It's Okay To Be Afraid, But It Will Never Be The Same (Adopted by Union J)

Chapter 6

As she was strumming along, I couldn’t quite recognise the song, it sounded familiar though, I was patiently waiting for her to start singing so I would know what song it is. She stopped strumming and looked up. “The song has no lyrics?” I joked. “I couldn’t sing in tune if I tried!” she exclaimed. “Please, I won’t judge you!” I insisted. “I’ll sound like a piece of shit compared to you, I mean, you’re in Union J, come on!” she persisted. “Just because I’m famous and can sing doesn’t change anything! Please just sing for me, I promise I won’t judge you!”  I could be stubborn if I wanted to. Dani sighed in defeat, I smiled. She started to strum again, I recognised the song she was singing straight away. It was Skyscraper by Demi Lovato! I loved her so much. I could see how tense Dani was now, she was a really good singer, and she has such a unique and amazing voice. When she was done I cheered so loud, until my throat hurt. “That was amazing!” I croaked. Dani raised an eyebrow questioningly.

I suddenly had a genius idea, “How long have you been playing?” I asked. “Erm, a week” Dani replied. “Well, I’m going to teach you the proper chords. This is going to be so exciting!” I grin. “George, you really busy, I don’t want to cause any trouble” Dani stammered. “It’s no problem, now I’m gonna teach you the rest of the chords to missed and were gonna show the boys! They have to hear you, and just remember that I’m your favourite brother, got it?” I giggled. Dani smiled and nodded.

I was almost done teaching Dani the chords, she was a really fast learner. “Wait, aren’t you supposed to be at the studio?” Dani asked. “Well, I’m sick” I replied. “Then you shouldn’t be here, you should be on the couch!” she persisted. I shrugged. “Get downstairs now, I know just what will make you feel better” Dani smiled. “But, I’m fine” I coughed. Dani raised her eyebrows. “Promise me you’ll sing for the boys when they come home?” I grinned. “That’s blackmail” she glared. I shrugged. “Fine” she murmured. I got off her bed and went downstairs to the couch.

Danielle’s P.O.V

When someone knocked on my door, I shit bricks; I was never so scared in my life. I thought I was home alone! I immediately hid under my bed, I was so relieved when I realised it was George. He had heard me singing and he wanted me to sing for him. I was petrified, I never sang in front of anybody before. I can’t sing, no one in my family can. He was starting to really annoy me, so I gave in and sang for him. He then decided he wanted to teach me guitar, I was fed up of being stubborn so I let him.

Whilst he was teaching me some chords, I started to wonder why he wasn’t with the boys. He told me he was sick. I felt bad that I was taking up his time when he should be concentrating on getting better. I decided I would make him some food, and I knew exactly what I was gonna make him. Mum always made me this when I was sick and it always made me better. It was my turn to be stubborn. I forced him to go downstairs onto the couch, although he made me promise to sing to the boys to show them what George taught me. I really don’t want to sing in front of them, I wasn’t any good, and I knew George was just lying to me to make me feel better.

When George was downstairs, I went into his room and yanked the duvet off of his bed and trudged down the stairs. He was lying on the couch on his phone. I chucked the duvet over him and turned on the Big Bang Theory. George smiled and snuggled under his blanket. I went over to the kitchen to start making some lunch. I made chicken noodle soup and put in some extra spaghetti, just like Mum used to.

This was one of my favourite things to eat, I hadn’t made it in ages. I finished the soup and handed George a bowl. “Thanks” he smiled. I sat on the sofa and ate my soup. I loved the Big Bang Theory, it was so funny. I was texting Holly and she decided she wanted to facetime me. I went upstairs to get my iPod. I propped up the pillows on my bed and sat comfortably. I spoke with Holly for nearly an hour, I showed her my bedroom and she loved it. She started to talk about all the crazy things that were going on in the stables. I could have been there, having fun with everyone. I missed them all so much. I could feel the tears stinging at the back of my eyes. I ended the call with Holly and lay down flat on my bed and cried. I needed to let it all out. This was all a bit much, in the last month I’ve gone from having an amazing time, to losing my mum, living in an orphanage and being adopted by Union J. I just missed my mum so much, I missed everyone back home. I just wanted to go home lie in my own bed, wake up and go to the horse riding and enjoy all the fun everyone is having without me.

It felt like I had been lying on my bed for hours. I got up and wiped my eyes which were crusty from the tears. I walked into the bathroom and splashed some water on my face before brushing out my hair and tying it up in a messy bun. I walked downstairs to find George asleep on the sofa, I grabbed the TV remote from the table and changed the station. I put on some Show Jumping from Olympic park that happened a month or two ago. I loved watching show jumping. When that was over, I turned on the comedy channel, I felt really lonely and I needed some cheering up. Live at the Apollo was on, I found myself staring blankly at the screen, not taking in anything that was happening, not laughing at the funny jokes I usually found hilarious. I felt empty inside.

I felt really cold so I went upstairs to pull on my hoodie. As I was walking down the stairs, the boys arrived home. “Hey Dani, you alright?” Jaymi smiled. I nodded “Don’t be too loud, George is asleep on the couch” I said. The boys nodded. I decided I would go inside and cook something for dinner, that was usually Olly’s job but he was on overtime tonight at the salon. I made some chicken curry that I learnt to make in school. It actually tasted pretty good and the spices would help George’s cold clear up.

“Dinner” I shouted. The boys all came charging towards the kitchen. I put a separate bowl in the oven for Olly so it would be warm for when he came home. We all sat on the sofa and watched some TV whilst eating our dinner. “This is delicious, thanks Dani!” JJ exclaimed with a mouthful of food. The boys all hummed in agreement. Everyone was silent whilst eating; the only noise was the forks hitting the white porcelain bowls.

When we finished the dinner, I collected the dishes and decided to wash them. “Dani, you don’t have to do that, you’ve been amazing cooking dinner for us already!” Jaymi mentioned. “It’s okay, I don’t mind, honestly, I need to pay you back for what you’ve done for me already” I mumbled. “It was nothing, we love having you around, you don’t owe us anything” Jaymi exclaimed. I smiled at him.

“Dani, you don’t break promises do you?” George shouted from the living area. I could hear the smirk in his voice. “Nope, but I’ll make an exception this time” I sassed back. “Please” George begged. I walked into the living room and shook my head; George gave me the puppy dog eyes. I raised my right eyebrow; I could be really stubborn if I wanted to be. I turned around and sat down on the sofa. The other three boys were looking at me, almost expecting me to tell them what was going on between me and George, and I just stared straight at the TV.

“Please” George whispered in my ear for the 50th time in the last two minutes. I was getting ready to crack and George knew that. “If I do will you finally shut up” I sighed. George nodded. I stood up, about to leave the room. “Where are you going?” Josh asked. “Long story short, George caught me goofing off this morning, because I thought there was no one here. He has a very common disease, aka the cold, which causes him to hear things funny, so he has got it into his bird brain that I can sing, so I’m going to prove to you right now that I can’t and make George stop annoying me” I breathed. “But you can sing” George protested. I sighed and left the room. I trudged upstairs to get my guitar before walking downstairs and sitting on the couch.

“You play guitar?” Jaymi asked. “I taught myself when I came here, I only know two songs and I’m not that good.” I mumbled. “Stop doubting yourself and just play us a song” Jaymi demanded. I gulped and took in a deep breath. I strummed the chords of ‘Missed’ and sang along gently. When I finished, I looked up and saw the boys staring at me open-mouthed. I went into complete shy mode and pulled the sleeves of my hoodie down over my hands. “I knew you were wrong George” I mumbled loud enough so only he could hear, but unfortunately all the boys heard me. “George was right, you’re amazing!” Josh complimented. “Is that Ella’s song?” JJ asked. I nodded “Yeah, it’s one of my favourite songs”. “Will you play us the other song you know?” Jaymi asked. “Please” he begged. I gave in, I’ve swam too far into the ocean, I may as well keep swimming. I strummed the chords to Skyscraper and sang along. I felt all the boys’ eyes staring at me which made me feel self-conscious.

“Dani, you are amazing, did you sing a lot at home?” Jaymi asked. “The first person who ever heard me sing was George this morning, I only sing when I’m home alone” I mumbled. I could feel all the blood rushing to my cheeks. “Your amazing” Jaymi finished. I smiled sheepishly and stared at my hands.  I left my guitar upstairs and watched some TV before going to bed early enough.