"Oh come on Eammon" Dec smiled as he entered the small room inside the B&B,throwing his bags down roughly onto one of the beds "it's not that bad"

"Not that bad?" Eammon groaned "look at it Declan.There's mould growing up the walls,cobwebs in the windows and the beds look like they've come straight from a prison cell,I daren't even go into the bathroom"

"I will then" Dec announced cheerfully,no matter how bad this place was and he did actually accept that it was,there was no way he was going to complain about it to his big brother,who he knew would be reporting straight back to his parents at the first possible opportunity.

"It's fine" Dec smiled as he took a quick look around the bathroom.

"Yeah?well the look on your face tells a different story" Eammon retorted,while making his way over to the small room.

Ant just stood back,happy to let the two brothers do the initial checks of the place.

"It stinks in here" Eammon announced "come and check it out Ant"

Ant immediately turned up his nose as he followed Eammon into the bathroom "yeah,it does,it's really smelly"

Dec sighed as he felt like he was fighting a losing battle "we can just open the window,it'll pass,toilets are supposed to be smelly"

"Not if they're cleaned regularly they're not" Eammon stated as he opened the window as far as it would stretch "I don't like it Declan,I really don't want you staying here,it's even worse than I imagined"

"It really isn't that bad" Dec frowned "we can give it a quick clean ourselves can't we Ant?it will soon be spick and span"

Ant just shrugged his shoulders,if the truth be known,cleaning was the last thing he wanted to be doing the minute he arrived in London,he did enough of that at home.

"Well,we shouldn't have to" he mumbled quietly "these places are supposed to employ cleaners to do that stuff"

"I'm with Ant" Eammon stated "none of us should have to start cleaning a Bed and Breakfast that we're supposed to be guests at,that's not our job"

"Well,what can we do then?" Dec sighed.

"I'd like to take the both of you back home to Newcastle with me" Eammon stated.

"NO" Ant and Dec both snapped.

"Please don't do that" Dec pleaded "we can't go back,the record company would drop us if we don't turn up,we can't risk that,this could be our big break"

"Mam and Dad will be horrified when they hear about this" Eammon shook his head in despair.

"No,please" Dec was beginning to get tearful "please don't tell them Eammon,I can't deal with them being upset over this and they will definitely make us come home"

"Good" Eammon retorted.

"Well,I won't go" Dec announced defiantly while wiping his eyes vigorously "and none of you can make me.I'm an adult now and can make my own decisions" he folded his arms across his chest huffily,making it clear that he had no intention of going anywhere.

Eammon knew Declans stubborn streak only too well and was very aware the more he argued with him,the more his kid brother was likely to dig his heels in.

"Ok" Eammon muttered "don't get upset,I'll go and talk to Sue on the front desk,although I doubt that will do any good,but maybe they've got a nicer room or something at least"

As the concerned older brother made his way downstairs,Ant and Dec flopped onto the beds and stared at the ceiling.

"Eammon's right ya know" Ant announced "it is a dump"

"Yeah,I know" Dec agreed "but what was I supposed to do?do you want to risk being dragged back to Newcastle and losing the record deal?"

"No,of course not" Ant replied "just expected a bit better than this from Telstar"

"Yeah so did I" Dec muttered "I wonder who booked it?they probably don't even realise how bad it is.We should tell them when we go to the studio tomorrow"

"Yeah" Ant nodded "but let's see what Eammon has to say first,maybe he got through to misery guts down there"

"Doubt it" Dec mumbled as Eammon came back into the room.

"Well?" Dec asked hopefully as he and Ant sat up and perched on the edge of their beds.

"No go I'm afraid" Eammon sighed "she was zero help unsurprisingly.I told her I wanted to see the manager to make a complaint about the room and her attitude"

"And did you?" Ant enquired.

"Well,after she informed me the manager is actually her husband,I decided there would be no point" Eammon shrugged.

"I guess we just have to grin and bear it then" Ant stated,in reality none of them knew what to do for the best.

"I wish I could afford to put you up in a better place" Eammon announced sadly "I just really don't have the cash to spare at the moment"

"Eammon stop that" Ant demanded "it's not your responsibility to pay for us and even if you did have the money,we wouldn't accept it would we Dec?"

"Well...." Dec glanced over to Ant.

"Declan" Ant snapped "no we wouldn't,you'd happily take hard earned cash from your brother?money that he needs and has worked his butt off for"

"It's ok Ant" Eammon laughed "I know what our Decky here is like and the answer to your question is yes,of course he would"

"Families are supposed to help each other out aren't they?" Dec pointed out.

"Anyway" Eammon quickly moved the conversation on "I don't know what choices we have other than to stay here or for you to come back to Newcastle with me?"

"Then we're staying here" Dec replied bluntly.

"Where will you even eat?there's no cooker,no fridge,no microwave" Eammon observed.

"We'll have the company credit card remember?" Dec smiled "we can eat out as much as we want and get takeaways and we'll be having breakfast here every day"

"Very healthy" Eammon grimaced "be having food poisoning from eating here more like,at least eat some veg when you eat out will ya?"

"Stop fussing" Dec replied "you're worse than Mam"

"I noticed a sainsbury's up the road,I'm going to pop up there and get you some snacks and some fruit while you unpack then" Eammon said.

"Not much room to unpack stuff" Ant replied,glancing over at the one small wardrobe.

Once Eammon returned from the supermarket,he unpacked his offerings of fruit,bottled water,teabags,long life milk and some convenience snacks of crisps and biscuits.At least there was a kettle and mugs in the room with a variety of teabags,small sachets of coffee and even hot chocolate.

They were all surprised that anything extra was on offer considering how this place had turned out,but Ant and Dec both loved a proper British brew and refused to drink anything other than PG Tips,so they were pleased Eammon had remembered to buy them,no way would they settle for the B&Bs cheap alternatives.

"I guess I'd better get going then" Eammon announced sadly "I really don't like leaving you guys here though,I'm really uncomfortable about it.You promise me Declan,that you'll call me anytime,day or night if you have any problems and I will be back down here in a shot,promise me?"

"Ok,I promise" Dec casually agreed.

"I mean it Dec" Eammon continued "absolutely anything that's bothering either of you,you let me know ok?there's a pay phone downstairs so make sure you use it.You need to call Mam or one of us every single day ok?if you don't,I'll assume something's not right"

"I'll call you or Mam every day" Dec sighed,he was actually now getting increasingly irritated at his brothers overprotectiveness and was doing his best to usher him out of the door.

"And you'll talk to the record company about this?" Eammon was still showing no sign of leaving until he'd said everything that was on his mind "because if you don't I will"

"Yes we will" Ant assured him,answering for Dec "we're In the studio tomorrow,so we'll talk to them then"

"Ok good" Eammon smiled he knew Ant could be trusted more than Dec on this one "come and give us a hug then squirt and I'll be on my way"

Dec was soon enveloped in his caring older siblings arms.

"Gonna miss ya Decky" Eammon smiled as he held Dec tightly "Newcastle won't be the same without you around to cause mischief"

"I'll miss you too" Dec whispered "but I'll be back before you know it and thanks for bringing us down"

"No problem" Eammon smiled,releasing Dec and holding his arms out to Ant "bye Ant"

"Bye Eammon" Ant replied as he hugged the older man "yeah thanks for the lift,we really do appreciate it"

"Was no bother,just call me tomorrow after you've spoken to someone about this place ok?will you make sure he does that please Ant?" Eammon asked.

"Yeah I will" Ant replied "and please don't worry about us,we'll be fine"

"It's an older brothers job to worry Ant,as I'm sure you're aware" Eammon pointed out.

Ant nodded sadly,of course he knew that was true and thought briefly of his little sister back home.The thought of Sarha being holed up in a place like this almost made him want to vomit.

"We'll call you tomorrow Eammon,promise" Ant smiled.

"Well,try not to catch fleas while you're here" Eammon joked as he made his way out "and keep this door locked"

"Shut up and get out" Dec joked,giving Eammon a swift kick to the backside.

Ant and Dec both stood at the window of their room,which overlooked the small car park and waited for Eammon to emerge.

Once he did,Eammon instinctively looked up to where the boys were standing.

"Love ya Decky" he called up.

"Love you too Eamms,drive carefully" Dec shouted back as he waved until the car was out of sight.

"Just us now then" Ant stated as they both flopped back down onto the beds.

"Yep just us,thought he would never leave" Dec smiled "what do you want to do?"

Ant shrugged "don't care.I'm a bit knackered,the journey is catching up with me finally"

"Yeah me too" Dec agreed "just chill for a while then I guess?would have been nice to have a telly to watch"

"Yeah" Ant sighed "You're so lucky ya know?"

"What?" Dec asked surprised "lucky how?"

"With your family" Ant stated "they really would do anything for you,all of them.It must be so nice to know how deeply loved you are?Eammon has just proved it"

"What on earth are you talking about Ant?don't try and tell me your family don't love you because I know that's bullshit.It's quite obvious how much your Mam adores you and even Sarha,she might not show it,but she's a teenage girl,it would be very uncool for her to admit it"

"Oh I know they do" Ant replied "that's not what i meant.It's just your family are so open and willing to show affection,telling you how loved you are and the constant hugs and cuddles,I guess my family have never really been like that.Of course we love each other,but we rarely say it,it's just not the way it is with us and we do hug each other on occasions,but not that often"

"That's a bit sad then" Dec replied thoughtfully "I hug my family every day when I'm with them,especially Mam and Dad"

"That's my point" Ant sighed "I guess I have cuddle envy"

Dec quickly sprung up from the bed and threw himself down on top of Ant,wrapping his arms around his back as much as could be managed with Ants laying down position.

"Get off will ya?" Ant laughed.

"I'm giving you cuddles" Dec grinned "so there will be no more need for cuddle envy"

"Yeah,I'm good thanks" Ant giggled while not being able to resist hugging Dec in return "now get off me,you little lump"

"But seriously Dec" Ant continued as Dec returned to his own bed "you're very lucky,all those family members looking out for you,I guess it just feels different for me,if my Dad didn't even care enough about me to stick around,why should anyone else care?"

"They do care and you know it" Dec snapped,not sure where this sadness in Ant had suddenly arose from "everyone just shows their love in different ways and I've just got a bigger,very tactile family,more people to be close to"

"Yeah I guess" Ant frowned "just seeing you with your family makes me wonder how differently things might have been if my Dad had stayed around"

"Yeah that must be difficult" Dec replied sadly "but people get divorced all the time,it's hard on their kids,but it's pretty common,I guess you just deal with it the best you can"

"Yeah I know they do" Ant agreed "but most of them don't forget about their kids"

Dec didn't really know what to say to make Ant feel better.He'd never met Ants Dad,all of that happened long before their paths had crossed back at Byker Grove.He did however try to imagine what it would have been like if his Dad had walked out on them,try as he might,he just couldn't imagine Fonsey doing that,especially not abandoning his kids,he just couldn't make sense of any loving father doing that and it made him angry that Ant had been made to suffer because of his Dads actions all these years.

"Could go out for dinner later maybe?" Dec suggested,eager to change the subject and bring Ant out of his sad slump.

"Can I remind you we haven't got the credit card just yet" Ant frowned "won't get that until tomorrow"

"I'm sure we can muster up enough cash between us for a Macdonalds at least" Dec smiled "and if not,we've got the stuff Eammon got us"

He started rummaging through the large bag of goodies that Eammon had left for them.

"Look at this" Dec announced,pulling an envelope out of the bag.

"What is it?" Ant asked curiously.

"Says to Ant and Dec on the front" Dec announced as he started to open the small white envelope.

"Wow" Ant exclaimed as he watched Dec pull a wad of ten pound notes out "who's that from?and how much is there?"

"Well,that's Eammons writing and there's fifty quid here" Dec answered thoughtfully "he must have gone to the cash point while he was at sainsbury's"

"That's so nice of him" Ant smiled "but we don't want his money do we?"

"No and it was probably his last fifty quid he had left in the bank" Dec replied with a deep sense of guilt "I never wanted him to do this"

"He obviously wanted to give you it though Dec" Ant shrugged,knowing Eammon would more than likely be highly offended if they tried to return the gift "let's just be grateful eh?probably makes him feel a bit better knowing you've got a bit of cash on you,like I said,you're very lucky to have the family you have"

"Yeah I am" Dec smiled "you've changed your tune about accepting money from him though"

Ant just shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly,knowing perfectly well that they needed the money.

"Dinner's on Eammon then" Dec stated.

"Sounds good" Ant smiled "might try and catch a nap first though"

"Old woman" Dec giggled,while throwing a pillow at his best friend.

"Yeah,you'll be snoring your head off long before me" Ant laughed,tucking the pillow under his head.

"Hey,give me my pillow back" Dec insisted.

"You gave it to me" Ant grinned.

"I did not" Dec snapped "now give it back"

"Come and get it" Ant teased.

Dec was soon on his feet,attempting to yank the not so soft pillow from under Ants head.

"Such a weakling" Ant laughed as he clung on to the item tightly.

As Dec let go for a brief moment to muster up some more strength in his fists,Ant suddenly leapt to his feet.

"PILLOW FIGHT" he yelled out loudly before whacking Dec firmly around the head with his own pillow,causing him to stumble back onto his bed.

"You git,I'll get you for that" Dec shouted and soon both boys were involved in a full blown pillow fight,each taking constant blows to their heads and laughing hysterically before eventually flopping back down onto the beds.

"Think I won that one" Ant announced proudly.

"Did not" Dec snapped.

"Did" Ant argued.

Dec was too out of breath from the unexpected exertion that he decided to let this one go.In all honesty,he knew Ant had got the better of him,but there was no way he was going to admit it.

"So tomorrow Ant" Dec smiled.

"Yeah?"

"Tomorrow we start recording let's get ready to rhumble"

"Can't wait" Ant smiled at the thought,they had been rehearsing the song alot and making sure they knew every single line off by heart.

"Bring it on!"