One

Chapter 4

Ali must have fallen asleep as she watched Dec because the next day, she found herself being cuddled by Dec from behind. Dec's front was pressed against her back, his muscular arm draped over her waist, keeping her in place. To tell the truth, Ali didn't mind the closeness. It felt right waking up to Dec like this. It was just perfect. Well, almost. She could really do without the loud snoring by her ear.

Her gaze suddenly fell on the clock on Dec's bedside table. 7:24 am. Good, we still got plenty of time before the meeting at 9:30.

She was about to make an escape before Dec wakes up when she heard a groggy voice speak up. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For getting drunk. I don't know what I was thinking." Dec rolled away from Ali, leaving her feeling cold having lost her source of warmth. 

Ali shifted her position and faced Dec, who was looking up at the ceiling, slowly blinking away his sleep. "It's fine. Let's just forget about it."

Silence fell in the room. Ali continued to look at Dec's profile. The beginnings of a stubble littered his jaw. His hair was everywhere, no longer perfectly styled. She couldn't help but find him adorable like this. Without warning, Dec turned and caught Ali staring.

"What?" Dec smiled.

Alarmed, Ali said the first thing that came into her mind. "You snore. Loudly."

"What?" Dec quirked an eyebrow, smirk playing at his lips.

"You snore. I've never noticed that until last night."

"Well, you've got Ant to blame for that. He broke me nose and ever since I snore loudly."

"Whoever is to blame doesn't change the fact that you snore. I'm surprised I got some rest sleeping next to you," Ali teased.

"Whatever."

Ali laughed as she sat up. "Anyway, I should go and get ready for the Takeaway meeting." She grabbed a pillow and threw it at Dec when he made no attempts of getting up. "You should get ready, too. It's the first show meeting and we don't want to be late because of you."

"Okay, bossy."

Ali rolled her eyes. "Knowing you, your fridge is probably empty so just come over to mine when you're done getting ready."

"Aye, captain," Dec jokingly saluted Ali.

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Ali walked the short distance between Dec's house and hers. What, rather, who, met her when she reached her house surprised her. Sat on her porch was Stephen, dressed ready for the Takeaway meeting with a bag of groceries by his feet.

"There you are!" Stephen beamed. He stood up and gave her a small hug.

"What are you doing here?"

"Well, I couldn't wait until the meeting to see you, so I figured I'd come over and cook you breakfast." He said as he picked up his bag of groceries.

Ali was glad that it was cold; she can blame her reddening cheeks on the chilly air. She must have been staring at Stephen for quite a while because the next thing she knew, he was waving a hand in front of her face.

"Ali, as much as I love looking at your beautiful face, I kinda was wondering if you'd let us into your house. I've been waiting out here in the cold for quite a bit now."

"Right, I'm sorry." Ali unlocked her front door and held it open for Stephen. "I still need to get ready; you can go ahead into the kitchen."

"Sounds good." Stephen walked to the kitchen and started preparing breakfast.

While Ali showered upstairs, Stephen made quick work of cooking breakfast and was already laying out the plates by the time Dec entered through the kitchen door.

"Oh, hey Stephen. What are you doing here?"

"I came over to have breakfast with Ali," Stephen happily answered. "How about you?"

"Ali told me to go here for breakfast."

"Good thing I made extras." Stephen said as he placed another plate on the table.

In that moment, Ali entered the kitchen, all ready for the day. "Oh, I totally forgot I told Dec to come over for breakfast!"

Forgot, nice, Dec sarcastically thought.

"Don't worry, I was just telling Dec here that he's lucky I've made enough food for three."

"I should go anyway. I don't want to interrupt your breakfast date." Dec started backing up towards the exit.

"Stay, man. This was totally unplanned, you're not interrupting. If anything, I'm the one that's got in between you two's plans."

I'll say, Dec thought.

So Dec stayed and joined the two for breakfast. Dec felt uncomfortable being in their presence, but neither noticed since their attention was on each other.

Stupid Stephen being stupidly charming. Dec stabbed at his food, making some noise, but was still unnoticed.

Breakfast ended and Dec quickly volunteered to wash the dishes, wanting to score some brownie points.

"Wow, just last night you were complaining about doing the dishes and now you're volunteering to do it. That bottle of whiskey must have done wonders for you, Mr. Donnelly," Ali joked.

"Take this as an apology, I guess."

"You want help?" Stephen asked.

"No, I've got it." Dec rolled up his sleeves and diligently cleaned the dishes.

When he finished, it was time to leave for the meeting. Their driver, Ian, was already waiting outside with Ant in the car.

Dec led the way while Ali locked her front door. Dec stopped by the open passenger door and waited for Ali. "Come on, Ali."

Ali walked alongside Stephen. "Actually, I think I might keep Stephen company in his car. I'll just see you two there,  okay?"

"Uh, sure. See you in a bit then," Dec said, dumbfounded. He got into the car and quickly turned to see Stephen open the passenger door for Ali.

"What's Stephen doing here?"

"He came by to surprise Ali with breakfast."

"Oooh Dec, man, you really need to up your game."

"I know," he said as he continued to stare at Ali and Stephen. "I know."