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Danny had pretty much left his little side behind him now, the last time he had been little around the boys was almost five years ago. He had a son now, he couldn’t be acting like a kid himself anymore.
The last time he was little in general, was during his time in the jungle. Being away from his family and friends has stressed him out so much that he ending up slipping, thankfully he managed to keep it to himself and never spoke about it to anyone.
So, his band mates were pretty confident that he was perfectly fine without regressing. He didn’t need to change that.
Going on tour shouldn’t change that.
Being with Matt and James reminded him of the old times again, they knew that he wasn’t little but still treated him a little differently than they treat the others. He wasn’t so pleased about it, until he realised that it’s because they have a huge soft spot for him so he can get away with anything.
Charlie being there was.. different. He still didn’t know about Danny being little, so he was constantly confused as to why they treated Danny like a kid.
He’d tease him about it constantly, if he heard them using a nickname for him, if he caught Danny falling asleep on one of them (usually Tom) when he was exhausted and when they’d ruffle his hair. Danny tried to not let it get to him, but subconsciously he was thinking that maybe Charlie could never know.
The way he was acting, it made him wonder if Charlie would judge him for it. So, he begged the others to never tell Charlie and left it at that.
Hopefully, they’d never have to have that awkward conversation about it. But deep down, Danny knew he’d slip up someday.
He just didn’t think it’d be so soon.
They have another show tonight, already they’re a month into the tour and it’s going really well. Danny’s gotten used to the endless teasing and play fighting now, but today something feels off. It’s obvious the others have realised it too.
“Everything okay mushy? Not like you to be quiet” Dougie’s voice snaps him out of his trance, he looks up at his band mate and smiles.
“I’m okay.. think my anxiety’s just playing up” Danny answers quietly, running a hand through his hair and sighing softly.
“That’s okay buddy, do you want me to just sit here with you for a little while?” Dougie asks, getting a small nod in response.
Danny leans back to rest his head on Dougie’s shoulder, his bandmate wrapping an arm around his shoulders and letting him get comfortable.
Danny doesn’t know how long they stay there, but it must’ve been long enough because their bandmates come sprinting in for them.
“Do you two know what time it is?!” Matt screams, Danny screeches and jumps awake at the noise and Dougie glares at the Busted member.
“Did you have to scare him like that? You okay bud?” Dougie turns his attention to the boy next to him who’s sat staring at his friends in fear.
“Sorry mushy, we need to get you ready it’s almost showtime” Tom crouches down in front of him, the younger boy just nods and follows his friend out of the room.
“You feeling okay buddy, you don’t look too good?” Harry frowns, seeing how pale his friend looks.
“M fine, Hazzy” Danny mumbles, rubbing his eyes. His band mates share a worried look at that, knowing it’s a nickname Danny only uses when he’s feeling slightly little.
“Okay love, come and sit here so we can get you ready” They’re interrupted by one of their crew members ushering Danny towards the stool.
He glances up at Tom who nods and gestures for him to go so he does. He’s not too sure why he feels like he needs Tom’s permission, but he’s tired and still a little startled.
“Is the little prince ready yet?” Charlie enters the room, clearly teasing him. Danny just huffs and continues getting changed, grabbing the converse and turning away from his friends.
“Do you want me to help you with those, love? We really need to get ready” Tom asks softly, the younger flushes and reluctantly nods when he realises Charlie is watching.
“Awww is Tommy doing your laces for you kid?” Charlie coos, the younger boy just lets out a frustrated whine so Harry steps in and distracts Charlie so he doesn’t upset Danny anymore.
“15 minutes to show time!” James shouts as he walks past them, even though he won’t be on stage he’s still there to support them.
“Danny, have you got your guitar mate?” Matt checks, suddenly Danny’s eyes widen and he rapidly shakes his head and scans the room.
“I can’t remember where i put it!” Danny responds, looking up at them is if they can magically make it appear.
“It’s okay buddy i’ll go look for it don’t panic, James come back here!!” Matt screams his name and his bandmate appears in front of him.
“What’s the problem, Matt?” Matt explains the situation and James quickly starts to help look for it.
Danny’s almost worked himself into a panic attack in the mean time, his hands shaking and clutching onto the closest person to him. It turns out to be Dougie.
“Hey, look at me. It’s okay buddy we’ll find your guitar, it’s alright” Dougie mutters, his bandmate just sniffles and clings onto him even tighter.
“Bubba..” Danny involuntarily whines, thankfully Dougie doesn’t seem to hear him and just pulls him in for a hug.
“We’ve got it!” James enters the room with Danny’s guitar in hand, the younger lets out a relieved sigh and thanks him.
“2 minutes boys let’s go” They’re ushered out of the room and before Danny knows it he’s on stage already.
He snaps himself out of the anxious mood he was in and puts on a brave face, he just needs to hold on a few more hours. He can do that.
With half an hour left of the show Danny’s managed to keep himself relatively calm, all that’s left is for all of them to sing a few more songs together and then they’re done.
He just needs to stay calm a little longer.
He thinks it’s going to be fine, that he’ll hold on and sing the last few songs without any worries. But it all gets too much when Dougie and Matt start “arguing”.
“Matt sucks, Matt sucks!!” Dougie starts to chant, getting the crowd to join in with him. He sees Matt laugh and start to chant back.
“Dougie sucks! Everyone join in, Dougie sucks!” The whole stadium has joined in on their chanting, they even go over to a few fans and ask them to repeat what they say.
“Do you agree that Matt sucks and i’m way better than him? He shouldn’t even be here, right?” A young girl agrees with Dougie and him and Matt start to scream down the mic to each other again.
It all gets too much for him, seeing his friends arguing with each other makes him panic that maybe they might be angry with each other and fight for real this time.
He can’t stop himself from regressing and soon enough he’s in an extremely young headspace on stage in front of thousands of people which makes him panic even more.
He can’t speak, he can’t move, he can’t even breathe. He’s just stood frozen at his mic stand, eyes darting around the place in a panic.
“Mushy?” Tom realises he hasn’t moved for the last few minutes and makes his way over, Danny just looks up at him with wide terrified eyes and Tom knows straight away.
He looks over at Harry who’s staring at them confusedly, when Tom gestures small with his hand he realises what’s going on. This is so bad. He knows there’s still another two songs left, but there’s no way Danny can sing.
Then he remembers James is backstage watching, so he leads Danny away and pretends to be talking to him. He tells him to wave and ushers him backstage.
“What’s going on, there’s still two songs left?” James appears in front of them, but it’s clear he realises what’s happening when Danny sniffles.
“Look after him yeah?” Tom says, he gets a nod and lets James lead Danny away. He makes his way back onto the stage and puts on a fake smile.
“Sorry about that everyone, i think Danny is feeling sick at the moment” Harry says into the mic, gesturing for Tom to say something.
“Yeah, we’re really sorry about that Guys. Danny has been feeling a little under the weather today and he needed to go, he’s very sorry and i’m sure he’ll make it up to you guys” Tom rambles on, thankfully nobody seems to realise they’re making it up so they carry on as normal.
When they finish and get backstage, they find Danny and James on the sofa in their shared dressing room. Danny is crying his eyes out and James seems to be doing everything he can to settle him but it’s not working.
“Look, he’s here sweetheart it’s alright” James gestures to Tom, immediately Danny turns to him and reaches out for his friend.
“I’m here buddy, i’ve got you” Tom whispers, sitting on the sofa next to them and pulling Danny into his arms.
Despite the endless teasing, Charlie seems to be genuinely concerned for his friend.
“Does he usually get this upset?..”
“Sometimes, I’m not sure why at the moment” Harry answers, crouching down in front of Danny just so he knows he’s there.
“What’s got you so upset, mush?” Dougie asks softly, he hears a quiet sniffle and then some mumbling.
“Bubba an uncle Matty” Danny chokes out between his cries, Matt just about hears him and quickly understands what he means.
“Did you think me and bubba were mad at each other?” Matt asks gently, getting a small nod in response.
“Aw kiddo, i promise we’re not fighting. It’s just pretend. Me and Matty like each other really” Dougie comforts.
“Hold on.. i’m confused, is he crying just because you two were shouting? I really don’t understand” Charlie buts in again, the others look at each other warily.
They know Danny doesn’t want him to know, but it seems a little unfair that everyone else knows apart from him.
“We’ll explain once he’s settled down” Tom answers, not turning his attention away from the boy in his arms.
So, twenty minutes and a lot of tears later they’re all sat down together. Danny is curled up on Toms lap asleep with a dummy in his mouth (even though it’s been years Tom still carries one just incase) Charlie chooses not to mention it for now knowing he’s getting an explanation.
“Look, you have to promise you will keep this to yourself. Apart from Gi, only us know about this. Not even his wife knows, that’s how serious it is. He didn’t want you to know, not because he doesn’t trust you but because he’s scared you’ll judge him” Harry says, getting a nod in understanding.
“I won’t judge him, i just want to know he’s okay” Charlie responds, that seems to calm everyone down and Tom starts to speak.
“He’s a little. Or an age regressor whatever you want to call it, basically it means he goes into the headspace of a kid. Like usually he’s around the 1-3 bracket, so you have to treat him like you would a kid that age. There’s nothing weird about it, it’s an involuntary thing that he’s done since the early days of the band. Do you understand?” It’s silent for a few moments until Charlie nods.
“So basically you act like his parents when he gets anxious?” Charlie summarises, they all sort of agree with him.
“There’s more to it than that but i guess that’s a way of looking at it” Dougie responds, Charlie just hums.
“So.. when do i get introduced as uncle Charlie then?” His friends just laugh softly and the tension fades away. Everything’s gone back to normal now.
And when Danny wakes up and sees his friends sat on the sofa together in his hotel room he relaxes, Charlie is the first to notice he’s awake.
“Hey kid, you thought you could hide from your uncle Charlie and get away with it hm?” Charlie says, immediately Danny jumps and looks up at Tom.
“Daddy told him little one, it’s okay. He won’t judge you”
“And if he does Dada will sort him out” Harry says just to get a small giggle from the younger man.
“Hi..” Danny almost whispers to his friend, Charlie coos and reaches out to ruffle his hair.
“By the way, don’t be worried about your uncle Matt and Doug. They’ve been all over each other”
“Now hang on a minute-“ Dougie defends himself, suddenly they’re all bickering again and Danny settles down.
He should’ve known Charlie wouldn’t judge him, they’re friends of course he wouldn’t.
On the plus side, it seems he’s got another uncle who has a huge soft spot for him. So now he knows he can get away with whatever he wants and not get in trouble.
The rest of the tour is gonna be so fun..