Chapter one

"For pete's sake, Micky!" Mike shouted at the drummer, who'd just
fallen a beat behind again. "Can't you get a damn thing right?"

Micky scowled at him. "If you think you can do any better, Big Shot,
you know what you can do!" Micky shot back.

"Come on, Fellas, just chill out, okay?" Peter said calmly, trying to
smooth things over.

They'd been in the studio for over four hours now and tensions were
becoming very frayed.

"Don't tell me to chill, Peter," Mike shouted. "Tell Ringo here to get the goddamn drum line right!"

Davy sighed and sat down on the floor of the recording studio. He
didn't even know why he was still there. He'd finished all his vocals hours ago and the guys didn't really need him there anymore.

"And you can tell Hitler here to stop yelling at me!" Micky shouted
at Peter.

"Look, Mike," Peter said cautiously, knowing how fiery the Texan's
reactions could be. "Micky's doing his best, man, just give him a
break, huh?"

Suddenly, Mike turned on Peter.

"Why don't you stop defending Mick and start concentrating on your
own business!" Mike yelled angrily. "Your piano solo was a mess!"

Mike regretted his words immediately. He hadn't meant to take his
temper out on Peter he was angry, that's all.

"Here, now wait a minute, Mike," Davy said, leaping to Peter's
defense. "Don't start on Peter, he was only trying to help! You need to learn how to control your temper, man."

That was it Mike saw red.

"Don't tell me what I need to do, Shorty!" he retorted.

Davy let out an angry shout and lunged at Mike. Peter put himself
between them and pushed Davy back from Mike.

"Look, just everybody calm down!" he demanded, slipping into his
familiar role as peacemaker.

"Pete's right, man, just cool it," Micky agreed.

Davy, still furious at Mike for calling him `shorty', then started to shout at Micky.

"This is all your fault," he yelled, pointing at the drummer. "If you'd have just got the damn thing right in the first place, none of this would've happened!"

"My fault?" Micky shouted, climbing out from behind the drums and
heading towards Davy with an angry glare in his eyes.

"Look, cool it, Micky," Peter pleaded, putting his hand out to stop
him.

Micky roughly pushed Peter out of his way. "Back off, Hippy!" Micky
threatened him.

Peter wasn't about to stand by and watch his friend beat the crap out
of Davy, so he grabbed Micky's shoulder.

Before he realised what he was doing, Micky swung around and punched Peter squarely across the jaw. Peter fell down onto the floor, shocked by the normally placid Micky's outburst. Davy and Mike were equally taken aback, and stood silently for a moment.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Mike screamed at Micky.

"You wanna be next, Big Man?" Micky shot back at him.

Truthfully, Micky was just as shocked and ashamed at what he'd done as Mike was, but he was too angry to back down now.

"I'm not putting up with this," Mike announced, and then turned his
back on them and stormed out of the studio.

"Now look what you've done," Davy shouted. "You'd better go after
him."

He knelt down next to Peter to check that he was alright.

"The hell I will!" Micky said defiantly. "He's the one who started all this!"

"Aw, grow up, Dolenz," Davy sighed. "Just go after him."

"Forget it." Micky replied and headed for the door. "I'm out of here screw the Goddamn album".

Then he walked out, slamming the door with an almighty crash behind him. Peter and Davy looked at each other in despair.

Chapter two

What the hell just happened!" Davy yelled unable to keep the anger
and frustration from his voice. Peter could only shrug. The shock of
being socked in the mouth was wearing off and he brought his hand up to his jaw "Are you ok man?" Davy asked.

"I'll live" Peter replied with a smile that sent more pain shooting
through his mouth "Probably a good idea if I didn't smile though" He
added quietly. Davy stood up and started pacing the room.

"I can't believe the nerve of that guy, he had no right to hit you."

"Well he has been spending a lot of time with Mike maybe his temper has started to rub off on him" Peter said. Davy looked at him then came over and helped him to his feet.

"Yeah well he's a big jerk and so's Mike."

"Yep they are and there's nothing we can do about it" Peter told him
walking over and sitting on the stool to Micky's drum "I just can't
wait to get this album done so we can go on that vacation we've been promised."

The Monkees were in the middle of recording their latest album for
their record company Colpix records. The Monkees had been discovered by a Colpix executive in late 1968 while playing a set at the club Cassandra, and had been offered a five-album deal. The album they were recording now would complete their contract, but they had it on very good authority that the head of Colpix was going to offer them a new multi-million dollar five-album deal once they returned from vacation. Something they never would have imagined at the start of their Colpix career. The first Monkees album had been a huge failure and The Monkees were on the verge of being dropped. Until, that is, Mike managed to convince them to give The Monkees a second chance. The Monkees future rested on the success of their second album and it surprised everyone by becoming an overnight smash and secured The Monkees future with Colpix records.

"I know what you mean" Davy continued, "I need to get back to England, I've got a lot to think about."

"Like what?" Peter asked, genuinely intrigued.

"Us mostly" Davy replied.

"What about us?" Peter questioned. His intrigue turning to worry and
concern.

"I dunno, the whole thing I suppose. It's all gotten way out of hand.
Sometimes I wish we were still at the beach house struggling to make the rent. It sounds weird to say it but things were a lot easier back then. I miss it, I miss being able to hang out there and rehearse, I miss Micky's mad science experiments, and I miss Mr Schneider. Hell, I even miss Mr Babbitt.

"I miss those things too but think of all the stuff we have now. There
was no way you could afford to go back to England back then, but now you can jump on a plane whenever you feel like it."

"I know and I am grateful for that but it's just not the same anymore, out of everything, do you know the thing I miss most of all? I miss being taken care of by Mike. He always used to look out for us but I don't even recognise him these days he's changed so much I don't even know if I like him any more. As for Micky, well there is no way he would have even considered hitting anyone, let alone one of his best friends. All this success has changed us," Davy explained.

"Money is the root of all evil," Peter said with a sigh "We had that
sign in the pad, you remember?"

"Yeah, I remember" Davy said he paused then looked at his friend "I
think it's time we seriously considered laying this thing to rest before we end up killing each other" he said.

"Davy!" Peter replied, unable to believe that Davy could even think
such a thing.

"I'm sorry Pete, it's just the way I feel, look I've gotta get out of here my head's spinning."

"Where will you go?"

"I dunno, just for a walk maybe, I'll talk to you later ok" He said and left.

Peter stared at the door, replaying the events of that day through his mind. He couldn't remember when things had gotten so messed up
and now Davy was talking about the band breaking up. He certainly
wasn't ready for that yet. They still had some great music left in them and there was no way he was going to let any of them give up so
easily. He sighed and got up and walked to the door. With one last
look around he switched off the light and left.

Chapter three


The next day The Monkees had been summoned to a meeting. One by one, they filed into their manager's office. Neither one of them daring to look at each other, especially Micky, who felt so ashamed about hitting Peter, he spent a lot of the time staring at the floor. The
Monkees had gotten a manager, at the suggestion of their record
company, shortly after signing their recording contract. Something
Micky, Peter and Davy had to fight for tooth and nail to get Mike to
agree to. Mike didn't believe they needed a manager he figured they
had done fine by themselves so far so what was the point? It took a
while and a lot of sweat and blood on behalf of the other three
Monkees, but finally Mike agreed and The Monkees hired Lenny
Carpenter, one of the best mangers in the business, who handled sixty per cent of Colpix clientel.

Lenny was sitting behind his desk leaning back in his chair watching
each Monkee. Davy looked extremely uncomfortable, like he didn't want to be there at all. Micky continued to stare at the floor, Peter had rather a nasty bruise on his face and a small cut where his flesh had
been caught on Micky's ring. Then there was Mike, who was being his usual cool self, choosing to stand, rather then sit, by the window.
Lenny had to admit to being surprised that Mike had even bothered to show up. Finally he spoke.

"Peter, how's your face?" He asked. Micky flushed a little red with
embarrassment.

"Well it still throbs a little but it doesn't hurt any more" Peter replied, glancing sideways at Micky.

"Good" Lenny said, he paused for a second and looked at each of them again before continuing, "I had a phone call from the head of Colpix last night fellas. It seems you guys walked out on practically a
whole days recording yesterday. You know, if you book a recording
studio, it still has to be paid for whether you use it or not. The head of the company is angry guys and when he's angry he shouts, he shouts at me because I'm your manager. When he shouts at me I get angry, and when I'm angry do you know who I shout at?" Lenny asked.

"Us?" Peter answered.

"Very good Peter, I shout at you, WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU WERE PLAYING AT!!" Lenny yelled, causing Micky to jump three feet in the air "THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT TIME IN YOUR CAREER AND YOU'RE ON THE VERGE OF RUINING IT BECAUSE YOU'RE STUPID! DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?" He
asked.

"Um, no not really" Peter admitted.

"You had a petty argument that's all and you're all too stupid to figure that out" Lenny explained, his voice returning to the normal pitch but still laced with anger "I wonder if I can guess what happened? Michael you wanna give me a clue, because I'd bet my life's salary that it had something to do with you," He added. Mike shot him a glare, he and Lenny had never gotten along and they both disliked
each other a great deal.

"Don't look at me, I wouldn't have had to get mad if Ringo over there
could keep a simple drum riff going" Mike told him, remaining eerily
calm. Micky finally looked up.

"Don't blame me, this isn't my fault. Maybe if you gave me chance to
practice Mike I'd have a better chance of getting it right. I'm not some super drummer you know, I still need to practice new riffs."

"Really? You practice? You would never of guessed it with all your
drumming so far, you've been nothing but shaky, maybe it's time The
Monkees found a new drummer" Mike shot back.

"Hay now wait just a minute!" Peter said, leaping to Micky's defense,
surprising every one in the room, including himself.

"Don't you start on me as well Peter because I'm not in the mood ok,
anyway why are you defending him? He's the one that did that to your face!" Mike replied.

"Ok guys that's enough we don't have time to go through all this right now. We've got an album to finish" Lenny told them "I don't care if it takes you the rest of your life, you are contracted for one more album, each of you is contracted so no one will be replaced unless I say so, and you're gonna fulfill the contract then you will sign the new contract I've been negotiating for you" Lenny told them.

Micky looked a little surprised. "What that's it? No punishment or anything?" He asked. Lenny rolled his eyes.

"Yeah you're also grounded for a month!" He said, his tone dripping
with sarcasm "I was just getting to that, the cost of losing a day's
recording will be taken out of your pay checks and your vacation has
been cancelled" He added.

"What!" Davy shouted finally taking part in the conversation and
looking at Lenny "You can't do that!"

"No Davy you're right "I" can't do that but the head of the company can, and he has. As soon as this album is done we're scheduling some new personal appearance concert tours for you."

"That's not fair we've been working flat out for over a year, we need
this break," Micky protested.

"Well you should have thought about that before you decided to take
your frustration out on Peter's face" Lenny told him, he could see
Mike was starting to get angry so he turned to him "Mike, you even
think about smashing your fist through my wall again I'll have you
fired quicker then you can say `that coulda been your face'" He
warned. Mike was seething. He had never been so angry in his life and needed to vent his frustration, so he kick the back of a chair a
couple of times and let out a frustrated roar.

"THERE, IS THAT BETTER!" He yelled.

"Mike! Just cool it!" Peter told him and before Mike could reply Peter turned to Lenny "Look Lenny, you see how we are around each other now, if we don't get this break we'll end up killing each other" He said, as calmly as he could, which considering it was Peter, was very calm.

"I'm sorry Peter it's out of my hands there's nothing I can do" Lenny
replied. He looked at Davy "You've been pretty quiet throughout this
whole thing Davy, you got something on your mind? What do you think about all this?" Lenny asked him. Davy looked up; he looked at Peter, who was quietly pleading with him not to say what he thought Davy was going to say. Davy took a mental deep breath and looked back at Lenny.

"I think we should split up" He said.

Chapter four


A sudden, eerie silence came over the office. Davy took a deep
breath and looked down at his feet.

"I'm sorry, guys, but it's just not working anymore".

Micky stood open-mouthed, staring at Davy with wide eyes. Peter
collapsed into a chair by the desk and put his head in his hands. Mike crossed his arms, drew a sharp breath and glared at Davy through narrowed eyes.

Davy felt their eyes burn into him and he felt incredibly uncomfortable. He bit nervously on his lip and refused to meet any of their gazes.

Finally, it was Lenny who broke the tense silence.

"You're joking, right Jones?" he said with a nervous laugh. "You've got to be kidding me".

Davy just shook his head and looked up at their manager.

"I'm sorry," was all he could think of to say.

Lenny shook his head. "I don't believe this!" he said loudly. "I do not believe what you're telling me."

Davy's mouth grew dry and a last he summoned the confidence to look at his bandmates.

Micky still stood open-mouthed in disbelief. Peter was slumped in a
chair with a confused and heartbreaking look of hurt on his face. Then Davy looked at Mike. and the expression that greeted him was a look of complete disgust.

"I'm sorry, Mike," Davy whispered, feeling about two feet tall. "But it was over a long time ago for me. I can't do this anymore."

Mike took a deep breath and then began to speak very slowly and
calmly (which immediately unsettled the rest of the group).

"It was a fight a stupid fight. That's all."

Davy went to speak but Mike raised his hand and cut him off.

"A fight, Davy. We're not gonna quit over some stupid argument."

Micky found his voice and said, "Look, I know that we all saidanduhand did a lot of stupid things that we didn't mean"

He looked over at Peter, who raised his eyes to meet Micky's. Micky
quickly looked away ~ he couldn't stand to look at Peter. He felt
awful about hitting him.

"A lot of stupid things," Micky continued. "But, giving up everything we've worked for? Because of one argument? I don't know, Davy."

"But it's not just ONE argument, is it?" Davy argued. "We've changed, guys. We've let fame change us. We're letting it tear us apart. We never used to be like this."

He looked at Mike, straight in the eyes.

"We used to be friends."

Micky scoffed. "What are you talking about? We're still friends".

Davy shook his head. "No, Micky, that was over a long time ago. Can't you see what's happened to us? It's over. And we can never get it back."

"Look, who cares?" Mike interrupted. "This isn't about friendship, Davy. This is our career we're talking about. This is business."

I know," said Davy sadly, shaking his head. "That's what I'm talking
about. There was a time when friendship would have come first. When we'd have done anything for one another. I looked on you guys as brothers. Now look at us."

Lenny threw his hands up in the air and shook his head. "Look, fellas, just go home, give things a day or two. You'll feel different tomorrow, Davy, trust me."

Davy shook his head. "No, Lenny. It's over. And if you want The
Monkees to carry on.it's gonna be without me. It's over."

Another silence fell over the office. Davy sat down in a chair by the window and felt a huge wave of conflicting emotions wash over him
at once. He felt relieved to have finally spoken out. He'd been
wanting to say something for a long time now. But he also felt like
he was letting his friends down. He didn't want anybody to hate him,
but the latest argument had been the final straw ~ things had changed and Davy had seen himself, and the other fellas, turning into people he didn't recognise.

"Well," Lenny said finally, looking angrily around at them all. "What happens now? Look, I'm your manager and I want to do everything I can to help you guys, but you have to talk to me here. What happens now? Everybody here has been working their butts off to help you guys and is this how you repay them?"

Mike shook his head. "Davy's just worked up over the fight yesterday. Give him a day or two to think things through and everything'll be back to normal."

"Hey, don't talk about me like I'm not here, Nesmith," Davy shot back
angrily.

"Micky?" Lenny said, looking at the drummer. "What have you got to
say about all this?"

Micky ran his hands through his hair and then began to speak nervously. "I don't know," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "I know things have gotten out of hand lately, what with the pressure of this new album and all, butI'm not about to quit over this. Mike's right we've worked too hard for this to just give up."

Then Lenny looked over at Peter.

"Well, what have you got to say about all this?" he demanded. "Are
you in on this too?"

"In on what?" Peter asked, not understanding what Lenny meant.

"This scheme of Davy's to break up the group" their manager replied.

"It's not a scheme, Lenny," Davy protested. "And nobody's in on
anything. But" he paused and faced Peter, "How do you feel Peter?"

All eyes turned on Peter. He gulped and took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry, Davy, but I can't back you up on this. Just think about how hard we've worked to get where we are. How much we've been
through together. I'm not gonna let things fall apart without a fight. Please, Davy. Don't do this."

He looked at his friend, but Davy turned away from him. Peter looked so upset and Davy couldn't stand to see the hurt on his face.

Lenny rubbed his temples. "So, tell me, fellas. How do we work
through this?"

"We don't." Mike replied.

Everybody turned to look at him with stunned expressions.

"Davy's made up his mind and you know what I say? I say, "Who cares". I don't need you guys. I don't need The Monkees."

"But, Mike!" Peter protested. "You can't just walk out on this. We've got to stick together."

Mike just shook his head. "No." he said coldly, and stormed out of
the office. Micky looked over at Davy, who hung his head. Then he
looked at Peter, who looked close to tears. Micky sighed, he didn't
know what to think.or do, for the best.

"Please, Davy," Peter said quietly, looking over at his friend. "Why
are you doing this? Please. Just say you'll think about it. It can't be over."

Davy bit his lip and walked over to Peter. He looked at him in the
eyes. "I'm sorry, Pete, but it is."

Chapter five

Peter looked at his friend, they were still friends, at least he still thought so. He had never felt so betrayed in his life. He stood up reaching to his full 5' 10", intimidating Davy a little, determination filling his features.

"I don't except this Davy you're not thinking straight, you're just tired is all you'll be fine in a couple days, take some time off, he can take some time off right Lenny?" Peter said looking at their manager. Lenny sighed.

"Of course, you can all take a couple of days off, but somehow I don't think it will do much good, Davy seems pretty certain."

"I am" Davy replied quietly.

"No! Why are you doing this to us! You're being selfish we've all worked so hard, not just when we got the contract, but all those
years struggling at the beach house too, we deserve this success and you are ruining it!" Peter yelled, uncharacteristically raising his
voice and almost pleading with Davy.

"Pete just cool it ok, it's for the best, trust me. I'll fulfill this contract you don't have to worry about that, but I won't sign a new one, If you decided to go on it will be as a trio, I've made my decision and I think if you just thought about it you'd agree with me" Davy told him. The room went silent again Peter was in complete shock, Lenny was the first to speak.

"Look someone had better go after Nesmith, and under the circumstances I think it should be me. You guys take as long as you
need, I'll try and get him back but I'm not making any promises" he
said and then left. Micky had been sitting quietly, trying to focus his thoughts, there was so much confusion in his mind he didn't know
what to think, and finally he looked up.

"Maybe Davy's right," He said. Peter was completely stunned.

"Micky!" He said.

"I said `maybe' big Peter" Micky replied "We've got to look at this
from Davy's point of view, It's obvious he's been unhappy for a while
and we didn't notice. You're right about one thing Davy we have
changed. We need to work on our friendships again, maybe we could all move in together again just like the old days" Micky suggested but Davy shook his head.

"You're not listening to me, either of you, you never listen to me. Living together will not solve our problems in fact that would probably make it worse we need a clean break from each other" He said then paused for a moment he looked at Peter and Micky before continuing "I look in the mirror and I don't recognise the face staring back at me anymore, we need to find ourselves before we can
even consider finding each other, why can't you understand that!"

"But we're good Davy, we make great music and it wouldn't work
without you. We're the Monkees the group that's bigger then one
person, it takes all four of us," Peter told him.

"Tell that to Nesmith" Davy whispered.

"Is that what this is about! You're jealous of Mike's creative control" Micky yelled. Davy shot him an irritated glance.

"No of course not. Mike's always had creative control I've never had
a problem with it because he's always steered us in the right
direction, the problem I have is Mike in general. I can't put up with his mood swings anymore. You saw it just now he was real calm and
talking like a civilized adult, and then all of a sudden he just lost it and walked out. The Mike I knew wouldn't do that, he'd stay and try to fix it. He's the one I'm having most trouble recognising. He's the one I don't even know if I like anymore," Davy explained.

"He has been different lately," Peter agreed.

"I know" Micky added.

"At last! Something we agree on!" Davy said.

"We can help him" Peter stated "We can get him back to his old self
in no time."

"No!" Davy yelled "We're just going round in circles and it's not getting us anywhere. Peter please just think about this. Mick you must realise that I'm right"

"I'm starting to" Micky admitted, "Everything was so great. I had a
great band, three of the best friends in the world but it's like suddenly one day I woke up surrounded by strangers. They had the faces of the people I used to know but they weren't them" He told them.

"So what are you saying? You decided you wanna quit too, after everything you said earlier!" Peter questioned.

"Maybe, I mean the things Davy's been saying started to make a lot of sense you know and he's changed my mind. I don't want us to be
strangers anymore Pete, I want us to be friends. I miss you guys even though I see you every day I miss you" Micky sighed "So yeah I guess I'm saying I'll quit too," He said.

"I can't believe I'm hearing this" Peter told them. His whole world was crashing down around him and there was nothing he could do about
it. Davy walked over to Micky.

"Thanks Mick you're doing the right thing, trust me," He told him putting a hand on Micky's shoulder.

"I wish I had your confidence in that" Micky replied with a small smile "So what happens now?" He asked.

"I guess we wait for Lenny to see if he can get Nesmith back. We need to tell them what you and I have decided. Mike seemed pretty angry but that's gonna be nothing on what he'll be like if Lenny manages to get him back" Davy replied.

"Amen to that!" Micky said "How much do you think he's gonna kill
us?" He asked. Davy shook his head.

"Dunno, you heard what he said he doesn't need the Monkees so there's a good chance he won't care but we'll just have to wait and see. I expect Lenny is going to be pretty angry too," He said. The sound of sobbing filled the room and Micky and Davy turned to see Peter sat in a chair leaning forward, his head buried in his hands, crying softly.

"Oh Peter" Micky said rushing over to the bassist "I know it's hard
but it had to happen sooner or later" Micky said placing a comforting
hand on Peter's back

"I know but I just wasn't ready for it to happen so soon. The Monkees
have been my life for so long it's a part of me and I can't accept that's it's over" Peter replied through muffled tears.

"It will take time Pete but you'll be ok, I promise" Davy told him. Peter looked up anger suddenly filling his body.

"What do you care how I feel! This is all your fault anyway. Why did you have to do it? We could've gotten along ok if you didn't open your big mouth," He said, shocking both Micky and Davy for his uncharacteristic behaviour.

"Peter!" Micky said

"No it's ok Mick, Peter's right it is my fault" Davy replied, filling with anger as well "It's always my fault. I'm doing this for all of us Peter and you can only blame me! You know we've changed too you
know we're not the same and yet you chose to blame me. Well I'm sick of it, this is your fault as much as it is mine. I've had enough of
this I've had enough of your whining I'm outta here" Davy told them. He walked over to the door and opened it, only to come face to
face with Mike.

"And where do you think you're going?" Mike asked.

Chapter six


Davy took a deep breath and readied himself for an argument.

"I'm leaving. Get out of my way, Mike."

Mike narrowed his eyes and looked at Davy. "Get back inside that
office," he said sternly, and to his surprise, Davy found himself
obeying.

Mike and Lenny followed him back into the office and closed the
door. Lenny sat down in his chair behind the desk.

As Lenny sat down, Davy sidled up next to him and said, under his
breath. "How'd you get him back here? He was pretty mad before?"

Lenny smiled slightly and simply replied, "Sorry kid, that's between
Nesmith and me!"

-----------FLASHBACK-------------

Lenny left the three remaining Monkees in his office and marched
through the Colpix corridors. <Damn Nesmith> he was thinking <I'm
sick of his attitude. He can't just walk out on me and not hear about it>

Pushing open the large double doors at the front of the building, Lenny left the Colpix complex. He saw Mike in a parking space nearby, sitting behind the wheel of his sports car, about to pull off. Lenny stood himself infront of the car and slammed his hands down on the bonnet.

"Get out of the car, Michael," Lenny said in an angry tone of voice.

Mike just narrowed his eyes and lifted his foot slightly off the brake. The car edged forward but Lenny didn't budge. There was a small crowd of people by the double doors, who had turned to stare at the scene in the parking lot, but Lenny didn't care Mike wasn't walking out on his contract, he wasn't walking out on his manager his boss.

"Get out of the car," Lenny repeated.

Mike sighed and some of the angry determination left his features.

"Forget it, Lenny, you heard what I said I don't need the Monkees,"
Mike said.

"You don't need the Monkees, huh??" Lenny shot back at him. "Then, I assume you need a lawsuit, cos that's sure as hell what you'll get if
you walk out on this now!" Lenny said, raising his eyebrows at Mike. "I'll sue you quicker than you can say `Colpix', I kid you not!"

The angry look reappeared on Mike's face and he clenched his teeth and climbed out of the car to face Lenny. He walked around to the
front of the car and stood himself right in front of his manager, about three inches away from his face. He drew himself up to his full height, using his best intimidation technique.

"Oh yeah? Sue me for what exactly?" he asked with a mocking tone of voice.

"Breach of contract," Lenny said without missing a beat, refusing to
be intimidated. "Try it, Nesmith, just try it. You're signed for one more album you walk out now, and you'll find yourself in deep trouble with this company and their highly qualified legal team. Well, Nesmith?"

Mike's face fell he hadn't been expecting Lenny to throw that at him. He thought for a moment. It would take a lot to get him to walk back into that office and Lenny seemed to have struck gold there's no way Mike would risk losing a lawsuit, not even for his infamous Texan pride.

"You win," he said after a moment, feeling somewhat defeated.

Lenny stepped away from Mike and turned towards the building,
noticing the crowd standing by the door with their eyes fixed on him
and Mike. He turned to Mike.

"Are you coming back inside or not?" he said, knowing full well that
he'd won the argument and Mike would have no choice but to swallow his pride and come back inside to face the music. He saw Mike's crushed expression as he nodded his head and started after him, and he felt a small twinge of sympathy for the Texan. Lenny softened a little and smiled at Mike.

"You kids are the best band we've got," he said to Mike as they
walked back inside the Colpix building. "Are your really prepared to
let this thing die without a fight, cause I'm sure as heck not!"

Mike sighed and looked at Lenny. "What did you have in mind?" he
asked.

------------------------------------------------

Mike remained standing close to the window. He looked around the
group first at Davy and Micky, then lastly at Peter, who was leaning forward with his head in his hands. Mike could see that he'd been crying.

"You ok, Pete?" he asked. He wasn't really sure why he'd asked Peter that, because he knew that the answer was no.

Peter didn't move or reply or show any indication that he'd even heard Mike at all. He couldn't believe that the people he used to love so much were all turning against him, one by one.

After a few moments silence, Mike spoke.

"Me and Lenny have had a few words and we've come to a decision that I think will be best for everybody."

Micky and Davy looked at each other and then at Mike. Peter lifted
his head and looked over at the Texan, rubbing his eyes with the palm of his hand.

"Look, it's quite obvious that we can't work together anymore, not like this," Mike explained. "But we've got to make this decision together. I say that we put it to a vote. I'm prepared to try and work through this for old friendship's sakeif you fellas are. We all know how Davy feels and that's ok, he's entitled to an opinion. What I want you guys to do is this if neither of you guys agree with him," he paused and looked at Micky, "If both Micky and Peter want to work this out, then we'll do everything we can to sort things out and be a group again."

Micky swallowed. "And what if we don't?" he asked. "What if me and
Peter don't both wanna go on with the group?"

Mike looked intently at him. "Well, if just one of you guys agrees with Davy on this, if just one of you thinks that it's finished, then we call it a day we do this one album and that's it, no more Monkees."

He looked at each one of his bandmates in turn and then said, "What d'ya say? Davy?"

Davy looked at Micky. "Ok by me," he said, being sure of Micky's
support. "If both Peter AND Micky want to work this out, then I'll give it a go no promises, mind you. But if they don't BOTH want to work this out, then I'm walking. Okay?"

Mike nodded and said, "That's fine." He crossed his arms and looked across the room towards Peter. "Peter?" he said, looking at his dismayed bandmate. "Agree?"

Reluctantly, Peter nodded. He didn't want it to be like this, but he
didn't really think that Micky would seriously quit without giving things another go for the sake of old friends. He was sure that when it came down to it, Micky would agree with him on this.

Then, all eyes in the room turned towards Micky. He swallowed and
suddenly felt very uncomfortable. The decision was his. Peter obviously wanted to try and work things out so it was up to Micky and Micky alone to make the decision that would affect the rest of their lives. He had two choices he could agree with Peter, say that he wanted to try and work things out, and ignore his own feelings. Or he could choose what his mind was telling him was the right decision and break Peter's heart. He looked at Davy, who nodded encouragingly at him, urging him to tell Mike and Lenny what he'd said to Peter and Davy just a few minutes earlier, to tell them that he wanted out. Then he looked at Peter, who shook his head and silently pleaded with him to say that he'd give things another shot to try and work through their problems and not give up on everything they'd worked for.together. Then he looked at Mike and Lenny, who were both looking back at him expectantly. Micky made up his mind, sighed and said,

"I'm so sorry, Peter."

And those four words were all it took The Monkees were over.

Epilogue

It had been a little under two years since the Monkees had split up. It was the anniversary of the day the Monkees had signed their recording contract and Davy had gone for a walk, without even
realising where he was headed, he found himself outside 1334
Beachwood drive. He hadn't seen, or spoken to, any of the other
Monkees since they had finished the last ever Monkees album, but he had followed their careers. Mike has become a highly successful solo artist with a string of number one hit records. Micky had opted for a career in television and had achieved a reputation as one of the best directors in the business; Davy had heard that he was about to begin shooting his first major motion picture. Peter had disappeared for a while but emerged recently as one of the best song writers and
session musicians of the time and was highly sought after, there were rumours flying around the showbiz grapevine that Peter was
considering trying out a solo singing career. As for Davy, he had
kept his head down for a while, moving back to England for a time and only returned to America to begin a touring production of `Oliver'
playing Fagin, the opening night had been the night before in Malibu
Beach of all places. Davy would be touring for six months before
settling on Broadway for the foreseeable future. The opening night
had gone brilliantly and Davy was so excited to be back doing one of the things he loved more then anything in the world, the theatre.

Davy looked up at the building that had been his home for almost four years and a million memories came rushing back to him like someone had opened the floodgates in his brain. A small smile curled around his lips and he tried the front door, to his surprise it was unlocked. He pushed open the door and walked in and stood for a moment taking in all the features of the old pad. It looked a lot more run down then he remembered, there wasn't much furniture but what did remain was covered in white dustsheets. He walked over to the spiral staircase and ran his fingers along the banister, remembering the time Micky had slid down it and landed face first into a cake Mike had been carrying, he chuckled at the memory. Then something on the veranda caught his eye; he looked up and wasn't at all surprised to see Peter standing there, his back to Davy, leaning forward resting his elbows on the wall. Davy smiled again and walked over to the screen door, noticing the small bandstand, that Micky had built when they first moved in, had been taken away. The door was propped open by a wooden wedge and Davy looked out for a moment, closing his eyes and feeling the sea breeze on his face.

"Man I miss this feeling," He said out loud. Peter's head snapped up, he had been lost in his thoughts and wasn't sure if the voice he heard had been one he had imagined. He turned his head and saw Davy
standing there.

"Hello David" Peter said, smiling a little to himself at the sight of his old friend. Davy walked over to him.

"Hello Peter, what are you doing here?" He asked. Peter shrugged his shoulders.

"I have no idea" He admitted "I went for a drive and found myself here. The old place hasn't changed much."

"It sure hasn't" Davy replied feeling the wind on his face again then
looked at Peter "It's good to see you again Pete, how have you een?"

"I've been good, kept my head down for a while after umwell you know but I've been good. Moved on you know, exorcised a few demons and learnt to accept a lot of things."

"I'm glad, I've kept track of you over the past couple of years, you've done well for yourself."

"As have you. I was at your opening night last night" Peter told him.

"You were! Why didn't you come back stage?"

"Dunno really, I felt a little weird to be honest. It was a strange thing to be there but I'm glad I was. You did really well, I'm very proud of you."

"Thank you Peter, it means a lot that you were there" Davy replied.
Peter just nodded. They were silent for a moment, both of them
looking out into the ocean and neither one quite believing they were
both there. It was Peter who broke the silence.

"Man, I've missed this place. We made some great memories here didn't we and we were so quick to give it up for the big houses in the hills and the fast cars."

"Not to mention the fast women," Davy added and Peter laughed.

"Well that was never really a change for you Davy was it" He said.
Davy grinned.

"No I guess not," he said.

"Do you remember that time Millie moved in with us and that time
Micky dressed as Mrs Arcadian so we could have a chaperone for that party?"

"Yeah don't remind me. I never did get the honeymoon in Venice and I had to give back the ring!" Davy and Peter turned round to see Micky standing by the door "What is this? Some sort of family reunion?" He asked, grinning from ear to ear.

"Hello Micky, how long have you been there?" Davy asked, grinning
also.

"Not long, I've been downstairs in the storage room and ran in to an
old friend" Micky said and picked up something from behind the large bay window and presented it to Peter and Davy.

"Mr Schneider!" Peter and Davy both cried with delight.

"He's been down in that dusty storeroom since we left so I thought I'd bring him up for a breath of fresh air."

"Great idea Mick, It's great to see you Mr Schneider, you too Micky"
Peter said with a smile.

"What are you doing here anyway? Surely this isn't a place for a big
shot movie director" Davy said.

"Aw Davy you flatter me, I'm not a big shot movie director yet. No,
in fact the reason I am here is because my crew and I are scouting
locations for my first attempt at directing a movie and I thought I better swing by the old place, see who's hanging around" Micky told
them.

"Just us" Peter replied.

"And Mrs Purdy, great name for an album Pete, by the way" Micky said with a grin before continuing "Anyway I ran into her earlier today
and you'll never believe what she told me."

"What was that then?" Davy asked.

"Well she told me, once the Monkees got famous Mr Babbitt auctioned off all our old stuff, furniture, pictures, posters that kind of
thing. Apparently he made a fortune and is now living in a big mansion in Beverley Hills."

"You're kidding!" Davy and Peter both yelled, absolutely flabbergasted and Micky shook his head.

"I kid you not. Mrs Purdy showed me a picture of him. He looks great. Lost a lot of weight."

"Well I'll be!" Davy said unable to stop himself letting out a chuckle "The guy's done great out of our fame then. I'll have to go round and see Mrs Purdy later."

"Me too, I wonder if she's baked any cookies lately, I used to love
those" Peter added.

"She'd love to see you. She told me how proud of us she was. She said she always knew we'd make it, she even brought all our records."

"Wow, that's great" Peter said. They were silent again but this time
it was Micky who spoke first.

"Hay Peter, I just wanna say, I'm sorry," He said, facing Peter and the goofy grin being replaced with a serious look.

"Whatever for?" Peter asked, genuinely puzzled.

"For socking you in the mouth that day in the recording studio. I never apologised to you for that did I?" Micky explained and Peter smiled.

"It's ok Mick. I forgave you a long time ago; we were all stressed and frustrated. You don't need to apologise" Peter told him.

"Thank you big Peter, but I do need to apologise. I was out of line and I lost my temper, there's no excuse for that" Micky said. Peter was about to respond when Davy interrupted them.

"Hay guys, look down there, is that who I think that is?" He asked.

"Look down where?" Micky replied.

"Down there by that big rock, that tall lanky figure down there" Davy
said, pointing his finger.

"It looks like him" Peter said "But I'm not sure."

"Well there's only one way to find out" Micky said "OI MIKE!" He yelled, jumping up and down and waving his arms in the air.

"Real subtle Mick" Davy said shaking his head but smiling at the same time. The tall figure stopped and looked up. Davy couldn't make out his facial expression but the guy suddenly started running towards the steps that lead up to the beach house veranda.

"I think it's him," Micky said confidently "Hi Mike" He yelled, waving again. As the guy got closer Davy saw that it was indeed Mike. A smile tugged at Davy's lips. He couldn't believe they were all together again, on this day of all days. Mike ran up the steps and stopped at the top.

"I thought it was you guys but I wasn't sure, well not until Micky's hollering anyway," He said.

"I do my best" Micky replied, pretending to be embarrassed.

"Well if it isn't Mike `I don't need the Monkees' Nesmith" Davy said,
playfully.

"Yeah ok I deserved that, I was a real jerk" Mike replied.

"You were a big jerk, but you were also right, you didn't need The
Monkees. Can't walk into a record store these days without seeing
your ugly mug staring back at me" Davy told him.

"Hay don't forget Jones, your ugly mug used to be right next to mine"
Mike reminded him and Davy grinned.

"It's great to see you Michael" Peter said.

"You too Pete it's great to see all of you again, Hay look it's Mr
Schneider how you doing good buddy?" Mike said.

"Can you believe we're all here. On this day of all days!" Micky said, looking round at each of them, grinning like a Cheshire cat.

"I didn't think you'd remembered" Davy said.

"Of course I remembered. You don't forget the day that changed your
life" Micky told him.

"Amen to that" Mike replied.

"Hay Mike, I've got every record you've made" Peter told him. Mike
Smiled.

"You have? Thank you Peter that means a lot" He replied.

"Guys, while we're all here. I just want to get something off my chest. I'm sorry for the way things ended two years ago I" Davy tried to say but Micky cut in.

"Whoa just hold it right there, don't say another word," He said holding up his hands "Davy, it wasn't your fault no one blames you.
In fact you did the right thing."

"I did?"

"Yeah you did" Mike told him "I for one am grateful that you said something when you did, I was turning into someone I didn't like, hell even "I" didn't like being around myself most of the time so I have no idea how you guys put up with me."

"So you're saying you're no longer a big jerk?" Davy asked and Mike smiled.

"Well I have me moments, who doesn't, but I'm getting betterat least that's what people tell me." He told them.

"Mike and Micky are right Davy. It took me a while, and a couple
thousand dollars in therapy, to figure it out but you did the right thing, you stopped it from getting worse. Who knows what would have
happened if we'd carried on in the state of mind we were in. I don't
blame you Davy, I thank you" Peter told him.

"Me too" Mike said.

"Me three" Micky added and Davy smiled.

"Thanks fellas" He said.

"Right well now all that mushy stuff is over with, I dunno about you guys but I'm hungry," Micky announced.

"No change there then" Mike said and Micky playfully hit him on the
arm.

"Shut up Nesmith. I was going to suggest going for lunch, my treat"
Micky said.

"Yeah that would be great" Peter replied.

"Yeah sound good to me" Mike said.

"Davy?" Micky asked.

"Yeah, I wouldn't miss it for the world" Davy told them.

"Great!" Micky said grinning again "Let's go, I found this really great burger joint that opened a couple of years after we left" He told them. So, Micky picked up Mr Schneider and the five of them left.

As he watched his three friends banter and tease each other Davy
finally felt at peace with the decision he had made two years ago. He knew everything would be ok now. He knew he had his friends back and he knew he had them back for good and that made him happier then he had ever been.