Until the very end

Double Trouble ~ December 2018

Day 8.

One week down. A third of the way there. And perhaps, the hardest part was over.

He was starting to settle into the new arhythmic routine of I'm a Celebrity without the presence of Ant. It was more than just getting used to presenting with Holly; finding their comedic timing together, learning when the other was about to speak when they were candidly commenting on a trial. The yearly trip to Australia was almost ritualistic at this point - they had habits that had formed over years of learning to be borderline nocturnal together.

The differences began almost as soon as he was awake. His alarm would go off and he would groan softly into the pillow, forcing his arm over to the bedside table to try and muffle the sound before it woke Stephen. Any other year, the younger man would sleep on, knowing that Ant was on hand to phone Dec until he dragged himself out of bed. But this year, despite Dec's best efforts, Stephen would wake up alongside him, head turning over to face Dec with a sleepy, reassuring smile masked by a yawn.

"Morning," he mumbled today, eyes half-closed as he shuffled closer and gave Dec's shoulder a half-hearted shake. "Wake up."

"I'm more awake than you," Dec argued back faintly, although he let his eyes slip closed purely to goad the other man into prodding him again. He felt the mattress dip, betraying Stephen's movements, and waited to be poked and pushed until he finally pulled himself upright. But today, Stephen was going for a slightly different approach and a hand caressed Dec's cheek with a ticklish lightness.

"You sure about that?" he asked in return. Dec imagined his teasing smile and let his mouth twitch faintly. He felt Stephen tip closer and then the brief brush of his mouth. Dec smiled again, keeping his eyes shut and blindly returning a couple of short kisses of his own.

"Is this meant to get me up?" he smirked faintly, feeling Stephen's laugh blow across his face. Dec knotted his hand into Stephen's pyjama shirt and tugged him downwards, tilting his head and letting Stephen's face turn into his cheek, the weight of his body reassuring against Dec's side.

"Is it working?" The question danced across his skin, quiet and light all at once. Dec felt him move again, stretching his head away to allow Stephen's to fill the gap left behind. His mouth touched sensitive skin and Dec let out a content sigh, feeling around beneath the covers and guiding Stephen's hand to the hem of his shirt. The younger man obliged him, his palm a steady heat over Dec's stomach, splaying up to his rib cage.

"Almost the opposite," Dec murmured, forcing his eyes open and turning enough to see Stephen's eyes trained on him in the darkness. "You're a bad influence."

"You don't mind," Stephen teased in return although his hand withdrew and he rolled onto his back before slowly starting to sit up against the headboard.

"Go back to sleep, Stevie," Dec tried as he had done every morning. For the eighth time, he was met with nothing but a patient shake of the head.

"I'll go back to sleep when you're gone," he said - as he had done every day so far. Dec made a point of humming disapprovingly under his breath, letting Stephen ignore him (as per usual) as he pulled a fresh set of clothes on and ran a hand haphazardly through his hair. With a brief detour to grab his room card and phone from the bedside table, he all too quickly found himself tugging his shoes on which only meant he would soon be forced to leave.

"See you later," Dec said reluctantly, making the bad choice to sit down on the mattress, tugging Stephen into a hug. He clung on for as long as the younger man let him before finally making an effort to do Ant's usual job for him.

"You're going to be late," he said, fixing Dec's hair distractedly.

"You're not helping," Dec retorted, resting his forehead against Stephen's. "I love you."