"Get in the car Declan" Anne ordered as Dec dragged his feet reluctantly towards the vehicle.

"Ok Mam,I'm coming" Dec moaned,all he wanted to do,was go back to bed.He had never felt so ill in his entire life as he did right now,but he had been made aware pretty quickly that he wouldn't be getting any sympathy at home.

He rested his head against the inside of the car door and closed his eyes,wishing the headache and sick feeling would just leave him alone.Every bump in the road his Mam drove over made his stomach do somersaults.He hadn't eaten breakfast,just the thought of it made him want to run for the toilet and bring up whatever may still have been lurking there.

"Ok Declan,we're here,out you get" Anne said as she pulled up in front of the mitre building "have a good day"

Dec wasn't sure if she was being sarcastic or not,there was no way in the world he could have a good day with the way he was currently feeling,not to mention how much he was dreading what his bosses would say when they saw him.

As he plonked himself down at the table opposite Ant,his friend looked up and frowned.

"You ok Dec?" He asked.

"I've been better" Dec sighed.

"What's up with you?"

"Oh nothing,I'll be ok" Dec really didn't want to go into details of the past twenty four hours.

Today was going to be hard,extremely hard.Not only did he feel like death warmed up,but he hadn't rehearsed his lines,he was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to remember them.Plus he had alot more scenes to film than he would have liked.

As the director called him and Ant for their first shoot of the day,Dec felt his stomach lurch as he stood up.

"Ugh" he groaned.

"Are you ill Dec?" Ant asked concerned "got a bug or something?"

"Yeah maybe" Dec replied.

Dec tried his hardest to get through the scene but needed some prompting from both Ant and the director when he inevitably forgot some of his lines.

"Dec what's going on?" Matthew,the current director asked "what's wrong with you?this isn't like you to be so forgetful.You're the one person here who never needs any help or prompting,want to tell me what this is all about?"

"S...sorry Matthew,I just don't feel well" Dec moaned.

"Oh really?what's wrong?" Matthew enquired.

"Think he's got a bug" Ant chimed in "better not give it to us"

Dec glared at Ant "I haven't got a bug actually,so you're not gonna catch anything off of me"

He turned his eyes back to Matthew before quickly staring down at the floor "I'm sorry Matthew,but I went to a family christening yesterday and got drunk"

"DECLAN" Matthew snapped horrified "you're sixteen,it's really dangerous for you to be drinking,how much did you have?"

"Three pints" Dec mumbled,he'd already had this lecture from his Mam and certainly didn't want to hear it again.

"Three pints?at your age?Declan,you could have killed yourself,your young body can't handle that much alcohol" Matthew was fuming with his young star by now.

"Don't be so dramatic Matthew" Dec moaned "obviously I haven't killed myself as I'm here aren't I?"

"Don't get smart with me young man" Matthew retorted.

He had no patience with time wasters no matter who they were.

"Well you're obviously in no fit state to work are you?we're going to have to postpone your scenes and maybe shoot some other stuff today,although this will affect the budget you know?we'll have to call other people in and that's only if they're available,if not we'll just all have to pack up and go home,I hope you're proud of yourself Declan?"

"Ok,ok,you've made your point" Dec was by now feeling incredibly guilty and was on the verge of tears.He couldn't take anymore of Matthew's anger which would have been bad enough on a normal day,but with the way he was feeling at the moment,every harsh word was excruciating.

"I'm really sorry" he whispered sadly.

Matthew softened as he looked into Decs tearful eyes.

"Ok Dec,what's done is done,but I fear you may have alcohol poisoning,you really don't look right" Matthew announced worriedly.

Ants ears pricked up at the mention of that.Although he felt a bit sorry for Dec with how he was feeling,he was also annoyed that the days plans had been changed because of him.

Nevertheless,the whole situation did make Ant think that Dec was definitely the one he wanted to be hanging out with,the one he would be able to have a laugh with,if Dec could get away with getting pissed in front of his entire family then he was the one he would certainly click with.It seemed like Dec would probably be fair game for just about anything and he looked forward to the mischief they would create together.He smiled to himself as he thought about the fact that all his planned naughtiness would all be thanks to a flintstones Christmas card.

"Maybe you should go to hospital to get checked out?" Matthew suggested "it really can't be good for someone so young to have all that alcohol in their system,that worries me"

"I really don't think I need to go to hospital" Dec replied concerned "I'll be fine,I promise.I already feel much better than I did earlier"

Of course he was lying,but he hated hospitals,visiting people in them was bad enough without being a patient himself.

"Ok" Mathew decided not to pressure him "but I'm calling your Mam so she can come and get you,there's no point in you staying here today,go home and go to bed"

That was one thing Dec really didn't want,his Mam having to come back again,she wouldn't be happy,she was already pretty upset and angry with him,but he knew there was no point in arguing his case any longer with either of them and the thought of spending the day tucked up in his bed made facing Anne more than worth it.

Matthew had insisted on staying with Dec in the canteen until Anne arrived so he could keep an eye on him.Dec hated that as he felt like he was being babysat,but he knew better than to make a fuss under the circumstances.

"Well Declan" Anne said as she walked into the canteen "I wasn't expecting to be back here so soon"

"Sorry Mam" Dec whispered.

"Yeah I'm sure you are" the loving mother was beginning to feel slightly sorry for her son now and couldn't keep the anger up much longer,no matter how hard she tried.Dec was being punished enough by the way he felt.

"Hi Anne" Ant smiled cheerfully "nice to see you again"

"You too Ant" she smiled back "wish I could stay and chat but I need to get this idiot home"

"MAM" Dec snapped.

"Well you are an idiot Dec" Ant laughed.

"Bye Ant" Dec groaned "I'll see you in the morning"

"I hope so" Ant grinned.

"Oh he'll be here Anthony" Anne assured him "no way will he be missing another day of filming no matter how bad he's feeling,I'm sure he's caused enough disruption to the schedule"

"Yeah that's true,he has" Ant agreed.

She got Dec into the car and drove carefully home.

"You tell me if you're going to throw up and I'll pull over ok?"

"I'm not going to throw up Mam,I just feel like shit"

"Declan,don't use that language with me,or I'll wash your mouth out with soap and water"

Dec rolled his eyes at the threat he'd heard so many times before.

Anne was soon tucking Dec into bed,he smiled to himself as he knew she couldn't keep the stern act up for much longer.

She placed a glass of water on his bedside table before kissing his forehead and tucking him in.

"Warm and snug sweetheart" she smiled "now you try and get some sleep"

"Thanks Mam" he whispered "sorry you had to come back for me,I really am sorry about all this"

"I know you are" she smiled "let's forget about it now and hopefully you'll feel better when you wake up"

Dec slept solidly for seven hours and by the time he awoke,he could hear his Dads and Cams voices downstairs,obviously back from work.

He made his way downstairs to join them.

"Hi sweetheart" his Mam said "how are you feeling?"

"So much better now" he replied relieved.

"You hungry?"

"Starving Mam" Dec was soon picking at the freshly prepared meal Anne had probably spent hours preparing.

"Hey" she playfully slapped his hand away "no picking,wait until it's all dished up"

"But Maaaaam" he whined "I'm STARVING"

Fonsey glanced over at his youngest son in amusement,and then looked at his wife.

"Normal service has resumed dear"

After that,the christening and even Decs antics during it became a fond memory that they could all laugh about.

His and Ants friendship went from strength to strength,they found ways to spend time together even when Ant was so busy at home,the usual solution being that Dec would just hang out with Ant and his sister at their house.

They had both started dating by now,but any girlfriends took second place to their friendship.

They breezed through episode after episode of Byker and soon become known as the most professional pair amongst all the young actors and actresses on set.They even had their own driver to escort them to and from work.They were extremely popular and loved being there,they couldn't imagine doing anything else,for now anyway.

They soon had series two and three of Byker Grove under their belts and were looking forward to getting their teeth stuck into filming the new series.

One day,they were browsing through the new script together at Ants house.They had been sent the entire rough copy for the fourth series and had been reading through parts of it together for a couple of weeks now,but today they finished the whole thing.

"What the hell....?" Ant exclaimed.

"What?" Dec answered curiously "what is it?"

"Have you seen this?" Ant didn't sound too happy with whatever he'd just read "I don't fucking believe it"

"I'll wash your mouth out with soap and water young Anthony" Dec grinned,unable to resist mimicking his Mam.

"Shut up Dec,look" Ant shook the last page of the thick book in front of Decs nose.

Dec sighed and grabbed it off him,pretty sure that unless they were being written out of the series,then Ant was being pretty dramatic over nothing.

"Oh" Dec exclaimed as he browsed over the final pages.

"Yeah OH,exactly!what are they playing at?I've not been told anything about this,you'd think someone might have mentioned it to me at some point wouldn't you?" Ant was raging by now "I'm going to see Matthew"

"Ant relax will ya?it's not necessarily a bad thing,why are you assuming it is?" Dec tried his best to calm his friend down.

Ant thought quietly to himself for a moment.He didn't want this,not for himself or his character,it would change everything surely?where would he go from here?where would PJ go from here?He couldn't take it in,why hadn't the writers run this by him first?they usually did if any of the new ideas involved PJ.He hated this latest development with a passion and was determined to make his feelings known when he was next on set.

Dec just shook his head at Ants fury,he'd seen it many times before by now and was convinced he was making a fuss about nothing.

"Ant this could be a great storyline for you....for us" He tried to assure him.

"I doubt it Dec,I'm really not happy about this"

"Yeah,I've guessed that by now,but i really think you're overreacting"

"OVER REACTING?" Ant shouted

"BLIND DECLAN,THEY WANT TO MAKE PJ BLIND"