"Ant,have you seen this?" Dec yelled down the phone line the following day.

"Seen what Dec?" Ant was rather annoyed that Dec had woken him up from his much needed,rare lie in.

"The script Ant" Dec snapped "have you read it yet?"

"Of course I haven't read it yet Dec" Ant sighed "we only got back from Ireland yesterday,we've got a few weeks before we start filming again,what's your hurry?"

"No hurry" Dec stated "I just started reading it last night out of curiosity,you'll never guess what they've done now?"

"Can't be anything worse than making PJ go blind" Ant yawned.

"Oh yeah?" Dec laughed sarcastically "I'm not so sure about that"

"Just tell us Dec will ya?" Ant pleaded "I'm too knackered to play your guessing games"

"Singing Ant" Dec stated "they're gonna make Duncan be the singer in a band"

This news immediately woke Ant up more as he burst into fits of laughter.

"Singing?" Ant mused "can you sing?"

"Well,judging by the amount of times I've been told to put a sock in it when I've been singing in the shower,apparently not" Dec moaned.

"It's kinda funny,you must admit Decs" Ant replied.

"I'm admitting no such thing" Dec snapped "and if you find it so funny,just wait till you read it,you'll be singing too,or rapping apparently"

"What?" Ant replied surprised "I can't sing or rap,what are they on about?"

"Yeah welcome to my world" Dec said "and I bet you thought you'd just be tapping your way around the grove with a white stick all series didn't you?"

"Well" Ant replied thoughtfully "I didn't want that but this is something else"

"Yeah tell me about it" Dec replied "so what do we do about it?"

"Dec,I think we've both learnt from experience that there's no point in arguing with any of the powers that be,didn't get us anywhere with the PJ going blind storyline did it?"

Dec let out a sigh "I guess not,it's gonna be so embarrassing though,I don't even know what I sound like,I've only ever heard myself sing in my own head"

"Well,there's no point in worrying about it now" Ant smiled "maybe they've got one of those machines that'll make us sound brilliant"

"I hope so" Dec whispered.

"I guess I should go and read this script then" Ant suggested.

"Yeah you should,let me know what you think when you're done"

"Will do pal,but seriously Dec,don't get worked up about this ok?it'll be fine,might even be good for our careers,who knows where it might take us,dream big and all that" Ant joked.

"Yeah right Ant,funnily enough being a singer was never my dream,acting is all I want to do"

"Ok Dec,just don't fret about it ok?i know what a worrier you can be.I'll go and start on it now and call you back when I'm done ok?"

"Ok" Dec sighed.

"But Dec,please don't sit by the phone all day alright?" Ant ordered "I probably won't have time to read it all today,so go and do something useful"

"Ok,I will" Dec replied "I'm going back to bed,didn't sleep very well last night"

"Very useful Dec" Ant laughed "you do that and I'll talk to you later"

They hung up and both did as they said they would,Dec going for a nap and Ant starting on reading the mammoth script.

It actually took him a good few days to read the entire script,but Ant was as equally unimpressed as Dec had been with what he read,but he had already resigned himself to the fact he and Dec would just have to go along with it.

A few weeks later they were sat in Matthew's office.

"Listen to this" Matthew ordered.

The boys sat in silence as they listened to the short song.Once it had finished playing,Dec turned to Matthew and bluntly stated,

"What a pile of shit"

"Declan" Matthew snapped "you had better get used to that pile of shit,because you're going to be singing it and I think you should be a bit more courteous about something someone has taken the effort to sit down and write for you"

"I never asked them to" Dec snapped back "and I'm sure they'll be getting paid enough for it"

"Alright Dec,wind your neck in" Ant warned.

"Well it is a shit song 'tonight I'm free,tonight I'm free' over and over again,some songwriter" Dec moaned.

"I'll remember to pass your thanks on to that songwriter" Matthew sighed "look Declan,you know this will be going ahead anyway don't you?so there's no point in making a fuss"

"Who's making a fuss?" Dec asked "I'm just pointing out that it's a shit song,which it is,and what about that name?Grove matrix?really?"

"So you don't like the song,you don't like the name of the band?anything else I should know about?" Matthew shook his head in despair.

"This whole idea is crap Matthew and you know it?" Dec snapped.

"Ok,I get it Dec" Matthew shook his head despairingly "you don't like the song,you've made that quite clear,you think it's a shit song,you also don't like the name of the band or anything else about this idea.I've taken on board you're comments but you know what?"

"What?" Ant and Dec both chimed together.

"They don't matter" Matthew announced "it's irrelevant,I know it sounds harsh and I know you don't want to do it,but it's going ahead I'm afraid,so you're just going to have to accept it"

"You do know that neither of us can sing don't you?" Ant pointed out.

"Minor detail" Matthew smiled "you're kids in a youth club band,no one is going to expect you to be the next Elton Johns or George Michaels"

That did at least raise a slight smile from the boys.

"Don't know why we even bothered talking to him" Dec complained as he and Ant left Matthew's office.

"Er Dec,he summoned us" Ant pointed out.

"Even so" Dec replied "was pointless"

"Don't worry Dec,we'll manage this,it might not be so bad" Ant smiled as he placed a comforting arm around Decs shoulder.

"We'll see" Dec sighed unconvinced

"You know Dec,filming this band stuff is only going to take a few weeks out of our lives" Ant pointed out "then it will be forgotten about and we can get back to the serious acting stuff.I promise you Declan,you don't need to worry about this so much,in a few months time,no one will even remember that PJ and Duncan ever did any singing,as soon as those episodes have aired,that'll be it,over and done with,storm in a tea cup as me Mam would say"

"I hope you're right" Dec sighed.

"Aren't I always?" Ant winked.

Soon,the boys were back on set,acting their hearts out,Ant throwing himself into the role of a blind boy and Dec being just as enthusiastic about his role as PJs caring best friend.

They had both learned the lyrics to the song pretty easily,it still hadn't grown on them though,in fact the more they rehearsed it,the more awful they thought it was.

They had talked about it further with each other several times after the meeting with Matthew and had decided to just get on with it,that's all they could do really and in all honesty,filming those scenes really hadn't been that bad in the end.In fact they'd quite enjoyed portraying a different side to PJ and Duncan.

Once those scenes had gone out on television a while later,the feedback from the public had been very positive,much to Ant and Decs surprise.

Soon they were nearing the end of filming for series five and one day Matthew called them into his office yet again.

"Hi boys" Matthew greeted them cheerily "how are you both?"

"Fine" they both announced in unison.

"Good job with the band stuff guys,not so bad was it?" He asked,his question obviously aimed more at Dec than Ant.

"I guess not" Dec replied "I'm glad it's over and done with though"

"Yeah I bet you are" Matthew laughed.

"So lads" he continued "I just wanted to say how great everything is going for you both"

"Yeah thanks" Dec smiled.

"PJ and Duncan are very popular characters" Matthew continued "you've both portrayed them perfectly"

"Thanks" both boys said.

"Getting plenty of fan mail eh?" Matthew teased with a wide grin "lots of teenage girls breaking their hearts over you two I'd imagine"

"Shut up will ya" Ant laughed.

"It's true though isn't it boys?I've seen those sacks of fan mail in the office with your names on them,do you read them?"

"Of course we do " Dec smiled "it's the least we can do after someone has taken the time and effort to write to us"

He paused for thought for a moment.

"Well we try to,but it's not easy,we don't have time to read them all or to reply to them,as much as we'd like to"

"Someone sent Dec some knickers" Ant laughed while nudging his friend playfully in the ribs "all pink and lacey they were"

"Is that a fact?" Matthew asked amused.

"Er yeah" Dec was blushing furiously.

"Declared her love for him too she did" Ant carried on with the teasing,he was getting tremendous pleasure out of it.

"Well,I'd imagine you're quite a catch young Declan" Matthew smiled "handsome,funny,kind and a great actor,you could have your pick of the girls"

"Alright Matthew" Dec cringed "stop it will ya?"

Matthew and Ant weren't planning to let Dec off so easily though.

"Tell me about this declaration of love for Declan here" Matthew instructed.

"Her name is Sandra" Ant was happy to fill Matthew in on the shenanigans "but she's decided everyone should call her DD,you know,short for Declan Donnelly.She said her and Dec are going to get married and have seven kids,because Dec is one of seven and emigrate to America and live by the beach in California.Don't know where she thinks they'll get the money for that"

"Well Dec is a famous actor,he'll keep them fed with a roof over their heads" Matthew joked.

"Ok,can we stop with this nonsense now?" Dec pleaded "you've made your point,I get it,it's amusing,now move on"

"Don't worry Dec" Matthew smiled "I bet this sandra,or DD I should say,will be cringing about this as much as you are right now in twenty years time"

"Yeah" Ant agreed "but until then,she'll be kissing your picture goodnight and telling you she loves you"

"Shut up" Dec snapped as he threw the pen he'd been fiddling with at Ant.

"Ow" Ant laughed in mock pain as it hit him on the shoulder.

"Careful Dec" Matthew smiled "you'll have his eye out"

"He's acting all coy about it Matthew" Ant laughed "but ask him what he's done with the knickers"

"Declan?" Matthew was very curious about what the teenagers answer would be.

"I gave them to my girlfriend" Dec admitted sheepishly.

"Dec" Matthew stated in mock horror "that's terrible"

"Yeah and he had only been seeing this girl for a little while" Ant laughed.

Dec had indeed been working his way through some of the girls from school and who lived locally to him,earning himself a reputation as a bit of a romeo.

"What did she say?" Matthew asked curiously.

"She dumped me" Dec shrugged "shouldn't have told her another girl sent me them"

"Ya think?" Ant laughed.

Matthew peered from one boy to the other after they'd had a good laugh at Decs expense.The boys were now waiting silently in anticipation of what he was about to say.

"Er,was there anything else Matthew?" Ant enquired.

Matthew let out a heavy sigh.He was so fond of these boys.They were both two of lifes nice guys,he rarely had a bad word to say about either of them.

They were nice,friendly,caring,helpful lads.They were very popular with both the cast and crew at byker.They automatically took younger actors joining the programme under their wings,guiding them and giving them advice and helping them to deal with their nervousness.

Of course they weren't perfect,Matthew thought,Decs stubbornness and Ants moodiness could be very trying at times,but those minor problems were outshone by far by their good points over and over again.

He knew these boys would go far in life,they were certainly determined and ambitious.He also knew they could be very sensitive and wore their hearts on their sleeves,especially Dec.

As he looked from one curious boys face to the other,he thought about how much he liked both of them,how he'd loved watching them grow from shy,immature kids into lovely young men,so he knew there was no easy way to tell them what was on his mind.

He just had to tell them straight!