"Morning, sunshine!"
Ant's voice interrupted Dec mid-yawn as he groaned and forced himself out of the chair in the hotel reception. He blinked blearily at Ant, half-heartedly glowering at his cheerful grin. He envied Ant's insomnia at times; it gave him some good practice at being functional at 2 o'clock in the morning when it was still dark and no one sensible was awake.
"What day are we on?" Dec asked, screwing up his nose as they both headed out towards the waiting car. Really, it was a miracle he'd been down there before Ant in the first place and he probably wouldn't have been if Ant weren't in the habit of repeatedly phoning him until he picked up each morning, just in case he'd ignored his alarm.
"Ten," Ant said, grinning a little. "Are you losing track already?"
"All blurs into one at this time of the morning," Dec retorted, following him into the car. Ant, knowing what he was like, struck up a conversation with their driver, happy to leave Dec to wake himself up on the twenty minute drive to the set.
One of the new additions to this routine was checking in on Stephen. He was always envious of the other man, knowing that it was a reasonable time of day back at home.
'What you up to, Stevie?'
He made sure his phone was set to vibrate and then rested his head against the car window, content to multitask and satisfy his need to talk to Stephen at the same time as catching every last second of rest he could manage. Sometimes the other man was busy – it was the middle of the day in the UK after all – but he usually managed to send something, even if it was full of mistakes because he'd been trying to type it out with his phone under a table. Dec tended to show those messages to Ant, both of them amused by the image of Stephen hiding his phone like a school kid.
'Not much. Had a planning session for BGT this morning but nothing else to do. Well done for getting up on time.'
Dec smiled to himself faintly, more than happy to take the weak glow he always got from his daily congratulations, no matter how much he could hear the sarcasm in Stephen's voice. Both him and Ant teased Dec constantly for his 'morning moods', always taking advantage of his inability to come up with any sort of retort when his brain wasn't quite functioning yet.
'Thanks, I did forget how many days we'd been doing this for though... halfway through today.'
He left the rest unsaid – how he could put up with the likely miserable weather back at home after all this sun if it meant they were back stealing as much time together as their schedules allowed.
To some extent, Stephen had been right. It had been easier once they'd got working, to stop thinking about him every other second, to stop worrying that something irrational could happen whilst he was gone. At the same time, Dec was experiencing a new feeling that year of wanting to get home. Most years he enjoyed their escape to the other side of the world a little too much, basking in the good weather and glad to miss a month of grey skies and depressing rain. As long as his mum was only a phone call away and Ant was dependably by his side, there hadn't been much reason to reach December and start wishing he could get home.
Ant used to be like that too. Back when they first started, they would find a quiet spot during their afternoons and talk about what it would be like to stay a little longer. Sometimes they had done, extending their trip an extra week after the end of the show. Then had begun the process of growing up – Ant missing Lisa turning into Lisa joining them for a couple of weeks. And now that had turned into the two of them staying in Australia for a bit of a holiday at the end of the series.
In many ways, Dec was very happy about that fact. For Ant, it would do him some good to have a break, particularly before they had to tour around the country with Britain's Got Talent in January. But selfishly as well, Dec knew he'd get a few days with Stephen, when neither of them had to worry about being spotted at Dec's house and the questions that could follow from that.
'I told you it would go quickly.'
Dec rolled his eyes, imagining how smug Stephen would sound if he said that in-person. He was just about awake enough to be brainstorming responses when his phone buzzed again, the slight pause making him curious.
'Looking forward to seeing you.'
He smiled again softly, muffling the expression with a hand over his mouth and resting back against the cool glass. He wondered what people would think sometimes, if they somehow got his phone and found out the truth. Not in a paranoid sort of way; although he was certainly paranoid about some things more than others; but it almost amused him, thinking about everyone who knew nothing except what they saw on TV.
Once he knew about what he called Dec's little crush, Ant had claimed he'd caught Dec looking lovesick on a few occasions when they were probably both meant to pretend they hated Stephen for whatever humiliating game he'd come up with. But then again, they'd never really pushed the 'hating Stephen' joke that far, enjoying his company a little too much to be constantly pretending to be irritated. Sometimes it was fun to poke fun at him, but a lot of the time Dec didn't try too hard to act one way or another.
Speaking of Ant, Dec had noticed his usual routine beginning; subtle looks in his direction and smiles in sync with his own. His concern had been palpable for the first few days after Lisa had arrived, fading away slowly until he was convinced seeing that hadn't made Dec feel isolated. They didn't have the same privacy of the car at home so he couldn't always ask about Stephen nor join in with any joking about Dec had the energy for that morning. But his presence was always there, steady as ever.
'I've never looked forward to getting back to the cold before. I'll be a right pain complaining how chilly it is.'
"It's going to be a hot one today," Ant said, tilting his phone towards Dec to show him the forecast. Dec smirked to himself for a moment, not sure whether to be concerned that they were somehow thinking about two very similar things at the same time.
"I hope the trial isn't too long then," he replied, pointing at the bright sun logos filling the couple of hours they were meant to be filming for. Ant nodded in agreement, gaze flickering to the driver for a moment. Dec hadn't noticed their conversation dry up, distracted by his phone, but he spotted the earphones in the driver's ear for the first time and relaxed a little, lowering his voice nevertheless. "You'll be pleased to know Stevie's already planning our torture for the tour."
Ant forced a grimace, pretending to look annoyed. "How much more nonsense can one man come up with?"
"Oh, he's a never-ending supply, trust me," Dec grinned back. "Always got a new oddball idea ticking over in his head."
Ant smiled fondly, letting out a sigh. "I hadn't realised how much more I was seeing of him. It's weird, him not being around."
"Don't tell him that," Dec warned mischievously, simultaneously feeling a buzz of happiness prickle beneath his skin. It was another one of those unnecessary confirmations that Ant was completely happy with what was going on. He didn't know what he'd do if that wasn't true – Ant had pretty much been his definition of home since they'd moved away from the real thing and down to London but he couldn't imagine living without having Stephen there too now. Fortunately, the two of them got on almost too well, so that was one problem he didn't have to contend with.
"You looking forward to having a bit of alone time?" Ant asked, waggling his eyebrows ridiculously. Dec smiled, the tip of his tongue poking out of his mouth as he shook his head.
"Shut up, mate." It was still too early to come up with anything clever, his response only widening the grin on Ant's face. "You're the one staying for a holiday in Australia."
"A well-deserved break from work, thank you, Declan," Ant said, rolling his eyes. "I'm taking advantage of the nice weather. You're taking advantage of not having someone across the road who's too nosey for her own good."
"And they're one and the same, of course," Dec said sarcastically. "I'll be using the time to put up my Christmas decorations actually, whilst there's no one around to tell me it's too early."
"And you'll be roping in an unsuspecting Stevie to help you, I imagine," Ant retorted, "I'll have to warn him what you're like about your tree."
"Just because you haven't realised there is a correct way to decorate for Christmas, it doesn't mean the perfect method doesn't exist," Dec explained, pretending to look disapproving, "If you ever do get round to decorating, that is."
Ant chuckled, shaking his head to himself. "You're so overdramatic. We do decorate. We just don't do it the second we get home like you."
Dec smiled amusedly, thinking fondly of the decorations in his attic that were waiting to be brought out for another year. Even though he'd spend the festive period in Newcastle and he was hardly known for being houseproud, there was something about decorating for Christmas that made him an excitable child all over again.
It was definitely an excuse to have Stephen over as well, if he even needed one. Having someone else to decorate with was another first, one that Dec wasn't going to miss out on.
"There'll be trouble in paradise if he doesn't like Christmas half as much as you," Ant mused with a grin. Dec shrugged, holding his hands up guiltily.
"I have my priorities," he joked, "Stephen might have to go if he doesn't agree to decorate my house with me."
"Poor Stevie," Ant said with mock sympathy, "You'll probably be forcing him to decorate his own house too the second you get back."
"Well, if I'm going to be spending any time there during December then he better be planning on putting a tree up," Dec replied, eyes glittering in the early morning light. Just to make sure, he got his phone out again and sent another message.
'Any Grinch-like opinions of Christmas I should know about?'
Ant huffed out a laugh, no doubt knowing exactly what he was doing and waited patiently for whatever response he would likely read out. Dec toyed with his phone until it buzzed in his hand.
'I don't like sprouts very much?'
A smile curled its way onto his face again, another message popping up.
'Is that a deal breaker?"
"He's anti-sprout," Dec told Ant, his faux seriousness setting the other man off with another laugh. "I suppose I can live with that." He looked back down at his phone to reply.
'Not if you like to decorate at an appropriate time of the month.'
"Anyone with any sense hates sprouts," Ant said, "If anything, that should be a tick in his favour."
"Well, he's passed the test," Dec said approvingly, reading his latest reply, "He thinks there's no point having a tree if you're only going to get it up on Christmas Eve."
Ant raised an eyebrow, nodding sagely. "You're obviously made for each other then." Dec grinned again, watching the temporary structures that served as their set come into view through the front windscreen.
If he hadn't already been looking forward to going home, talk of Christmas had just made the idea of the wintry weather even more tolerable.