Out Here On My Own | Ant and Dec

Part One

The day was dragging. His stomach was protesting his every move. He was light headed and tired. He figured it was the flu, but something snagged at his mind that it was something more.

Not wanting to worry anybody, he decided to ignore his symptoms and continue on as normal. Today was another day of rehearsals for Saturday Night Takeaway.

Anthony startled Declan, who had zoned out for the 15th time that day. Nudging his slightly older best friend, Ant leaned it and whispered a quiet, "Are you okay?" To which Dec nodded and smiled tightly.

Ant didn't believe him, but not wanting to pressure the clearly upset lad, he left it at that for the time being so they could continue on with rehersals.

//

His head was throbbing. They finally had a break, so Declan snuck away from the prying eyes and found himself standing outside in the cold air. He breathed out heavily and leaned back against the cool brick wall.

He slowly slid down until he was sat on the floor. Closing his eyes, Declan screwed his face up in pain. What's wrong with me? He mentally asked himself.

He felt himself slowly drifting off into oblivion.

//

Chris, the floor manager, had seen Declan wonder off and tried to find Ant to ask him if anything was wrong with the pale Geordie.

Searching around the cafeteria, he finally found the bearded presenter and made his way over. Chris passed by a few crew members who all smiled and lifted a hand in greeting as he passed, but, luckily, none of them stopped him.

The Saturday Night Takeaway crew knew when each other were on a mission and not to be disturbed, and nobody wanted to get in the way of others when they had a plan.

Arriving at the table where Ant was sitting with Scarlett and Stephen, Chris placed a gentle hand on his shoulder and smiled.

"Chris, what's up, pal?" Ant asked with a grin.

"Anthony, come with me a moment, would you, please?" He asked quietly, not wanting to cause an unnecessary scene. Frowning with concern, Ant immediately followed the floor manager and paused when Chris turned to him.

"What's going on?"

Chris sighed and held a hand to his forehead, "Is Declan unwell?" He decided to not bother with the small talk to begin with because, anybody could tell, that when it came to one of the Geordie's being ill, you never hide it from the other.

//

In Ant's head, that question seemed silly. Declan was clearly not feeling great, a blind man could see that! However, Ant's mind also asked why he hadn't checked on his best friend since they broke for lunch.

"Why? Has he said anything?" The presenter asked, watching the other man's face for signs of...well...anything!

"No, but he's seemed distant and doesn't look a hundred percent, don't ya think?"

"Well, aye, but Dec's stubborn, he won't admit he's ill, even if he keels over and collapses," Even though the situation isn't a laughing matter, Anth still manages to giggle fondly as he explains Dec's antics when it comes to illness.

Chris all but frowned and ran a hand through his hair, "Anth, I think we should leave rehearsals for today and you should take him home so he can rest,"

"Mate, you know Declan as well as I do," Ant began, "He won't go home until we're completely finished for the day,"

Before he could say much else, Chris held up his hand, "You guys are finished for the day," He said sternly, but kindly, "Declan is poorly and if he wants to do the show on Saturday, then he needs to go home and rest up. It's not a question, it's a demand,"

Ant smiled and nodded, knowing better than to argue with the manager. Afterall, he knew Chris cared deeply about the two presenters and knew he wouldn't just send them home for the sake of it.

//

Declan, on the other hand, had groggily opened his eyes again and looked around him as he groaned. Why was he outside? Where was he? And, most importantly, where the heck was Ant and Ali?

As he asked these unanswered questions, he found himself pulling his heavy body up off the damp floor of the alleyway and turned back into the ITV Towers.

He walked down the corridors until he came across his and Ant's dressing room, and stepped inside.

//

Ant and Chris' heads snapped up when they heard the door open and Ant grinned cheekily at his best friend.

"Heya, little guy, alright?" He asked, stepped forward and wrapping his arms around the smaller man's body. Ant didn't miss the way that Declan leaned into the gesture and sigh heavily.

Feeling a weak nod against his chest, Ant helped Dec across the room and settled him onto the couch.

"Just relax while I get our bags ready, yeah?"

"Why?" Declan asked, shooting a confused look to the two men in the room. This time, Chris stepped forward and crouched down so he was level with Dec.

"Declan, you're clearly not well, so, I've let you and Ant go home early, alright? You can rest until the show on Saturday,"

Dec looked like he was going to argue, but, before he could, Ant shook his head.

"Declan Joseph, we are leaving now and you're going straight to bed. No arguments," That was all it took for Dec to shut his mouth, but not without falling back against the couch and folding his arms across his chest.

He truly looked like he did when he was sulking at 13 years old. This made Ant smile fondly at the memory of their childhood, before he quickly finished getting their stuff ready.

The worry he had felt when Dec so easily gave up had scared the younger man. Declan had always been stubborn and when he gave up on arguing, that's when Ant knew that he really wasn't well. At all.

But he would do anything to make his Declan happy and healthy again.

//

Note from the author:

This chapter is sucky and I'm so, so sorry. But, I promised a chapter and I wanted to post something for you all.
I hope you like it nonetheless. :)

I will be updating With You this weekend too, so keep your eyes peeled for that!

The prologue will start to make more sense in the next few chapters, so just wait for it, lol.

Anyways, thanks for reading, guys. Hope I haven't disappointed any of youse at all. You guys are awesome! :) xx