All My Heart

5th November 1999
Weybridge, Surrey

Dan jutted his bottom lip out as they entered the familiar house. He hadn't seen his new best friend in a couple of weeks, and he didn't know why. He really wanted to play football with her, like their mothers had promised they would be able to do the next time they saw each other, but the 'next time' never came.

Two weeks was a really long time, compared to how they saw each other almost every other day since they became friends.

"Where's Ari?" He asked, a cute frown still on the ten-year-old's face.

"She's in her room. Go on ahead, sweetheart." Natalia, Aria's mother, smiled patting the boy's head before beckoning for Dan's mother to enter the kitchen while telling his father to make himself at home - which he did, by turning on a game.

Dan couldn't be bothered with what his sister was going to do, so he ran over to Aria's room, his lips curled up into a large, excited grin. He knocked once before he swung the door open, startling the younger girl, who was drawing something on a piece of drawing block.

"Ari!" He exclaimed, moving forward with outstretched arms so that he could give her a bear hug.

But instead of having her run into his arms like always, she shook her head; eyes wide and scared. Dan's arms dropped and he looked confused, instead.

Why wouldn't she want to hug him?

"Ari?" He questioned softly, a frown set on his boyish face.

"Go away." She mumbled, shaking her head as she jumped onto her bed, tugging her duvet over her head.

"Ari?" Dan tried again.

"No." She mumbled, her voice muffled. Dan moved closer so that he could hear her better. "You'll be mean like the other boys at school."

Dan frowned even deeper. "Why would someone be mean to you?"

"I don't know. But there were boys who were mean to me and you're a boy and you're gonna be mean!" She almost cried out, her small hands clenching the duvet.

Dan sat cross-legged on the floor next to her bed. He merely looked at her -- well, her body that was hiding under covers. Aria peeked at him, immediately covering herself again.

"Go away or I'll tell Mummy."

"I'm not mean." He said softly. "Am I?" He asked, his voice sad now.

She mumbled an unclear "I don't know" and he sighed softly.

"I'm not mean, Ari. I'm your best friend."

Aria peeked out a him again, her eyes a little scared. "You're not going to throw stuff at me?"

Dan frowned, shaking his head vigorously. "Never. Not all boys are the same, Ari."

***

"You know..." Aria started, glancing at Dan from the passenger seat of his car. "You were a pretty wise ten-year-old, I'll give you that."

Dan let out a hearty laugh, looking at her quickly to give her a smug grin. "I know I was, thanks."

They were on the way to Aria's university, merely because she figured that she couldn't miss anymore lectures. She'd already spent the past five days at home, and although Dan insisted that she stay home for another couple of days or so, she knew that she would have too much to catch up on if she did so.

So Dan opted for the next best thing, he sent her to school. She'd insisted that she was fine driving herself but he stubbornly refused, saying that he was going to send her and pick her up, no matter what she said.

Oh and he also took her motorcycle keys; so that made her probably plot out his murder.

"If you want me to pick you up, just give me a call, yeah?"

"I'll be fine."

"Just, promise me." Dan grabbed hand gently before she could exit the vehicle.

"I promise, Dan. I'll be fine." She smiled, leaning in to gently sponge a kiss to his cheek, and then getting out of his car.

It wasn't hard to see that she was nervous. Well, maybe it was - to outsiders. But to Dan, it was so easy. He knew her like the back of his hand. He knew how she secretly adored Justin Bieber. He knew that she'd start twirling the ends of her hair if she was nervous. He knew that she had different smiles, and the meaning behind each smile.

There was the normal smile that was used for the cameras when she modelled -- which reminded him, he had to cancel her next few shoots. There was no fucking way he was letting her model while in the state that she was. Sure, her bruises were slowly disappearing, but she was still cautious around men that weren't Dan or his band mates.

The next smile was one where her eyes crinkled at the corners because of how large her smile was. That smile was when something genuinely amused her and the only laughter that could escape her were silent ones.

There was the smile where she bit down on her bottom lip and then released it, smiling softly. It was the type of smile that she'd used when she wanted something. Pair that with her class A puppy dog eyes and she'd have any man at her feet.

The last smile was the lopsided one, where a certain spark would be present in her bright eyes. That smile... That was his favourite smile. He was almost certain that nobody but him got to see that smile.

Dan sighed as he pulled away from the school, driving towards a local diner that he'd made plans to meet with an old friend. The diner was nice and simple - kind of like some of the ones you'd see in movies. But he absolutely adored the place, for they served the best food that he'd ever eaten.

He and Aria came to the diner every Sunday morning, without fail, to grab pancakes, bacon and hashbrowns for breakfast since they stumbled upon the place when he was about sixteen and she was thirteen. Even when Dan was on tour, he'd call her up and they'd video chat, both of them eating varied breakfast as they chatted about what was going on with their lives.

Dan pushed open the glass door, smiling as he spotted one of his oldest friends, decked out in a crew neck and a beanie; hiding the array of tattoos he had on his arms. Oli grinned back at him, getting to his feet to pull the other male into a one-armed hug.

"Where's Ari?" Oli immediately asked, frowning slightly in confusion.

Dan and Aria. Aria and Dan. One literally could not say the first name without adding the second.

Dan blew out a breath, pulling off his snapback and messing up his already-messy brown locks. He waved over a waiter, ordering a coffee, before he turned back to Oli, who's face was already showing worry.

Why wouldn't he be worried? One of his close friends was without his other half, and he looked so uneasy and angry about something.

"So you know about that jerk that Ari was dating right?" Dan started, earning a nod from the other male.

"They finally break up?" He smiled hopefully. Even Oli knew that Dan was in love with Aria. A blind man could see that.

"Yeah, but..." He trailed off as a coffee was set in front of him. Thanking her, he took a gulp and winced as the hot liquid hit the back of his throat. Looking at Oli again, he proceeded to tell Oli everything.

And by that, he literally meant everything, from the attack, to the drive, to Dan's hitting of the guy, to Dan realising that he was in love with her. He hadn't even told Josh and them yet, for the simple reason that he just wanted to talk to someone else. The thing was... The guys knew that Dan was still angry and blaming himself over what had happened. They also knew that he was being just slightly - okay, very - overprotective over Aria, so they treaded on eggshells when they spoke to him. He just wanted to let it all out to someone who didn't know about what had happened and since Oli was in the area and had called up for a meal with him; Oli was the perfect candidate.

Oli's fists were clenched on the table and his eyes were alit with fury once Dan had spoken about how James had attacked Aria.

He'd consider her a dear friend, especially since he realised how much she meant to Dan. So knowing that something like that happened to sweet and beautiful Aria... That was just unacceptable.

"Did you at least give him a broken nose?" He finally asked after moments of silence, probably trying to absorb what Dan had just told him.

Dan managed a half smile. "It was bleeding pretty badly and I reckon I cut his lip, too." He shrugged, though his voice was laced with smugness.

Oli laughed, nudging Dan on the shoulder gently. "That's my boy." He grinned, before his voice turned solemn once more. "Is Ari okay?"

"You know Ari." He shrugged half-heartedly. "She pretends that she's okay when she's really not. Her mask is so good that even I have trouble looking beneath it sometimes."

"She'll be okay. She went to school today, didn't she?" Oli tried, smiling encouragingly. "It'll take time but she'll be the old Ari in no time."

Dan smiled back at him half-heartedly. "I just..." He sighed. "I just want her to be okay. She means too much to me for me to be able to lose her."