. He really had no idea of how ridiculous he looked!

We walked towards the arrivals section, before finding our luggage and sitting down in the Costa section, eating toasties for breakfast while sipping tea in comfortable silence. Neither of us had woken up properly yet. Dan finally aroused me from my thoughts.

"I'm just gonna pop to the bathroom for a pee, I'm bursting" he laughed when he saw my mock mortified expression.

"Sure, I'll wait right here" and off he went. I sat, watching his lanky figure walk down the hall and disappear around the corner. Surely he would notice his hair?

It had been about 10 minutes since he had left me, and I was starting to get worried. Was he ok? What was he doing in there? I downed the remains of my tea, grabbing Dan's before walking in the direction he had gone. I paused outisde the men's toilets listening. Nothing. I pushed the door open and called his name. No response. The room was infact empty. Where the f*ck had he gone?

Worried, I pulled out my phone. I decided to text him.

Text to Dan:

Dan? Where the f*ck have you gone?!

I returned to the table that we were sat by, nervously biting my nails. To my relief, Dan bounced back into view, his hair no longer resembling a bird's nest. Instead a new black beanie was stuffed over it. So that's where he went. I found it so sweet that he had given me his earlier on, when I was cold.

His he checked his phone as he approached, giggling. A mischievous look on his face. He must've seen my text message. I stood up as he got closer, before we were wrapped in each other's embrace.

"Ye scared me Dan, are ye ok?" I asked, my voice muffled by his chest. I was worried that he hadn't said anything. He still stood deep in thought, stroking my hair subconsciously.

I looked up to see that he was warily looking around the airport, maybe on pap watch. He nervously shifted his gaze back down to me again, I could see the fear and uncertainty in his eyes.

"Dan?"

"Y-ye I'm ok. It's just I'm worried that they might be stalking around here too." He looked down, breaking eye contact. He felt so guilty of the situation that we were in, but I could also tell that he was scared that his career would push me away. I grabbed one of his hands, rubbing my thumb over his knuckles in what I hoped was a comforting way. His lips curled in a small smile.

"Dan, ye know I don't care about what people might think. Or what they could say. I just want to be with you and make sure you're ok" he pulled me into another bone crushing hug before turing and grabbing our cases.

"Let's make a move, shall we?" He asked, nudging me playfully. I returned the tease before grabbing his hand as we walked towards the exit. Dan had chosen to wear his glasses today, in hope of some disguise. But his height and lanky figure gave him away easily. A few minutes of walking down the street, 3 young girls came rushing towards us excitedly.

"Oh my God, Danny!" One of them shrieked, before the three of them sprinted towards us, throwing themselves at him.

"Jaysus! How are yez?" He exclaimed jokingly, laughing as he wrapped his arms around the excited teenagers in turn. We stood greeting them, signing autographs, taking selfies and chatting to them for a good 10 minutes. I even took a group photo of them all, before they thanked us, strolling away gleefully. Danny turned back towards me, grinning proudly, although I saw uncertainty in his eyes. Did he think I didn't approve?

"You're so sweet with your fans, Dan" I said taking his hand in mine, squeezing it reassuringly to let him know that they didn't bother me. He looked down at it, grinning, before speaking.

"Well, without them, we wouldn't be where we are today" he said, referring to the band's success. "They're so dedicated and supportive to us so it's the least I can do".

I nodded in agreement before we exited the airport onto the streets, where we hailed a taxi. We decided that we would drop by Dan's mam's house to say hi. Maybe his siblings would be there too.

Thinking about it, I hadn't seen Ailish since Shay's funeral back in 2008. I shuddered, recalling how tough times were back then.

Flashback; 12:30 am, February 15th 2008:

I woke up groggily to the blearing sound of my phone's ring tone. I heaved myself to a sitting position, turning on the light, seeing that it was 12:30am. Who the hell was phoning me in the middle of night?

I reached towards my flashing phone to check caller ID. Danny. I haven't heard from him in a while. I knew Mark, himself and a guy called Glen came home from America a few months ago, after living over there for about 10 years, only coming home at Christmas, as they desperately tried to break into the music industry.

They returned to Dublin as Mark's mother had been diagnosed with terminal cancer, and she didn't have long to live. She later passed away, leaving us all heartbroken.

I snapped out of my trance, remembering the screaming phone in my hand. It wasn't like Dan to call at such a late hour. Not able to shake the sickening feeling that something was wrong, I pressed the phone to my ear and answered.

"Dan?" Silence. "Dan, what's up?"

"Aoifs....." he broke down, sobbing loudly into the phone. Shit, what the hell's happened?!

"Dan please, tell me what's wrong?!" I pleaded, desperate to find out and wanting to comfort him.

"It's dad..." he sobbed "he's dead!" Oh. My. God. I couldn't believe my ears. Shay's dead?! It can't be, he was only 63!

"Oh Dan, what happened?" I asked carefully, not wanting to uspet him further. He answered after clearing his throat quietly.

"T-t-they think he d-died of a stomach aneurysm" he whispered, barely audioable, trying to choke back the tears. I suddenly realise that by now waterfalls streamed down my cheeks. Shay had been like a father to me, since I had never had one. He raised me like I was one of his. My dad left long before I was born. Didn't give a shit about me or mam. I will always be grateful to Shay and Ailish for looking after me. I was interrupted by Dan.

Aoifs? Ye still there?" He questioned, voice cracking.

"Yeah still here...." I trailed off "where are ye now?" I questioned.

"In me room. I can't face the others..." he admitted guiltyly. I felt the need to be with him, comfort him, hold him, tell him that everything would be ok. I am going to be there for him and his family.

"Dan I'll be there in 10 mins just hang in there" I said, even though I knew he was way past breaking point. "I'm on my way"

"Ok, thanks Aoifs"

I threw on the on the nearest tshirt, hoodie and skinny jeans before shoving on some combat boots. I raced out the bedroom, out the apartment door and onto the streets of Balinteer. I rounded the corner, seeing the O'Donoghue household. Out of hour doctor cars were parked outside. Ailish was stood by the door, seeing the doctor out. I heard the end of their conversation

".....the body will be collected tomorrow evening, at 7pm, Mrs O'Donoghue. It is up to you and the family to decide when the funeral will be......" The docor explained calmly, trying to calm Ailish down. I could see that she was clearly distraught. She looked like she'd seen a ghost.

"Thank ye so much for your help. I know ye tried your best to save him....." She paused, composing herself before continuing. "I just feel so guilty. He said that he had a a stomach ache before he went to bed... I thought nothing of it...." I could feel the tears pricking my eyes. All of this was so unfair. Shay didn't deserve to die young.

After the doctor left and Ailish went back into the doctor house, I walked up to the door, knocking on it carefully. A few moments later, Ailish re emerged, her eyes filled with sorrow and cheeks tear stained. I was immediately pulled out into a bone crushing hug, which I returned.

"Oh Aofie, dear Aoife, I'm guessing you've heard the news?" She questioned, still holding me tight in my embrace. "Wait, how did ye find out?"

"Daniel called me, he told me everything" I whispered, not trusting my voice at the minute. "It's such a shock..." I trailed off as Ailish started sobbing uncontrollably. My heart literally broke in two. I hate seeing anyone cry... I just wanted to numb the pain.

"It's just so unfair" she whispered, as she pulled away from me, rubbing her eyes roughly. As I was going to answer, Andrea and Vicky emerged from the living room, both in the same state as their mother. I pulled them both into a hug, giving them my condolences. They told me tha. Mandy , Ian and Dara were on their way. They also said that Danny hadn't come down from his room since they found Shay.

"Go an' check on him love" Ailish said quietly " he'll open up to you about how he's feeling". They all gave me an approving nod before I strided up the rickety old stairs, turned left at the top and walked down the coridor to the second door on the left. Danny's room. I knocked lightly on his door before letting myself in.

The familiar room that used to be neat and tidy was now unrecognizable. It was pitch black in there, the street lights flowing in through the window. In the dim lighting I could make out clothes and shoes scattered everywhere. Crumpled paper littered the floor, along with the shattered pieces of a broken mirror. The place was a mess.

My eyes scanned for his body that was hidden somewhere in this mess. Turning on the light, I saw his heartbroken body haunched up, shaking with silent sobs on the floor in a corner. He had always been sensitive, and was ashamed of showing his weaknesses. That's why he always put on a brave face in front of people when upset. But now, his mask had fallen and here he was, crying his eyes out in his room, alone. He was scared of being marked a wimp. But in this situation, he needed to know that it's ok to cry.

He lifted his head, startled at the sudden change of light, before settling his gaze on me. His eyes were red raw and blood shot, cheeks red and tear stained. I didn't hesitate to sit on the floor beside him, wrapping him tightly in my embrace. We sat in silence, his sobs becoming louder and more violent. I only sat, hugging him to me, desperately trying to fight the tears myself. I decided to speak up.

"It's going to be ok Dan" I choked

He didn't answer, but he shook his head, disagreeing. We sat there all night, praying that this was all a bad dream

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Hey guys! Sorry for not updating in ages! Had a lot of school work and other commitments recently. I've been busy reading other fanfictions though :) Just thought of this idea the other day, but it took ages for me to write this up! Thank ye so much for all the comments and rates, I love hear your opinions! I hope it won't be this long till I update again! Xxx