Chapter 25

Robbie's POV

"Mr Williams?" Calmly a voice speaks, followed by a light which shines into each one of my eyes. "Can you hear me, Robert?"
Closing my eyes together firmly, i bat away the blinding orange light from my pupils. "Mhmm..." Is all i'm able to moan, still feeling incredibly light headed.
"Do you remember anything which happened with your accident?"
Slowly, i pry open one of my heavy feeling eyes. "A...a..accident?" My speech comes out in short stutters. "W...Where's...G...Gar-" Tilting my hand to the right handside, i notice a worried looking Gary, with a tear stained face.
"Hello you..." Quietly he whispers, as our fingers are interlocked together.
Sighing, weakly i close my eyes again. "Oh, Gaz..."
"Ssssh...its ok...don't go apologising now..." Sympathically he strokes the top of my hand. "Is it ok if we...?"
"Sure. Just make sure he keeps rested. I'll be back in later to give him a final check over, but it is advised that he stays in here at least tonight, in case things change throughout the night." The doctor takes his clipboard containing the paperwork, before leaving.
"Great... now i'm stuck in here whilst i'm meant to be on this hoilday, enjoying myself with you. Well done Robbie, well done."
"Hey..." Gary playfully taps my hand, shuffling closer to the bed enough for him to wrap his free arm around the back of my neck. "I just want you better, besides you can make it up to me by buying me dinner."

Sighing happily, i nuzzle my nose against his neck. My safe zone. "I'll buy you anything in this world... you know that."
"I was joking mate... do you remember anything what happened? About the accident?"
"Vaguely... it just felt like i wanted to be sick or to say something, but i couldn't. Sort of like i was on a rollercoaster? The rest was just a blur."
"This is all my fault." Gary mutters under his breath.
Immediately i raise my head by his comment. "Are you kidding me?" Speaking slightly annoyed over the fact he thinks that.
"It is. I can't believe i put my own feelings first once again, whilst you were silently suffering. What sort of man am i?" Seeing Gary upset pains me deeply.
"The best. You are a good man Gary Barlow and i bloody wish you would believe it when i and others say it." Taking his hands in mine, softly i place a kiss on the top of them. "I love you..."
Looking defeated by my words, for the first time he decides to surrender from the discussion. "I love you too..." Peacefully he looks at me. "At least we can spend a nice quiet afternoon tog-" Unexpectedly the door swings open, catching the pair of us off guard. Mark comes rushing into the room, gripping to the bottom of my bed.
"Rob?! Are you ok, mate?" His eyes show pure panic and worry. Within a second Howard joins him, pulling at his shoulder, trying to calm the small male down. Pulling back my duvet slightly, i sit up comfortably in my bed.
"I'm a little woozy, but honestly guys I'm fine." Giving them all a convincing smile, Jason is the last to enter the room.
"Gary texted me about you collapsing and i-"

Gently Howard nudges Mark, trying to quieten the worried man. "Its good to see you're OK, Bob. Got us all worried, especially this one..." He playfully glances down at Mark, who is still clinging onto the bed frame. "...Glad you wasn't alone either... good thing you was there, Gary...you're a true...er...friend?" Looking at mine and Gary's hands which are still in contact with one another, happily he smiles at the pair of us. "So its official then? The two of you?"
Gary looks at me for a bit of guidance, still unsure what to say, as his sweating palm twitches against mine.
"Sure is... and i couldn't be happier..." Placing a hand onto Gary's tensed knee, i give it a squeeze. Out the corner of my eye, i catch Jason shake his head, as his full attention is being given to his phone.
"Well...in that case... congratulations... really made up for the pair of you...aren't we lads?" Howard pats my leg through the duvet.
"Of course we are... no matter what, you both have our full support." Mark adds, reassuring us. "Right, Jason?" All eyes are drawn towards the door, where Jason continues to sit, away from the four of us.
"Uh? Oh...yeah...right...full support." He mumbles into his phone, still avoiding eye contact. Thankfully I'm not the only one seeing this side of Jason, as Mark's worriedly scratches his neck, unsure of Jason's behaviour.
"Are you alright, Lander?" Gary rises an eyebrow over into his direction.
"Yes." He snaps back, before standing to his feet. "Erh...I've gotta get off. Need to make a few calls, you know how family is. Catch you later, maybe. Hope you feel better soon, Rob." Before any of us get chance to question or answer him, he's gone, out the door in a flash. Howard bites his tongue, feeling the room begin to tense up over the situation. Clapping his hands together, he pulls up two chairs for him and Mark to sit on, around my bed.
"So... i think now would be a good time to have that chat which we were going to have today? Now... start from the beginning... you pair of love birds..."

Gary's POV

Kissing Robbie's temple, carefully i pull the duvet up towards his naked chest. "I love you..." Mumbling against his ear, i place a gentle kiss against his cheek, as he quietly snores in his deep sleep.
"Don't worry, mate...we'll keep an eye on him." Mark strokes my arm, grinning up to me as Howard hands him over a plastic cup of coffee.
"You look knackered, Gaz. Maybe you should have at least an hour's rest yourself before coming back here?" As much as i feel like sleeping for the next fifty years, right now Robbie needs me. Declining his offer, i take the apartment keys to go and collect some fresh clothes for Robbie.

Partly closing my eyes, i walk along the beach's pavement. The saltiness of the air fills my nostrils, which i breathe in a long, happy, intake of breath. We're so privileged to have such understanding friend's in our lives, not many would be sticking by us, especially not with the state of mind people are now a days. Kicking a stone along the gravel, something catches my eye... or should i say someone? A middle aged man, wearing a grey cardigan, sits alone drowning his sorrows and thoughts in a glass of whiskey. Thinking to myself for no longer than five seconds, i decide to trail off into his direction. After a short walk, i arrive at the half empty bar. "Jase?" Even speaking so quietly, he already had sensed i was around. "How did the call go?" Its obvious that he didn't need to make a call, this is Jason we're talking about, the guy who still carries cassettes around when wanting to listen to music, he's the least technical person when it comes to the twenty - first century.
"S'alright." Downing the remaining liquid in his glass, it clinks against the empty glass on the table.
"Family, ok?"
"Yeah uh." Since I've arrived here, he hasn't looked at me once. Pulling back a chair opposite him, i place my hands onto the table. Awkwardness fills the air for a whole five minutes, words rest on the tip of my tongue, but fail to budge.

"Its great that Robbie's ok, isn't it?"
Releasing a sigh, Jason rolls his eyes up to mine, finally making eye contact. "Gaz, why are you here? I wanted a quiet drink to myself, haven't you got places to be? People to be with?"
"Yeah, i do, but i want to know what the deal with you is..." Tightness appears in my throat, already i can hear the words which are dying to leave his mouth. 'What you and Robbie are doing is wrong.' 'I can't support you both on this.' 'I think its a good idea if i back out of this album, with the pair of you in a relationship isn't making me want to stay' Shaking my head, i brush away the negative thoughts. Surly Jason isn't this type of man, we've known each other for the entire length of our careers and he's never shown anything against gay relationships, so there's got to be another reason as to why he's acting like this.
"The deal with me?" Sarcastically he laughs. "Listen Gaz, I've got better things to do other than listening to you and Robbie plan to skip off into the sunset." Pushing back his chair, he heads off again.
"What's that suppose to mean? Are you against the whole idea of us two?" Following his movements, my hand rubs my tired feeling eyes. "Honestly... i never thought you'd react this way."
"I don't have anything against these type of relationships. Its people's decisions and i don't have control over their lives, so good on them, but it seems some people have a colourful history, background even, which seems to just go over their heads."
Standing still, with a confused expression on my face, i allow him to continue his walk. "What's that suppose to mean? Me and Rob have put our differences aside, we're happy? Isn't that what matters at the end of the day? We love each other, Jay. Whether you agree with that or not I'm sorry bu-"
"You're in love with one another? Or he's in love with your power?" Already, Jason regrets the words which he's spoken. Swallowing dryly, his head drops backwards slightly as he walks ahead still.

Picking up my pace, i try and keep up with him. "What's that suppose to mean? What power do i have which Robbie doesn't? This isn't a money situation, clearly, not the position the pair of us are in, so what is it?"
"Its nowt, Gaz. Just forget i said anything, OK?"
"No." Stopping his footwork, my hand grips tightly to his shoulder. "I want to know what you mean by that." My heart rate increases, due to the anger building inside of me.
"Gaz, honest just le-"
"I want answers!" Rising my voice, i push him (not too forcefully, but enough to stop him escaping the question again) against an abandoned building near the sea front. His eyes close for a brief moment, as he sucks in a deep breath. After a few seconds, he finally gives in knowing there's no chance of avoiding this or getting himself out of the situation.
"I...I...erh...I...kn...know..." The two worded reply comes out in a silent tone. The confusion just continues to rise more and more into this conversation.
"You know? What exactly do you know? You mean you knew about me and Robbie sneaking around, because Mark's already briefly told us th-"
"No." Jason cuts into my sentence, instantly shutting me up. "Its not that..."
Scratching my stubble, trying to make sense of the riddles he's feeding me, my eyes never leave his, even if he does keep constantly avoiding mine. "Well... go on then? This can go on all night if it has to."
"Alright, alright." Holding his hands up in defeat, he surrenders. "Way back before you and Rob got together or even considered getting this far. The time the pair of you were at one another's throats..." He takes a final deep breath, before blabbing. "Twenty odd years ago... you know..."
"Know what?" Stepping closer to him, i feel the disappointment he has in himself.
"I...I...was...I was there... when... erm...the whole thing happened... with Nigel...and Rob...I saw it all..." Jason bows his head, looking ashamed. Backing away slowly, i refuse to believe my ears. He's not telling me he was there when Robbie got 'attacked' by Nigel's friend, is he?