booshslashhaven | Alright (the final edit) *part 1*

*Damn my posts too big- I'll have to split it into 2*
This is it! The completed fic. My very first story and its finished and I think its pretty good. Yay!
Title: Alright
Pairing: Julian/Dave, Julian/Noel, Noel/Dave, plus kinda Clusterfuck
Genre: Angst mostly.
Rating: M I guess
Words: 6500 *including the next post*
Summary: Noel and Julian are fighting, Julian and Dave are flirting

Mega huge thankyou to Lizard for beta. I cannot express how much I appreciate all the feedback and pointers, its made this story so much better than it would've been.

So I've posted parts of this story previously but its changed a bit since then. Personally I would recommend reading the whole thing again. But if you don't want to maybe just read the last chapter again. So there are 3 links to chose from: the start, 1 chapter back and just the new stuff. Enjoy.

Alright

“Alright, Ju.”

Julian glanced up as Noel entered the room then looked back down at his book.

“Hey, Noel.”

“I had a blinder of a New Years, let me tell ya.”

Julian sighed, bookmarked his place and put his book down on the coffee table. He was in for an inane story for sure.

“So me and Courtney are at this party. You should have seen the celebrities….”

“And so the photographer asks Courtney who her date for the evening is and she says…”

Julian eyes had glazed over.

Maybe if I pick my book up he’ll get the hint and shut up. Nah. More likely he’ll keep on talking without even noticing.

“Are you even listening?”

Julian’s gaze swivelled back to Noel.

“I was, but there’s only so much celebrity name dropping I can handle in one afternoon.”

Noel narrowed his eyes.

“Well maybe you don’t give a shit but I find the whole thing exciting so the least you could do is not spoil it for me.”

Noel was right. Julian knew that but he was sick to death of stories like this. Every time they caught up with one another it was ‘me and my celebrity friend did this, me and some stupid vapid junkie did that’. Julian realised how much Noel enjoyed all this stuff and often he was glad that his comedy partner enjoyed basking in the media spotlight as it meant that he didn’t have to. Yet whenever Noel talked about that stuff, Julian would inwardly grimace.

“Well…. You gonna say sumfing?”

“Yeah, we should do some writing for the next season.”

Noel raised his eyebrows: “You’re rid-ic-ul-ass.”

“Oh, for fucks sake. You’re not quoting Brand now.” Julian turned the book over in irritation and tossed it on to the coffee table.

Julian pulled his fingers through his hair roughly. He’d pushed things too far and he knew it. It had been ages since Noel had thrown a full-on tantrum. He’d known Noel long enough to know which buttons not to push and yet there here he was, intentionally pushing. He held his breath and waited for it to kick off.

“If you could stop being a pretentious, judgmental bastard for a bit and talk to Russell you would realise he’s a sweet guy underneath all the posturing.”

Huh, Noel was keeping his cool despite his needling. Oh well, in for a penny, in for a cliché.

“You’d certainly know all about being pretentious and posturing.” Julian crossed his arms and mumbled the words just loud enough for Noel to hear them.

Noel’s eyes darkened and he stood up quickly.

That had done it.

“I’m going home. I can’t be fucked with your shit,” he hissed through his teeth, stalking towards the exit.

Noel flounced out, slamming the door on the way. Julian reached for his book from the coffee table. He sat there for a long time, holding the book in his hands without opening it.

***

Noel distractedly tapped the side of his coffee mug.

“What’s up with you? You’ve been a moody bitch all afternoon,” Russell said with a cheeky smile.

Noel let out a slow breath and stared into his mug.

“Me and Ju had a fight.”

“See, this is the advantage of being a solo act. Although even I find myself a pain to work with sometimes,” Russell said as he flung his hands about.

Noel chuckled and looked up at his friend as he continued.

“So, what was it about? Creative differences? Sleeping with your woman? Stealing your styling product without asking?”

“Shutup,” Noel rolled his eyes, “he was just being, I dunno, a jerk. He was in a bad mood right from the word go. And Dee’s in Finland or something, so it’d be quite the accomplishment in cheating,” he said dryly.

“Maybe it’s about his missus?”

“Nah. They split up quite a while ago now. He recovered pretty well.”

“You sure? I mean, has he started dating again or anything? Or at least sleeping around with as many anonymous partners as possible,” he raised an eyebrow suggestively.

“Julian is not really that kind of guy. He’s strictly a relationship man. And I don’t think I’ve seen him look at a girl more than in passing in the last few months.” Noel blinked. “Huh, maybe you’ve got the right idea there, but it seemed more than that; he was annoyed at me, specifically.”

“So, what did you do to incur his ire?”

Noel shrugged and stared into his coffee again.

What did I do?

******

Noel strolled into the club like he owned the place, looking around as Julian shuffled slightly a step behind him. His plan was genius in its simplicity: Take Julian out, get him a bit pissed and get him to flirt with a few girls. There was nothing quite like a sexy woman giving you the eye to improve your mood. He had called Julian a couple of days after the fight and suggested a night out at the pub. When Julian had begun to stammer over an apology, Noel had interrupted with ‘ah, we all have our bad days’. Then the night was planned in earnest. They rang around all their mates with an open invitation for anyone to join them. Almost everyone had turned up at some point, different friends coming and going. As the drinks flowed Julian had been surprisingly relaxed and high-spirited, cracking jokes with Mike, making up a little dance with Rich.

Dave slung his arms around them as he and Rich stumbled in. Everyone else hadn’t been up for a club, so it was just the four of them. Rich made a bee-line straight for the bar.

“So,” said Dave, pulling them into a bear hug, “shall we head for the dance floor?”

“Yeah, why not!” Julian said and swayed slightly.

Whoa, he must be drunker then he looks. Julian voluntarily dancing in a club was a rare thing. Noel untangled himself from Dave’s iron grip.

“I’m gonna join Rich for another drink.”

“’K.”

He watched Dave and Julian head towards the mass of dancers, Dave still leaning on Julian.

Oh, it’s gonna be a good night.

Rich was dancing like an idiot, as usual, with a woman of advanced years. He was going to regret that tomorrow. Noel was watching Julian and Dave going mental, almost falling over each other in their drunken state. Noel was a bit less pissed, but only a bit and he was swaying to the music with a drink firmly in hand. A bunch of girls started giggling at him and when they saw him looking they swooped in, gyrating and groping. He laughed and gently tried to disengage himself. The girls closed ranks, surrounding him. Noel glanced over at his mates and made eye contact with Julian. He widened his eyes in the universal sign of ‘help me’. Julian grinned and nudged Dave, leaning over to shout in his ear. Their plan was masterful; they shouted gibberish, shoved through the women and grabbed Noel, dragging him away to the bar. Noel was laughing so hard he could hardly breathe.

“You guys should’ve have been in the army with all that offensive strategy. That was brilliant!” Noel laughed.

This prompted another bout of giggling, with Dave crying into Julian’s shoulder. Noel glanced towards the dance floor as the gaggle of women headed towards them.

“Oh fuck, here they come again.”

“Let’s leg it outta here, yeah?” Dave said, wiping the tears away.

Julian nodded and Dave grabbed both their arms, hurriedly pulling them with him. Outside they hailed a cab. Dave opened the side door and as he did so the girls came out of the club door.

“Noel!” they screeched, the heels of their shoes clattering on the pavement as they tottered towards the taxi.

Julian shoved Noel and Dave into the car and quickly followed them in.

“Let’s get going, mate!” Julian called out to the driver.

As they pulled away they watched the crestfallen expressions of the girls. They looked at each other and burst out laughing. When the laughter had died down Noel told the cabbie his address.

“So shall we call it a night?” asked Julian.

“Aw, and I never had a chance to put my cunning plan into action,” Noel smiled.

“What plan?” Julian looked at him quizzically.

“My genius plan to get you flirting with some attractive young things to cheer you up.”

Julian’s face hardened slightly.

Uh oh.

Dave leaned towards Julian.

“Noel, that’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard, but if it helps any….”

He batted his eyelashes at Julian then slapped him on the arm playfully.

“Oh, you’re such a handsome and strong man and I just love your show,” Dave said in a ridiculously camp voice.

Julian looked at him for a second and then a huge grin spread across his face. Thankyou Dave for helping me dodge that one.

“Well the mission is a success and…..” Noel paused. ”Oh shit, we forgot Rich.”

******

Noel looked back towards Julian and Dave on the couch and hung up his mobile.Dave seemed to be taking his duties as avoidance scrumpet a little bit too seriously. Julian had an arm hooked loosely around his shoulder and Dave was smiling up at him with his hand resting casually on Julian’s thigh.

“So, Rich is fine. I think he is having a good time with that, ahem, mature lady.”

Dave glanced at Noel and smirked.

“There is nothing wrong with hooking up with someone of experience, right Julian?” he said as he rubbed Julian thigh.

Julian’s eyes darted towards Noel and down to Dave’s hand.

“Ummm, what?” Julian lurched upright and grabbed his drink. He skulled the whole drink down and wiggled the bottle at Noel. “Another?”

Noel moved into the kitchen alcove and opened his fridge. As he perused the choices, he caught sight of Julian leaning back into his seat in the other room.

‘Fuuck,’ thought Noel, ‘this has taken an interesting turn.’ They would always kid about this sort of stuff but the two of them looked mighty cosy on that couch.

When he came back into the room Julian looked suitably embarrassed but didn’t move away from Dave. He took the drink that Noel offered to him and squinted at it drunkenly.

Noel thought about a subtle way to extract himself from the room. It looked seriously like his two friends were going to mess around.Noel shifted uncomfortably and was about to suggest that he head off to bed. As he opened his mouth, Dave patted the empty space on the couch next to him.

“Come sit with us Noel.”

Noel grabbed his drink and took a large mouthful. Oh man, I’m going to need a lot more alcohol. He moved past his friends towards the empty seat. Dave reached out and stroked his arm. Noel looked at Dave intently, who merely smiled slightly and raised an eyebrow. Noel sat down but left a small space between himself and Dave. As he took another big gulp of his drink, Dave turned back to Julian who suddenly looked like a deer caught in the headlights. Noel watched Dave lean in slowly towards Julian, who fidgeted like he was going to pull away. Then Dave pounced, kissing Julian hard. At first, Julian just sat there gripping his drink but then he started to kiss back, relaxing into it. Noel’s mouth was slack and he stared, wide-eyed, as his two friends kissed passionately.

***

“Noel!” said Russell enthusiastically as he opened his front door. “Do come on in!” he motioned. Russell quirked his eyebrow, “So what’s up? Why are we meeting here instead of the coffee shop?”

“Oh, you know,” Noel shrugged as he stood by Russell’s sofa, picking cat hair off it.

“Clearly not. Else I wouldn’t have to ask.”

“Wellll…”

“Does this conversation require sitting down in a serious manner?” Russell interrupted.

Noel snorted and looked at Russell from the corner of his eye.

“Oh shit, it is one of those conversations!” Russell sat down on the one seater and motioned Noel to sit on the other couch. “No-one’s dying, are they? ‘Coz if they are, just blurt it out now.”

Noel sat down gingerly, his eyes lingering over the couch. His life seemed to take place on a series of couches at the moment.

“No no, it’s nothing serious. I just,” he sighed, “wanted to talk in private. I… guess I just wanted to talk to someone impartial. Get some, I dunno; advice, opinions, something.”

Russell raised his eyebrows, “When did I become the agony aunt? Because clearly I’m so together that I’m the obvious choice. Julian seems the solid choice for…” Russell paused and watched Noel tap nervously. “Ah, it’s about him. Another fight? Last night did not go to plan then?”

“Ah… Look, ok… just shut up for a while and I’ll tell you the story. But seriously man, I know I don’t really need to say this with you but this is strictly between us, okay?”

Russell’s eyebrows lifted further. “Look man, you know I don’t talk about anyone’s private life but my own. So spill.”

“So, we went out like I planned, down the pub. We were all having a great time. And then me, Julian, Rich and Dave go to a club. Everyone was pretty drunk; Julian and Dave were pretty messy. These girls started hassling me and so the three of us, we forgot Rich, headed back to mine.” Noel paused and took a deep breath, blurting out his sentence. “And DaveandJulianstartedmakingout…” He looked to Russell for a reaction.

Russell didn’t move for a second, and then bit his lip in thought. “Huh.”

“Oh, it’s not over. Then I kinda… made out with Dave, a bit.”

“A bit?”

“And now I’m freaked.”

“ Hmm.”

“Well, what do you think?”

Russell shifted in his seat and narrowed his eyes. “I feel like I’m missing something here,” he gestured expansively. “How do you get from heading back to yours to make-out session?”

Noel sighed again. “Good question. Dave was pretty flirty most the night, but so what. A lot of people get pretty handsy when they’ve been drinking.”

“And I don’t even need the booze anymore,” Russell quipped, trying to ease Noel’s discomfort.

“He and Ju were dancing together, but again, that’s not unusual. And even in the cab, I accidently let slip my stupid plan and Dave pretended to flirt with him then. I thought it was to stop Julian getting mad at me but maybe Dave was just flirting.” Noel gestured wildly. “It feels like I missed a step when I was on the phone to Rich, back at mine. ‘Coz when I turned back around the mood had changed; I picked up on their vibe straight away. I remember thinking that they might get together and I was about to excuse myself to bed, when Dave invited me to sit down…and then it was on.”

“And then they made out, and you watched? And then snogged Dave yourself?” Russell said with a slight smirk. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but if you were that freaked, you wouldn’t have hung around. Instead you stayed and got into it yourself.”

“It wasn’t like that exactly. Initially I stuck around because part of me didn’t really think anything was going to happen. And when Dave kissed Ju, first I was shocked but then….” His voice trailed off. “Well, it was hot, okay?” he said, almost accusatory.

“Mellow, yeah, what the fuck do I care? I ain’t exactly the poster boy for heterosexuality.”

Noel sighed, continuing: “They were snogging and then Dave was kissing Julian’s neck and Julian looked right at me. It was simultaneously disturbing and disturbingly erotic. I’d never seen him like that before really. He and Julia were pretty private about that stuff. He…”

Noel stopped and looked at Russell, searching his friends face. ‘For what,’ Noel thought, ‘a hint of disgust maybe or even shock.’ However Russell merely sat looking at him earnestly and intently.

“Ju kind of sighed and closed his eyes. He was definitely getting off on it, but then so was I. That’s when Dave turned around to me. He just raised his eyebrow and licked his bottom lip and I leaned over and then started to kiss him. It wasn’t any chaste or stage kiss; it was a proper messy, tongue-twisting kiss.”

Noel rubbed his hands on his thighs, trying to get rid of the nervous sweat from his palms.

“That’s when Dave broke away and said that we should probably call it a night. Then they called a cab and headed off.”

Russell nodded slowly. “So, it was Dave who brought the night to a close? That’s interesting. So what do you think would have happened if he hadn’t have stopped things?”

“I’m not gonna think about that.”

“Per’aps you should. It’d probably answer some of your questions. Would you fuck ‘em? Or would you have stopped anything serious happening?”

“I don’t know,” Noel said as he hung his head and then drew his palm over his mouth in exasperation.

******

Rushing out of his bedroom, Noel grabbed his phone eagerly. He was expecting a call from Dee, and he just knew she would make everything better. In the split second before putting the phone to his ear Noel had reached a decision. He would tell Dee everything that happened. She wouldn’t be too angry, they had always had a fairly open relationship, and he would get some much needed advice from someone who knew him so well.

“Alright.”

“Hey Noel.”

Julian.

“Oh, hey Ju. How are you?”

Oh God that sounded so strained. I am so transparent.

“Good, good,” Julian muttered. Noel could hear the forced lightness in his friends’ voice too. “It was a pretty crazy night, last night.”

“Yeah.”

“So… coffee? We can get a bit of writing done. If you’re not too hung over, that is.”

Noel was quiet for a moment. “Are we just going to leave stuff like this then? All awkward.”

He could hear Julian huff into the receiver.

“It wouldn’t have been awkward if you hadn’t brought it up. We could’ve happily pretended it hadn’t happened. But now we have to have ‘conversations’. And we’ll probably fight again, mainly because I’ll start one so I can avoid having to talk.” Julian breathed in deeply. “So please Noel, let’s just leave it, alright?”

“Okay. Lets meet up and I won’t mention anything that could possibly make you uncomfortable.”

“Thank Christ-e.”

“But I just want to ask one thing first.” Noel could practically hear Julian grit his teeth. “Did you and Dave go home together?”

“I’ll see you at the usual place in an hour. Bye. And no.”

He hung up.

******