One

Chapter 3

Hearing the back door slam shut, Lisa and Ali got up and went to see what was going on. They found Ant standing by the back door, watching Dec make his way home.

"Hun, where's Decky?"

Ant whirled around and faced them. "Um, he said he wasn't feeling too well so he went on home."

"I should go check on him," Ali said, already making her way to the door.

"No!" Ant shouted, which surprised the women. "I mean, no pet. I've got it. I'll go check on him. You two just enjoy the rest of the night."

"Okay, if you insist," Ali said suspiciously. "Just text me if you need me to take over."

"Alright." Ant gave his wife a kiss on the lips. "Don't wait up, Lise. Might be a while." He turned to Ali and gave her a peck on the cheek. "See you at the meeting tomorrow, pet."

Ant quickly made an exit and followed Dec. Much to his surprise, Dec's house was empty when he entered it. He checked every room in the house and found each one empty. Dec's car was still outside, hinting that he must not gone too far off.

"Where could have he gone? He only left a few minutes before me." Ant tried Dec's phone, but it just went straight to voicemail.

Knowing that Dec is upset, Ant decided to visit every bar he frequents, starting with the one closest to them. He went to that bar and saw that Dec wasn't there either. One bar after another, Ant found no sign of Dec. An hour has passed since he tried calling Dec, so Ant saw it as worth trying again.

"'ello," Dec's drunk voice came from the other line.

"Oh thank god, Dec!" Ant sighed in relief. "I've been looking for you, man. Where are you?"

"I-I'm at...the park," Dec hiccuped.

"The park? Wait...are you drunk?"

"Yep," Dec giddily said.

"Alright, I'm picking you up. Which park are you at?"

"The o-one near ouuur h-houses."

"Okay, stay put, Dec." Ant heard laughter coming from Dec's end. "Dec, I'm serious, mate. Do not move."

"Okey-dokey."

Ant ended the call and took a cab to the park. He ran through it and found Dec sitting under a tree, swigging on a bottle. Ant couldn't tell exactly what Dec was drinking because it was inside a brown bag, but judging from the size of it, the bottle is not meant to be drank by one person in one go.

"Hiya, Ant," Dec drunkenly smiled at his best friend.

"Oh, Decs. Why man?" Ant pulled Dec to his feet and wrapped an arm around his waist to steady him. "Come on, time to get you home."

It was hard, but Ant managed to drag Dec home. Luckily for them, they didn't come across any paparazzi. 

Ant took Dec to his bedroom and dumped him on his bed. He pulled Dec's shoes off and helped him get comfortable. 

"Here, let me have this." Ant wrestled the bottle out of Dec's grip. He tore off the brown bag and saw what Dec had been drinking. "Whiskey? Really Dec?"

"I need it, Ant," Dec reached for the bottle. "Give it back!"

"No, you've had enough," Ant sternly said. "Why, eh? Why are you getting drunk? What's wrong?"

"It's nowt! Just give me back my whiskey and leave me alone!" Dec tried to reach for the bottle again and almost fell off the bed in the process.

Ant caught Dec and laid him back down. "Dec, I'm your best friend. Please tell me what's wrong."