In A Blue Light

He watched as the cars drove past. Slowly noticing their colours as they zoomed past into the distance. He began wondering about just how many cars there actually were on the road today; hundreds? Thousands? Millions? His train of thought continued spiraling down until he was completely transfixed by the view outside. As he daydreamed his head leant forward revealing his soft yet masculine chest.

"You'd better put that away before you scare the fans" Thom said smiling.

Jonny woke up abruptly from his daydream and smiled, he turned red and embarrassingly buttoned up his shirt. He hadn't even noticed that he had so many buttons undone.

"You don't want them thinking you're provoking them" said Thom as he continued to read his book.

Jonny turned his attention to the piece of paper that he had been looking at earlier that had the tour dates they still had to complete. It wouldn't be long now until they finally managed to take a break before the trip over to the US. Tonight was the amsterdam gig and Jonny was feeling in form. They had just arrived from manchester and had finally managed to get some rest on the trip over. Jonny moved across the tour bus to get some coffee. As he reached the coffee machine he saw that Ed was there working out the amsterdam setlist.

"Hey, Hows it going?" asked jonny

Ed took a few seconds to finish writing the last few tracks of the main set and then turned to jonny. Their eyes locked and as they did jonny felt as if a bolt of lightning had hit him hard in the chest. He gazed into eds eyes and saw so many patterns and colours, they seemed hipnotic, but he was willing to be led astray by them.

"Hey! Yeah it's all good. Just finishing tonight's set. Looks like it's going to be a good one! How do you feel about planet telex as a closer?" said ed as he fidgeted with his pen

"Yeah, sounds great. Is bangers in there?" Asked jonny not really paying attention. He couldn't steer his eyes away from eds beautiful eyes, even when he eventually managed to he could only focus on his sturdy lips and strong yet delicate skin.

"Yeah I put it in there, know you love playing that! Also I bought Thom these ridiculous goggles! Can't wait to see him try them on!" ed said laughing.

"Cool. Well look i'd better be going. Talk to you later!" Mumbled jonny quickly as he tried to leave. He didn't want to stay too long and embarrass himself.

"Alright! By the way we were thinking about getting a drink later. You up for it?" asked ed as jonny was leaving.

"Sure sounds great." said jonny

As he left he couldn't help but feel disappointed. He knew that he would never be able to treat ed the way that he wanted to. He could never share the love he so desperately wanted to share with him. He was destined to forever be lonely. At that moment he finally understood what Thom meant when he said that he wished he could be bulletproof.....


Part Two

The tourbus pulled up next to the venue and everyone jumped out and went for a walk around the stage. As duncan proceded to check that all the equipment had arrived, jonny began to walk around the backstage area. He gazed at trees and enjoyed the warm sun kissing his infamous cheekbones, he sat down and basked in the beauty of his surroundings. He smiled to himself as he realised that only a few minutes ago he had been so upset, perhaps it wasn't all worth it. He was happy; he had his health and had an extremely successful career, wasn't that all that mattered?

"Hey jon-jon! You're giving the press exactly what they want today! You're making them think we're enviromental hippies that enjoy nothing better than lying in the sun, hugging trees and being lonely!" Said thom as he approached him.

Jonny was startled as he didn't think anybody was watching him.

"You scared me! I'm just taking a break. Enjoying the sun, y'know?" replied jonny

Thom smiled at him but sensed that something was wrong, so he sat down next to him and gazed off into the distance with him.

"You've been daydreaming a lot today. What's up? You feeling alright?" thom asked softly

"Yeah i'm fine. Just one of those days you know..." Jonny answered as he stared up at the sun, hiding his eyes behind his hair.

Thom realised that perhaps it was best to leave him alone so he reminded jonny of the soundcheck time and left. As he walked away he began to think about what could have upset jonny. Jonny had once confided to him one night when they shared a few bottles of wine together that he had special feelings for ed. Perhaps that was it? Thom smirked as he remembered how easy it is to get jonny drunk and how often he blurts out his deepest secrets. He realised that perhaps the best thing to do was to stay out of the situation, although he did want to help jonny somehow...

Jonny got up from the ground, wiped the dirt off his jeans and slowly walked towards their dressing room. As he opened the door he saw Ed changing his shirt. The sunlight let in by the door glistened on his chest before it disappeared as he closed his shirt.

"Shit. Sorry Ed! I didn't mean to walk in.. I should have knocked... I'm sorry... I'l just..." Yelped jonny frantically

Ed laughed and told him not to worry. Jonny proceded to go through his clothes and finally found the hoodie he had been looking for. As he pulled the hoodie out of the bag he saw two other items in the bag which he hadn't seen in a long while. One was his old arm-brace, a memory of his former glory. He often wondered when he would wear it again, perhaps the day that he finally had the courage to express himself truthfully to ed, although he doubted that would happen anytime soon. The other item was a picture of ed and himself that he always kept in his bag, in case he was traveling alone and felt lonely. Jonny noticed that ed was behind him and tried desperately to hide the picture but Ed picked it up. Jonny heart sunk and he began sweating, his eyes frantically followed every single muscle in eds face, trying to find a reaction.

"Ha! That was a good day wasn't it? Surprised you still kept the picture! That was the day we met those really great girls in paris wasn't it? What a night eh?" Ed laughed as he winked at jonny.

Yes, jonny thought, he wouldn't be wearing the arm-brace anytime soon..


Everything was ready; Bat for lashes had finished their set, the guitars were all set up, the lights and screens were working and thom had warmed his voice up. They were ready to go on stage. Jonny took a walk around the backstage area to calm his nerves, as he came close to the stage entrance he saw the rest of the band ready as ed lit up a cigarette.

"Ready jonny?" Ed asked as the smoke blew from his firm lips

"Yeah. You mind if I have a drag?" Jonny asked sheepishly

"You don't smoke! Especially not before a gig! You do realize this isn't just tobacco in here!" ed laughed

Jonny nodded and took a drag. He instantly felt more relaxed and standing next to ed didn't seem to be such a troublesome task anymore. Instead he found himself in awe of just how handsome he looked in a suit.

"Right where did you put the goggles ed?" Thom asked

"Right in front of phils drumkit. You're seriously going to wear them?" asked ed

Thom stared at ed and pointed at his red trousers

"I'm a man in red trousers. You think I won't wear fucking goggles?!" laughed thom

As the rest of the band laughed thom noticed how jonny was staring at ed. He felt sorry for him, realizing that ed was the cause of his pain...

"Right lads. Time to go! Let's make it a good one!" Colin said ecstatically

*

During the gig jonny tried not to look at ed and tried to concentrate on his guitar work. He improvised a few licks here and there and was generally please with the way it was going. He felt better ed left the stage during "the gloaming" but dreaded what was coming next. Generally when they started "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi" Jonny and Ed would stand in front of each other to help each other keep the rhytmn. He walked up towards him and as he did he could swear he heard ed whispering to him.

"Hey, check out those girls in the front! I think they even have a sign for us" ed whispered as he winked.

Jonny lost all control and began playing the song by mistake. He regained his composure and began with ed, although all he could think about was what ed had said.

The gig continued without flaws and sure enough the girls in the first row did have a sign which read:

See you backstage!
We'll bring the lube!

If only, jonny muttered to himself as he dreamt about ed.

Once they had reached the end of the main set and the 1st encore thom decided to come out and play a new song for the crowd. Jonny and the band waited backstage and as they did ed put his arm around jonnys shoulder and congratulated him for his performance. Jonny did not speak. He couldn't. He had so many things he wanted to say to him; He wanted to tell him about how when he wakes up all he wants to do is to run to ed and greet him, how whenever he played guitar alone he would think about how empty it felt without ed playing too, how he felt that nothing really mattered and that nothing ever would matter if he didn't have ed there by his side at least knowing that these feelings were eating jonny up every single night.

But he didn't.

He couldn't.

and as thom sang jonny did put his shadows in his boxes. He realised that although it was a huge price to pay. He could never even risk the thought of sharing his happiness with ed, because although he loved him, he loved him too much. Jonny couldn't risk ruining the beautiful thing they already had. The years of standing side by side throughout the triumphs and the despair that they had been through. As thom finished the song jonny slowly wept a single tear which luckily was hidden by his long hair.

He could never tell ed, and so he would never wear the arm-brace ever again.


Part 4

Once the amsterdam gig was over Jonny walked around in the backstage area smoking a cigarette. He paced furiously up and down and watched as the smoke rose from his lips. As he inhaled he thought about how Ed had put his arm around his shoulder during supercollider. He forgot to exhale as he was so lost in his thoughts and so coughed on the smoke infesting his lungs. As he bent over trying to stop himself coughing he heard a voice.

"Jonny?" the voice asked curiously

It was phil. He was taking a walk to take in the beauty of the amsterdam sky after his much deserved shower. Phil walked over to him and patted Jonny on the back.

"You feeling alright Jonny? You seemed quite distracted during the gig." Phil asked

"Yeah i'm fine. Just got some things on my mind. Don't worry about it"

"Ok well just remember if you want to talk about it i'm here."

Phil smiled and watched the moon with Jonny. They talked briefly about how tired they were and how happy they were that the tour was going well. Eventually Phil left Jonny to watch the stars and the moon alone.

He smoked another cigarette and lay down on the ground. As he did his t-shirt crept up revealing the top of his slender hip bones. He began to feel a small chill but enjoyed it, he imagined that the chill was actually Ed stroking his gentle skin. He closed his eyes and his mind began to wander. He imagined that Ed had come over after Phil and complemented him on his guitarplaying. Just as Ed finished talking Jonny grabbed his head and pulled his lips towards his. He kissed him passionately and Ed stubble drove him wild with desire. Ed held Jonny closely wrapping his strong arms around Jonnys delicate body. They both opened their eyes and stared into each others eyes as they held each other close. Jonny smiled and kissed Ed again.

If only it were true, Jonny thought.

He stubbed out his cigarette and went back to the tour bus. He sat down and pulled out his guitar. The lights were off and he was only illuminated by the light of the moon. As he began to play some chords he began thinking about how it didn't feel the same without Ed playing with him. He had been working on this song for a while but didn't dare to share it with thom just yet. He checked noone was around and began to sing quietly. He had called the song "Void if (Heart)broken", he wrote it that night that the picture had been taken, the same night that Ed found those groupies.

As he finished the song he heard somebody clapping. Terrified, he stood up and flicked the lights on. At the entrance of the van he saw Ed.

Part 5

"What are you doing here?" yelped Jonny

He put the guitar down and fidgeted with the guitar pick in his hand. Ed smiled at him still clapping and moved towards him.

"I just came to get some of my weed. I met those girls backstage and they really did have lube!" ed said smiling

Jonnys heart sunk and he swallowed trying to hide the pain that was coursing through his body. Suddenly Ed began laughing.

"I'm just pulling your leg! Anyway if I did meet them do you think I wouldn't invite you along?" ed laughed as he winked at Jonny

Jonny forced a smile and felt the relief flowing through his veins. He had almost managed to forget that ed had heard him singing his song. As the silence between them crept in he prayed that Ed had completely forgotten about it. Ed searched about for his weed, as he did Jonny admired his perfect figure. He remembered the day dream he had had and wished he would have the courage to just grab him and kiss him. He wanted to scream to him just how much he loved him. He was desperate to let him know that he was the only reason he had the strength and will to get out of bed in the morning.

Ed finally found his weed and began heading towards the exit of the tourbus. Just before he got off he turned around. His eyes locked with Jonnys and he smiled.

"You know that song you were playing sounded pretty good. When did you write that?" Ed asked

Jonny turned bright red and sheepishly stared at his trainers.

"I dunno. A while ago. It's not really finished yet." Jonny answered silently

"It sounded great! Maybe you can play it again for me sometime?" ed said smiling as he left the tour bus.

"Maybe one day" mumbled Jonny as a single tear forced its way out of his eyes onto his t-shirt.


Part 6

The bus left early the next morning. Jonny hadn't managed to sleep at all that night and so was sipping anxiously on his dark coffee, craving it's energy. He spent the whole night thinking about his conversation with ed, in particular he thought about the smile ed gave him just before he left. The image of eds beautiful face smiling at him drove him wild throughout the night, he was torn between hating and loving the image. He stared at the magazine in front of him not really paying attention to what he was reading and began to slowly rest his eyes.

"Hey Jon-Jon what's up?" said a familiar voice

Jonny opened his eyes and saw thom sitting on the seat across from him wearing the goggles. They both laughed and Jonny took another sip of his coffee.

"Not much, I didn't sleep very well last night." Jonny said

" I know, you kept waking me up! You were tossing and turning all night. No pun intended of course." Thom said as a smile crept across his face.

Jonny laughed and looked at thoms goggles. He was happy that thom had come to cheer him up. It seemed that he always knew when he was upset and knew exactly the right thing to say.

"Listen Jonny I wanted to ask you something. I've noticed the way you look at ed"

Jonny choked on his coffee and sat upright. His eyes frantically scanned the room for anyone else. Luckily it was empty

"Don't worry nobody else is here. They're all in front with the driver" thom said reassuringly.

"I don't know what you're talking about. What do you mean the way i've been looking at him?"

"Oh come off it" Scoffed thom "Although the others might not have noticed it i've been able to tell right from the beginning! You even keep that picture of him in your bag!"

Jonny opened his mouth and tried to protest. He realised though that nothing he could say would be of any worth. Thom knew and perhaps it was best that he knew. After all now he could talk to someone about it.

"I'm just concerned that you're hurting yourself. I don't want to see you upset." Thom said as he reached out and placed a hand on Jonnys knee.

"Thanks Thom. It's fine really."

"Are you going to tell him?"

"I'm not sure. Maybe. I want to, I really do. It's just so difficult."

"I understand. Look take your time alrite and if you need a hand just let me know"

Jonny felt like he could cry. He was so happy that finally he could talk to someone about it. He felt so light and warm inside. He realised just how much he truly loved thom, he could always lift his spirits.

"Thanks Thom. You've been a really great friend."

"Hey no problem! Look i'm going to go find out where we are, i'll talk to you later ok?"

"Sure, that sounds great"

"Oh and Jonny.."

"Yes Thom?

"Safety first! That's what I always say!" Thom said as he threw Jonny a condom

Jonny shrieked in laughter as it landed on him. As he giggled wildly Thom smiled and left towards the front of the bus. Jonny pocketed the condom and smiled as he looked outside the window. Staring once again at the cars as they raced past.

The Red Room

They call it the red room. I call it the fireplace room. Colin tries to remind them to call it the fireplace room, but he forgets almost as often. As such, even I call it the red room, but it looks like any other room. The first time we walked through the house, Colin was going on about decorating and how colours can affect the mood of a room. He stood in the middle of this room and talked about how red stimulates passion, hatred and aggression and how this colour could raise blood pressure, speed respiration and heart rate.

I wasn't paying too much attention when Colin was going on about it. But I've been sitting here for a while with plenty of time to remember Colin's words and I think he may be onto something. Besides the sounds of an old house settling, all I can hear is my heart pounding and the sound of my breathing. I keep straining my hearing to figure out if I can hear someone coming, but this old house keeps playing tricks on me.

We hadn't set up any equipment in here. Maybe it was Colin's colour theory. Thom thought it might be haunted; then again, he thought every room was haunted. Besides our first walk through, I'd barely set foot in this room. To be honest, it kind of gave me the creeps. Of course he knew that.

They were all at the pub tonight. I hadn't wanted to go and before they left bundled from head to toe against the cold, he had pulled me aside and hissed in my ear that I was going to get what was coming to me. I knew better than to ask what that meant... could be anything, really.

I'd gotten the text a little while ago. "be in the red room by the time I get back" it read. I did know what that meant. Not knowing if he was walking up the path already or still planning on a few more pints, I had hurried to the red room. I didn't want to be caught disobeying a direct order.

Wanting to avoid sitting on the floor, I had dragged in a hardback chair in with me. Hopefully he wouldn't punish me as much as if I had dragged in a more comfortable chair. Or maybe he would punish me more. It was always hard to tell with him.

And so I sit in this red room and I wait for what's coming next.

----------

Thom was furious. Furious about two things. The first thing was the fact that Jonny had been gone for days, 'writing a computer programme', while everyone else here was working their asses off, and when he eventually came back, he spent the entire afternoon taking pictures. He didn't even give Thom a glance, let alone speak to him properly.

The second thing was the fact that Thom didn't like to admit that he had missed him. He'd been trying to tell himself for over half a year now that this was just a game, no real emotions involved. Just enjoying each other. In a perhaps rather twisted way. But everyone in his situation would definitely understand, wouldn't they. Sure they would. Jonny Greenwood was a luscious piece of arse, and the fact that he thought the same of Thom would have to lead somewhere in the end. But the empty feeling when climbing in his trailer alone, knowing that he would wake up in it, too, was more than just disappointment and lack of satisfaction.
So someone would have to pay for that. And he knew exactly who and how.

Of course Jonny had been planning this. He knew that Thom knew it. This was the part Jonny could predict. Making Thom angry, knowing that that anger would resolve in something involving him. Something bad. What he couldn't predict, was everything else. How enraged Thom actually was and how exactly he decided to take it out on Jonny.

This was probably the farthest that he'd gone. Just going away mid-session. Recording sessions had been their time. Something they could count on. Endless nights, some full of euphoria, when the music was going somewhere, some full of frustration. Those were the ones after which they had to wear longsleeves and sweaters. Thom had never been so at ease with himself during recording. The anger of the previous day was a mere annoyance the next. And only Jonny knew where that anger went.

Or so he thought.

----------

The anticipation was the worst part of all, he had decided.

He couldn't be sure what time it was. Dusk had not fallen when he'd taken the chair into the red... no, the fireplace room... and sat down, but now it was fully dark and he didn't dare to get up and turn on the light in case Thom returned while he was doing so. Thom would expect him to be ready and waiting to please him and making Thom angry was what Thom wanted him to do, so naturally Jonny was not going to oblige. He couldn't see his watch. He had been sitting in the same position for too long; looking right ahead, chin up and back straight, his hands nervously tucked between his knees to stop them from shaking too much. He was tired and his neck was starting to hurt, but at least it kept him awake. The tips of his fingers and toes were going numb from a combination of the lack of heating and staying still, but he'd learned that if he stayed still and didn't struggle it would make Thom happy, and now it was simply a force of habit.

He wished he'd chosen a more comfortable chair.

He wished he wasn't so confused about what Thom wanted.

He wished he wasn't so confused about what he wanted from Thom.

He wished he could just have a normal relationship with someone for once.

He let out a long breath and closed his eyes, which had been straining as they followed the patterns of the paper on the wall in front of him. And then he heard it. The soft crunching of gravel under booted feet, as someone walked down the path outside the window. The impression behind his shuttered eyelids of shadows passing across the dusty floorboards like leaves on the wind, harshly outlined in the moonlight. The quiet creak as the door at the end of the corridor swung open, and the gentle snick as it closed. And then the approaching footfalls, ratcheting the tension up with each step.

They paused at the doorway, echoing into silence around the four surrounding walls. Jonny held his breath, listening anxiously for the slither of a belt through denim loops, the hiss of a zip or the whisper of clothing falling to the ground, but there was nothing. He started to shake. He could feel the gaze on him, drilling searing holes in the back of his skull; he wanted more than anything just to turn around and see the slow, lazy curve of Thom's lips as he broke into a victorious smile, the dangerous flash in his blue eyes as he told Jonny in no uncertain terms of his transgressions and respective penance. But he couldn't. If he looked without being told to, Thom would probably leave him here all night to think about what he had done and he'd be begging for forgiveness by the morning.

And then a heavy hand landed on his shoulder and before he could stop himself, he shrieked.

A low laugh sounded from above him, another hand slithering around his neck and lingering too long on the delicate flesh before sliding over his mouth to silence him, and he froze. The laugh wasn't Thom's. It wasn't Thom standing behind him; the long fingers digging into his jaw hard enough to hurt did not belong to Thom; the huge, hot cock pressing firmly into his shoulderblade was not Thom's. He bit back a gasp as he measured the strength of the man's erection and his floundering brain finally identified the familiar, musky scent of his companion.

Warm breath tickled his ear and he felt the scrape of stubble along his jaw. "Thom told me I'd find you here," came the deep growl against his cheek, and Jonny could have fainted at the dark amusement in that voice.

"Ed..." he murmured, and suddenly an unspeakable sense of apprehension swept through him.

----------

Ed couldn't help but be impressed at the control Thom seemed to have over their youngest bandmate. When he stepped through the doorway and saw Jonny sitting on the chair in the middle of the dark, cold room, he wondered just what was going on between that couple that would force Jonny to do this.

He certainly wasn't stupid - he noticed what was going on. Phil might choose to turn a blind eye to curtailed recording sessions, stifled cries and thumps from either Thom or Jonny's rooms late at night, the raised red scratches clearly visible on Thom's arms when he reached for his guitar, Jonny's bruised cheekbone or cut lip; but Colin had pulled Ed aside on more than one occasion and expressed his concern. It was obvious that Thom and Jonny were at it like weasels whenever they had the opportunity - Colin wasn't bothered about that, seeming to consider it an inevitable eventuality given that they'd been that close for the best part of two decades. But neither of them could ignore the fact that more often than not Thom and Jonny would stumble down to breakfast in the morning looking like they'd been beating, rather than fucking, the hell out of each other.

Ed would never have told Colin this, but he thought about what Thom and Jonny got up to a lot more than was probably decent.

Which was why, when Thom had caught up with him for 'a quiet word' at the pub that evening and explained exactly what was going on and what part he wanted Ed to play, he had jumped at the excuse to act out one of his darkest, most private fantasies.

Jonny reacted in the most beautiful way when Ed laid a hand on his shoulder, and he'd had to cover his mouth in case he cried out again. Ed was already almost painfully hard, and when he'd bent to whisper in Jonny's ear and felt the dazed, murmured response against his palm, it took all of his self control not to come right there and then. But that was not part of Thom's plan, which, if he followed it, promised a reward for him that was too much to resist.

"Give me your hands, Jonathan," he said quietly, just as Thom had told him to. They were tucked between Jonny's knees in a way that reminded Ed of a nervous schoolboy sitting outside the headmaster's study waiting for the cane, and as he withdrew them and Ed took hold of the slender wrists, drawing them behind Jonny's back, Ed could feel that he was trembling uncontrollably.

----------

Ed pulled the handcuffs from his coat pocket and slowly placed the cold metal against Jonny's right wrist, causing a sharp, scared intake of breath from Jonny, followed by Jonny trying to steady his breathing. Ed was pretty sure that Jonny was counting in four counts and out four counts to keep his breathing steady. "Doesn't like the handcuffs," Ed made note to himself. Slowly he clicked the two pieces of metal together, until they were tight against the sides of Jonny's wrist. Clink. Clink. Clink.

Jonny was still shaking, but his unbound left wrist remained behind his back. Ed wondered if it was Jonny's courage against his own fear of handcuffs or the fear of what Ed would do to him if he moved his hand that caused Jonny's hand to stay behind his back. Either way, Ed liked it.

With a start Ed realised that Jonny was still wearing a jacket and t-shirt. This was simply not going to do. Ed fished about in his coat pocket and found the handcuff key. He twisted the key into the handcuffs and the metal sprang open. Ed took them fully off and walked around to face Jonny. Was that hope in Jonny's pathetic face? Ed laughed. "Take that jacket off," Ed said cooly. "Shirt, too."

Jonny slid out of his jacket and laid it on the ground next to him. He pulled his t-shirt off over his head and laid it on top of the jacket.

"Kneel," Ed told him. Jonny slowly slid off what he had begun to feel was the safety of the chair and kneeled down in front of the chair. Ed grabbed the chair and flipping it around 180 degrees, brought it to rest in front of Jonny. He took one of Jonny's arms and put it over the seat so his wrist was dangling out the back. He took the other arm and held it close to the side of the chair. He flipped both of Jonny's hands so they were facing up and were close together and then deposited the handcuffs into them. "Handcuff yourself to this chair," Ed told him.

Jonny did as he was told. Ed pulled out a piece of cloth to use as a gag, but realised that Jonny could be as loud as he wanted in the deserted house and so he stuffed the cloth back into his pocket.

----------

Jonny's mind was racing. Why wasn't Thom here? Why did he, out of the blue, decide to let Ed in on their private life? As much as Jonny had expected a severe punishment and, let's be honest here, craved for it, he hadn't expected any of this.

A large part of him was rather upset with Thom for not discussing this with him first, and just wanted him here, the two of them, like it always was. The other part was sickeningly aroused by it. Thom had always been his secret fantasy, but when that had eventually come true - as much as he gave him - he needed a new one.

It had been more of a response than a thought up fantasy. Since Ed was single again, he'd become very touchy-feely, and instead of laughing it off, like the others always did, Jonny never actually sent him away. He rather liked the attention, he learned. A more or less rational reason Jonny had come up with, was the fact that Thom was, although pretty dominant, very small in comparison to himself.
It made him feel too tall, too long-limbed, too ungracious, maybe. A hug from Thom was a cuddle, it wasn't a protective, reassuring gesture, and certainly not a very dominating one. Thom was a true master in mind games, but sometimes he just wanted the physical thing.

Which he saw in another bandmate. The difference in height with Ed was similar to the difference between him and Thom. Almost ashamed for thinking it out loud, he still couldn't take his eyes off of Ed's large, strong physique whenever he had the chance.
What a mindfuck. He decided that what he would like the most was for Thom to come and clear things up.
But that wasn't part of Ed's plan for now.

Ed, meanwhile, was still busy. He had now fished a blindfold from his pocket, which he was securing tightly around Jonny's head. It wasn't just a cloth, a piece of fabric. No, it was a proper silk blindfold that blocked out all light, even around Jonny's nose. When he was done with that, he spoke again.

"You may now sit on the chair, with your front against the back," he announced calmly. "Not that there's any other possibility," he added with a grin. Jonny could hear Ed leaving the room and coming back shortly after. He walked around Jonny and put something on the floor in front of him.
Jonny heard lots of shuffling and ticking against the hardwood floor, like wires or cables. Ed was slowly walking back out the door and when he returned, Jonny heard a click in front of him and then Ed was standing on his right.

"Don't move." He had said it as calmly as before, but Jonny's breath hitched and he shivered involuntarily. He had no idea what to expect, and jumped lightly when he felt something by his ear. Trying his best to stay obedient, he felt Ed inserting an in-ear into his right ear. Puzzled, he batted his eyelashes, which were making a soft sound brushing against the silk of the blindfold. He had absolutely no idea what was happening to him.

He heard Ed stepping back and a second later, he stopped breathing.
A low, familiar voice filled his ear.
"Hello, Jonny."

----------

Jonny jumped, even though he was not that surprised to hear Thom's voice in the earpiece. He turned his head towards the direction of the sound, without realising the pointlessness of this movement.

"Don't talk to me," said Thom quickly as Jonny opened his mouth. "I forbid you to. However, you can nod or shake your head when I ask you a question, as I can also see you. Through a videocamera. And you're facing me right now."

At these words, in a fit of shyness, Jonny instinctively attempted to protect himself from Thom's gaze, tugging at the handcuffs and lowering his head to let his hair block the sight of his exposed chest, that he was trying to cover with his arms in a feminine way. He heard Thom laugh.

"Now, what are you doing, Jonny? I've seen you naked a million times, and now you don't want me to look at you shirtless?" he said ironically. "Quit that. Straighten up now."

As Jonny didn't move, Thom sighed and spoke up.

"Here are the rules, Jonathan," he explained calmly "when I say something, you have to do it straight away without thinking. If I need to ask something twice, I'll just do... that."

A high-pitched, ear-splitting sound resounded suddenly in Jonny's ear, and he screamed in pain. He tried to bring his right ear to his hand to remove the earpiece, but a hand promptly grabbed his hair and yanked his head back. Three seconds later, the noise stopped.

Sat in his comfortable office chair, Thom smiled to himself. After all, all of Ed's reflexes had not changed for the worse with marijuana yet. He let a few seconds for Jonny's tinnitus to diminish and spoke again.

"Well, we can safely assume you'll do as you're told, now, can't we?"

Jonny nodded frantically. Being stabbed in the head certainly didn't feel any different, he thought. He sat upright and instantly felt Thom's burning gaze on him, as well as Ed's on his back, but forced himself not no fidget.

"Veeeery good." cooed Thom "Now, swivel this chair so I can see your profile... Haha, you're so clumsy, this is cute!"

Jonny would have sworn out loud, but his ear was still ringing and he certainly didn't want to kill his eardrum for good.

"And now," Thom continued "here is what you're going to say: 'Ed, please come here in front of me, and make me suck your cock. Put it all the way in and don't stop even if I cry or choke. Just force yourself in my mouth.'"

Under his blindfold, Jonny had started weeping as Thom was talking. Of course, he liked it when Thom was being kinky, but not when he was being spiteful.

"What are you waiting for, Jon-Jon?" Thom snarled. "I thought it was what you wanted after all! Did you think I had not noticed? I may have a lazy eye, but it doesn't mean I'm fucking blind! I can read you, Jon, you're an open book! And your pages say 'I'm tired of Thom, I wonder how it feels to be with Ed, the fucking tall, fucking gorgeous Ed O'Brien. How it feels to be fucked by him...'"

Jonny's shoulders and lower lip were trembling as he tried unsuccessfully to hold back his tears. How the hell had he given himself away like this? Was he so transparent? He felt ashamed of himself for his lack of fidelity and frankness, not to mention the naughty thoughts that had crossed his mind when he was looking at Ed.

"For heaven's sake, Jonny, stop it with those fake tears." Thom said bitterly "I should be the one crying. I'm not enough and you want more. I was really sad when I figured that out. Now I'm just offended, and angry. But I feel generous, too, and I'll let fuckingtallandgorgeousEdO'Brien play with my toy. I'll watch him gag you with his cock - and about that, Jesus, you don't know what you're letting yourself in for - and jerk off at the sight of you suffering. And now, unless you want to be deaf by the end of the day, I suggest you swallow your pride, and his come with it."

----------

"Say it."

Jonny kept silent. He didn't move an inch.

"Say it," Thom hissed in his ear.

He squeezed his eyes shut, a few salty drops leaking from the corners.

"Repeat after me: 'Ed, please come here in front of me, make me suck your cock.'"

Now Jonny lifted his head and turned it to the right, facing the camera. Thom couldn't see his glare, but he could see the way he stuck his chin high in the air, proud of refusing to obey.

"Fucking say it!" he yelled, and even before Jonny had the time to jump, the excruciating noise was filling his ears, his brain, his whole body. He started thrashing about, shaking his head violently from one side to the other.

"Alright!!" he screamed. The sound stopped abruptly. His chest was heaving with shaky intakes of breath.

"Alright," he said again, broken.

No reaction from Thom. Jonny swallowed.

"Ed..." he began.

"Yes, Jonny?" A low voice behind him.

"Please come here in front of me, make me suck your cock." The words sounded so even, so apathetic. Not strong, not defeated. Nothing.

He heard shuffling as Ed walked over to Jonny's front.

"God, you should've seen the look he just gave me," Thom whispered, voice dripping with sadism.

"Now open his fly." Jonny didn't even think about disobeying once more and brought his hands up as far as the handcuffs would let him.

He could barely reach Ed's belt and had to use the tips of his fingers to open it.

The sight of a helpless Jonny in front of him, blindfolded and struggling to open his trousers, along with the fumbling around his groin, was enough to arouse Ed to a decent level.

When Jonny finally had undone the zipper, a new order was given.

"Take it out," Thom encouraged.

Jonny swallowed, but slowly slid down Ed's jeans and then his boxers. The faint smell of arousal swirled in the air. Jonny felt like his insides had yet to decide whether they approved of it or not.

"Good boy. Now tell him to do it. And don't try that 'Thom wants me to say...'" Thom was whining childishly when he said it. "Just say 'do it'. Go on."

Jonny involuntarily licked his lips and he heard a faint reaction coming from Thom.
Something clicked, and he realised that it was actually him that was in control here. Not Thom, not Ed. He was the one that would make this work or not. There were two options, really. He could just do everything he was told in a cold, apathetic way, not caring at all and banning it from his memory as soon as he was done here. Or he could do it the opposite way. He could put up a hell of a show. He could make Ed quiver, make Thom moan. Perhaps he could enjoy it himself, even. It was all up to him.

"Do it."

----------

Thom was ready once again to torture Jonny with the loud piercing noise. From what he could see, Jonny wasn't cooperating. But what he couldn't see was the look in Jonny's sparkling eyes. Something in his mind was made up and he had a plan. Thom thought he was going to fuck with Jonny's head, but Jonny knew Thom better than that. He knew that Thom expected him to resist and struggle. In return, so did Ed. It was time to show them what Jonny was made of. Jonny used his shoulder to slip the blindfold off. He looked over at the camera, hoping that Thom could read the expression in his eyes.

Jonny shifted his eyes from the camera to the man before him, forcing his face up to analyse his eyes. There was nothing there but a giant's lust. Ed was good at playing along and he wouldn't speak to Jonny as instructed. But Ed was so very weak and so very easy. Jonny felt good about this.

"Being a bit difficult there, Jon," Thom said into his ear almost threateningly, giving him one more chance to do as he was told. But Jonny didn't need another warning. Ed's erection bobbled in his face as Jonny looked towards Thom, exaggerating a helpless, hurt, scared expression.

Suddenly, Jonny took Ed into his mouth, hot and quick and wet. Ed whimpered like a girl from shock and pleasure. He even took a step back out of confusion. "No Ed..." Jonny sighed. "Come back, please. I want you." Thom couldn't physically stop Jonny from talking, which was perfect. And poor Ed forgot all those intricate instructions from Thom and was overwhelmed with his animalistic sex drive. With an impatient grunt, Ed returned his huge cock into the warm safety of Jonny's mouth. Jonny drooled as much as he could, the only struggle was getting Ed's unhuman dick half-way inside without his hands. He moaned loudly, making a whore of himself and letting a thick string of spit dangle to the floor that even Thom could see from the camera. Jonny tried but failed in getting Ed to fit in his mouth. But that was fine too, it led to other options. He reared his head back and let the cold air lap at Ed's dick.

"Ed," Jonny moaned huskily. "Uh?" Ed moaned, jerking himself off rather successfully to the simple sight of Jonny. "I can't get your huge cock in my mouth alone. I need your cock. I hunger for it, I always have, desperately, my God you have no idea. I need you to help me. I need you to push it in. All the way. Slowly. Ok, Ed? Please? Oh God, please." Ed's head swam with desire, explosions going off in random places of his mind. He couldn't hold back. Fuck Thom, Ed thought. I have needs, too. When would I ever have this chance again?
"Jonny...do. Not. Speak. To. Ed. Unless I say you can." Thom wasn't playing around. He thought that Jonny would try to talk to Ed for sympathy, but not this way. "Don't forget about this." The shrill high-pitched sound blasted into Jonny's ear like an unexpected car accident. Jonny threw his head left and right, trying to throw the noise away, as impossible as it was.

"ED! DO IT! OHMYGOD ED PLEASE!" He screamed in pain. Ed gladly obeyed and guided his dick into Jonny's open, screaming mouth. Jonny started sucking hard, as if that would stop the sound. He was trying to swallow it whole, his jaw already beginning to ache badly from its size. Then the noise stopped. Hungry-Cock-eating-Jonny must have distracted Thom from torturing him for the time being. It was extremely hard, but Ed had gotten his dick halfway down Jonny's throat. Even if he needed to gag, he couldn't, as you would need room in your throat to do so. Holding his breath for longer than he should, he moved his head up and down on Ed's shaft. He was so hard that Jonny didn't have much skin to work with, but he made due. The Giant was very easy to please, and he allowed himself to moaned loudly and sincerely. He realised why Thom lusted after Jonny so much now. All of Ed's fantasies put together didn't equal the bliss he was feeling. His leg began to twitch as his orgasm neared. Jonny could hear Thom stifle his moaning as well. "You fucking whore, look at you," Thom hissed. "Is this what you wanted, Jonny? Is this what I couldn't give you?" Jonny decided to use his secret back up tricks, such as tongue swirling and that thing he does to the tip with his lips. He looked up at Ed and moaned down on his cock, vibrating into it. Ed looked and felt franticly close. He could tell Thom was close, too. Jonny should have just let them both cum and that was that. He should let Thom feel like he had some control. Ed Leaned back and prepared for it, Thom leaned forward to see better.

Now.

Jonny pulled his head away enough for Ed's cock to fall out. "Aurgh!" Ed growled. He was dizzy and angry and on the edge of an awesome release. "Ed! Ed, listen to me. -"

"What are you doing, Jonny?! Don't talk to-"
"Ed! please fuck me!"

There was silence all around at this point. Ed heard Jonny, Thom read Jonny's lips. Jonny felt both self conscious and self empowered. "Ed," he whispered, "Ed, please." Ed was breathing very hard, and he looked insanely confused. "But-"

"Ed. Whats gonna happen? Thom? You mean that camera over there? He isn't here. He can only watch. I mean, he wanted you to torture me for wanting you right? What better way than-" Jonny was distracted by the growl in his ear. "JONNY! I don't know what the fuck you are doing! But it stops now!" Thom was furious. "Ed. Take this thing out of my ear and fuck me."

"Jonny! I'm gonna beat you black and blue-"
"Take this thing out Ed. This is between you and me."
"Jonny! You! I'll-"
"Don't you want to cum Ed? Inside me?" Jonny's eyes were as glazed over as his words. His lips were full and red. He was sticking his ass out as far as he could. "Oh God," Ed mumbled. "Take this out of my ear, Ed." Ed nodded, giving in to his needs. He was now taking orders from Jonny. It didn't even faze Jonny when the sharp sound began rattling his skull again. Ed reached down and merely flicked it to the floor. "Can you get these cuffs off? It would be easier, ok Ed? I promise, I wont run. I want this." Ed nodded and carefully removed the cuffs.

Jonny stood up slowly, his back cramping a bit. "How do you want me, Ed? Its all up to you-"
"Hands and knees! Floor now!" Ed barked impatiently. Jonny smiled and he assumed the position. He faced the camera at first, looking right into it. His eyes were piercing threw the distance between them and right into Thom's soul. Jonny mouthed these words to his audience: Is. This. What. You. Wanted?

Then Jonny decided to give Thom a side angle. He wanted Thom to watch Ed pump his cock into Jonny's ass, into Thom's property. Jonny lowered his face to the floor, ass up high.

"Ed, put it in me." From where the earpiece lay abandoned on the floor, a voice shouted desperately.

----------

Take that, you son of a bitch, thought Jonny, turning his head and staring defiantly at the camera with a slight smirk. Thom wanted a show? Alright, he was going to get it.

"Come on Ed, and you better do it hard!" he said impatiently. "No, I don't need further preparation, you're wet enough and this is not my first time," he added before Ed's fingers reached his arse, "so fuck me already!"

He felt Ed's hands on his hips and his cock brushing against his opening and he purred teasingly, the sound of it driving Ed a little crazier, and he penetrated Jonny in one swift motion. Jonny threw his head back with a strangled cry. Ed was much bigger than Thom, and it hurt. But he was so furious he was not going to let it show. Instead, he happily rolled his hips to help Ed find the best angle and pushed backwards against Ed's rapid thrusts.

Ed was not brutal enough in Jonny's mind, but according to the shouting coming from the earpiece left on the ground, it was more than enough. Thom's screams were having a considerable effect on Jonny. It excited him to drive Thom mad with anger and frustration, and he was gloating over the fact that Thom could lose his twisted mind games. It had to be the first time Jonny was really in control, and he found it quite enjoyable. Especially now, with Ed's cock all the way up his arse, hitting repeatedly that spot inside him and turning pain into sheer pleasure.

Eyes closed and lips parted, Jonny began screaming Ed's name, loudly, in between filthy commands he didn't think he would ever have dared to utter. Wherever Thom was in this bloody house, he would hear it, and wish he were deaf.

As for Ed, he had trouble thinking coherent thoughts as he watched the muscles of Jonny's back tense under the fair skin and as he heard the dirty words coming from his mouth. He now had a hand on the younger Greenwood's shoulder and was pulling Jonny towards him, eager to obey his orders to enter him deeper, harder, faster.

Ed felt himself slowly losing control, and he didn't realise his fingernails were digging into Jonny's skin as his hand moved across his back, leaving five red lines on it. Jonny's eyes widened. Pain had never felt so good to him. He felt his skin burning and it was like Ed had put his signature on Jonny's back. As if Jonny belonged to him. Thom was going to be furious, and Jonny nearly came at this thought. He reached behind him to grab Ed's hand and placed it on his cock.

"Make me come, now, Ed!" he said hoarsely. He could barely make out the room now; his eyes were clouded with sex.

Ed obliged and stroked him in rhythm with his own thrusts. It didn't take long before Jonny came in his hand and on the wooden floor with Ed's name on his lips. Ed followed soon, shooting inside Jonny before pulling out, panting.

Jonny turned around and threw his arms around Ed's neck, pulling him into a passionate kiss that Ed reciprocated without a second thought. This is going to be the death of Thom, Jonny thought. He and Thom agreed that sex was related to lust, desire, but that kissing was an actual show of affection. As his tongue circled Ed's, he wished he could see Thom's devastated face at the idea he didn't mean anything anymore to Jonny.

----------


Just as Jonny and Ed were both relaxing into the kiss, they heard the sounds of a very angry Thom shouting at them as he stomped down the hallway. "WHORES!" he was screaming, getting closer. "YOU FUCKING BASTARDS!" Ed, still sluggish from the post-sex haze, had barely pushed himself up off of Jonny when Thom entered the room. "FUCK YOU BOTH" he yelled, grabbing the chair that Jonny had chosen just a short time before and throwing it across the room. The chair hit the wall with great force, leaving deep gouges in the already crumbling plaster. Ed winced from the violence of the act.

"Thom," he said, his voice carefully measured for the right mix of authority and gentleness, "calm down."
"Fuck off," Thom spat back. "This doesn't fucking concern you."
"I think this whole situation got a little out of hand and maybe we all need to go for a walk before we do something we'll regret," Ed continued.
"I said this doesn't fucking concern you, O'Brien, so why don't you go fuck off."
"It's alright," Jonny said Ed. "You can go."
Ed looked indecisive for a moment, but finally pushed himself up, pulling his trousers on as he walked out of the room.

Jonny was still laying in the middle of the floor. Thom walked over and stood above him. Jonny looked up at him.
"What did you expect to happen?" Jonny asked, his voice giving nothing away.
"I just wanted to give you a taste of what you'd have to look forward to when you left me," Thom said.
"I never said I wanted to leave you," Jonny said.
"You never said you wanted to stay."
"You never asked."
"You never asked either."
"I thought we were just about the sex."
"We were." Thom paused and corrected himself. "Are."
"Maybe I want more."
"More than what?"
"More than this," and Jonny gestured around the room, his gesture including the earpiece, the handcuffs and the broken chair.
"Fuck you," Thom said and took a step towards the door. Jonny grabbed Thom's ankle. Thom tried to shake him off, but Jonny caught him off guard and Thom ungracefully fell to the floor.

----------

For someone his size, Thom was unusually strong, but Jonny had the advantage of height and weight and was flying on the pure adrenaline rush of the moment, and had little trouble in pinning Thom to the floorboards on his back, both hands resting on the smaller man’s shoulders and one thigh pressed between Thom’s own, effectively rendering him helpless. Thom struggled wildly against the restraint, shrieking obscenities at him, but when Jonny decided enough was enough and cut off Thom’s cries by sealing his mouth in a firm kiss, Thom fell oddly silent.

This was different. In all the time they’d been together... well, together wasn’t the word, was it, because that implied some kind of permanence to the arrangement and what they’d shared was a whirlwind of lust and sex and little time for passion or affection... Jonny didn’t think they had ever kissed. Not once. Feeling the resistance of Thom’s mouth giving way under the pressure of lips and tongue to a meeting of hot breath and teeth and the scratch of Thom’s beard on his skin... the taste of Thom, beer and denial, and his smell like the outdoors, earth and bark and leaves... it was something he’d never taken the time to notice before, and now he had he didn’t think he’d be able to go back.

Was that why he’d done what he did with Ed? He’d tried to prove to Thom that, just as Thom wasn’t exclusive, so Jonny could behave too; but, in the end, all he’d learned from Ed, from letting Ed take control as he’d allowed Thom to do before, from letting Ed fuck him, and then kissing him, was that Thom was the only person he cared about in that way. To judge from Thom’s reaction, perhaps Thom felt the same. While he could be violent towards Jonny, it was only because he knew that Jonny liked it, and he’d never go further than he knew Jonny wanted: Thom could read him better than anyone and he’d quickly determined how far he could go before they crossed the boundary between pleasure and pain. Looking at the broken chair and the gouges in the wall, it showed what Thom was capable of, and yet he’d never directed anything like that fury towards Jonny, not even in their after-hours sessions when Jonny would pretend he didn’t want it and let Thom bend him over the nearest chair and put a hand over his mouth to silence his screams.

Jonny raised his head, staring down at Thom’s face. Thom’s bright eyes looked almost navy in this light, and they were studying him with a gentle curiosity, the anger he’d shown as he entered the room having dissipated completely.

“Jon... I’ve... we’ve...”

“I’m sorry,” Jonny whispered, cutting him off. “I thought I could... I don’t know. I just know that I want you... I want this to be something more. And... I’ll understand, if you don’t want the same, but I can’t do it like this any longer.”

He lifted his hands from Thom’s shoulders and leaned back, allowing Thom to sit up.

“I didn’t know,” Thom murmured, rubbing a hand through his hair and leaving it mussed and spiky. “I thought you just liked me to, you know, because you didn’t know anyone else who wanted that.”

“I still do,” Jonny said, as Thom stood up, dusting off his jacket and gazing around at the scattered pieces of the scenario he’d created. “But I’d like to go further, if you want the same.” Still sitting at Thom’s feet, he reached for the handcuffs where they lay abandoned on the floor and slowly secured them around his own wrists, his eyes never leaving Thom’s face.

Thom gently pushed Jonny onto his back. He picked up Jonny's right foot and undid the shoelace, setting the shoe down. Then he slowly removed Jonny's sock. Next were Jonny's other sock and shoe, which were placed next to the first shoe. Jonny's trousers were around his knees and Thom removed those, too, leaving Jonny naked and handcuffed on the floor. Thom then set about taking off his own clothes. Shoes, socks. He slid his shirt off with one practiced motion, leaving his hair sticking out at odd angles.

Thom saw Jonny bite his lip as Thom unbuckled his trousers and slid them off his hips to the floor, kicking them to the side, and thus stood completely exposed in front of Jonny. Jonny bit his bottom lip so hard it threatened to bleed; his eyes focused behind dark hair. Thom knelt down in front of him, knees hitting the hard floor with a thump and hands trailing up the outside of Jonny's legs, up past his knees. With a sigh, lips met and eyes closed. There were no teeth, no tongues, just lips pressed softly together and for a moment, that’s all that existed in the room. There was a gasp and a whimper, from who they didn’t know; maybe both. The small noise set fire to skin and teeth came into existence along with lips, biting and tugging and causing more whimpers and more kisses to ease the pain away. Thom’s fingers slipped against Jonny, landing on his arms and trailing down to the metal clasped around his wrists. Jonny groaned when Thom broke the kiss to fish through his trousers lying abandoned on the floor, eyebrows furrowing in confusion when he saw what Thom had been grabbing for, a tiny little key. There was another kiss and warm hands on his wrists, a snap and the metal came loose, falling to the floor in a pile.

“Thom, what – ” Jonny stuttered as he watched him pick up the handcuffs and bring them to his own wrists.
“Jonny,” Thom leaned in, brushing his lips against the younger man’s cheek to his ear, a trail of hot breath. “I want you to fuck me.”
Jonny shook his head. "Thom, no ... I don't ... no ... "
Thom took one of his handcuffed hands and ran it up Jonny's hard cock, causing Jonny to moan and bite his lip. As Thom leaned into kiss that lip, he whispered "your lips are saying 'no', but your cock is saying 'yes.'"
Jonny looked up at him, "Did you get that line from a bad porno?"
"Probably, but it's true, isn't it."
Jonny didn’t say anything. Thom moved so that his mouth had full access to Jonny's cock. He licked it up and down a few times, leaving enough saliva behind. Jonny, between small gasps, said "That's very nice; but we don't have to go any farther."
Thom paused and looked up at him, "Are you scared?"
"No," Jonny lied. Thom just looked at Jonny with a glance that said "oh, but I know."
When Thom was satisfied with his work, he straddled Jonny.
"Thom," Jonny gasped, goosebumps breaking out onto the skin at the feel of Thom's warm body on his. "Wait..."
"What's wrong?" Thom asked, hand running down the smooth skin on his chest. Jonny smiled, shaking his head, one hand coming to rest on Thom's side while the other took the key from the floor.
"Nothing, it's just..." he said, moving to unlock the cuffs from Thom's wrists. They clicked open and he threw the handcuffs aside to join the pieces of the broken chair.
“It’s just?” Thom breathed, suddenly nervous. “I want this time to be different.”
Although Jonny tried to hide it, the smile on his face was a give away that Thom was taking the right action.
"What if it hurts?" Jonny asked. Thom refrained from laughing.
He gave Jonny's cock a little squeeze, “I have a feeling this is going to hurt me more than it hurts you." Jonny looked aghast.
"In a good way," Thom explained. Just thinking about it was intoxicating. "Are you ready now?" he whispered. Jonny nodded, letting out a sigh as Thom leaned over and kissed him again, running his fingers through Jonny's hair, leaving it splayed out on the floor around him.
"It's almost like we're underwater," Thom thought to himself, taking in the sight of Jonny's closed eyes and pouting lips. He could feel Jonny's cock behind him and decided to waste no more time. Holding onto it, he slowly lowered himself down onto him, letting out a sharp hiss and Jonny twisting his head to the side, hair slowly moving with him. He paused, letting his muscles relax as soft hands and callused fingertips slid up his stomach.
"How's that?" Thom whispered. Jonny nodded.
"It's good," he smiled up at him. "It's really good. Erm..."
Thom wanted to yell at him to "Get on with it," but instead settled for a "What?"
"I think, if we want to do this proper, it needs to be the other way."
Thom could see he had a valid point, and with a nod they rolled over slowly, Jonny pressing himself down onto Thom.
"Much better," Thom agreed. "Now that you've got me here, what are you going to do to me?"
"Fuck your brains out," Jonny replied as he started moving in and out, groaning into the nape of Thom's neck. Although Jonny was hurting Thom more than he'd ever admit, Thom was getting more pleasure from this that he ever thought possible. Hands, now free from their restraints, trailed down Jonny's back, over each jaunting vertebrae. Hips pushing hard and raising and voices echoing in the empty room. Just as Thom started to gasp that he was coming, Jonny abruptly stopped.
"Fu-uuu-ck," he whimpered. "Jonny, keep going! Please, keep going!"
Slowly, Jonny slid out with a hum, "I don't think I want you to come yet, Thom." If Thom didn't know that Jonny wanted it as badly as Thom himself did, he would have killed Jonny with his bare hands at that moment.
"What do you want me to do?" he begged. Jonny thought about this for a while, eventually breaking itno a grin.
"Kiss me right here," he pointed to his neck, somewhat lower than his earlobe, "and I'll think about it." With a growl Thom grabbed him round the neck and brought Jonny's head down close to his, licking, then sucking, doing his best to prove his worth.
"Mmm, that's very nice," Jonny said. "Now, here." and he pointed to the other side of his neck.
"Uhg, Jonny, please." Thom whimpered. "Please...just..."
"Okay," Jonny said. "I want you on your hands and knees," Thom did not have to be told twice. In the blink of an eye he had flipped over and stuck his arse in the air.
"Good," he said breathlessly. "Now, tell me what you want me to do to you, Thom."
"I. Want. You. To. Stick. Your. Cock. In. My. Ass. Right. Now," Thom said in a carefully measured tone. Jonny laughed.
"And why do you want this?" he asked, practically purring.
"Because it feels so good," Thom said. Jonny laughed again and almost missed Thom's next comment.
"- and because I love you." Jonny didn't laugh this time, heart fluttering in his chest.
"What?" he asked. "What did you say?"
"I said," Thom continued, "I love you, and I want you to fuck me right now." Deciding the teasing had gone long enough, Jonny knelt behind Thom, planting a kiss on his lower back as he slowly entered him again, taking his time.
"Please, Jonny," he whimpered and with a grunt Jonny grabbed his shoulder and shoved, releasing a loud yelp from Thom.
"Yes! Harder!" he gasped and as they built up their rhythm again, Jonny reached around Thom and started stroking on his cock and within a few moments they both came together, moaning each other's names and collapsing down onto the hard floor, spent. Through gasping breaths lips met again, marking spots on each other's faces and fingers brushing hair from eyes.
"How was that?" Thom asked. With a blush Jonny bit his lower lip again, dark eyes still clouded over.
"Amazing," he smiles and Thom leans over to capture his bottom lip between his teeth, running his finger across one of Jonny's bruised wrists. Already the cold air of the house has find them lying naked in a pile on the floor, seeping into their bones and causing them to shiver against one another for heat.
"Shall we take this to a bedroom?" Jonny suggests. "I feel like I've spent enough time here."
"Hmm," Thom replies, getting up off the floor with cracking bones, holding out his hand to help Jonny up. They look at the mess they've created and decide with smiles that it can wait. As they leave the red room, Thom throws it one last glance over his shoulder before turning back to Jonny, informing him that he's quite glad they're leaving that room, because he's pretty sure it's haunted.

the end

Mile high

Ed hates planes.

It wouldn't be so bad if they could hire a private jet where he could have as many seats to himself as he wanted, but even the mere suggestion sets Thom off on a rant about how air travel is destroying the planet, and right now Ed is too tired and irritable to piss Thom off. It's all right for Thom, he thinks resentfully, staring across the aisle to where Thom and Colin are sitting side-by-side and exchanging snide comments about the food; Thom's small, he doesn't have to worry about cramped seats and deep vein thrombosis and whatever else someone of Ed's stature could get from being squished into a space about half the size he could comfortably occupy. It doesn't help that he's drawn the short straw of taking the chair next to Jonny. Back in the day this was never a problem: Ed sat with Colin or Phil and Thom sat with Jonny because Jonny was the only person who could keep Thom calm for an entire flight and besides, back in the day ThomandJonny were fucking like rabbits at every opportunity they got, so pairing off like that was a given. It's not like that any more, Ed thinks ruefully, watching Thom and Colin's heads, light and dark, leaning together as they flick peas at the headrest in front of them. Somewhere along the line something has happened to ThomandJonny and they aren't ThomandJonny now, they're Thom_________and_________Jonny and they're never that close any more.

Ed has never known why only someone who was fucking Jonny would want to sit next to him for eight hours on a plane, and now he's learning the hard way. Jonny is a terrible fidget. He is the kind of fidget that puts even Thom to shame. He sits there looking out of the window and shutting himself away from the rest of the world with a pair of headphones and his iPod, and every few moments he'll cross or uncross his legs or lift his arm to run a hand through his air or let out a barely audible sigh or wriggle in his seat and jab Ed sharply in the ribs with a bony elbow, and it's maddening. No wonder he stays so goddamn skinny with that much nervous energy - he's wound as tightly as a spring and Ed can practically feel the tension crackling between them. Eventually - about three hours into the flight, by his estimation - he's had enough. He taps Jonny on the shoulder. The younger man jumps, turns to face him and, frowning slightly, removes his headphones.

"What?"

There's a bite in his voice which is bitter and cold and very much unlike Jonny. Ed wonders suddenly whether he misses Thom. He's noticed it this tour; the pair of them rarely talk now unless there's someone else in the conversation and it makes speaking to either of them awkward and uncomfortable.

"Can't you sit still?" Ed says, his brain still catching up with his mouth.

Jonny regards him curiously, his expression softening little by little until he's not frowning at all. "Thom never told me I fidgeted," he says quietly, his gaze drifting to the childish, sniggering figure a few rows away from them. "I'm... sorry. I'm just tense. I hate planes."

"You and me both." Ed glances over at Thom and Colin, who seem to have abandoned pea warfare for making eyes at the stewardesses instead, and has an idea. It's a stupid, crazy, wild idea and Jonny will never in a million years go for it, but it's worth a try because they're both as bored as can be and there's hardly anyone in the seats around them except for a guy in a suit and tie two rows behind who looks like he's been stuffed. "I... we... could relieve a bit of that tension, couldn't we?"

He hopes Jonny catches his drift, and that what Thom told him once in a hotel room in New York is actually true, and when Jonny's eyes flick up to meet his he knows that Jonny understands exactly what he means. He's startled by the force of that gaze; it feels like being stripped to the bone, and the shiver that courses through him goes straight to his groin. Jonny notices, and smiles darkly, and a moment later there are slender fingers unzipping his fly and releasing his hard cock from the hot confines of his pants.

"Here?" Ed murmurs faintly, looking around. It's as good a place as any, if truth be told; the plane is very empty and there isn't a steward within twenty feet of them, except the pretty bottle-blonde talking to Thom and Colin. Any worries he might have had are pushed firmly out of his mind when Jonny ducks down and envelopes the tip of Ed's erection in the tight, slick confines of his warm mouth.

It takes all of Ed's self-control and a hasty fist pressed against his own mouth not to groan out loud. Jonny starts bobbing his head immediately in a swift, steady rhythm that will have him coming in seconds if he doesn't think about something other than what Jonny is doing to him right now... he thinks about the stuffed guy in the seat two rows behind them, about that guy and his suit and his tie, and that guy taking off his suit and his tie and... there's a flicker of dextrous tongue along the underside of his shaft and he gives an involuntary yelp which turns into a muffled whine as he tries to stop it. Thom and Colin have stopped talking to the blonde stewardess and are looking around, and Ed pretends not to notice. He's still thinking about that suit and that tie on the floor... their owner has conveniently disappeared and now it's just him and Jonny and a suit and tie on the floor... he threads fingers through silken dark hair at the same time as his cock hits the back of Jonny's throat and Jonny gasps a little, a faint huff of air that tickles his stomach.

"Are you OK?" he murmurs. Jonny says nothing, doesn't break pace or take time to draw breath, and in Ed's mind Ed has picked up the tie and is no longer thinking about its former owner, just about all the possibilities with Jonny under his control and the tie in his hand and oh shit.

He comes quickly, violently and without warning, and a cry slips out that even his hand can't disguise. It's enough to catch the attention of the bottle-blonde stewardess, and as she comes over Ed finds that he's now neatly zipped up and Jonny is sitting demurely beside him, reading the in-flight magazine.

"Is everything all right, gentlemen?" she asks, her cheeks flushing a shade darker than her blusher, and Ed realises with a thrill of horror that it must have been obvious to their three onlookers what was going on.

"Absolutely," Jonny says with a straight face, glancing up from his magazine and smiling with damp, bruised lips.

They're left well alone for the rest of the flight. Jonny doesn't fidget any more. Ed stretches out with his legs on the chair beside him and his head in Jonny's lap and entertains himself with thoughts of what they'll be able to get up to with a hotel room to themselves that evening, and whether the suit and the tie will be allowed to join in.

Christmas Collaboration

"How was the press this time?" Thom asked, unpacking the suitcase in front of him, separating the lights and darks into the piles of growing laundry behind him.
Jonny was sprawled out on the bed. "Exhausting," he said. "I've grown somewhat accustomed to the banality of journalists from weekly music magazines, but I think these journalists that write about classical music make even the worst of the others look like gold. If I didn't know any better, I would think that classical music was only listened to by a bunch of snobby people. And they asked the same questions over and over again. I sometimes wonder if these people actually listen to music or if they just talk about it all the time."
Jonny continued chattering on, happy to be back home.
Thom interrupted. "What are these?" he said coldly. With two fingers only, he was holding out a pair of Christmas boxers with cartoon reindeer. "These aren't yours and where did they come from?" Thom was glaring.
Jonny froze, his eyes locked on the garish green and red colors.
"They were a gift. From Sharona." Jonny said quickly without looking at Thom, "I like the graphic print."
"Uh-huh" Thom said skeptically, "your Israeli wife gave you a pair of Christmas boxers?"
Jonny sat up and took them from Thom, tossing them quickly into the dirty laundry pile. "Yes, well, she knows I like Christmas."
"Jonny, that was not smooth at all. Why don't you tell me who really gave you the boxers?" Thom replied.
Jonny started fidgeting with the edge of the pillowcase. "They're mine."
"I know they're yours now, I was wondering who gave them to you."
Fidget, fidget. "No one."
"If you're going to be like that, I'm leaving."
"Be like what?"
"Like a cheating whore."
"Takes one to know one."
"I knew it! What's her name?"
"I thought you were leaving."
"I am." And Thom stormed out of the room. He slammed the bedroom door shut, stamped his feet to the front door, wished Jonny hadn't decided to randomly only use 3 out of the 5 deadbolts on the door, finally wrenched the door open and slammed it shut behind him. He got into his car and fumed for a few minutes. He saw Jonny's front door open and the rational part of his brain - the part that wasn't absolutely furious with Jonny for whatever he had or hadn't done - was hoping that Jonny was coming out to apologise or say something to make it all better. It was their pattern. Thom angrily hit the window down button. "What" he growled.
Jonny was standing on the porch, arms crossed. "It wasn't a her," he said and with a swish of his hair he walked back into his house.

At this, Thom struggled to detach himself from his car, not bothering to turn off the ignition before slamming the door shut and darting back into the house, finding Jonny just as he was about to climb the stairs to his room. Turning him around roughly, he pulled him back down onto the floor and pinned him against the wall. He knew Jonny could throw him off without even trying, but the fear in his eyes gave him confidence that he would remain standing on solid ground.
"What do you mean it's not a her?" he growled through clenched teeth and Jonny, shaking off the momentary fear he felt, glared back.
"If it's not a her then it's obviously a he." he snapped. "You know the difference between men and woman, don't you?"
Thom shook his head furiously. "Okay, so that was a dumb question. Who is he, then? What's his name so I can look him up and kick the shit out of him!"
Jonny rolled his eyes. "Thom, he's 6'5", I highly doubt - "
"FUCKING ED?!" Thom roared, releasing his grip on the other man and pushing himself away. Slowly, Jonny peeled away from the wall, running a hand up his arm self-consciously, eyes locked on the floor.
"I-I was going to tell you, I swear. It was an honest mistake, Ed...h-he thought it meant something and...the boxers...drinking and...I don't know. Please, can we just sit down and talk about this?"
"Talk about what exactly - the fact that you can't keep your cock in your pants or the fact that you can't keep it out of a man's ass. There are two issues there."
"I know. I fucked up. What am I going to tell Sharona?"
"How about 'I am a lying cheating whore?' That seems like a good place to start."
"I didn't mean for this to happen."
"Of course not. You're little perfect Mr. Jonny Greenwood," Thom said sarcastically.
Jonny didn't say anything. After a pause, Thom continued:
"And when the fuck did you decide that you liked fucking men?"
"Why does it matter to you?" Jonny asked.
"It doesn't."
"Seems like it matters."
"I told you it doesn't."
"Fine, it doesn't matter to you. But what am I going to do?" Jonny walked over and sat on the couch. "She's going to hate me." He buried his head into his hands.
"Maybe you shouldn't tell her."
"How can I not?"
"Well, who knows? You, Ed, me ... anyone else?"
"Not unless Ed told anyone."
"He probably didn't, but we'll need to find out for sure. So unless one of us tells her, she'll never find out. Now the question is, what are you going to do for me so I don't tell?"
Jonny looked at Thom. "What?" He was bewildered. "You're my friend, we've known each other for years ... my best friend ... I shouldn't have to do anything for you to not tell."
Thom shrugged. "Maybe. But that was before you started whoring yourself out to Ed." Thom unzipped his trousers. "And I know what I want."
Jonny shook his head. "I don't ... you don't ..."
"I think you do. And you will."
"Let's go upstairs at least."
"Here and now."
"But Sharona could be home any minute!"
"Then you'd better hurry up."
"Or the bathroom - we can lock the bathroom!"
"Now. And if you're worried about an incriminating mess, I suggest you swallow."

***

Thom left the house a short while later. He jumped in his car and drove through some side streets and parked on the street in front of an older house. Grabbing the Christmas boxers where he had thrown them on the passenger seat, he walked up to the front door and knocked loudly. The door was opened a few short moments later.
"Edward John O'Brien," Thom said icily. "This was not part of the fucking plan." Thom threw the boxers at Ed and walked inside like he owned the place. "Did you think I wouldn't find out?"
Ed closed the door behind him and followed Thom to the living room.
"Yeah, I was going to tell you about that. Sorry ... can I offer you a drink or something?"
"Yes," Thom replied and they both walked to the kitchen.
If Ed had hoped to change the subject, it wasn't working.
Thom continued in the same icy tone, "Do you want to explain when exactly you decided to sleep with Jonny?"
Ed continued to make their drinks and didn't look up at Thom. "Well, we started as we had planned. Just me and Jonny, having a couple of drinks together. We were originally supposed to meet at the pub, but I was running late and Jonny just came straight here and then it was raining so we decided to have a couple of drinks here - "
Thom cut him off. "Do you think this is helping your case?"
"I'm getting there, damn it! Well, we started talking about relationships and stuff. And I brought up the time that we caught him with that other boy before rehearsal - just like you had suggested - and then I asked him if he might still fancy boys and one thing lead to another and we were drinking - I mentioned we were drinking, right? - and then he was kissing me and then, well, I guess you know the rest." Ed handed Thom his drink. "I swear I didn't mean for it to happen."
"What would you do if you were me? You trust one of your best friends to talk to one of your other best friends and you betrayed everything our friendship meant for a shag. How would you feel if I shagged Colin?"
"But you have shagged Colin."
"That's not my fucking point and you know it. I haven't fucking shagged Colin in a long fucking time and definitely not since we came up with this plan. The plan - which was just as much your idea as mine - I talk to Colin and see if might be interested in you and you talk to Jonny and see if he's at all interested in me. It's the world's easiest plan and yet you found a way to fuck it up."
Thom sat down at the table. "Fuck!" he said to his drink. "Fuck, fuck, fuck."

***

Colin was busy re-arranging his books when the phone rang. Which a sigh he stepped over the piles he had laid out according to size, thickness, colour, subject and anything else he could think of. This is how he spent his afternoons when he wasn't playing with the band or shovelling the laneway. He snatched the shrieking contraption off its cradle and put on his best "I'm so glad to hear from you" voice before answering with an overly excited "Hello?"
"Cozzie, I'm so confused!" Jonny cried out from the other end. Colin rubbed his eyes.
"Jonny, we've been through this. You wash the lights and the darks seperately."
"It's not that! I made a horrible mistake and now Thom is mad at me becauseIsleptwithEdafterwehadafewdrinks and and ThomthinksI'macheatingwhoreandhegotallupsetandthenhe he he - "
"Woah, slow down. You slept with Ed?"
Jonny swallowed thickly. "After a few drinks, yeah. I didn't mean to, honestly."
"Jonny!" Colin said, pained. "This was not how we were going to do things!"
"I know, Colin. I'm sorry."
"You were supposed to talk to him - "
"I know."
"and you were supposed to bring me up -"
"I know."
"and see what he got me for Christmas!"
"I know!"
"You weren't supposed to sleep with him!"
"I fucking know, Colin!" Jonny whimpered. "Please, just tell me what to do, because I have no idea, and you always know what to do."
"Well, first things first. Did you find out what Ed is getting me?"
"Oh, yeah ... he's getting you a bong." Jonny paused. "Sorry, typical Ed."
"Oh." Colin sounded disappointed. "Well, that's probably what Ed would consider a really nice gift, right?"
"Yeah, yeah. Of course. That's like the Ed equivalent of a dozen red roses."
Colin sighed.
Jonny continued, trying to make Colin feel better. "But he talked about how it took him forever to find a 'rainbow bong.'"
"EEEEEEEECH" Colin screamed his typical girly scream. "A RAINBOW BONG!!?"
"Er, yes," Jonny agreed. He hated when people talked about rainbows. He didn't see what was so great about them.
"nononono!" Colin explained. "My first bong - back when I was 16 - was a rainbow bong. We loved that thing. Ed accidentally broke and promised to get me a new one. I can't believe he remembered after all these years."
"You smoked marijuana when you were 16? I'm so telling mum."
"Jonny, you were smoking with us."
"Oh, yeah."
"So that must mean that Ed, you know, cares about me. A lot."
"Yes. Of course. Sounds like he found you the perfect gift."
"So do you think the signed copy of the rare Kings of Leon's album, a new blazer and edible underwear is enough for me to give to him? I should probably find some more stuff, right?"
"I think that's more than enough. Why don't you just ask him to stick the bong up your ass?"
"That's a very interesting idea."
"Ew! You're so perverted. I'm hanging up on you now."
"No, wait! Stop!" Colin hollared and he heard Jonny let out a huff of breath. "Don't you want to know what Thom got you for Christmas?"
"I don't really care at this point." Jonny mumbled but Colin ignored him.
"I think he got you a banjo."
Jonny's breath hitched. "A banjo? But why, Thom hates banjos!"
Colin shrugged, then remembered he was on the phone. "Erm, I guess all those years you've been bugging him about it he's finally willing to give in. That's a big feat you know, Thom Yorke never gives in."
On the other end of the phone, the younger Greenwood was attempting to keep himself composed, which was hard now that excitement was boiling up in his stomach. Thom finally gave in! It took more than a decade but finally Jonny would have his banjo and he could sit on the front porch in a rocking chair and pluck out as many obscure country songs if his heart so desired. (Thankfully, it didn't).
Colin rolled his eyes and decided they had more important matters to discuss, such as Jonny. Sleeping with Ed. And what exactly they were going to do about it.
"Anyway, that's not the point. I want to know what happened" Colin continued.
"What," Jonny snapped, "I already told you everything. We were wasted and what happened happened. End of the story. I don't think you want to know all the details, now, do you?"
"Was it good?" Colin said bitterly, even though he didn't want that question answered.
Jonny was getting annoyed.
"Well, for your information, Ed is the best shag ever. That's probably because he's SO big and he does things with his tongue, you would never imagine" he replied. "And he's never tired. I stopped counting how many times we did it after the sixth..."
Colin grimaced. "You filthy little slut!"
"You asked me." said Jonny flatly.
"Who initiated it?"
Jonny remained silent.
"I knew it. I fucking knew it! I bet you did that... that look! That one fucking look you do with your fucking eyes! Your fucking fuck-me-hard look!"
"Colin..."
"Shut it. You know you start thinking with your cock as soon as you drink, why did you even take the risk?"
"Look, I'm sorry, ok? Sorry. And remember I never said anything about you shagging Thom!"
"We were in our teens, Jonny. Back then you didn't even know what 'blowjob' meant. Though looking at your front teeth, it seems it's no longer the case..."
"Indeed. And I performed a few of them no later than yesterday on your precious Edward..."
Colin cursed loudly, and Jonny decided it was time to stop teasing him. Teasing was a euphemism, he thought to himself.
"Ok, listen to me. I tell you, it didn't mean anything; I guess we were just horny and a bit bored. And besides, you might like to know that at some point he said something like 'I wonder if your brother kisses like you' but I was pissed so I didn't really notice."
Colin held his breath, full of hope. "He did?"
"He did. Are you still mad at me?"
"Only a little."
"Want a blowjob too so I can make you forgive me?"
"You're disgusting, Jonny."
"You don't know what you're missing out, I've become really good at this"
"Whore. You'd rather help me find a way to talk to Ed..."
"You don't need to talk; just keep your mouth open and everything will work out."
"Oh, that's really refined, Jonny. Thanks for your help" Colin sighed.
"No prob."

***

A few days later, everyone had gathered back at the studio to start preparations for a webcast. Setting up equipment along the presence of Phil, Stanley and Nigel was enough to keep the drama to a minimum, for a short while.
At the first opportunity, Colin cornered Jonny away from everyone else. Jonny was still annoyed from their previous conversation.
"Finally decided that you want to see what you've been missing out on?" Jonny asked Colin, eying Colin's crotch. "I think Thom and Ed would tell you that I come (snicker) highly recommended."
"You fucking whore. Wait - when did you give Thom a blowjob?"
"Well, I ... ummm ... it's not like I wanted to," Jonny said, avoiding the question.
"What do you mean you didn't want to?" Colin said, his mood shifting from annoyed to overprotective in an instant.
Jonny realized he had said the wrong thing. "No, you misunderstood me?"
"Yes, you wanted to; no, you didn't."
"I didn't right then, but it's not like didn't want to, really."
At that point, Thom chose the worst moment in the history of worst moments to walk by.
"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO TO MY BROTHER?!!" Colin yelled at Thom, gathering the attention of the rest of the group. Colin gathered up all of his strength and lightly punched Thom on the shoulder.
"OW!" Thom yelped. "THAT WHORE WAS ASKING FOR IT." He gave Colin a small shove. "AND NOW YOU ARE. BITCH."

"What the fuck is that about?" Nigel asked from the other side of the room. "Who did what to who?"
Stanley looked around asked if they were all on Candid Camera.
Phil, who had been paying more attention, explained that "I think Colin's mad at Thom for something about a blowjob?"
"Yeah, Jonny's great at blowjobs," Ed said nodding enthusiastically and without thinking.
"I just threw up a little in my mouth," Phil said.
"I KNOW YOU'RE FILMING" Stanely said, staring off a corner. "YOU CAN'T FOOL ME."
"I think they're really going to fight!" Nigel said, his attention drawn back to Colin and Thom.
"20 quid says that Thom wins," Phil said, pulling out his wallet.
Nigel pulled a couple of bills from his wallet and threw them on the table. "Well, I've got 20 quid says Colin wins."
Ed was studying the scene. "I've got 50 pounds that says that Thom's going to resort to hair pulling first."
"Double or nothing, Colin pulls hair first," Phil said, pulling out more money.
Nigel pulled the rest of the money out of his wallet. "I think Colin's going to use fingernails."
Jonny, who had been pacing near the fighters, came running ("he prances" Ed thought to himself).
"Someone do something," he pleaded. "They're going to kill each other."
"Fuck that," Nigel said. "I've got money on this fight. Let 'em go at each other."
"Please," Jonny whined.
"Fine," Ed said, getting up. "I'll break this up."
"I WILL NOT ALLOW MY LIKENESS ON ANY SYNDICATED PROGRAM" Stanley yelled towards a bookshelf.
Colin and Thom were glaring at each other, breathing heavily and ready to strike at any second when Ed sauntered up to them, reaching Thom first who let out a bark much like a rabid dog, causing Ed to jump backwards away from the pair.
"I'm not going in there, they're going bite my hands off!"
Jonny was watching, scared, throwing glances from Thom to Colin to Ed. "Ed, please!"
"You're a filthy brat, Yorke!" Colin spat suddenly.
"None of this would have happened if it weren't for your whore of a brother!" Thom snarled back, and Colin, belting out his best Xena Battle Cry, attacked in a blur of flailing arms. The two hit the floor with a crash, blocked out by the cheers of the others in the corner, waving their money in the air and shouting suggestions.
"Knee him in the balls, Thom!" Phil called out.
"The head, Colin! Hit him in the head! That's it!" said Nigel.
The scuffling continued in a ball of dust and random limbs, random feral noises managing to leak through the random thumps of heads or knees hitting the floor.
"If your brother just learnt to keep it in his pants -"
"My brother? What about you? If it were up to you, you wouldn't even wear pants!"
"COME OUT, YOU CAN'T HIDE!" Stanley, oblivious to the fight that had broken out on the floor, pushed books aside on the shelf, searching vigorously for the camera crew he was sure existed. "YOU'RE IN THE WALLS, AREN'T YOU?!"
"NO, Thom! Don't pull his hair! Damnit." Phil threw his money to the ground and stamped on it in frustration. "I always bloody lose!"
Ed turned to Nigel, grinning. "Bet you didn't see this when you worked for McCartney."
Nigel stared at him and sighed. "That's cause John Lennon wasn't there."
Meanwhile, Jonny was pacing around his two bandmates tearing at each other, pulling at his own hair.
"Stop it! Stop it!" he shouted in a high-pitched voice "If you don't stop I'm leaving you to join Muse and I swear Matt Bellamy will get a blowjob every single day!"
Thom and Colin froze, just as Thom was going to start biting.
"Blowjobs again!" Phil said, wrinkling his nose. "You're disgusting, Jonny!"
"You wouldn't say that if you'd had one in the past" stated Ed wisely.
"Cut it out, you two" interrupted Jonny. "And before anybody asks, I'm not sucking anybody off today. Stan! There's no bloody camera in the walls! Put that hammer away! Thom, could you please get off my brother now? I don't like seeing you straddling him like that."
"Afraid of getting a boner in front of everybody?" asked Thom, pouting.
"Don't be a jerk to me; I was only joking about Matt."
"Ha!" Colin exclaimed "And what about that time last September?"
Thom's eyes widened. "What?!"
Jonny shot a murderous glance at his brother.
"Oh, bloody hell, I'm fed up with you all" Nigel declared, exasperated. "You're a bunch of whores, that's what you are! I think I'm going to go and ask Coldplay if they need a producer for their next record!"
"Don't be ridiculous Nigel," Ed said calmly, "You'd rather help us and find another ondes martenot player because I'm pretty sure Thom is going to kill Jonny now..."
"I bet thirty pounds that Thom will strangle Jonny" said Phil hopefully, seeing his chance to get his money back.
"Pffft. Forty pounds that Jonny gets stabbed" retorted Stan from the other corner of the room, knocking on the wall to hear if it sounded hollow.
"Shut up; of course I won't kill him, but I'm not kissing him before he does tests certifying he didn't get a horrible disease from Matt. When I think I made him blow me, the mere thought is... urgh"
"For heaven's sake, it was four months ago, and Matt must have a better hygiene than you, Thom" Colin said, rolling his eyes. "And since when do you intend to touch my brother again? Cause that's what you were implying, right?"
Thom grew suddenly serious.
"Cause I like him" he whispered, and he ran out of the room without another word.
"Damnit," Colin groaned, getting up off the floor and brushing the dust from his legs. "Now he's run away."
Nigel piped up from the corner. "Uhm, you guys - "
"Not now, Nigel!"
"But this is really important and I think you should know - "
"Nigel!" Colin barked and the other man's mouth closed, but not for long as soon he was muttering under his breath that he couldn't work in these conditions, and how he couldn't even remember the last time they fed him and why was he always the one who had to comfort Ed when they wouldn't let him play guitar?
Jonny was absolutely furious. "Did he call me fat? Is that what he said?"
"No one called you fat, Jonny," his brother sighed, rubbing his eyes in frustration when he heard a stiffled laugh come from the corner and looked up to find Ed trying to hide a smile. Unfortunately, Jonny heard it as well and let out a pained yelp.
"I am not fat!" he pouted. "Eddie!"
"Oh, God." Phil was looking horrified.
"You didn't think I was fat when I was riding your - "
"Ohhhkaaayyyyy!" Phil waved his hands around and everyone turned to look at him. "Does anybody have any idea what we're going to do about Thom?"
Stanley chose this time to appear from out behind a pile of cardboard boxes. "We could pull out all his beard-hairs one by one, rip off all his clothes and throw paint at him."
"We're not turning Thom into your next arts and crafts project, Stan." Colin said. Stan huffed and Nigel raised his hand.
"What, Nigel? What is it? What is so important that you have to interrupt our discussion?"
"Uhm, we've been on air for the past half hour." he gulped. The others paled.
"What do you mean, we've been on air?" Colin asked, afraid.
Nigel pointed to the cameras they had set up. "I turned it on earlier thinking you guys were going to start playing and forgot to turn it off. The webcast has been running this whole time."
Silence fell upon the room. They remained still for a full minute before Jonny started screaming.
"What the hell are you waiting for, Nigel?" he squealed "Cut the bloody thing off!"
Colin shook his head and started muttering "NME... next week... we're fucked..."
"Calm down; it was streaming yeah, but maybe nobody actually saw it. We didn't warn the fans of the webcast after all" reasoned Phil.
"But they suspected it was coming! What are we gonna do?" Jonny asked with a shaking voice.
"First of all, try not to panick. Jonny, I think you should check the various fansites' message boards. If we're lucky, nobody will have tried to get onto radiohead.tv"
Tripping on the wires scattered across the floor, Jonny headed towards his laptop with the look of someone mounting the scaffold.
Ed ran a hand through his hair and sat down on the nearest amp, awaiting Jonny's verdict.
"So?" Colin asked impatiently.
"A minute," replied Jonny "Atease is so fucking slow! And I don't like this at all. It usually means something huge is going on..."
"May they be excited about the new Oasis DVD"
"Yeah, right. Santa doesn't exist, Ed, did you know that?" Jonny spat.
"Of course he does," interrupted Colin "and he's punishing us because you two," he pointed at Ed and Jonny "have been really bad recently..."
"This is what you get when you mess with him" said Stanley in a sententious tone. Everybody shot him their middle finger.
At this moment, Jonny's cellphone rang. Worried, he fished it from his pocket and hit the answer key.
"Yeah? Oh, it's you..."
The rest of the band watched as Jonny grew pale.
"What the fuck...? Of course no, I'm not joining your band! What were you thinking, you twat! I said that to make Thom and Colin stop fighting!" shouted Jonny.
The others exchanged tense looks.
"No!" Jonny shouted again, making everyone jump "I'm not doing "just the blowjobs then"! No, I won't change my mind! What...? Matt, putting melted chocolate on your cock won't change anything, I'm not doing it! No. Goodbye!"
He hung up and wiped the sweat on his forehead.
"You're lucky that Thom didn't hear this. He would have thrown the mother of all tantrums" Ed said.
"I don't think so; he would rather have been pleased to see Jonny telling Matt to sod off..." objected Colin
"Let's tell him when he comes back," Phil suggested. "Twenty pounds that he chases Jonny around the room!"
"I think that's enough with the bets, Phil!"
"Let's focus on our problem, shall we?" interrupted Jonny. "What are we going to do?"
"Hide for another three years?"
"I wish we could," Colin sighed "But the tour is all planned, we can't cancel it like that, can we? Imagine that; thousands of pissed off fans. They're going to come to Oxford and crowd around the studio. It'll look like Romero's Day of the Dead or something equally horrible..."
"Maybe they won't care at all about this? I mean, maybe we're getting worked up for nothing?"
Nigel sighed. "Ed, it's obvious you've never been onto atease..."
Jonny started reading atease main thread titles:
OMG webcast!!!!!!
thom really needs to shave the beard, like now
WTF is going on with the webcst??
Hoax!!!! I have indispuitble proofs
Petition For Thom To Never Shave Again
Webcast!! OMG!!!!
Webcast!! OMG!!!!
Webcast!! OMG!!!!
Merry Christmas Radiohead
SOMEONE RECORD THE WEBCAST BECAUSE I'M GOING TO THE MOVIES
Rainbows and Radiohead are GAY
WEBCAST!!!
"That's it!" Nigel exclaimed. "We'll just claim this was all a hoax."
Phil understood the plan immediately: "We'll say this was all to prove how much the media will buy anything and how there is no journalistic integrity anymore."
Nigel pointed at Stanley: "Use the worm buffet code to spell out 'of course hoax' or something. Let's get it up on DAS soon."
"Hey - what's Classics?" Jonny asked.

A few hours later, the group was hoping that they had done everything in their power to diffuse the situation.
"Pitchfork already gave us a 10/10," Nigel reported. "They said that it was a spontaneous and highly original way to use the internet and that we've changed every facet of webcasting forever. They're naming 2008 'The Year That Radiohead Changed The World Forever' and it's not even 2008 yet."
"And the NME said they had an 'inside scoop' but they just reused one of Thom's old quotes from a 1997 interview." Colin rolled his eyes.
"This blog has a poll that says that 18% of the responders think that Thom would win a fight, 7% think that Colin would win and the rest think that Jonny's hair is 'really awesome.'"
"I'm going to take a leak" Thom announced, pushing his chair out and walked to the bathroom.
As soon as he was out of earshot, Colin hissed to the group: "What are we going to do about the Thom situation - he practically raped my little brother. He needs to be punished."
"Like exposing all of his deepest darkest personal secrets on a webcast?" Nigel sarcastically offered.
Jonny used his hand to half-hide his face. "Colin, it's fine," he said.
"No it's not," Colin said. "He needs to be humiliated."
"Like, presenting a lifetime achievement award to Green Day?" Jonny suggested.
"I was thinking that he should be forced to be our slave for a day and crawl around on his hands and knees, completely naked, ordered to do our every command. I have plenty of whips and handcuffs that I could supply as well," Colin said.
"You are a dark and twisted person," Stanley said. "I like that."
"I'm giving the lot of you puppy and kitty calendars for Christmas," Phil said.
"Colin, you just need to drop it," Jonny said. "This does not concern you."
The group seemed to be siding with Jonny.
"Fine," Colin said nastily. "I'll drop it." "He left the table and went to look for Thom.

***

Colin found Thom as Thom was leaving the bathroom.
"We're not done," Colin announced to Thom. He grabbed him roughly by the arm and half-dragged him to a large storage room. On one side of the room, piles of discboxes waiting to be dispatched were stacked against the wall.
Colin closed the door and locked it. He stood close to Thom's face.
"You're an insult to the human race," he said, louder than necessary.
"I've apologized to Jonny; I've apologized to you even though it's none of your fucking business. I don't know what else I can do," Thom spat back.
"You think saying 'sorry' will get you out of everything?"
"Fuck you."
Colin lunged at Thom; his attack knocked them both to the floor. They wrestled around for a few minutes. Thom almost had Colin in a headlock when Colin bit Thom in the arm, drawing blood.
"Did you just fucking bite me?" Thom said. His rage gave him a temporary advantage and he pinned Colin below him. He struck Colin's face with his hand and blood started pouring out of Colin's nose.
Colin looked stunned. He wiggled an arm free and winced as he felt his nose. He pulled his hand back and saw the blood, red and wet, covering his fingers.
"You fucker," Colin said. "Let me up."
"So you can bite me again? I think not."
"Let me go!"
"As soon as you can relax and assure me that you're going to chill the fuck out, I'll let you go."
"Fuck you."
"Be that way."
Colin kept trying to squirm his way free, but Thom kept his advantage.
"Did you think of me when you were forcing yourself onto my brother?" Colin asked.
"Like the time I gave you this scar from when we did it in the neighbor's gardening shed?" Thom slid Colin's shirt halfway up and ran his thumb across a faint scar.
"You've always been an opportunistic bastard," Colin said, struggling less.
"If you promise not to hit me, I'll let you up and we can get some ice for your nose."
"Fine." Colin said. He laid perfectly still.
Thom slowly lessened his hold on Colin. As soon as Colin's arms were free, he dragged Thom's face to his and kissed him hard.
Thom hesitated for a moment before struggling to sit up, glaring down at Colin.
"What the hell was that for?"
Colin sneered. "You liked it."
"No, I did not!"
"Well, you're taking my belt off as we speak."
Thom looked down and notice that his hands were, in fact, pulling impatiently at Colin's belt. He didn't remember telling them to do that, why were they doing that? He continued to glare down at Colin as if it was all his fault. "I'll have you know, there is no way you're getting away with that." The buckle came undone with a clink "I'm probably going to get some sort of infection."
"Serves you right." The belt was pulled from it's loops.
"And I'll let Ed write songs before I fuck you again." Colin's fly was undone, jeans pushed off hips and tossed away carelessly.
"You'd better get him a pen and a pad of paper, then." Colin said confidently as his boxers joined the growing pile of clothing and Thom pounced.

***

Back in the studio, the others had grouped around a large table and were sipping at mixed drinks. (Jonny at a glass of chocolate milk) and Ed was standing a little ways off to the side, thrashing about wildly as if he were drowning.
"Jaws!" Phil called out and Ed shook his head.
"It's two words, Phil," Nigel reminded him. "and I think it's Open Water."
"I hate charades." Stanley moped, only to receive a thwack to the back of the head as Ed sat down.
"You're next, freak."
"I refuse to play this game." he crossed his arms and looked away. Ed rolled his eyes.
"You guys," Jonny spoke up, putting his cup down. "I think we should go try and find Cozzie and Thom, before they kill each other."
Nigel had pulled out a deck of cards and began shuffling. "Let them sort it out, one of them is bound to lose their voice sooner or later, after all that shouting."
"Or lose a limb." Phil contributed. "That Thom bites."
"So does Colin." said Ed.
"Yes," Phil nodded. "But Thom has rabies. He's part wolf, you know."
"I must admit that being bitten by Thom is not funny at all" Ed said sternly
"How d'you know that?" Jonny said, frowning.
"I had an argument with him about a setlist once. He didn't want to play Paranoid Android"
Phil nodded. "I was there; when I said Ed was right, he just bit him, out of nowhere. I bet his mother used to let him bite customers at the grocery store when he was a child, he's never lost the habit..."
"Holy hell, we'd better make sure my brother is okay..."
"Fine, but I'm taking thick leather gloves first, in case I have to touch him..."
"Maybe you could use a stick," Phil suggested "like they do for snakes, you know."
"But Thom doesn't have venom in his teeth"
"Or so you think, Jonny. Let's go."

***

Meanwhile, in the bathroom, Thom was lying on the floor, leaning back against the wall. Colin had placed his hands on either side of his head, on the cold tiles, and was riding him shamelessly. Holding him firmly by the hips, Thom was matching his movements and pounding hard into him.
"So..." Colin panted, "What do you think... ooh, yes, Thom, just like that... wha' d'you think... Ed's first song... will be about?"
Thom tried to catch his breath. "About... oh, god... about screwing up sexy bassists, I hope" he replied with difficulty, as Colin quickened his rhythm, knocking the air out of him. "He likes you, by the way" he added, his right hand now trailing from Colin's hip to his cock. Colin cried out as Thom started stroking him, and Thom pulled him into a deep kiss to muffle the noise.
"I knew it," Colin said hoarsely when they pulled away. "but right now... please Thom, harder!... I don't... really care...'fter all... fucked my brother..."
He threw his head back and clenched his teeth. He was feeling himself nearing climax when he heard footsteps in the corridor.
Having heard it too, Thom managed to whisper, "Did you hear that?" his head turning towards the door and Colin moaned in response. "Damnit, Colin! Listen!"
On the other side of the door, Jonny turned to Ed, who shrugged. "Just open it. They might be unconscious."
"I hope they're not bleeding, I can't stand the sight of blood." Jonny shivered and Ed sighed, pushing him away.
"Here, I'll fucking do it." he grabbed the door handle and turned it. The door didn't open. "I think it's locked."
"Shit! Shit, shit, shit!" Thom struggled to get out from under Colin, who wasn't helping in the least bit. Instead he had started riding even harder. "Stop...fucking...squirming!" he said through clenched teeth.
"Get off me, then!"
Jonny shook his head. "The lock is broken on that one, you just have to give it a shove." Ed turned back to the door and did as Jonny said, the door opening with a thump. Ed's arm fell down against his side and the two stood gapping at the scene infront of him. Thom was mid-struggle, attempting to pull up his jeans and Colin was still ontop of him, slumped lazily against the wall.
"Just what the hell is going on here?" Ed bellowed and Jonny whimpered out that it would have been better if they had been bleeding before he ran off with a sob.
"Now look what you did!" Ed turned back to the pair. Thom had managed to push Colin onto the floor, yank up his trousers and was now scrambling to his feet. "You two are the most unbelievable pair of people I have ever met. One minute you're about to tear each other throats out and the next you're shagging on a bathroom floor!"
"Thom's very confused." Colin nodded in agreement and received a death-glare from him.
"You're the one who came onto me!"
Stanley, after hearing the commotion, had wandered into the hallway and was now standing next to Ed with a blank look on his face. "Colin, I believe your trousers have fallen off."
"Look, I don't care who started it, just...God," Ed shook his head in disgust. "This is the worst Christmas ever."
"Listen, Ed, he undressed me and-"
"Wanker! I undressed you because you fucking kissed me!" Thom snarled.
"Because you started talking about the time we were shagging"
Ed covered his ears with his hands. "Enough! Enough! You two are impossible! What am I still doing here with you?"
"Yeah, I was wondering, too" Thom retorted "What band on earth needs three guitarists anyway?"
Ed wasn't expecting Thom's nasty remark. Even Colin seemed suddenly struck by lightning. They had had more than a few serious arguments about this issue and none of them could believe Thom had dared to bring up the subject again.
Ed felt like punching Thom square in the face and maybe make his eyes finally match, but he knew this wouldn't lead anywhere.
"You want me to quit? Fine. I quit." he said icily, turning on his heels.
Thom and Colin watched him leave, speechless. Then Colin turned to Thom, his face black with anger.
"Very well done Thom! Why d'you have to fuck things up constantly?"
"This would never have happened if you had not kissed me in the first place!"
"YOU started talking... oh, fuck that. Let's go and try and fetch Ed. Maybe he hasn't left yet..."
Colin walked out the bathroom, and Thom followed in silence.

***

"Where's Ed?" Colin asked as he came back into the main room. Nigel and Phil looked at him glumly. Colin looked away and his eyes fell on his brother, sitting on a wooden chair and sobbing openly. Thom approached Jonny and put a hand on his shoulder, but Jonny shrugged it off violently.
"Don't touch me! It's your fault! He left and it's your fault!"
"I'm sorry! I- I didn't want that, I just wanted him to stop talking and-"
Jonny let out a bitter laugh "Ha! If someone needs to shut the fuck up here it's YOU!"
"See, Thom? I told you you had a gift for spoiling things"
"Shut your fucking face, Coz. You're as responsible for this mess as he is!" he spat, tears still running down his cheeks. He took his head in his hands and muttered. "I hate you."

Colin whimpered, "You don't mean that." Jonny merely sniffed.
"Okay," Thom let out a defeated sigh. "I'm going to go look for Ed and try and talk to him."
Colin turned to him "What makes you think he's going to listen to you?"
"He might not listen to me, but he'll probably listen to you."
"But - "
"Colin."
"Fine." he mumbled. "But I hope you have some devious plan up your sleeve, because I doubt he's going to come willingly."

***

Ed hadn't left yet. Instead, he wandered angrily into the forest, muttering under his breath the whole time. He felt unappreciated and disgusted and - and confused. And he didn't like feeling so many things at once when he was so used to having one emotion - high. Spitting angrily, he sat down on a fallen log, pulling out a joint and lighting it. He wasn't far into the woods, had he turned around he would have still been able to see the house through the trees, and he would have seen the two figures step out from the back door. After a moment or two of staring off at nothing, inhaling and exhaling smoke, he got up and absentmindedly wandered deeper into the trees.

Barely two steps away from the back door and Thom and Colin had started bickering again about which direction to look in; neither of them had noticed the tracks leading into the woods. Colin called Thom a "whiney prat" and was given a face-full of cold snow.
"You think this is fun and games, Colin?" he asked. "What if we don't find him, then what?"
Colin brushed the remaining snow off his face and sighed. "We'll find him. For once in your life, Thom, try to be optimistic."
"Hey," Thom interrupted, pointing at the forest "there he is."
"Fine. Let's go and talk to him. I hope you have your apologies ready, smartarse."
"Gimme a fucking break, Coz."
They walked to the spot where Ed was sitting in silence, approaching him from behind. Ed heard them coming closer, but didn't turn around. Thom cleared his throat.
"Hey..."
Ed remained silent. Thom planted himself in front of him, but Ed refused stubbornly to look up.
"Listen, I know I fucked up. I should never have done that. It was stupid, and childish and... and not even true. I mean, of course we need you! We're five in the band, that makes our sound richer than other bands, and if you weren't there, who would do the backup vocals? Phil's voice is not as great as yours, Jonny lisps too much, and Colin sings SO out of tune he would just destroy the songs-"
"Hey!" Colin protested "Don't go too far!"
"-and all the effects and stuff, you know..." Thom continued, ignoring Colin's intervention "I'm really really really sorry..."
Silence.
"Ed... say something" Thom pleaded. Ed glared at him and spoke up.
"I don't know what's the worst here. The fact that you hurt me -again- or the way you used to get back at Jonny and me for having slept together... And you," Ed said, turning his gaze to Colin "you're no better than him. You're just the same kind of depraved pervert; you wanted to beat the shit out of him, how the fuck did you end up with his cock up your arse?"
"Let's say it's just hard to resist him; at least as hard as resisting Jonny. It doesn't show, but they're just a pair of sluts - do I need to remind you Jonny sucked off half the people in rock that are about our age?"
"What? I thought he was closer to 75%" Thom said in a mock surprised tone. Colin let out a short laugh, glad to see that Thom was doing his best to lighten things up.
"I'm really sorry. Thom is a great fuck, but I've always liked you, I promise..."
Thom chuckled and sat on Ed's lap, throwing his arms around Ed's neck.
"Now I can be your slut too if you want to get back at Coz" he said playfully, obscenely licking his upper lip with the tip of his tongue. Ed couldn't help but smile at this.
"That won't be necessary, but thanks anyway. Keep that kiss for Jonny, yeah?"
"Yeah, Jonny... or anyone else the slut Colin says I am will feel like doing."
"Good," Colin beamed. "Now that we've got that settled. Erm, Thom...mind if I have a word with Edward?"
Thom stared blankly at the two of them and Colin's eyebrows raised. "Alone?"
"Huh?" Thom blinked. "Oh, yeah. Sure Coz, I'll erm, just go back inside I guess." and he waved to them both, turning on his heels and heading back towards the house, unable to avoid hearing a dangerous growl escape a throat and the sound of bodies tumbling over a fallen log.

***

Nigel had just managed to calm everyone down when the back door flew open and in stepped Thom. He let out a sigh, glancing at Jonny, who's eyes were still red from crying. "Well, there goes all that, then."
"I'm fine, Nigel. Thank you." Jonny sniffed, pulling his knees up under his chin. "Where's Cozzie?"
"Erm," Thom looked around a the group of them. "He and Ed are...talking...in the woods."
Phil arched an eyebrow. "Talking..."
"Yeah."
"In the woods..."
"Yep. Having a chit-chat in the old woods." Thom nodded. "Anyway, do you guys mind? I have to speak with Jonny."
From his angle on the chair, Jonny couldn't see that Thom was holding something behind his back. Stanley, however, noticed and left the room immediately. With a shrug, the others followed and the two were left alone. Cautiously, Thom moved away from the door, attempting to keep the object concealed until he was standing infront of his friend, who looked away angrily.
"Jon, please. I bought you something. It's your Christmas present."
"I don't want it."
"Yes, you do."
His brow furrowed, though he still wasn't looking at Thom. "How dare you think that you can just buy my forgiveness. I don't want it."
Thom plucked one of it's strings from behind his back and could almost see Jonny perk up at the noise, so he did it again. "Are you suuuure, Jonny?"
"Yes." he said, though Thom was unconvinced.
"Are you positive?"
"Uhm..."
Grinning, Thom held the instrument out infront of him and Jonny finally turned his attention towards him.
The banjo he was holding looked expensive, and of the best quality. It was hard to resist when Thom had such an argument. He was grinning at Jonny, highly amused to see him struggling not to reach out and seize the instrument. Jonny finally folded his arms and tucked his hands under his armpits.
"Take it back where you found it. I said I didn't want it" Jonny snapped impatiently.
"Listen, Jonny, don't do that, I'm sorry. Please. I wish nothing had happened."
"You're always sorry..." he hissed. He got up, ready to leave.
"I mean it; and to prove you how sorry I am, I'm ready to..." he breathed in deeply before carrying on "to let you play it on our next record."
Jonny knew how much it cost to Thom to give in, and he softened immediately. He gave the offer the thought it needed.
"The permission to play the banjo in exchange for my forgiveness?"
"Well, yeah, basically that's it..."
"Agreed." Jonny smiled, taking the instrument from Thom's hands and putting it down on the chair he had just vacated. He extended his hand but instead of a handshake, Thom pulled Jonny towards him. He leaned in and, standing on tiptoe, placed his lips gently against Jonny's full ones, savouring their softness and the warmness of Jonny's breath.

***

Meanwhile, in the woods, Ed and Colin weren't talking anymore. For the first time they had managed to speak to each other directly. Awkwardly at first, but it had not lasted long. Colin was now sitting on Ed's lap with his back pressed against his chest. Ed's arms were wound around Colin's waist and he was nibbling at the delicate skin of his neck. Colin's eyes were closed, and his head was tilted to allow Ed a better access; he could have stayed like this forever. However, he couldn't help but worry about his brother.
"Hey"
"Mmm? What is it, Cozzie? You want me to stop?" Ed whispered against Colin's neck.
"Jesus no," Colin sighed "But I think we should go back inside and check on Thom and Jonny... before Jonny threatens to leave the band, too."
Ed gently bit Colin's neck one last time and pulled away.
"I guess you're right. Let's go." he agreed, getting up.
He put his arm around Colin's shoulders and they started walking back to the house slowly.
"You know, Ed..."
"Yeah...?"
"I haven't visited the first floor of this house yet. So if Thom and Jonny are fine - or at least, not killing each other - how about taking a look at the bedrooms upstairs?" Colin said, glancing mischievously at Ed.
"Sounds like the best plan ever to me." Ed replied, grinning. "Thom and Jonny should better not be fighting..."
They heard a loud shriek as they approached the back door of the house and Colin sighed. "Damnit, why can't everyone just get along?" When they stepped inside, Jonny had pinned a giggling Thom to the floor and was tickling him everywhere he could reach. He looked up when his brother and Ed entered, cheeks blushing.
"Er, hi." he said and Colin blinked, surprised.
"Oh, so...you guys aren't fighting, then?"
"Yes!" Thom gasped, out of breath. "Get him off me! Jonny, your knees are boneyOW!"
"Say it!" Jonny leaned over, growling.
"Never!"
Gently, Ed nudged Colin away from the scene and the two of them vacated the room, hearing Thom wheeze out "The banjo is the great - Jonny, I caaantOUCH, stop pinching me!" They climbed the stairs up to the first level and Colin tugged Ed into the first bedroom he saw, pinning him against the door to shut it and reached up, pressing his lips against his neck.
"Cozzie, this room is full of boxes."
"We'll make a fort later, Ed. Right now I don't care so kiss me, damnit!" he pulled backwards, past the piles of boxes and stumbled onto the bed against the far wall, Ed toppling down ontop of him and planting kisses over his face.
"It even smells like boxes," he muttered around Colin's lips and felt teeth bite down gently.
"If you don't shut up about boxes I'm going to blindfold you."
Ed grinned mischievously at this. "This one time, I found a box in an alley-way..."

***

"Okay, now saaaaay, 'I am Thom Yorke and IIIII...uhm...smell like cheese'."
"Jonny - "
"Thom, you don't want me to leave the band, do you?" Jonny asked, pulling off his best wounded-puppy-dog look. Thom sighed.
"I am Thom Yorke, and I smell...like cheese."
Jonny broke into a fit of giggles and Thom sat up off the floor, glaring at him. "This could be considered abuse, you know."
"I'll make it up to you." Jonny smiled, leaning in to kiss him when Nigel stomped into the room shouting "You're all a bunch of whores!" He picked up his glass from off the table, holding it out. "I forgot this." and with that he stamped back out of the room muttering under his breath.
"He's just jealous." Jonny whispered.
Thom nodded. "Yeah, and he's going bald."
"Oh, that reminds me." Jonny sat up again, looking down at him. "If you want me to stay in the band, the beard has to go."
Thom ran his hand over the hair on his chin, eyes on the verge of watering. "M-my beard?"
"Yes." Jonny nodded. "All of it. You look like a hobo, Thom."
"I thought it was sexy!"
Jonny visibly shuddered. "Stubble is sexy, we can all deal with stubble. But...not the hobo-beard."
Thom sighed, wiggling his way out from under Jonny, who still had him pinned to the floor, and made his way into the bathroom, the other following him. Once inside, he pulled open a drawer and fished out a package labeled "emergency razor".
"Can I be alone, Jon? Please?" he asked, glancing over to his friend who nodded, stepping back into the hallway and shutting the door behind him.
"Well, it's been fun." Thom said to his reflection. "Guess it's good-bye, then."

***

They lay on their backs, eyes glancing up towards the ceiling and contended sighs escaping their lips. After a few moments of allowing themselves to calm down, Colin came up with an idea and lazily smacked Ed's thigh.
"What was that for?" he asked, pulling the t-shirt that had acted as a blindfold away from his eyes.
"You should roll us a joint." Colin said, stretching. Ed got off the bed and pulled on his jeans. "Where are you going?"
"I have a better idea." he said with a grin. "Wait here."
Darting down the stairs, he almost hit the wall on the opposite side, right where Jonny was sitting, staring at the bathroom door. Ed blinked and Jonny smiled, whispering. "Thom's shaving."
"Really?"
Jonny nodded, grinning. "What should I have him do next?"
"I don't know, I'm sure you can come up with something good." Ed shrugged, moving his way towards the back door to put on his boots. He couldn't wait to see the look on Colin's face when he handed him the rainbow bong.

When he came back from fetching Colin's present from his car, Jonny was still leaning against the wall, staring at the bathroom door as if it were going to explode open at any second. Rolling his eyes, Ed climbed up the stairs and burst into the bedroom. Colin was still lying on the bed, humming loudly and moving his feet to the beat of the song in his head.
"Oh Coozzzieee!" Ed called and Colin looked up.
"What is it, Edddieeee?"
Ed thrust the rainbow bong forward and Colin's eyes lit up.
"Oh, Ed! You really did get me a rainbow bong!" he took it gently from his hands and stroked the sides of it affectionately. Ed blinked.
"What do you mean, 'I really did get you a rainbow bong'?"
Colin hesitated. "Erm, well...me and Jonny had this plan, see. I was going to talk to Thom and find out what he got for Jonny, and...Jonny was going to talk to you, to find out what you were getting for me."
Ed was silent, so Colin continued. "And, well...he told me that you got me this."
"Oh," Ed said, clueing in. "Well, do you like it, Cozzie?"
"I love it!" he grinned, leaning in to kiss Ed on the lips. "Now, get your weed and lets smoke a bowl!"

Downstairs, Jonny was just about fed up with waiting when the bathroom door creaked open and his heart leapt into his throat.
"Thommy?" he asked. "Are you done?"
"It looks weird, Jonny." said a voice behind the door. "It feels weird."
"Oh come on, Thom. I'm sure it looks fine, now come out from there."
The door opened further and out stepped a clean-shaven Thom, eyes averted to the floor. He heard a loud squeal of delight and Jonny flung himself at him, wrapping his arms around his neck and dropping kisses on his face. "You look ten years younger!"
"Ehhgh." he groaned.
"You're face is so smooth and soft now!"
"Ehhgh."
"Oh shut up, Thom." Jonny laughed, holding him close. "Now, uhm. You have to come upstairs and...wait out in the hallway while I get your present ready."
"You don't have to give it to me now," Thom said. He kept running his hand over his throat and chin.
"Don't you want to know what it is?" Jonny asked, slightly hurt.
Thom turned back to the bathroom and stood in front of the mirror. "I think I need a few minutes."

***

"Nachos"
"With lots of cheese"
"And bacon"
"Jalapeños"
"Salsa"
"Sour cream"
"I think it's your turn to go get food," Ed said. "I got the sundaes last time."
Colin lifted his head off Ed's chest and looked at up at him. "Your eyes are all bloodshot."
Ed laughed. He lifted his hand and slowly traced Colin's eyebrow. "So are yours." They both giggled. Colin kissed Ed's chest and pushed himself up. "I'll go make us some nachos."

Colin was busy in the kitchen. He had just decided that peanut butter would probably not be a good addition to the large plate of nachos he was working on when Thom walked in and stood next to Colin. Colin didn't look up and gave Thom a slight nod. It was a moment before Thom spoke.
"Cozzie, I think I've made a huge mistake."
"It's cool; we can just bleach all of your pink stuff back to white. You've just got to remember to double check your whites so that nothing red gets in, though."
"It's not my laundry."
Colin looked up Thom and focused on his chin. "It'll grow back," Colin told him. "Looks great though. Just give yourself some time to get used to it."
Thom self-consciously rubbed in chin. "It's not that."
Colin was confused.
Thom stepped into Colin and Colin could feel Thom hard against his leg. Thom whispered into Colin's ear: "I think I choose the wrong Greenwood. I don't want Jonny; I want you."
Colin was astonished. "Beg your pardon?" he said, taking a step back.
"You heard me. I'm making a mistake."
"Obviously; so now get rid of this hardon and go back to my brother so he can lick your shaven cheeks as much as he wants."
"Coz, it's exactly what I'm talking about! How can I be in love with someone who makes me shave when I don't want to?"
"Try to understand, he doesn't like hair too much."
"Who is he to talk? He has more hair than I have on his chest! The whole world could see that during thumbs_down!" Thom replied, rolling his eyes.
"Ask him to wax, then. What do I care? It's none of my business. Now, if you'll excuse me, Ed's waiting..."
Colin picked up the tray of food.
"No, wait," said Thom, snatching it from Colin's hands and setting it back on the table. "I'm not taking no for an answer. I've chosen, and it's you, full stop."
Colin frowned. "You should have said that when we were fucking in the bathroom; it was a rather appropriate moment, don't you think? But no, once again you decide to be selfish. Oh, yeah, let's get back together, woohoo! What do you think will happen? You just convinced Jonny to forgive you, and he is happy as fuck that you sorted things out. And so is Ed. Do you want to break their hearts again?"
Thom pouted. "I'm not going to ignore my feelings, now, am I?"
"I'm afraid we- you'll have to."
"You said 'we'."
"No I didn't."
"You want me back too."
"Look, Thom," Colin sighed. "Yes, you're sexy. Yes, I want to fuck you. Yes, I'll always have a thing for you considering all the... history we have. But I care about Ed, too. I care about my brother. And I care about the band. So I'm telling you no. We can't. It's not right, get it?"
"They don't need to know." Thom stated coldly. With that he pushed Colin against the nearest wall, pinning Colin's wrists above his head. He crashed his lips onto his and forced his tongue inside Colin's mouth. Thom started grinding into Colin, and to his satisfaction he felt Colin getting hard against him, in spite of his determination to reject Thom.
Thom let one of Colin's wrists go so he could work at getting Colin's trousers off for the second time that day. Colin used his newfound freedom to push Thom back a few steps.
"Thom, no!" Colin said forcefully. "After years and years, we're both about to finally going to be with the people of our dreams. We should try to not fuck it up for once."
"But I want to be with you."
Colin sighed. "No, you don't. We worked when we were young because we were just fooling around and it didn't mean anything. But you've got to face that we're adults now."
"Things were much simpler back then."
"You've fought a long time for Jonny, don't give up now just as everything's about to be great."
"I know. I do love him."
"Then let's not fuck this up."
They heard Ed's voice from the corner of the kitchen: "Are you two quite done?"
Colin and Thom sprang apart and turned towards the voices. Ed was leaning against the door frame and Jonny was standing next to him, a wrapped gift in hand.
"Here's your present, Thom," Jonny said, holding the gift out. "If you still want it."
Thom walked towards Jonny and wrapped him in a huge hug. "I'm a screw up. But I do love you and want to be with you."
"You are a screw up and that's why I want to be with you," Jonny laughed into Thom's hair. They pulled back from each other and Thom took the gift from Jonny's hands.
"What did you get me?" he asked.
"Open it!" Jonny said.
Thom opened the gift and lifted the lid off the box. Inside were a week's worth of boxers, with Thom's initials embroidered on each pair.
Jonny was grinning. "This way, there won't be any other underwear mix ups."
Thom laughed. "I don't know, it's a strange path, but sometimes finding someone else's boxes when doing the laundry can lead to someplace very good."
"That might be true in this case, but I never want to go through this again," Jonny said, leaning over to kiss Thom's cheek.