Danny's POV:
I sat in the taxi on our way to mam's, gazing out the window, with Aoife's hand clasped in mine. Aoife's light voice spoke up.

"So have ye guys started writing the 3rd album yet?" She asked sweetly, adjusting her ponytail absentmindedly.

"Well I guess that's for me to know and you to find out " I teased, grinning at her annoyed face.

"Awwww c'mon Dan! Ye can tell meeeeeeee!!!" She dragged childishly, batting her long eyelashes at me pleadingly. I was gonna have fun with this.....

"Why?" I tried to keep a straight face but failed when I saw her pout. I creased up laughing childishly at her.

"I'm yer girlfriend! Just tell me for Christ sake!" I could hear the taxi driver chuckling to himself at our bickering. I met his kind, smiling eyes  through the rear view mirror. I knew he wouldn't say anything. Turned my head to kiss Aoife 's forehead fondly.

"Too right Ye are babe!" I said, squeezing her hand reassuringly. "And as for the album, yeah we've nearly finished it. We just need to do some finishing touches. It'll be out at the start of September later this year " I gazed down to meet her emerald eyes glistening up at me in excitement. She was seriously the best friend and girlfriend ever! She was always so supportive of me and the lads. "You're gonna love some of the songs!" I grinned.

"So do I get a sneak peak? Ye know, coz I'm a VIP?" She grinned mischievously.

"No way! Rina has to wait like everyone else, so you'll have to too!" And there's that pout again.... I couldn't help but smirk at her efforts. I wasn't lying to her though, the only people who were allowed to hear the music beforehand were me, the lads and our team.

"Pleeeeaaasseee!" She winned

"Nooooooooo!" I mimicked

"PLEEEAAASSE!!!!!!"

"NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!"

"Fiiiine" she sighed, defeated. "But I'm defo getting a backstage pass for when you do The Voice again!" I grinned at her sharpness, she thought of everything!

"Who said I'm doing it again? Maybe they don't want me " I said.

"Are ye kidding me? All the women in the UK and Ireland were practically drooling over ye! Of course they're gonna want ye back again!"

"Even after the incident with Bo and  what happened after the final?" I questioned.

"Dan c'mon, ye were innocent and the press will always make up lies to sell a story! And  as for what Irma and that cock did to ye, nobody found out about it!" It's true, somehow the world hadn't found out about my beat in. They only knew that Irma and I had split up and that she was with another man. Nobody knew about me and Aoife yet. Well, maybe they will tomorrow, after the run in with the press this morning.

"I know, I know, I  just don't wanna make things worse " I confessed. I looked down guiltily, avoiding her gaze. I felt her weight shift as she shuffled closer to me, before planting a light kiss on my lips and resting her head on my shoulder.

"You do whatever ye want Dan. I just want ye to know that I'll always support ye no matter what. Just please don't listen to what the press and others say..... Coz you know the truth."I felt my heart swell with pride and my eyes prick with tears. I was so lucky to have her.

"Ye know what? If I'm asked to do the voice again next season, I'll do it. It'll be good publicity for our new album too" I said proudly. She smiled encouragingly before I leant down so my mouth was closer to her ear. " And that backstage pass is yours if ye want it babes " I whispered, grinning as her smile said it all.
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A few minutes, I couldn't help but notice that Aoife had become quiet and she had zoned out beside me. Her face held a serious look, eyebrows furrowing deep in thought, her gaze diverted to the floor. She almost looked upset? If so, why? I thought she was happy to be home? What was she thinking about? I decided to break the silence.

"You Ok Aoifs?" I asked, concerned. She jumped, startled at the sound of my voice, before turning her head towards me, giving me a faint smile. I could tell that it was fake.

"Ye I'm grand, why wouldn't I be?" She said sharply.

"It's just ye seem a little down, what's wrong?" I asked quietly, taken aback by her bluntness.

"Nothing.... it's just... I was thinking about the last time I went to ye house... ye know, when ye lost ye dad"

"Right" I answered shortly, not really trusting my voice as the emotions built up inside me.

I could feel the lump growing in my throat at the memory. Mark had just lost his Ma a few months earlier. On February 14th 2008, I remember dad coming home from work, saying that he had stomach pains, he took some paracetamols and with that he went to bed. We all thought nothing of it. Thinking maybe that he had a stomach bug. Then mam went up to bed and found his body. He wasn't breathing but his heart beated faintly. Then the worst happened. His heart stopped beating.

I'll never forget the sheer panic we were all in. Mam screaming down the phone to emergency services. The race against time to save him. I started doing CPR, shaking with the fear of losing him, while Andi and Vicky were in tears beside me. I remember the doctors shocking his heart desperately trying to revive him.

After the 3rd shock, they pronounced him dead. My whole world came crashing down. I remember pushing past them all, sprinting to my bedroom before slamming the door behind me, destroying everything in my path in pure rage, frustration and emotion. I remember punching a mirror, which shattered against my fist immediately. I threw clothes and shoes, sheetmusic, everything everywhere, before sliding down the wall exhausted, with my head in my hands, sobbing violently. That's when I called Aoife. She sat on the floor with me all night, her arms wrapped tightly around my weeping body.

She had been my rock during that rough patch. She attended the funeral, holding my hand and wiped my tears away. She stayed strong for me. She talked me out of suicide. Without Aoife and my family, I would've given up for sure. When things started happening for the lads and I for the better, they kept pushing me forward when all I wanted to do was give up. They helped us through dark times and I'll forever be grateful for that.

I was shaken from my thoughts when I recognized the area. We were now in Balinteer, our neighbourhood. Aoife was aslo looking around noisily, a small smile on her face. We turned the corner and we saw our street. I tightened my grip on her hand reassuringly, grinning at her. The taxi came to a halt and I payed and thanked the driver before turning to Aoife.

"C'mon babe"

We both climbed out and stood on the warn concrete outside. The early morning air still held a cold chill and we both shivered slightly. Aoife looked around, taking in our surroundings. It was strangely quiet, none of the neighbours were anywhere to be seen. I took her hand in mine and we started walking down the street towards mam 's house.

"Ye know, you're the one who's knocking on the door..." I joked, laughing at her horrified expression.

"No f*cking way! It's your house, your chore!" She exclaimed, a grin spreading on her face.

"Correction- it's my EX house, I moved out a long time ago...." I pressed on playfully, knowing that I was annoying her.

"4 years isn't that long Dan " she mumbled quietly. She right, it's not. But it felt long for me. Four years of struggling without him. I moved out a few months after Dad passed, wanting a new start. The truth was, I couldn't sleep at mam 's after he passed. I still can't. If I did stay there, I'd always wake up screaming, covered with sweat and tears streaming down my face. No one knew about this, and I rather that it'd stay that way.

I didn't move that far away from Ballinteer really. Me and Glen bought a flat  together,near James Street, Mark and Rina bought a house down the road from us.  After playing the Aviva last year, Glen moved to the flat next door to mine so that His son, Luke could go stay with him. Our  studio was on the same street so it worked out great.

I noticed that we were now by the gate. I turned and grabbed  a startled Aoife by the shoulders and pushed her up the path to the door. She immediately put on the breaks, resisting against me, complaining. I bent down and kissed her on the lips.

"Ladies first " I smirked, and before she could react, I lifted her up in my arms and slung her over my shoulder in a fireman's lift, carrying her up the path towards the door.

"DAN, PUT ME DOWN!" She screamed, kicking her legs wildly, pounding her fists lightly on my back. I swear our  laughter could be heard from miles away.

"Not a chance!" I gasped between laughs. I placed her back on her feet before pressing the doorbell and stepped back off the porch so that she was by the door. She gave me daggers which only made me laugh harder. Suddenly, the door flung open and there stood mam, with the greatest grin ever on her face.

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Aoife's POV:

"Daniel! Aoife! You're here!" She exclaimed, rushing forward to give me a bone crushing hug, before grabbing Danny's hand and pulling him into a hug too,squeezing the life out of him. "Oh Daniel I'm so glad you're OK " she said, turning her head to kiss him on the cheek motherly. His cheeks had turned bright red in embarrassment. I heard him whisper in her ear reassuringly.

I couldn't help but giggle quietly at the sight. Being 6"4, Dan towered over his mother, who didn't even come up to his shoulder. He had altered his posture so that he was leaning over against her, to get to her level. Eventually they pulled away and turned to me.

"Right, let's go inside for a cuppa aye?" Ailish questioned

"Sure, I'd love one " I grinned at her, before following them inside. I realised that our cases were still by the gateway. I begun to retrace my steps back to collect them but I was stopped by someone grabbing my arm gently. I turned around to see an amused Dan staring at me.

"You go inside and chat with mam Aoifs, I'll sort these out " he said quietly, brushing back a loose strand of hair that had escaped my ponytail away from my face.

"But-" I stopped when I saw his face. He wasn't giving in.

"Go" he said firmly, before turning back to the cases. Following his wishes, I walked back up the path, down the familiar hallway before turning right at the end. I found Ailish sat at the table reading a magazine, waiting for the kettle to brew. Sensing my presence, she looked up and smiled warmly at me.

"Come sit over here dear, c'mon ye know I don't bite "I chuckled quietly as I walked over and sat opposite her, glad that after all these years her humour hadn't changed at all.

"So how have ye been dear? I haven't seen ye around in a while " she's right. We hadn't seen each other for a few years. It had been 4 years since I had been in this house and I guiltily remembered that I hadn't visited her like I said I would.

" I'm great thank ye, um I'm still working at the cafe-"

"Mary's?! God I haven't been there in years!" She exclaimed. I laughed at how similar Dan and his mother's reactions were. "What?" She asked, confused at my outburst.

"Sorry, it's just that's how Dan reacted when I reminded him earlier " I explained. We continued to chat about Mary's until Ailish brought up what I had been avoiding.

"So how has Daniel been? I knew ye were the one looking after him. Fair play to ye, he can be a nightmare when he wants to be "

"HEY!" Dan exclaimed from the hallway "I can hear yis ye know!" We both looked at eachother and burst out laughing. A few seconds later, Dan's tall frame leant against the doorway, arms folded mockingly, grinning at us fondly. "So what were ye saying about me?" He asked, switching his gaze between us questionably.

"Ye Mam was just asking about how we coped when ye were ill " I said. We both began to fill Ailish in about what happened with Irma and the injuries Dan had sustained.  Ailish sat there mortified, before enclosing Dan in another bone crushing hug .

"Oh my poor baby!" She exclaimed. Dan returned the hug, giggling at his mother's over protectiveness . I caught his gaze as he looked  over her head at me.I could see the love both mother and son had for eachother and I knew that it broke Dan's heart when he had to leave his family to work.

"Mam, c'mon look at me, I'm fine!" He said ,gesturing to himself cheekily.

"Well if Aoife hadn't found  and looked after ye that night, God knows what would've happened to ye " she said, grinning fondly at me. I could feel my heart swell with pride.

"That's what best friends are for " I said, gazing at Dan. He had started to become flustered and I think I knew why. He met my eyes with a questionable look and I nodded in response, agreeing for him to continue. After taking a deep breath, he spoke.

"Mam, there's something that we wanna tell ye " he said, his green eyes meeting his mother's. Her face grew serious, worried about what he was going to say.

"Go on son, ye know you can tell me anything " she said reassuringly. Dan swallowed loudly before continuing.

"Me and Aoifs  are together, as.... Ye know....-" he was interrupted by his mother squealing excitedly, throwing her arms around the two of us, laughing loudly.

"Awwww my sweethearts that's great news, it's about time too!" She added cheekily. We both sighed in relief. "I always knew ye two were gonna get together at some point "

We sat there for hours, catching up about family, The Voice, Dan's plans and before we knew it, it was 5pm. Dan decided that we should make a move to his flat.

"Right mam, we'll see yez soon ye?" He said, huggling her for the last time,for now .

"Of course, hope ye two have fun exploring the city these next few days!" She said. "And Aoife, don't be a stranger! If ye ever want company, come  round for a visit, anytime!" She hollered as she knew I was moving into Dan's flat that was just a 30 minute walk away.

"I will don't worry!" I said, hugging her before grabbing my case and walking down the path with Dan.

"Bye!"We shouted in unison

"Goodbye me loves!"

With that, we walked down the street, hand in hand, heading for Dan's flat

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Hey guys! Yay, I didn't leave it as long this time lol. Really enjoyed writing this chapter, I have a lot of new ideas at the minute too! I hope you like this! Thank you for the reads, comments and votes, means the world to me! I hope to update soon :) xxxx

P.s- how cute is this pic of Dan with Andrea? So sweet! X <3