Swings And Waterslides //Dyle//

Twenty-One

Will, Kyle, Woody, and Dan sit on a plane on their way to America. Nobody can believe quite how far they've made it in the recent years, and they don't know where the next few will take them, but wherever it is, they know it will be amazing.

Kyle mumbles something incoherently as he sleeps with his head on Dan's shoulder. A seven AM flight meant they had to be up at four- Kyle was not happy about that. He just wanted to sleep, not catch a stupid plane.

"You know," Will says, breaking the silence over the group as he looks over at Dan and takes his earphones out of his ears, "You should be really proud of yourself for managing to do all of this." 

This is all Dan seems to have heard over the last few years- and it's not that he doesn't appreciate it, and it's not that he's not proud, because he does really appreciate everything everyone says to him, and he is proud of himself- but this wasn't just him. It was a team effort. It angers him when he sees things about himself that don't include his bandmates.

Woody gazes out of the window with his own earphones in, watching the English ground beneath them slowly disappear. The drummer, arguably, was probably the most optimistic about ever getting here. He always said when we play arenas, not if we play arenas. He kept his head held high even when it felt like they were at a complete standstill.

Dan just laughs and shakes his head, "Shut up, will you? I'm telling you, it's not just me! If it was just me, I'd still be trapped in that crappy little village. It was a team effort to get us signed and to get us playing sold out arena's across the world. We did it. Together. It's crazy!" 

It felt like the last few years have just been a dream for the four boys. It seemed that everything happened overnight- one day they were playing the introducing stage at Glastonbury, and now they're headlining Coachella. When they first started gaining fame, fans were already asking for a new album, which they have only just released. 

"I still can't believe how far we've come with all of this," the bassist adds, "I gotta be honest here with you, Dan, I really thought I'd be homeless by the age of thirty- honestly, I did. I felt like the most talentless twat on the planet, utterly unemployable. And somehow, in just a few months, you changed all of that. Well, okay, we changed it." 

Dan just smiles and shakes his head, refusing to take any credit. He'd never really known that about Will, though. The bassist always appeared confident and happy towards him, with no underlying fear that he may be living on the streets.

"We're off to America, Dan. America! Most people can only ever dream of going to Coachella, and now we're playing it. It's absolutely mental." 

Dan and Kyle somehow managed to make everything work- to keep their relationship under wraps until they felt comfortable enough to tell everyone. It did bring back nostalgia slightly when they got up to things when they were alone backstage- but that's not something they really want to talk about. 

In fact, Kyle has plans of his own for this week that involve himself and Dan. He figures that whilst they're in America, somewhere both of them have always wanted to do, he might as well pop the question and ask for Dan's hand in marriage. After all, they have been together for so long, and through thick and thin, so why not? It only feels right.

He doesn't dare to tell the drummer or bassist, though. He found out the hard way that they can't keep secrets to save their lives when they announced on live radio that they had found some pretty interesting things on his browsing history. He changed his password after that.

Dan turns to look at his boyfriend with a happy smile on his face. God, he wishes he could just tell everyone how in love he is with Kyle, to make his love for the boy known worldwide. He hates keeping secrets- especially when people try to touch or even kiss him when he goes into the crowd during Flaws. He had cried to Kyle that night, even though Kyle knew it wasn't his fault. He just felt so guilty.

He feels so stupid that this time years ago, when he was almost seventeen, he didn't want to be alive. He was so willing to give all of this up- to give Kyle up. He's glad the boy shouted some sense into him. He's even more glad that Kyle has stayed with him the entire time he's known him, never once giving up.

"Well, here's to a brilliant future, huh?" Will says confidently, dragging Dan back to the present.

The future looks way beyond promising, and Dan can't wait to see what will happen next.

"It's always gonna be swings and waterslides."