"Smile Rosie" the photographer called out as he snapped away with his camera,determined to get the best shots possible of the young girl with her idols.

Rosie was In her element as she obeyed his order while Ant and Dec posed with her,cuddling her,kissing her on the cheek and messing around playfully to make her laugh.

"Which one do you like the best?" The photographer enquired as he showed her the pictures he'd taken over the last twenty minutes "you can choose which one goes on the cover"

"Really?wow" Rosie still couldn't believe her luck and was awestruck at what was happening.

"This one" she grinned as she pointed to a picture of herself laughing hysterically as Ant and Dec planted a kiss on each of her cheeks.

"Good choice" Dec agreed.

The reporter from Smash Hits asked her a few questions about what it was like to meet Ant and Dec,or PJ and Duncan to be precise and even delved into the bullying issues she was being subjected to.This would be a great theme for the magazine to take on.

Rosie raved about it being the best day of her life,how lovely,amazing and funny PJ and Duncan had been,she hadn't seemed to quite grasp the fact that those weren't Ant and Decs real names,but everyone just humoured her and let it slide.

"Would you like a drink?" Ant asked politely once everything was wrapped up "I think there may be some pop back in our dressing room"

Ant used 'dressing room' in the loosest sense of the words.What HMV had actually done was turn their staff room into a makeshift dressing room for the boys,but it worked anyway and was actually larger than the usual dressing rooms they were allocated as it was designed to hold more people.

They didn't actually need it very much in the end anyway as they were only there for a few hours,but it was a nice gesture nevertheless.

Rosie glanced at her watch.

"Oh do you need to go?" Dec enquired "got somewhere to be?"

"Nowhere to be" Rosie confirmed "just meeting my mum here at eight o'clock,she's shopping on oxford street"

"Ah,so you still have half an hour to spare" Dec smiled "come on then,I'm parched"

Ant and Dec led her back to the staff room where she was given the choice of coke,lemonade or water,she took the first choice and thanked her hosts politely.

"So" Dec stated "tell us about these girls who are giving you such a hard time at school,I assume it is girls?"

Rosie sighed and nodded sadly as she took a swig from the red and white can.Unbeknownst to her,Dec had made it his mission to help her with the issue once he learnt of her plight.Yes they'd done the photoshoot for the magazine but she assumed that was just to cheer her up,nothing else.

"There's four of them" Rosie announced sadly.

Sounds familiar,Dec thought and tensed up as the bad memories he'd buried deep down in his memory started to bubble to the surface uninvited once again.

Neither Ant nor Rosie noticed the change in Decs body language as the obviously emotionally scarred girl continued to speak.

"They're so vile.They call me horrible names,push and hit me,they even stuck chewing gum in my hair once"

"I'm so sorry" Ant replied with a sad,sympathetic smile "you don't deserve that"

"They tell me I'll never get married because I'm too fat and ugly" Rosie informed them as she stared at the floor "they say no boy will ever want me"

"Well,we know that's not true" Ant smiled "you're a little stunner and any boy would be lucky to have you"

"I know what it's like to be bullied" Dec cut in "so I really do know exactly how it feels"

"Yeah you said something like that before,what do you mean?" Ant asked,he had absolutely no idea his beloved best friend had ever been a victim of bullying.

Dec sighed heavily "it was years ago when I was much younger,even before I met you Ant"

Dec proceeded to tell the sorry tale of how he had been treated by Terry and his gang and how it had all come to a head one day.He explained how lucky he was that he had such a protective family,especially his older brothers who sorted the whole sorry mess out for him by scaring off the thugs once and for all.

"So you see Rosie" he finished off the story "it never helps to keep things like that to yourself,I didn't do myself any favours doing that and once everyone knew,life got so much better,it's always good to have someone who's got your back and will stick up for you"

"Yeah I can imagine it is" Rosie frowned "and I'm so glad you had your brothers to help you,but I'm an only child"

"Oh I see" Dec sighed "what about your parents?do they know?"

"Yeah they do" Rosie replied sadly "they've been up to the school on more than one occasion,didn't make any difference though,made things worse in fact as the bullies were so angry that I'd told on them,they just saved the bullying for after school instead,the walk home is always a nightmare"

Ant and Dec were so upset at what this poor girl was having to go through,they both wanted to give her some advice that would be useful to her,but they weren't sure that they actually had any words of wisdom,but they had to at least try.

"Listen Rosie" Dec smiled "have you ever stood up to these girls?confronted them about what they're doing?"

"No of course not" Rosie replied "I'm scared of them,I just try to get away and get home as soon as I can,mum just says to ignore them,but how can you ignore all that?"

"You can't" Ant frowned.

"I know it's hard Rosie" Dec smiled sympathetically "but the only way is to stand up to them,I wish I'd stood up to my bullies alot earlier,then I wouldn't have been put through so much grief"

"I...I can't" the terrified girl said,now beginning to show her emotional side.

"I know it's scary" Dec continued "but I promise you it's the only way.If your parents and the school have tried but nothing worked,then you have to take them on yourself"

"How?" Rosie asked tearfully.

"Give that girl a good slap" Dec stated bluntly.

"Declan" Ant snapped "I don't think encouraging Rosie to be violent will help things do you?"

"It might" Dec shrugged.

"Listen Rosie" Ant continued in a soft,kind voice "if you have never stood up to this girl...er...?"

"Laura" Rosie said.

"Laura" Ant smiled gently "if you've never stood up to this Laura,it might actually be worth a try and I don't mean by slapping her"

He rolled his eyes over in Decs direction.

"Eye contact always works the best" Ant advised "look her straight in the eye,ask her what her problem is,ask her why she feels the need to treat you like that,ask her if there is something going on in her life that makes her lash out,then watch her squirm,worth a try eh?"

"Maybe" Rosie smiled.

"That's good advice" Dec agreed "what have you got to lose?"

"Nothing probably" Rosie sighed.

"Rosie look at me" Dec ordered "do it for us eh?me and him" he nodded over at Ant "it would make us very happy knowing you did this"

"Ok,I will" Rosie grinned,she couldn't imagine anything better than making her idols happy.

"Good girl" Dec squeezed her arm comfortingly "you've got this"

"Yeah I have" Rosies confidence was now growing by the second "and I'm sorry that you had to go through all this too"

"I am too" Ant smiled sympathetically "I'm so sorry either of you had to suffer at the hands of those cowardly bullies.I can't believe I never knew you went through that" he aimed the statement at Dec.

"I never had any reason to bring it up with you" Dec shrugged "I was ok though and you will be too Rosie"

A short while later,Rosies mum arrived to pick her up,the excited fan couldn't stop ranting and rambling on ten to the dozen to her mother about what an amazing time she had had and how lovely the boys had been to her.

The desperate mother was so happy to see her usually unhappy daughter smiling,a genuine smile this time,not the forced smile she knew the girl often put on so her parents wouldn't worry.

Rosie and her mother thanked Ant and Dec profusely and they all said their goodbyes,with Ant and Dec giving Rosie one last,warm hug.

"Such a nice kid" Ant stated as he watched the mother and daughter duo walk out of the shop.

"Yeah she was" Dec agreed "just hope it all works out for her"

"It has to" Ant replied,the idea of it going any other way didn't bear thinking about.

Ant and Dec went straight back to the Bed and Breakfast,as much as they had enjoyed the meet and greet,it had been surprisingly exhausting.

Just minutes after arriving back,the phone rang and Dec proceeded to have a lengthy conversation with Clare.

"Finally" Dec grinned at Ant as he hung up the receiver.

"Sounds like you've actually got a date?" Ant enquired.

"Were you earwigging on my conversation?" Dec frowned.

"Can't really avoid it when we're in the same room" Ant laughed.

"Can't wait to get into the flat" Dec grumbled.

"You and me both" Ant smiled.

The boys had now been given a date to move into a flat in Fulham,they couldn't wait,but it would be over the Christmas period so they still had a few more weeks to wait.

"So when is the big date?" Ant smiled.

"Next Tuesday" Dec grinned "it is literally the only day we are both available until after Christmas"

"How romantic" Ant laughed.

"Well,you have to take whatever you can get" Dec replied casually.

"So where are you gonna take her?" Ant was genuinely excited for his best friend,he'd wanted this for so long,as much as Dec loved meeting Clare for coffee,chatting on the phone and exchanging letters with her,it just wasn't enough.

"Don't know" Dec shrugged "haven't even thought about it yet"

"Please don't take her to the Hard Rock Cafe" Ant laughed.

"Why not?" Dec asked surprised "you love the Hard Rock Cafe"

"Yeah I do" Ant replied "but ya know,it needs to be a bit more special than that,a nice table in a darkened corner,candles and all that"

"You're such an idiot" Dec laughed.

"I'm serious Dec" Ant smiled "girls love all that romantic stuff,you'll see.We've had a decent amount of money coming in for a while now,you can afford to take her somewhere nice and don't use the company credit card,that won't impress her"

"Ok I won't" Dec sighed "bet Telstar will want that back soon anyway now we can pay our own way"

"Oh,I guarantee that" Ant smiled "still it's not like we use it much now anyway"

This was true as the boys thought it didn't feel right for them to take advantage of the record companys generosity when they could now easily afford to pay their own way.The fact Telstar were paying for the Bed and Breakfast and would soon be paying for the flat too,was more than enough.

"You'd better get a new outfit too" Ant announced.

"Really?" Dec asked slightly offended "what's wrong with the clothes I've got?"

"Nothing" Ant grinned "if you're just slobbing around doing nothing,but you Declan,have a young lady to impress"

"I hate clothes shopping" Dec moaned.

"I tell you what" Ant smiled "let's go and get you kitted out on Tuesday before the date,what time are you meeting her?"

"Seven o'clock" Dec replied.

"Ok great" Ant continued "that gives us all day to go shopping,I'll help you,I've got a good eye for fashion me,will get you in the mood for what's to come in the evening"

"Just how I want to spend my rare day off" Dec groaned sarcastically "bloody clothes shopping in crowded shops"

"You're focusing on the wrong thing Dec" Ant laughed "think of the end result,you'll look great and be dressed to impress"

"Well I'm not wearing a bloody suit if that's what you're thinking?" Dec stated firmly.

"Like the day is ever gonna come where you'll be wearing a suit" Ant laughed "that isn't needed anyway,smart casual is the way to go"

So the following Tuesday,Ant and Dec were up early,ready for their shopping excursion.

True to his word,Ant advised Dec exactly what would suit him and what looked best as he tried a few suave outfits on.They finally agreed on some smart black jeans and a light blue shirt.

"You look great" Ant announced as Dec paraded in front of the dressing room mirror.

"Yeah,I do" Dec replied confidently "I'm so done with clothes shopping though,let's pay for these then go for lunch somewhere"

"Good idea" Ant smiled.

As they sat in an American diner type place eating their extra large portions of burgers and chips,Dec admitted to Ant that he was starting to feel a little bit nervous.

"Why on earth would you be nervous?" Ant enquired confused "you've already had several coffee dates with her,written soppy letters and spoke on the phone endlessly,it's hardly a blind date is it?"

"I know" Dec smiled "it just feels different this time"

"You'll be fine kidda" Ant assured him as he wiped his mouth with his napkin "I tell you what,let's finish up here then go back and relax shall we?a few hours of doing nothing will sort you out and put your mind at ease"

"Yeah good idea" Dec agreed.

As they made their way back to their accommodation,Dec pointed something out to Ant.

"Look Ant" he grinned excitedly "there's one of those old fashioned sweet shops,let's go and have a look"

Dec was in his element as he was reminded of all his favourite sweets from when he was a kid,Ant just found it amusing,he liked the occasional treat but his sweet tooth was nowhere near as extreme as Decs.

"Oh look" Dec ranted "cola cubes,sherbet fountains and jelly tots,I'm gonna buy a load of stuff"

"Take it easy Declan" Ant laughed.

"Well I'm not gonna scoff them all at once am I?" Dec frowned.

"I wouldn't put it past you" Ant winked.

A short while later the boys were resting casually on their beds with Dec filling his face with an assortment of wine gums and jelly babies.

"Why did you get them?" Ant asked curiously "you know you can still buy wine gums and jelly babies in any normal sweet shop or supermarket don't you?you don't have to go to a specific shop"

"Yeah I know" Dec shrugged as he shoved another sweet into his mouth "I just like them,and they were there"

"Save some room for dinner" Ant advised.

"Alright mam" Dec laughed.

Soon it was almost seven o'clock,Dec was meeting Clare just down the road.

"Have a great time" Ant smiled as Dec admired his reflection in the mirror one final time,Ant was genuinely delighted for Dec,he had wanted this for so long.

"Thanks" Dec grinned as he shoved a half full packet of sweets into his jacket pocket "I'm sure I will"

"Dec why are you taking them with you?" Ant laughed "haven't you had enough for one day?you've been stuffing your face with them all afternoon"

"So" Dec shrugged nonchalantly "I like them and Clare might too"

"You are ridiculous Declan Donnelly" Ant grinned "I'm sure the restaurant will do pudding if you fancy something sweet"

Dec ignored Ants comment and waved a cheery "goodbye"

He was ecstatically happy that this day had finally arrived,he had longed for it,Clare had longed for it,even Ant had longed for it because he knew just how much it meant to Dec.

And so the scene was set.Dec had spent hours getting ready and he knew he looked good,he had booked a cosy table for two in a plush restaurant in Covent Garden,the girl he'd fancied for months would be waiting for him and he would pick up a beautiful bunch of flowers for her from the florist a couple of doors down on the way.

What could possibly go wrong?