FIC: Watch Things on VCRs, G, Tom & Bill, 1/1
Title: Watch Things on VCRs
Author: ???
Pairing(s): None
Rating: G
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: Not my twins but I did the writing in between.
Summary: Tom digs out some old videos of the twins’ previous birthday celebrations.
FQF Prompt: 119. Twins are watching videos from all their past birthdays. Humour, cuddles, anything you want, but nothing sexual Submitted by zuzana899
Author's notes: Thank you so much to hexenhasel for the speedy beta, so much appreciated. I hope you all enjoy!
“What about a pool party?” Bill bit the end of his pen and frowned down at the piece of paper on the kitchen counter.
The lined paper was covered in his messy scrawl, with crossed out ideas and triple question- marked suggestions. Turning twenty-four wasn’t something he considered a milestone but the idea of not celebrating irked him. Although he and Tom left behind the big parties of their teenage years, instead trading a birthday special article in Bravo for quiet nights in with their close friends and families, Bill still wanted to mark the occasion. There would be no paparazzi but perhaps they’d post a candid shot or two on twitter for the fans.
Bill smiled. They would probably get cyber-mauled if photos of a pool party surfaced.
It was then he realised that Tom hadn’t yet volunteered an answer. He looked up, wondering what was distracting his twin.
“Damnit, Tom,” Bill muttered.
Tom wasn’t even in the room. Bill considered bellowing after his twin, but he didn’t want to wake the pups and besides, he was in a reasonably peaceful mood. Today was sunny and warm, the perfect day to spend lolling around the house with his twin and a blank agenda. Of course, the day wasn’t really theirs; they’d get a call from David before the sun set and no doubt Ria would drop by.
Bill sighed, swinging his legs around to hop to the ground, ready to hunt down his brother.
He padded out into their entrance hall and poked his head around the door to their tiny studio. A quick sweep of the area only presented Bill with a still quiet which meant Tom was elsewhere. He departed, drifting off to the other end of the house.
He found Tom in the living room, sitting cross legged on the carpet, with an array of silver discs scattered around him.
“What are you doing?” Bill’s brow dipped in confusion. The DVDs were all blank, nothing distinguishing one from the next. Even so, Tom seemed to be flipping through them with purpose, a slight dopey grin splitting his features.
Bill smiled, too, pleased to join in with whatever was making Tom happy.
“Look what I found,” Tom gestured grandly over the silver discs and looked up to catch Bill’s eye with a wider grin.
“What are they?” Bill knelt down next to Tom, leaning slightly against his twin and picking up a DVD.
“Our birthday videos, well, DVDs,” Tom looked at Bill. “I thought they might have been lost during the move but I found them the other day when I was looking for one of your jackets.”
Bill rolled his eyes. “And you said you’d never be caught dead in what I wear.”
Tom pinked. “It’s a nice jacket.”
Bill laughed. “I know; I chose it, remember?
Tom chuckled and knocked his shoulder into Bill’s. “Whatever. Anyway, they’re all here... pretty much. Mom probably has a couple at home.”
“Have you watched any?” Bill was now curious and began rifling through the unmarked discs. He wondered how Tom knew which one was which but soon realised that there were a series of small, black numbers on the edge of each one; a date.
“Nope,” Tom shook his head. “I was waiting for you.”
“I was busy planning our birthday, you know,” Bill said, snatching the disc Tom held and inspecting the date. “September, two thousand two.”
“We were thirteen,” Tom supplied, leaning back on the heels of his hands.
“Thanks, genius,” Bill raised his eyes to the ceiling but grinned and arose, moving to insert the DVD into their DVD player.
“What did we do for our thirteenth?” Tom asked and leaned back at the foot of their sofa. “It was before Tokio Hotel, kind of. Before we were famous, at least.”
Bill settled down beside Tom, pressing their arms together and pushed the play button on the remote.
The huge screen of their television was suddenly filled with a grainy image of Bill’s face, fresh, smiling and almost make-up free bar a smudge of eye liner under each eye and the barest bit of mascara.
“Aw,” Tom cooed and Bill nudged him with his foot in reprimand.
Then the shot was on Tom as the camera swung round. From what Bill could tell they were standing on a street corner and it was at night, an orange glow of a street lamp the only light. They were chattering to their friends off camera when someone shouted Tom’s name followed by something barely audible. Tom laughed and swore at whoever had shouted then called to Bill who appeared in-shot again as Tom held the camera at arm’s length to get both of their faces on screen.
“Nice camera work,” Bill chuckled as thirteen year old Tom’s arm jerked around, producing a haphazard image of the two of them.
“Where are we?” Bill wondered aloud, turning up the volume slightly. Tom snatched the remote and fast forwarded to something that looked more exciting than a blurry image of their friends in the dark.
Suddenly, Tom laughed and then whooped, grabbing Bill’s hands.
“What are you-?”
But Tom was gently turning Bill’s palm round until it was resting open against Tom’s own.
“Remember,” Tom said softly, tracing a finger over the tiny black bump in Bill’s palm and smiling fondly.
Realisation dawned on Bill and he raised his head to look back at the screen, his hand still cradled by Tom’s two. He watched as one of their friends focused the camera on a chain link fence as a thin frame clothed in baggy jeans and a hoodie shimmied up lithely.
“Careful, Tom!” Bill was only half warning his brother. He flicked a cautious glance over one shoulder to check for any real danger. Bill knew Tom wouldn’t fall; it was their crazy neighbours catching them that worried him, and not because they’d do anything Bill cared about, but because they’d tell Simone.
“Stop checking for zombies. Are you coming or not?” Tom prodded a finger through the metal into Bill’s shoulder blade.
“Fuck off, I don’t wanna get caught,” Bill defended quickly.
“Who cares?” Tom shrugged. “It’s our birthday, we can do what we want.”
Bill rolled his eyes.
“Fucking hurry up, Bill.” Andreas shoved him from behind and Bill fell gracelessly into the fence.
“Fucking shut up,” Bill mimicked his friend’s voice. Now or never he supposed, and he threaded his fingers through the chain links, tugging his body up almost as easily as Tom had. They’d done it a thousand times before so it wasn’t like anything would-
“Crap- ack!” Bill yelped as his foot got stuck at the top. He wobbled at the top of the fence, trying to regain his balance but his foot was too tangled and his wind-milling hands did nothing to stop his body as he tumbled to the ground.
“Oof!” Bill hit the floor with a heavy thud and groaned, rolling onto his back to stare at the starry sky. His body ached with the impact but Bill couldn’t feel any critical damage. He just felt a bit dizzy.
“Shit, Bill, are you alright?”
Tom’s face loomed over him, slightly fuzzy at the edge.
“’M fine.”
“Your hand, though.” Tom tugged Bill up, setting him unsteadily on his feet again. The others were all howling with laughter but Bill ignored them. He didn’t really mind. If it had been one of them he knew he’d have been cracking up.
He winced, suddenly aware of a sharp pain in the palm of his hand.
“What are you doing?” Bill asked. Tom was hunched over, poking gently at Bill’s hand as though trying to scratch the surface.
“You have something... see?” He held Bill’s hand closer to their faces and Bill frowned, noticing a minute black pebble embedded right under his skin. The surrounding area was raised red and slightly bloody but it didn’t look life-threatening to him.
He shrugged and licked the wound.
“Eew!” Tom gagged. “You can’ do that!”
“I just did.” Bill flexed his fist. “Still working.”
Bill laughed at Tom’s wrinkled nose and looped an arm around his shoulders. “C’mon, I wanna swim.”
“Still there.” Tom massaged the skin around the tiny bump in Bill's hand carefully.
“I kind of forgot about it,” Bill said. “Then realised it was too late unless I wanted Mom to stick a needle in me.”
“I was worried,” Tom admitted softly.
Bill looked at his twin in surprise.” Worried?”
“When you fell. I mean, it was kinda far.”
“I’ve fallen further,” Bill said. “I’m made of strong stuff.” He flexed a bicep and Tom laughed, reaching forward to squeeze.
“Almost as strong as Hagen,” Tom said, giving Bill’s arm a playful shake.
Bill laughed, and then grabbed Tom’s hand to loop it over his shoulders as he leaned against his twin’s body. He smiled when he felt Tom tighten his grip.
“What else is there?” Bill asked.
It was bizarre, seeing such old footage of the two of them. They were accustomed to seeing their own faces staring back at them from a screen but the almost indecipherable video of Bill falling off a fence was something that had never been revealed to anyone but themselves. Bill’s smile broadened. It was so normal, just like any other home-vid from any other family.
By the time Bill had pulled himself from his reverie Tom had fitted in another DVD. This time it wasn’t the grainy quality of the previous recording but almost HD perfect.
He squealed, “Tom! It’s the theme park!”
“That was the fucking coolest,” Tom agreed and Bill could hear equal excitement in his twin’s voice. He tugged on a lock of Tom's hair then sat up on his knees.
“It was the best thing anyone ever did for me, you know.”
“It wasn’t all me,” Tom said. “David did most-pretty much all of it.”
“But it was your idea.” Bill looked at his twin fondly. “The things you do for me.”
“Speaking of,” Tom said, pinning Bill with a mock glare. “What are you getting me this year?”
Bill waved a hand and flopped back against Tom again. “All in due time... all in due time.”
They both returned their attention to the television and watched a particularly thrilled looking Bill bouncing around, a glass of champagne in his hand.
“Champagne, Tomi,” Bill said grandly.
Tom chuckled at his twin’s animation and turned up the volume.
“Which one next?” Bill was asking loudly. “I want to go on a really fast one.”
Tom watched as his brother bounded around on gazelle legs, his endless energy seeping into the systems of everyone around him.
Gustav was looking slightly green but other than that their whole party was having the time of their lives. Tom couldn’t help but feel a little bit smug; it had been his suggestion after all. He would have organised the whole trip if he’d been able to. At least, that’s what he told himself.
“Happy birthday.” Georg had sidled over to stand beside him, a glass of bubbly in his hand.
Tom grinned. “Thanks, man. Having fun?”
Georg nodded enthusiastically. “Hell yeah! I think Ana might give the next one a miss though.”
Tom glanced over to Georg’s girlfriend to see her perched delicately on a park bench looking frail.
Before he could make a move to console her someone had launched themselves at Tom, almost bowling him over. He steadied himself to find a Bill attached to his arm.
“Are you drunk already?” Tom teased.
Bill rolled his eyes. “Are you coming?”
“Where?”
“To the fastest ride in Europe,” Bill said like it was obvious. He tugged on Tom’s arm and Tom followed willingly.
“I was sick after that one,” Bill bemoaned.
Tom laughed, rubbing Bill’s shoulder affectionately. “I knew you were drunk.”
“I wasn’t!” Bill cried indignantly. “It was too fast.”
“Couldn’t hack it, unlike some,” Tom boasted puffing out his chest before reaching to put in another disc.
A thousand screams filled the room and Tom swore, immediately turning down the volume several notches.
“What the fuck.” Bill winced and tried to work out when they’d invited banshees to their party.
He squinted as a shot of himself was splashed across the screen.
“Damn, I looked so good,” Bill said, eyes widening at his former self. He’d almost forgotten how much painstaking effort he’d put into his appearance five years ago. His jet black hair was taken straight from a Japanese anime and his outfit was fit to serve a rock god which, Bill reminded himself, he was.
Tom snorted.
“It’s more than I can say for you,” Bill said derisively. “I can’t believe I let you go out like that for so long.”
Tom snorted even louder this time. “Let me?”
Bill knocked his shoulder into Tom’s. “I was humouring you until you worked out how to dress.”
Tom laughed and shoved Bill over onto the floor.
“Hey!” Bill scrambled to sit back up again, scooting forward away from his twin. “Fuck off or I’ll burn what you have left of those... rags.”
Tom gasped but knew it was an empty threat.
More screams filled the room and Bill cringed. “Turn it off, will you? I couldn’t hear properly for days after the Hamburg fan party.”
The screen blackened and this time it was Bill who selected a disc at random.
A frizzy haired Simone sat smiling at them. Tucked away in each of her arms was a small bundle with a fuzz of light hair.
“They’re missing their own birthday,” a low voice said off camera.
Tom and Bill looked at each other. It was their dad.
“Aw let them sleep,” Simone cooed softly. “They have their whole lives to enjoy getting older.”
Jorg grunted and the camera jostled a bit as he moved closer to perch beside Simone on the sofa of their childhood home. Gently, he reached his free hand round to stroke the crown of each of his son’s heads. They both stirred but did not wake.
“Happy first birthday, my boys,” Jorg whispered and Simone looked up at him, catching his eye lovingly before turning her attention back to her babies.
“I suppose he was never all bad,” Bill said, part bitterly, part wistfully.
“We should give him a call,” Tom suggested. He tried to keep it light but Bill could hear the underlying strain in his voice. Tom had always found it difficult to let his father go and Bill knew it killed his brother every time their dad tried making contact with them through the media.
“Maybe,” Bill replied quietly, knowing full well neither of them would.
“Next one,” Tom said gruffly and fit in another of the silver discs. When he sat back against the sofa Bill scooted close, wanting to comfort his twin. He nestled in close when Tom once again looped his arm over his shoulders.
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE LOSER TWINS, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOUUUUUUU!”
Bill and Tom coughed up a fit of laughter as Georg’s singing boomed around their living room. A camera was following Georg’s trek through their tour bus as he made his way with a cake and with Gustav in tow to where the twins were sleeping.
Georg reached the top bunk first and whipped back the curtain that cordoned off Tom’s bed from the rest of the bus.
A messy pile of dreadlocks was revealed but nothing else as the duvet bundled tightly around the elder twin.
“First birthday on the bus!” Georg yelled. “We’ve got big plans.”
Gustav reached down to pull back Bill’s curtain and almost recoiled as their lead singer loomed into view. He was sitting up in his bed looking absolutely livid, hair tousled into a black tangle and dark eyes made darker by a smudge of residue eye-liner. Waking Bill up was a risky business.
“Do you want some cake, Bill?” Georg asked, sitting himself down beside the youngest member.
“Do I look like I want cake?” He glowered at Georg, willing the bassist to retreat from his personal space before he got his claws out and caused some real damage.
Georg raised a curious eyebrow. “Is that a trick question?”
Tom groaned above them and two socked feet appeared in Bill’s face.
“Ew!” He swatted his twin's feet away and tried to roll back into a ball under the covers.
“Nuh-uh, none of that,” Georg said, all too cheerily and yanked at the duvet until Bill was completely exposed. “You can’t sleep away your birthday!”
“We can do what we want,” Tom said grouchily and Bill wholeheartedly agreed. He tugged on Tom’s foot again, softer this time and Tom slid down, settling himself beside his twin.
Bill leaned into him and then eyed Gustav. “Did you make the cake?” He asked, narrowing his eyes. Gustav was an exceptional baker.
Gustav nodded. “Happy birthday,” he smiled and presented the frosted treat to the twins.
“Is that vanilla icing?” Tom asked, sounding more intrigued and less murderous by the second.
Bill leaned forward, sniffing the air to confirm for his twin. “It is.” He could hear the longing in his own voice but he didn’t care. “Georg, cut me and Tom a slice.”
“Please,” Georg quipped but sprang up all the same, procuring a knife from God-knows-where before cutting two enormous slices for Bill and Tom.
“Mmmm,” Bill wiggled happily as he was handed his piece.
He glanced sideways at Tom and grinned. “Happy birthday,” he said before stuffing nearly half of it in his mouth in one go.
“Nice,” Tom said at the same time as on-screen Georg did.
“Hey, I was hungry,” Bill defended.
Tom pinched Bill's thigh gently and said, “I could tell.”
Bill laid his head back against the sofa and turned his head to Tom. “We’ve had so many crazy birthdays.” Bill loved celebrations and extravagance and blowing tons of money on a party but his favourite part was that he got to share it all with someone.
Tom rested his head beside Bill’s, finding his twin’s gaze and holding it. “We’re rock stars, it’s what we’re supposed to do.”
Bill snorted. “I don’t think falling off a fence is very rock star.”
“So what’ll it be this year?” Tom asked Bill. He nodded his head towards the television screen. “We’ve done it all.”
Bill bit his lip, thinking over all the ideas he’d scribbled down in the rush to organise something in time. He felt as Tom reached for his palm again, picking it up gently and rubbing his thumb over the little bump.
“What about a pool party?” Bill suggested with a grin.
He heard Tom laugh. “The fans will love that.”
Author: ???
Pairing(s): None
Rating: G
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: Not my twins but I did the writing in between.
Summary: Tom digs out some old videos of the twins’ previous birthday celebrations.
FQF Prompt: 119. Twins are watching videos from all their past birthdays. Humour, cuddles, anything you want, but nothing sexual Submitted by zuzana899
Author's notes: Thank you so much to hexenhasel for the speedy beta, so much appreciated. I hope you all enjoy!
“What about a pool party?” Bill bit the end of his pen and frowned down at the piece of paper on the kitchen counter.
The lined paper was covered in his messy scrawl, with crossed out ideas and triple question- marked suggestions. Turning twenty-four wasn’t something he considered a milestone but the idea of not celebrating irked him. Although he and Tom left behind the big parties of their teenage years, instead trading a birthday special article in Bravo for quiet nights in with their close friends and families, Bill still wanted to mark the occasion. There would be no paparazzi but perhaps they’d post a candid shot or two on twitter for the fans.
Bill smiled. They would probably get cyber-mauled if photos of a pool party surfaced.
It was then he realised that Tom hadn’t yet volunteered an answer. He looked up, wondering what was distracting his twin.
“Damnit, Tom,” Bill muttered.
Tom wasn’t even in the room. Bill considered bellowing after his twin, but he didn’t want to wake the pups and besides, he was in a reasonably peaceful mood. Today was sunny and warm, the perfect day to spend lolling around the house with his twin and a blank agenda. Of course, the day wasn’t really theirs; they’d get a call from David before the sun set and no doubt Ria would drop by.
Bill sighed, swinging his legs around to hop to the ground, ready to hunt down his brother.
He padded out into their entrance hall and poked his head around the door to their tiny studio. A quick sweep of the area only presented Bill with a still quiet which meant Tom was elsewhere. He departed, drifting off to the other end of the house.
He found Tom in the living room, sitting cross legged on the carpet, with an array of silver discs scattered around him.
“What are you doing?” Bill’s brow dipped in confusion. The DVDs were all blank, nothing distinguishing one from the next. Even so, Tom seemed to be flipping through them with purpose, a slight dopey grin splitting his features.
Bill smiled, too, pleased to join in with whatever was making Tom happy.
“Look what I found,” Tom gestured grandly over the silver discs and looked up to catch Bill’s eye with a wider grin.
“What are they?” Bill knelt down next to Tom, leaning slightly against his twin and picking up a DVD.
“Our birthday videos, well, DVDs,” Tom looked at Bill. “I thought they might have been lost during the move but I found them the other day when I was looking for one of your jackets.”
Bill rolled his eyes. “And you said you’d never be caught dead in what I wear.”
Tom pinked. “It’s a nice jacket.”
Bill laughed. “I know; I chose it, remember?
Tom chuckled and knocked his shoulder into Bill’s. “Whatever. Anyway, they’re all here... pretty much. Mom probably has a couple at home.”
“Have you watched any?” Bill was now curious and began rifling through the unmarked discs. He wondered how Tom knew which one was which but soon realised that there were a series of small, black numbers on the edge of each one; a date.
“Nope,” Tom shook his head. “I was waiting for you.”
“I was busy planning our birthday, you know,” Bill said, snatching the disc Tom held and inspecting the date. “September, two thousand two.”
“We were thirteen,” Tom supplied, leaning back on the heels of his hands.
“Thanks, genius,” Bill raised his eyes to the ceiling but grinned and arose, moving to insert the DVD into their DVD player.
“What did we do for our thirteenth?” Tom asked and leaned back at the foot of their sofa. “It was before Tokio Hotel, kind of. Before we were famous, at least.”
Bill settled down beside Tom, pressing their arms together and pushed the play button on the remote.
The huge screen of their television was suddenly filled with a grainy image of Bill’s face, fresh, smiling and almost make-up free bar a smudge of eye liner under each eye and the barest bit of mascara.
“Aw,” Tom cooed and Bill nudged him with his foot in reprimand.
Then the shot was on Tom as the camera swung round. From what Bill could tell they were standing on a street corner and it was at night, an orange glow of a street lamp the only light. They were chattering to their friends off camera when someone shouted Tom’s name followed by something barely audible. Tom laughed and swore at whoever had shouted then called to Bill who appeared in-shot again as Tom held the camera at arm’s length to get both of their faces on screen.
“Nice camera work,” Bill chuckled as thirteen year old Tom’s arm jerked around, producing a haphazard image of the two of them.
“Where are we?” Bill wondered aloud, turning up the volume slightly. Tom snatched the remote and fast forwarded to something that looked more exciting than a blurry image of their friends in the dark.
Suddenly, Tom laughed and then whooped, grabbing Bill’s hands.
“What are you-?”
But Tom was gently turning Bill’s palm round until it was resting open against Tom’s own.
“Remember,” Tom said softly, tracing a finger over the tiny black bump in Bill’s palm and smiling fondly.
Realisation dawned on Bill and he raised his head to look back at the screen, his hand still cradled by Tom’s two. He watched as one of their friends focused the camera on a chain link fence as a thin frame clothed in baggy jeans and a hoodie shimmied up lithely.
“Careful, Tom!” Bill was only half warning his brother. He flicked a cautious glance over one shoulder to check for any real danger. Bill knew Tom wouldn’t fall; it was their crazy neighbours catching them that worried him, and not because they’d do anything Bill cared about, but because they’d tell Simone.
“Stop checking for zombies. Are you coming or not?” Tom prodded a finger through the metal into Bill’s shoulder blade.
“Fuck off, I don’t wanna get caught,” Bill defended quickly.
“Who cares?” Tom shrugged. “It’s our birthday, we can do what we want.”
Bill rolled his eyes.
“Fucking hurry up, Bill.” Andreas shoved him from behind and Bill fell gracelessly into the fence.
“Fucking shut up,” Bill mimicked his friend’s voice. Now or never he supposed, and he threaded his fingers through the chain links, tugging his body up almost as easily as Tom had. They’d done it a thousand times before so it wasn’t like anything would-
“Crap- ack!” Bill yelped as his foot got stuck at the top. He wobbled at the top of the fence, trying to regain his balance but his foot was too tangled and his wind-milling hands did nothing to stop his body as he tumbled to the ground.
“Oof!” Bill hit the floor with a heavy thud and groaned, rolling onto his back to stare at the starry sky. His body ached with the impact but Bill couldn’t feel any critical damage. He just felt a bit dizzy.
“Shit, Bill, are you alright?”
Tom’s face loomed over him, slightly fuzzy at the edge.
“’M fine.”
“Your hand, though.” Tom tugged Bill up, setting him unsteadily on his feet again. The others were all howling with laughter but Bill ignored them. He didn’t really mind. If it had been one of them he knew he’d have been cracking up.
He winced, suddenly aware of a sharp pain in the palm of his hand.
“What are you doing?” Bill asked. Tom was hunched over, poking gently at Bill’s hand as though trying to scratch the surface.
“You have something... see?” He held Bill’s hand closer to their faces and Bill frowned, noticing a minute black pebble embedded right under his skin. The surrounding area was raised red and slightly bloody but it didn’t look life-threatening to him.
He shrugged and licked the wound.
“Eew!” Tom gagged. “You can’ do that!”
“I just did.” Bill flexed his fist. “Still working.”
Bill laughed at Tom’s wrinkled nose and looped an arm around his shoulders. “C’mon, I wanna swim.”
“Still there.” Tom massaged the skin around the tiny bump in Bill's hand carefully.
“I kind of forgot about it,” Bill said. “Then realised it was too late unless I wanted Mom to stick a needle in me.”
“I was worried,” Tom admitted softly.
Bill looked at his twin in surprise.” Worried?”
“When you fell. I mean, it was kinda far.”
“I’ve fallen further,” Bill said. “I’m made of strong stuff.” He flexed a bicep and Tom laughed, reaching forward to squeeze.
“Almost as strong as Hagen,” Tom said, giving Bill’s arm a playful shake.
Bill laughed, and then grabbed Tom’s hand to loop it over his shoulders as he leaned against his twin’s body. He smiled when he felt Tom tighten his grip.
“What else is there?” Bill asked.
It was bizarre, seeing such old footage of the two of them. They were accustomed to seeing their own faces staring back at them from a screen but the almost indecipherable video of Bill falling off a fence was something that had never been revealed to anyone but themselves. Bill’s smile broadened. It was so normal, just like any other home-vid from any other family.
By the time Bill had pulled himself from his reverie Tom had fitted in another DVD. This time it wasn’t the grainy quality of the previous recording but almost HD perfect.
He squealed, “Tom! It’s the theme park!”
“That was the fucking coolest,” Tom agreed and Bill could hear equal excitement in his twin’s voice. He tugged on a lock of Tom's hair then sat up on his knees.
“It was the best thing anyone ever did for me, you know.”
“It wasn’t all me,” Tom said. “David did most-pretty much all of it.”
“But it was your idea.” Bill looked at his twin fondly. “The things you do for me.”
“Speaking of,” Tom said, pinning Bill with a mock glare. “What are you getting me this year?”
Bill waved a hand and flopped back against Tom again. “All in due time... all in due time.”
They both returned their attention to the television and watched a particularly thrilled looking Bill bouncing around, a glass of champagne in his hand.
“Champagne, Tomi,” Bill said grandly.
Tom chuckled at his twin’s animation and turned up the volume.
“Which one next?” Bill was asking loudly. “I want to go on a really fast one.”
Tom watched as his brother bounded around on gazelle legs, his endless energy seeping into the systems of everyone around him.
Gustav was looking slightly green but other than that their whole party was having the time of their lives. Tom couldn’t help but feel a little bit smug; it had been his suggestion after all. He would have organised the whole trip if he’d been able to. At least, that’s what he told himself.
“Happy birthday.” Georg had sidled over to stand beside him, a glass of bubbly in his hand.
Tom grinned. “Thanks, man. Having fun?”
Georg nodded enthusiastically. “Hell yeah! I think Ana might give the next one a miss though.”
Tom glanced over to Georg’s girlfriend to see her perched delicately on a park bench looking frail.
Before he could make a move to console her someone had launched themselves at Tom, almost bowling him over. He steadied himself to find a Bill attached to his arm.
“Are you drunk already?” Tom teased.
Bill rolled his eyes. “Are you coming?”
“Where?”
“To the fastest ride in Europe,” Bill said like it was obvious. He tugged on Tom’s arm and Tom followed willingly.
“I was sick after that one,” Bill bemoaned.
Tom laughed, rubbing Bill’s shoulder affectionately. “I knew you were drunk.”
“I wasn’t!” Bill cried indignantly. “It was too fast.”
“Couldn’t hack it, unlike some,” Tom boasted puffing out his chest before reaching to put in another disc.
A thousand screams filled the room and Tom swore, immediately turning down the volume several notches.
“What the fuck.” Bill winced and tried to work out when they’d invited banshees to their party.
He squinted as a shot of himself was splashed across the screen.
“Damn, I looked so good,” Bill said, eyes widening at his former self. He’d almost forgotten how much painstaking effort he’d put into his appearance five years ago. His jet black hair was taken straight from a Japanese anime and his outfit was fit to serve a rock god which, Bill reminded himself, he was.
Tom snorted.
“It’s more than I can say for you,” Bill said derisively. “I can’t believe I let you go out like that for so long.”
Tom snorted even louder this time. “Let me?”
Bill knocked his shoulder into Tom’s. “I was humouring you until you worked out how to dress.”
Tom laughed and shoved Bill over onto the floor.
“Hey!” Bill scrambled to sit back up again, scooting forward away from his twin. “Fuck off or I’ll burn what you have left of those... rags.”
Tom gasped but knew it was an empty threat.
More screams filled the room and Bill cringed. “Turn it off, will you? I couldn’t hear properly for days after the Hamburg fan party.”
The screen blackened and this time it was Bill who selected a disc at random.
A frizzy haired Simone sat smiling at them. Tucked away in each of her arms was a small bundle with a fuzz of light hair.
“They’re missing their own birthday,” a low voice said off camera.
Tom and Bill looked at each other. It was their dad.
“Aw let them sleep,” Simone cooed softly. “They have their whole lives to enjoy getting older.”
Jorg grunted and the camera jostled a bit as he moved closer to perch beside Simone on the sofa of their childhood home. Gently, he reached his free hand round to stroke the crown of each of his son’s heads. They both stirred but did not wake.
“Happy first birthday, my boys,” Jorg whispered and Simone looked up at him, catching his eye lovingly before turning her attention back to her babies.
“I suppose he was never all bad,” Bill said, part bitterly, part wistfully.
“We should give him a call,” Tom suggested. He tried to keep it light but Bill could hear the underlying strain in his voice. Tom had always found it difficult to let his father go and Bill knew it killed his brother every time their dad tried making contact with them through the media.
“Maybe,” Bill replied quietly, knowing full well neither of them would.
“Next one,” Tom said gruffly and fit in another of the silver discs. When he sat back against the sofa Bill scooted close, wanting to comfort his twin. He nestled in close when Tom once again looped his arm over his shoulders.
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE LOSER TWINS, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOUUUUUUU!”
Bill and Tom coughed up a fit of laughter as Georg’s singing boomed around their living room. A camera was following Georg’s trek through their tour bus as he made his way with a cake and with Gustav in tow to where the twins were sleeping.
Georg reached the top bunk first and whipped back the curtain that cordoned off Tom’s bed from the rest of the bus.
A messy pile of dreadlocks was revealed but nothing else as the duvet bundled tightly around the elder twin.
“First birthday on the bus!” Georg yelled. “We’ve got big plans.”
Gustav reached down to pull back Bill’s curtain and almost recoiled as their lead singer loomed into view. He was sitting up in his bed looking absolutely livid, hair tousled into a black tangle and dark eyes made darker by a smudge of residue eye-liner. Waking Bill up was a risky business.
“Do you want some cake, Bill?” Georg asked, sitting himself down beside the youngest member.
“Do I look like I want cake?” He glowered at Georg, willing the bassist to retreat from his personal space before he got his claws out and caused some real damage.
Georg raised a curious eyebrow. “Is that a trick question?”
Tom groaned above them and two socked feet appeared in Bill’s face.
“Ew!” He swatted his twin's feet away and tried to roll back into a ball under the covers.
“Nuh-uh, none of that,” Georg said, all too cheerily and yanked at the duvet until Bill was completely exposed. “You can’t sleep away your birthday!”
“We can do what we want,” Tom said grouchily and Bill wholeheartedly agreed. He tugged on Tom’s foot again, softer this time and Tom slid down, settling himself beside his twin.
Bill leaned into him and then eyed Gustav. “Did you make the cake?” He asked, narrowing his eyes. Gustav was an exceptional baker.
Gustav nodded. “Happy birthday,” he smiled and presented the frosted treat to the twins.
“Is that vanilla icing?” Tom asked, sounding more intrigued and less murderous by the second.
Bill leaned forward, sniffing the air to confirm for his twin. “It is.” He could hear the longing in his own voice but he didn’t care. “Georg, cut me and Tom a slice.”
“Please,” Georg quipped but sprang up all the same, procuring a knife from God-knows-where before cutting two enormous slices for Bill and Tom.
“Mmmm,” Bill wiggled happily as he was handed his piece.
He glanced sideways at Tom and grinned. “Happy birthday,” he said before stuffing nearly half of it in his mouth in one go.
“Nice,” Tom said at the same time as on-screen Georg did.
“Hey, I was hungry,” Bill defended.
Tom pinched Bill's thigh gently and said, “I could tell.”
Bill laid his head back against the sofa and turned his head to Tom. “We’ve had so many crazy birthdays.” Bill loved celebrations and extravagance and blowing tons of money on a party but his favourite part was that he got to share it all with someone.
Tom rested his head beside Bill’s, finding his twin’s gaze and holding it. “We’re rock stars, it’s what we’re supposed to do.”
Bill snorted. “I don’t think falling off a fence is very rock star.”
“So what’ll it be this year?” Tom asked Bill. He nodded his head towards the television screen. “We’ve done it all.”
Bill bit his lip, thinking over all the ideas he’d scribbled down in the rush to organise something in time. He felt as Tom reached for his palm again, picking it up gently and rubbing his thumb over the little bump.
“What about a pool party?” Bill suggested with a grin.
He heard Tom laugh. “The fans will love that.”