Oneshots and Other Things

Tired ~ Part 2

Part 2: Ant (SNT 2016)

On reflection, it was probably always best to knock before he went bursting into their dressing room.

In his defence, he'd just heard that BGMT had been nominated for an award (alright, it was only a small one but, as much as they teased him, they'd also be the first to get excited on his behalf).

It quickly became apparent that a half-asleep Ant wouldn't pay much attention to this line of reasoning.

"Stephen," he groaned, burying his head back against the sofa cushion, cutting off the frustrated sound quite effectively.

"Oh," Stephen immediately cut himself off, putting his news to one side in favour of stating the obvious, "You're asleep."

"Was," Ant corrected, his head resurfacing to give Stephen a good view of his bleary eyes. Stephen was used to that expression – something affectionate undercut by a stubborn grumpiness. He half-smiled teasingly, testing the water, and Ant merely frowned in response.

"Sorry," Stephen said, swiftly choosing to take the sheepish route and be genuinely apologetic. Ant's furrowed brow lifted slightly, proving he'd made the right choice. Not sure of his next move, he hovered in the doorway, shuffling from foot to foot.

"Did you want something?" Ant asked eventually, still sounding a little exasperated.

"No – it wasn't important," Stephen replied quickly, taking half a step backwards. "I'll leave you to your... nap?"

Ant smiled a little lopsidedly but the expression missed his eyes considerably. Inexplicably, he looked a little sympathetic, almost guilty. "I didn't get much sleep last night – thought I'd try and get some before the show."

"Right, sorry," Stephen said again, a little like a broken record but now well and truly feeling apologetic. Ant rolled his eyes fondly, shaking his head.

"Don't worry about it," he replied, shuffling against the sofa cushion and stretching his back with a yawn. "Come on, you must have been here for a reason, nonsense."

Stephen still hovered, his reason for interrupting Ant's nap feeling more and more ridiculous. He chose to lie, even though he was always bad at pulling that off around Ant and Dec. "Just bored."

Ant let it slide with nothing more than a suspicious look in his direction, diluted somewhat by his half-closed eyes. "Come in and annoy me then."

"You're trying to sleep," Stephen pointed out.

"And I'm sure you'll be boring enough to send me nodding off again, Stevie," Ant retorted lazily, his eyes already shutting. "C'mon."

Stephen took advantage of having no eyes on him, hesitating a few more times before he wandered fully into the room and, for no particular reason, sat down on the floor next to the sofa Ant had taken over completely. One of his eyes opened microscopically but he didn't comment, choosing instead to snort under his breath.

Stephen toyed with his hands for a little while, reluctant to disrupt the almost peaceful look on the other man's face. Eventually, not sure what else to do when Ant made no move to start a conversation and feeling a little odd just watching his friend try and get back to sleep, he reached over and rubbed his arm.

Ant's eyelids fluttered again but didn't open so Stephen kept brushing circles over his arm.

"What are you doing?" Ant asked eventually, sounding a little amused.

Stephen's thumb immediately stilled and he withdrew his hand. "Helping you get back to sleep?"

"If you don't stop poking and prodding at me, I might punch you in the face," Ant muttered, his voice lacking all of the tone of his clear threat.

Of course, that was only ever an invitation to cause some trouble. Stephen poked him a few times, smirking when a reluctant smile overtook Ant's frown.

"You're a strange man, Stephen," he mumbled, half-heartedly rolling away from Stephen's continual effort to disturb him.

In the midst of these joking attempts, he found his hand hovering beside Ant's head, one finger brushing a stray strand of hair away from his forehead. He smiled knowingly when Ant instantly stopped grumbling and sank back into the sofa cushion, more relaxed than before.

Emboldened by the visible evidence that this was working, Stephen found himself carding his fingers lightly through Ant's hair, pulling another smile onto his face.

"More Talent got nominated for an award earlier, you know?" Ant said after some time, sounding half-asleep. Stephen hummed vaguely in response, wondering if he could still get away with lying. "That's what you came to say, wasn't it?"

Busted.

Ant's eyes opened a crack again and he grinned at Stephen's expression before tilting his head back towards the palm of his hand. Stephen brushed through the longer strands again distractedly, feeling pointlessly embarrassed.

"It's not a big deal," he said eventually, coaxing another derisive snort from Ant.

"It might only be a small one," the other man conceded, "But it's nice that people are acknowledging the effort you put in, eh? You work hard enough – you deserve something out of all that."

Stephen felt one side of his mouth lift and ruffled Ant's hair a little more, the grateful gesture somehow sending Ant sinking further into the sofa. It wasn't long until his breathing evened out, a steady stream of air heating Stephen's arm.

He was just withdrawing his hand when the door to the room opened.

"Ant?" Dec called out cheerfully, stopping when he was met with the sight in front of him and frowning with a mixture of confusion and amusement. "What's going on in here?"

Stephen shushed him, gesturing to Ant and trying to work out if he'd woken up again. Dec instantly shut his mouth, although the lights in his eyes danced teasingly at Stephen's position on the floor.

"He's asleep," Stephen whispered, just to make the point clear. A tired sigh interrupted him.

"Was," Ant grumbled again, shooting a weak glare in Dec's direction. "Doesn't anyone know how to knock on a door around here?"