All My Heart

31st March 2010
Weybridge, Surrey

Dan felt the corner of his lips turn up slightly as he heard soft footsteps outside his room. He didn't even bother with opening his eyes as his bedroom door was slowly pushed open. Hushed voices started taking from the doorway of his bedroom; then there was a scoff and something landing on his back. More of a someone rather than a something.

He let out a weird cross between a groan of pain and a laugh, and though he wanted to stay asleep – he opened his eyes anyway, blindly reaching out behind him to swat at whatever was on his back. He had a feeling that it was a human being, and he was right, so the said human being got shoved off of his back to land on the bed next to him as she let out a single laugh, socking him in the shoulder playfully.

Dan diverted his eyes over to her, pouting his bottom lip and Aria merely gave him a shit-eating grin that made him scoff.

"Happy day of birth, old man," she grinned.

He scoffed again, rolling his eyes as he buried his face back into his pillow. "'M not old," he mumbled.

"You're 21. That's old as shit," she teased, laughter following her statement from herself and the other people in his bedroom. Aria poked at his shoulder. "Get up. You have people staring at you."

Dan peeked over his shoulder, smiling sleepily at the sight of his mum, his sister and her mum. And though he smiled, his heart clenched at the thought that his father wasn't around anymore.

"Come on," she whined, making him look at her again – an adorable half smile on the younger's face. "Go have a look at your bloody cake."

"If it's bloody then I don't want it," he sassed, making her scoff.

She knew. He knew that she knew. That was why she was trying so hard to get him out of bed, to celebrate his 21st. She'd been nothing but amazing since January, and even though the Flints had slowly moved on and were still sort of healing themselves, they were all still missing a vital part of their lives.

There were days when Dan would refuse to get out of bed, because a sudden wave of depression had hit him – he would never see his father again. His father would never see him play a sold-out show at some big arena. His father would never see him married (if he ever did get married), or have kids, or see Sarah get married and have kids.

Those were the days that Aria was always there for him – telling him that he was proud of him. So proud of him. And that he was watching from wherever he was. And that he was probably rocking out with John Lennon, and Michael Jackson, and whoever else he'd liked as musicians.

Dan would smile and know that she was right, thus forcing himself to feel better. To stop feeling so down, because he had his mum and sister to take care of. But if he ever fell apart again, he knew that Aria would be there for him, and for that: he was eternally grateful.

It wasn't like he didn't have any other friends. He still had the other You Me At Six guys, and Oli (Sykes from Bring Me The Horizon), and plenty of other mates who were all ready to give him a shoulder to cry on, but Aria was just the one that he didn't feel a need to put up a strong front for. Whilst with the others, he would paint on a tiny smile and tell them that he was fine, lie through his teeth, even if he was anything but.

Aria was the only one who was able to keep him sane, while keeping herself sane.

He looked at her pleading eyes, quickly glancing over at the foot of his bed, and he smiled with a small nod. "Morning," he mumbled out as he sat up, rubbing at his eyes and then messing up his head of bright bleached blonde head. Dan smiled over at the three other women in his room, "Thank you," he referred to the cake in their hands.

"Happy birthday!" They chorused in unison, handing him the cake once Sarah had brought a lighter to the candle.

Dan let out a small laugh of amusement as he looked at the cake, lifting it up and bringing it closer to his face to look at it. There was a drum kit on top of the white cake and the number 21 written in icing on the front of the bass drum. The words 'Happy Birthday, Dan!' were also in icing, written on the cake itself.

They finished singing then and he turned to look at them, smiling at them all appreciatively. "Thank you," he spoke genuinely. "Really..." He turned to Aria, "Thank you."

"You're welcome," she smiled softly back at him – knowing that he wasn't just thanking her and the other women for the cake. He was thanking him for something much more than that. "Well... What are you waiting for? Blow your candles out!" She laughed, gesturing to the candle.

Dan let out a single laugh, shaking his head as he blew on the lit candles, smiling awkwardly when they clapped and cheered. He offered the cake back to his mum and she took it back with a small laugh.

"We've got family coming over later. Around lunch, so you can go out at night." She said to her son, bringing a hand to his head and then kissing him on the forehead. "Happy birthday, my love."

"Thanks, mum," he mumbled, hugging her waist.

His sister did the same thing, and so did Aria's mum, and then they were out of the room. Aria made a move to get out, too, but Dan pulled on her wrist, tugging her back onto his bed. She let out a small squeal which later turned into a laugh as he moved an arm over her and pinned her to the bed by resting half of his body on top of hers.

"What do you want to do today, birthday boy?"

Dan hummed, shrugging his shoulders. "I'll probably go to the pub or something later, with the boys. You're coming with." He said, not even bothering to ask if she was coming.

She laughed, "Of course, your majesty," she mocked and he breathed a chuckle, rolling off of her.

"But for now... I just wanna cuddle," he spoke as he wrapped his arms around her waist and tugged her into him.

And so they did just that – till his relatives came over for a birthday lunch/gathering/excuse to come over and gossip about everything. Dan and Aria cuddled each other, talking about nothing and everything, having laughs and endless banter the entire late morning. And honestly, in that moment, just with her and nothing else – Dan had never felt more content with life.

***

3rd May 2013
Chicago, IL
4.58 PM

Aria awoke to the feel of someone placing soft kisses all over her skin, playfully nipping at her collarbone, fingers tracing small shapes against her naked skin. She let out a small groan as she arched her back – stretching herself out – and the person stilled before they continued their kisses on her skin. Only the kisses trailed from her collarbone, to her neck, to her cheek, then to her ear.

"Good afternoon, beautiful," he mumbled into her ear, before his lips trailed across her face, to land themselves on her lips.

She smiled into the kiss but she pulled away, pushing at his chest. Aria cracked open her eyes at the mock offended look he had on his face, instantly making her let out a breathy chuckle. Dan smiled then, bringing his head down to nudge his forehead against her own.

"You okay?" He asked softly, hands going to rest at her hips. His calloused thumb ran small circles on her smooth skin and he swore he felt her shiver a bit.

"M'fine," she mumbled in reply before she backtracked, smiling up at him. "I'm good. I'm really, really good."

"Good," he echoed, a smile coming unto his lips as well. "I'm glad."

"What time is it?" Aria asked then, slowly pulling herself up, only to have Dan pull her back down onto her chest – the girl landing on him with a small squeal that instantly made him grin. "Idiot," she mumbled through laughter, gently smacking his bare chest with her hand. "Don't you have a show to play?"

Dan nodded once, lips pursed. He reached out to grab his phone, clicking on the home button. They played at six, so he had time. He turned his attention back to the girl before him then as he chucked his phone onto the ground. His arms tightened around her waist as she nuzzled his neck with her nose, earning a sigh of content from the elder.

"I love you, you know," he whispered into her ear. "I really do. So much."

"I know," she mumbled back in response. "I love you, too. I really do," she echoed.

"I've been waiting so long for this," Dan spoke under his breath; as though he was talking to himself rather than to the girl he currently held in his arms.

Aria brought her head up, peering up at him through her long eyelashes. Her arms were folded on his toned chest and she rested her chin against them, looking at the bloke. "How long?" She dared to asked, blinking her big, beautiful eyes.

"So long," he said simply, a small grin making its way onto his face. "I think I've always been in love with you. I was just too... scared to admit it to myself. Everyone told me I was in love with you, but I basically told them to fuck off and mind their own business," Dan laughed lightly, Aria following suit not long after.

"Sounds like something you'd do, yeah," Aria agreed, smiling at him with that damn twinkle in her eyes that made him weak in the knees. It was ridiculous – how much power she had over him, and she didn't even know it. "But honestly."

"What?"

"Let me go," she deadpanned and he pouted his bottom lip. "You 'ave a bloody rock concert to play in... I'm gonna take a guess and say two hours."

"One, actually."

Her jaw dropped the slightest bit before she scoffed, pushing herself off of him. "Go get dressed."

"Bossy," Dan mumbled playfully as he propped himself up on his elbows, letting his eyes shamelessly roam her bare body before she turned so that her back was against him whilst she pulled on her undergarments. He dropped his elbows, laying back down on the sofa, "Why do I have to get up now?" He groaned, rubbing at his eyes.

"Love-bites, mate. Unless you want everyone to know about... you know..." she trailed off awkwardly, a faint pink coming to her cheeks as Dan smirked, raising an eyebrow, silently edging her on. Aria rolled her eyes then, "Go shower, get dressed, then come back here."

The elder's smirk only widened, "But babe. Why wouldn't I want people to know?"

She shook her head, "Nuh uh. You're not doing this to me. I'm not putting myself through the embarrassment."

"Embarrassment?" He echoed with a short laugh as she pulled on the top she was wearing earlier, completely disregarding the shorts; wagging a finger in his direction. "Whatever do you mean?" He mocked.

Aria rolled her eyes, "I've been friends with you lot long enough to know what's going to happen. I'm never going to hear the end of it, and tour isn't over yet, so I don't really fancy going through the teasing for the next two weeks, or something. Now, if you'd do me a favour?"

"Hmm?"

"Piss off," Aria narrowed her eyes over at him and Dan burst out into joyous laughter, throwing his head back as he did so – revealing the bruises created by the girl, herself, on his neck and collarbone even more. She chuckled, shaking her head, "I need a shower."

"Hey," Dan called out before she could walk away. She turned, raising a brow. "C'mere," he beckoned, a soft smile coming unto his lips. She did as he'd asked, eyebrow still raised though her face immediately relaxed as Dan pulled her in closer and latched onto her upper lip with both of his, revelling in the softness of her lips. "God, I'm never going to get used to that."

-----

Dan couldn't keep his eyes off of her. More than usual. Under normal circumstance, he wouldn't be able to tear his eyes away from her, anyway. But it was different this time.

It was different because... He did it. He finally did it. And she felt the same way.

And god dammit, Dan was entitled to being a fucking ray of sunshine.

She was stood side-stage, as she almost always was, and standing next to Rian (God bless Rian Dawson, honestly) and she was standing there looking so bloody perfect. Aria had always been able to look bloody perfect, even under the most humid and sweltering weather, and Dan didn't know if he should hate or love her for it. Bit of both, really. Hate, because then even more blokes would be looking at her. Love, because... Aria McAllister. That's it. There was no other reason to love her other than that she was her and he was completely and utterly in love with her.

She was in a printed dress that had made all the You Me At Six guys grin upon seeing it. They were all massive fans of Marvel and the dress that she was in had the cartoon prints of the Avengers all over the dress. Dan just grinned because one would assume that a dress like such wouldn't look as good on a human body as it did a mannequin, but Aria made it work.

And she was goddamn beautiful. That probably played a part, too.

When they finished their last song, the Englishmen were making their way off of the stage for Mayday Parade to go on. Although they were all sweaty, they all made sure to pull Aria into hugs and she didn't even fight back, since she knew her attempts would be fruitless. They'd just chase her around till they got to hug the younger whilst clad in their drenched-in-perspiration tops with sweat lining their arms and everywhere else, basically. She'd been touring with them since the start, she knew they wouldn't give up till they caused her some discomfort.

The drummer was the last to get off stage, and when he finally had Aria in his proper line of sight, he made his way straight over to her. The rest of the band were still there, making idle conversation with Rian and Aria while dabbing at their foreheads with towels and chugging down water bottle after water bottle. But Dan didn't give a shit; all he wanted and all he needed in that moment was Aria.

So he went and got what he wanted/needed. He strode up right to her, a strong (and sweaty) arm slipping around her waist and barely giving her any time to prepare herself as he spun her so that they were chest-to-chest, then he was kissing her so gently but so passionately, holding her like he was a man drifting out into the open sea and she was the only thing keeping him afloat. Everything else around them faded into a void of nothingness and they were the only two there. Her in his arms – where she always meant to be.

The overpowering need to take in oxygen eventually made them break apart, foreheads touching against each other as their breathing patterns dragged out longer and heavier than normal.

"Well," Josh's voice brought them out of their little bubble making them both turn to glance at him though their heads were still close. Aria's cheeks were flushed pink and Dan was just grinning like a mad man. The rest of the band and the man who'd ultimately convinced Dan that it was better to tell Aria that he was in love with her before it was too late, were looking at the couple – all with massive grins on their faces.

"What?" The two asked in unison, glancing at each other with tiny, amused smiles before turning back to the group.

"It's about bloody time that happened."