Becoming

The Ides Of March

When Dave woke up, he made his way to the loo to take care of his morning business. Feeling much more alert after splashing water on his face, he emerged and started the kettle heating for tea. Then he glanced at the sofa and felt a stab of concern, because Clive wasn't on it. A heartbeat later, he had to stifle laughter at seeing Clive curled up beside Ade on the air mattress, even as he wondered how and why the drummer had ended up there. He'd told Clive that if he found the sofa too uncomfortable due to his injuries, to wake him up and take over the bed.

Dave had just started the tea steeping when Clive stirred. The guitarist crossed the room to offer the drummer a hand up.

"Thanks, Davey," Clive said softly as he slid out from under Ade's arm and accepted the hand up. He made his still-unsteady way to the loo, returning a few minutes later and pulling a t-shirt on over the football shorts he'd worn to bed.

Dave brought two cups of tea over to the sofa, handing one to Clive and taking a seat with the other cup in his own hands. "I thought I told you to wake me to switch places if this old thing was too uncomfortable for you last night," he said softly. "Why didn't you?"

Clive ducked his head, looking embarrassed. "Cos I wasn't uncomfortable," he mumbled. "I kept... I had nightmares. Dunno for sure if Ade was already up or if I woke him with the first one, but he sat with me until I went back to sleep. Only I woke up again with another one, and I didn't want to be alone, so I just... curled up next to him. Figured since he was willing to sit with me after the first, he'd be okay with me being next to him after the second one. Then I guess I fell asleep again."

"If Ade was up when you had the first nightmare, you didn't wake him," Dave said with a soft chuckle. "He either wakes up on his own, or he needs to be bloody well dragged out of bed. He'll never notice if you're just making a bit of noise."

"Oh... s'good I didn't disturb anyone, then," Clive said, still looking embarrassed. "Stupid, yeah?"

Dave shook his head. "No, it's not," he said. "You got ganged up on, for no good reason. I know, not like you've never been in fights before, but there's a difference, y'know? This wasn't a case of you and one other bloke arguing until one of you lost it and took it to fists, this was one bloke not even telling you he had a problem with you before he fetched three of his mates to gang up on you. Don't matter how strong you are, or how good a fighter you are, you're not likely to beat odds like those, especially if a couple of 'em are holding you down for the others. I'm guessing from some of the bruises you got that that's what happened, yeah?"

Clive shrugged a little. "I guess, yeah. Dunno for sure, it's kinda blurry, y'know?"

"Can't say I do know, I've never been concussed," Dave said. "Are you worried you'll have more nightmares?"

"Kinda, yeah," Clive admitted.

"How'd you sleep after you crawled in beside Ade, as compared to how you slept alone on the sofa?" Dave asked.

"A lot better," Clive said. "Even worrying a bit about how he'd react if he woke up first and found me snuggled against him like that. You, erm, won't tell him I did that, will you?"

"I'm gonna tell him," Dave said. "He won't care that you did, for one, and for two, what happens if you keep having these nightmares? You'll want to crawl in with him again, yeah? Or I don't mind if you want to crawl in with me, especially since I know Ade's gonna spend at least one night at his family's place." He grinned a bit and added, "He'd just as soon save a few quid and get his mum to do his wash for him, so he can give the trip to the launderette a miss."

"But... but... oh, bloody hell," Clive sighed. "I hadn't considered that the bloody nightmares might keep happening."

"I already told you, mate, there's no shame in having nightmares after what happened," Dave said firmly. "If it was just a little bit warmer out, so's that you didn't have your jacket on, the doctor said you'd likely have a collection of broken ribs – and if that had happened, you'd most probably be out of commission six weeks or more."