Dec woke up feeling slightly disorientated,not sure where he was for a moment,then it clicked into place.
This wasn't his hotel room or his bed,this was Ant's room and Ant's bed,but there was no sign of Ant anywhere.
Dec yawned and stretched,glancing at the bedside clock which displayed 7.05am.
He got up to go to the toilet,noting that he was still in his clothes.
He frowned at himself in the bathroom mirror and splashed cold water over his face,now recalling cuddling up to Ant and feeling very sleepy.
He must have slept for hours,he thought to himself,no idea why he'd been so exhausted all of a sudden,yes he'd had a couple of glasses of wine with Anne and Pat,but nothing excessive.
Curious about Ant's whereabouts,he wandered back to his own room...and there he was.
Fast asleep in Dec's bed,Ant was snoring heavily,obviously still in a deep sleep,so Dec made his way back to Ant's room,settling down to watch the television quietly and browse the breakfast menu,although he then decided to wait until Ant woke up before ordering anything.
Breakfast television was boring him to tears though and nothing else was catching his attention so he decided to try and go back to sleep for a while.
He didn't know how long he had dozed for,but was startled awake by the sound of the adjoining door opening.
"Morning Dec" Ant smiled "how did you sleep?"
"Pretty good by the look of it" Dec yawned "I guess I fell asleep in your bed"
"Yeah,I guess you did" Ant laughed.
"You should have woke me" Dec frowned "I would have gone back to my own bed"
"I didn't have the heart" Ant smiled "you were sleeping so peacefully so I just moved into your bed"
"Well,thank you" Dec replied.
"It wasn't a problem" Ant beamed "the beds are the same and I slept like a log"
"Good" Dec nodded "no idea why I was so exhausted"
Ant sat down on the bed next to Dec and patted his leg.
"You've had a pretty emotional couple of days" Ant pointed out "I'm not surprised it had that effect on you"
"Yeah" Dec agreed "I guess so,so what time are we heading back to London?"
"No hurry" Ant smiled "let's get some breakfast,then we'll just get ourselves organised and leave when we're ready,I've got something to tell you first"
"Oh yeah?" Dec asked curiously "what?"
"I'll tell you over breakfast" Ant grinned.
So after both boys had a shower and got into clean clothes,they were soon sat in the hotel restaurant,tucking into a full English.
"More fried food" Ant frowned "I'll need to live on salad for a week once we get back"
"Sod that" Dec laughed "salad is for rabbits,do I look like I've got a little,fluffy tail?"
"I don't know,have you?" Ant grinned "turn around and I'll check"
"Shut up" Dec giggled.
"Anyway" Ant smiled "want to hear my idea?"
"Go on then" Dec mumbled through a mouthful of sausage.
"I'm not going back to work" Ant announced.
"Yeah,I know" Dec shrugged "you're taking a career break"
"No" Ant shook his head "I mean not ever...not to that job anyway"
"Er...what now?" Dec asked confused.
"I'm not going back to work" Ant repeated,with a certain amount of pride "I've had enough of the rat race,the ridiculous hours,for what?yes the money is good,but I want more than that,I want something I can look forward to doing every day,where I love my work,can't wait to do it...do you know what I mean?"
"Do jobs like that even exist?" Dec enquired "I've certainly never had one"
"They must do" Ant replied confidently.
"What are you thinking of?" Dec asked cautiously "I'm not sure giving up your job permanently is a good idea,at least you have security there"
"Dec,I have security anyway" Ant smiled "I've earned enough over the years to see me through comfortably to retirement,so I can do what I like"
"What then?" Dec frowned.
"Well" Ant grinned "you know you said you want to work with animals?"
"Yeah" Dec replied,not sure where Ant was going with this.
"Well,so do I" Ant stated proudly.
"Umm...what?" Dec asked.
"You heard" Ant snapped playfully "oh Declan,it will be brilliant,I've got it all planned,I want to set up my own dog walking business and maybe boarding kennels"
"Where?" Dec asked surprised.
"In my garden" Ant grinned.
"In your garden?" Dec laughed in disbelief.
"Yeah,why not?" Ant replied "you've seen the size of it,it's massive"
"Yeah" Dec cut in "and it's got a swimming pool taking over a large part of it"
"I'm only talking about maybe four or five kennels" Ant stated "not hundreds,I know I'll have to get planning permission but i don't think that'll be a problem"
"Sounds like you've really thought this through" Dec mused.
"I have" Ant nodded "and one more thing"
"What?"
"I want you to come and work for me" Ant smiled.
"Wow" Dec replied,still trying to take it all in.
"Just think about it Dec" Ant beamed "me and you,spending our days with dogs,walking them,playing with them"
"Scrubbing out kennels" Dec sighed "cleaning up shit,you do realise animals are hard work don't you?it's not all about playing with cute puppies"
"Of course I do" Ant smiled "I'm not scared of a bit of hard work"
"Yeah" Dec laughed,looking down at Ant's perfectly smooth hands and nicely manicured nails "don't think those hands have ever done an ounce of dirty work"
"First time for everything" Ant shrugged "so are you in?"
Dec admired Ants enthusiasm for his new idea and it was true that Ant had plenty of money behind him,so was unlikely to end up out on the streets if it all went pear shaped and he could always return to his former career as a lawyer if necessary.
Dec looked at Ant with a huge smile spreading across his face.
"Ok Ant...let's do it"
"Great" Ant replied excitedly "can't bloody wait to get this going"
"When?" Dec asked.
"No time like the present" Ant smiled "I will have to go into work this week just to sort things out,then I'm a free man"
"It's nice to see you like this" Dec pointed out "I've never seen you so passionate about anything before"
"Yeah" Ant nodded "I guess I just didn't realise how much of a rut I was stuck in,but now I know there's a lot more to life than being stuck at a desk for hours on end"
"Maybe you're having a mid life crisis" Dec giggled.
"It's very possible" Ant replied seriously "but I don't care,life is for living and that's exactly what I'm going to do from now on,once you've got a passport I'm gonna sort out this holiday then when we come back,bring on the doggies"
"Ok Ant" Dec laughed "have you decided where we're going on this holiday?"
"I have" Ant grinned "the Maldives"
"What the hell?" Dec almost spat his orange juice out straight into Ant's face "I thought you'd say somewhere like Spain or Greece,not the bloody Maldives"
"You'll love it" Ant beamed "I've been before,so as soon as your passport comes through...off we go"
They were soon on their way back to London and Dec's head was spinning slightly on the drive home from everything that had happened in just a couple of days,he was actually looking forward to going back to work the next day to get back into some sort of routine.
"Here we are" Ant announced as he pulled up outside Dec's flat "I'll see you at work tomorrow"
"Thanks Ant" Dec smiled "for everything"
"You're welcome" Ant replied "and just think,neither of us will have to be stuck in this gloomy office building for much longer"
"I like working here" Dec shrugged.
Ant had a brief moment of panic.
"You are on board with this dog walking idea aren't you?"
"Yeah of course I am" Dec beamed "it's my dream job,but I'll still be sad about leaving here,everyone has been so lovely to me"
"We can always meet up with them sometime" Ant stated "and you'll probably still have a fair while left until I get organised with everything"
"Yeah that's true" Dec smiled "anyway,see you tomorrow"
"See ya Dec" Ant beamed and waved as he drove off.
Dec was actually very excited about Ant's idea,he was just cautious after so many things had gone wrong in his life,but Ant had the business know how,enthusiasm and money to make it work,so Dec just needed to stop worrying.
A few weeks later,Dec was beside himself with excitement as he and Ant arrived at the airport.
The last few weeks had been a bit of a whirlwind since their brief visit to Newcastle.
Dec had now spoke to all of his siblings,either by text or on the phone and they had all been delighted to have him back in their lives and he promised to visit them once he was back from his holiday.
And Ant had thrown himself into his new business venture.
He had found someone who seemed like the perfect replacement at the law firm and was happy to hand the reins over to him and he'd got the ball rolling with the dog walking business,putting himself out there with advertising and making himself known in the area.
But now they were sat at the airport bar,waiting for their flight.
They still had a couple of hours to kill and Dec's excitement at watching the planes take off was totally endearing to Ant.
"There goes another one" Dec grinned,as he watched a huge plane shoot down the runway "wonder where it's going?"
"Think that was the flight to New York" Ant announced.
"Wow,New York" Dec beamed "have you been?"
"Yeah,loads of times" Ant nodded "usually for work though,don't get to do much sightseeing"
He looked at Dec,noticing how wide eyed he was.
"Would you like to go to New York?" He asked.
"God yeah" Dec giggled "and California and Texas and Florida and Canada and Australia and Mexico and Iceland and..."
"Alright Dec" Ant laughed "one place at a time eh?"
"I am going to get to all of those places one day Ant" Dec replied confidently.
"I don't doubt that Declan" Ant beamed "but first...watch out the Maldives"
"Here we come!"