Becoming

Purgatory

Ade dropped his bandmates off and then drove back to his parents' place. Dave and Clive headed up and put on some records and played a few hands of rummy before turning in for the night.

"We gonna hit the launderette tomorrow?" Clive asked as he made himself comfortable on the sofa. "I could do with getting my wash done before Olivia comes up to visit. Don't wanna put her off by stinking, y'know?"

Dave chuckled. "Blimey, she's seen you right after a set, so if you've not put her off like that, I don't think you'll manage to put her off at all. But yeah, we can hit the launderette tomorrow." He settled into bed and rolled to his side. "I'll wash my sheets, too, and change 'em when I get up, before Olivia gets here as well," he teased with a grin. "Just let me know if I'll need to change 'em again before I go to bed, yeah?"

"Fuck off, wanker," Clive said with a laugh, flipping Dave the two-finger salute.

"And here I thought you'd be the one doing that once Olivia's up here," Dave laughed. Then he turned off the light. "G'night, mate."

"Night, Davey." Clive adjusted his pillow and closed his eyes.

An hour or so later, the drummer jerked awake with a soft whimper. He sat up and sighed, looking over at the bed, then took a deep breath and got up. Walking over to the bed, he stood next to it indecisively for a long moment.

"Nightmare?" Dave whispered.

"Yeah," Clive admitted.

"Get in, then," Dave said, scooting over in the bed. "You need sleep."

"You sure?" Clive asked.

"Yeah, come on," Dave said.

Clive whispered, "Thanks," and slid into the bed. It took him a few minutes to relax again, but like when he'd crawled in beside Ade the previous night, Dave's solid bulk beside him made him feel safe and he managed to fall back to sleep. He ended up doing the same thing the following night as well.

*****

When Olivia came up, Dave and Ade walked with Clive to the bus stop to meet her and say their hellos, hanging back a bit to let the drummer greet her first. They smiled as she hopped off the bus and threw herself into Clive's arms and kissed him thoroughly, then laughed as she pulled back to inspect his eyes in a clinical assessment of the state of his head.

Olivia blushed at the chuckles. "Yeah, I know, I'm not on duty," she said.

"You're a nurse and I was hurt," Clive said reasonably. "Can't blame you for wanting to reassure yourself that I'm doing well."

Dave handed Clive the key to his bedsit. "Here you go," he said with a grin. "You know where to find the café and the local if you want anything to eat, and you know where I keep the teabags as well as the beer. Just be sure to leave a couple of those for later, yeah?"

"Figure we'll come back around 17:00, since Mum's expecting all four of us for supper at 18:00," Ade said.

"Really?" Olivia asked.

"Yeah, that's Mrs. Smith," Clive told her. "We're Ade's bandmates, so she treats us like part of the family, and since you're my girl, she'll welcome you with open arms as well."

"All right, if you're sure it won't be any trouble," Olivia said.

Ade smiled. "It won't be. Mum loves a houseful, and she's currently disappointed in me, my brother, and my sister. Me and Kathy are both still single, and Patrick and his Susan don't have kids yet. So, she makes do by mothering all of mine and Kathy's friends that we bring 'round."