"Wow,look at this place" Ant stated as he gazed up at the impressive north London building.

"Yeah" Mike smiled "Alexander Palace could certainly tell a story or two,come on,let's get inside"

As Ant,Dec and Mike were shown to their allocated seats,Dec couldn't help but be overwhelmed by the sea of famous faces,totally forgetting that he was actually one of them.

It didn't take long for the boys to get into the party atmosphere of the awards show,chatting to anyone who came within a few feet of them and knocking back the free champagne, while Mike kept a close,protective eye on them.

"This is it boys" Mike grinned as the category for their award finally came around.

Dec started to feel a little bit anxious, with knots forming in the pit of his stomach,he wasn't sure he liked this feeling and was now willing the guest presenter who would be handing out the award to just get on with it.

He and Ant watched the big screen intently as a clip of the "let's get ready to rhumble" video was shown as well as the videos from the other nominees.

As the winner was about to be announced,Dec subconsciously held his breath,glancing quickly at Ant who's eyes were glued to the stage.

"Oasis" came a loud announcement from the front of the room.

Dec exhaled loudly as Ant and Mike smiled at him with what looked like pity.

"Guys,it's fine" Dec assured them as all three of them applauded the rock band,he had immediately realised the two other men at his table had expected him to take the news badly "I mean look at them"

All three looked back over towards the stage where the Gallagher brothers were strutting up arrogantly towards it to receive their award, with Liam Gallagher puffing on a cigarette on the way.

"Yeah look at them" Ant laughed "how could we possibly compete with that?Oasis are in a league of their own"

"You know what boys?" Mike stated "you should be proud that you even got nominated,that's quite an achievement in itself"

"Yeah we are" Dec smiled "and we're having a great night out,free food and drink and great company,so no complaints here"

"One day Decs" Ant laughed "me and you will be on that stage,I promise you that"

As predicted,their year got busier and busier,they released a new album and more singles would also be released throughout the year and of course videos had to be made to go with each of those singles.Mike had also announced that they would be doing a promotional tour to go alongside the album.They also started recording "The Ant and Dec show" which they loved.

Although singing wasn't their first love,they were still looking forward to the tour,they always enjoyed meeting the fans and if those fans loved seeing them live,then who were they to say no?

Obviously being so busy meant they unfortunately had little spare time to visit family back home which made them and their loved ones sad,but everyone understood.Dec spoke to Anne on the phone most days,Ant didn't speak to his Mam quite as often,but she was basically as busy as he was with her various jobs.

"I'm gonna buy another car" Dec announced one day as they sat eating breakfast.

"Oh yeah" Ant replied "you said you were going to do that ages ago,I wondered when you'd get around to it,what are you gonna get?"

"Dunno yet" Dec shrugged "can at least afford to get something nice this time though,wanna come to the car show room with me sometime?"

"Yeah why not?" Ant smiled "gone up in the world eh kidda?buying a brand new car from a car show room rather than an old jalopy from the 'for sale' section of the Newcastle Chronicle"

"Exactly" Dec grinned "we can go tomorrow if you like?should be able to squeeze it in"

Just a few days later,Decs new Suzuki Vitara jeep that he'd taken for a test drive and fallen in love with,was delivered to the boys home.

"Nice" Ant nodded as Dec signed for the special delivery and was handed the keys "shall we go for a drive now?"

"Can't" Dec stated "haven't sorted the insurance out yet"

"Better get onto it then" Ant advised "can't wait for you to drive me around London in this"

Before long,the boys were soon out on the road with their promotional tour, throwing themselves wholeheartedly into their song and dance routines,eager to keep their screaming fans happy.

The venues they played were hardly Wembley arena but they were full nevertheless and Ant and Dec were having a great time.

The fans were pretty intense though, with their screaming,crying and endless attempts to get hold of them by any body part which happened to get dangerously close to a hormonal, teenage girl.Ant and Dec lost count of how many of their clothes were ripped by these determined girls when they managed to grab a fistful of fabric.Thankfully the venues usually laid on their own bouncers which made things a bit easier,all this adoration did make them feel like The Beatles though.

The lads always laughed at how overzealous the girls were,it was a great topic of conversation and amusement,but one thing they hadn't banked on was their jealous boyfriends.

Ant and Dec soon found themselves having to regularly dodge ashtrays,spit and screwed up cigarette packets amongst other things,as well as the boos and jeers coming their way from these boys,who were making it quite clear that the girls in the audience were with them and PJ and Duncan had better keep the hell away.

Some good had come out of these gigs though as Ant met and started dating a girl named Lisa at one of them.Dec liked her too and was incredibly excited at the thought of them double dating.Ant,funnily enough didn't seem to share his enthusiasm,he could already imagine how it would turn out,him and Lisa getting very little privacy as Dec insisted on all four of them doing practically everything together,but for now he'd just go with the flow,the last thing he wanted to do was burst Decs bubble and upset him,not just yet anyway.

"Mams been on the phone" Dec announced one day when Ant arrived home from his weekly trip to get the grocery shopping.

"Oh yeah,how's she?" Ant asked.

"Fine" Dec sighed "moaning about never seeing us as usual"

"Well,you could actually drive up and stay for just one night now you've got the car" Ant suggested "you can squeeze that in one weekend"

"Maybe" Dec frowned.

"Declan" Ant snapped,his tone of voice taking Dec by surprise "when are you gonna use that bloody car?it's been sitting outside for months now,you spent a fortune on it,you've got your insurance sorted and you've not done so much as drive it round the block yet,so why aren't you using it?"

"Um...dunno" Dec mumbled.

"Dec,you were so excited when you first bought it" Ant pointed out "so what's going on?"

"Nothing" Dec replied bluntly.

"Don't lie to me" Ant replied.

"Ok,ok" Dec sighed "maybe I'm just a little bit...um...scared"

"Scared?" Ant enquired surprised "scared of what?"

"Driving in London" Dec replied sheepishly "it's a minefield out there,you've seen 'em,nutters the lot of 'em"

"Oh I see" Ant laughed "little scaredy cat are we?"

"Am not" Dec replied grumpily "why don't you get a car then?"

"Not bothered" Ant shrugged "I'm happy to be chauffeured around"

"Well,so am I at the moment" Dec retorted.

"You've changed your tune" Ant laughed "not the big man driving all over London in his flash car after all"

"Yeah all right" Dec smiled "maybe buying a new car wasn't the brightest idea,I'll probably sell it"

Ant shook his head affectionately at his friend before realising something was amiss.

"Dec what on earth are you doing?" Ant enquired,he should have known something was up just by the fact Dec was in the kitchen and not lounging lazily on the sofa like he usually was when Ant got back from his shopping trips.

"I was hungry" Dec shrugged.

"I get that,but what are you actually doing there?" Ant pointed at the saucepan in front of Dec.

"Making beans on toast" Dec replied.

"Dec,what...the...hell?" Ant found it hard to get his words out,he was now laughing so much "you have to take the beans out of the tin first"

Dec stared down at the open can of beans that he'd placed inside the saucepan.

"It says on the heating instructions to place can of beans in a saucepan" Dec replied defiantly "so that's what I'm doing"

"Oh my God Dec" Ant was now crying with laughter "it means tip them out of the tin into a saucepan first,not put the actual tin in the pan too,how on earth did you manage to make it to adulthood in one piece?it's lucky I came back when I did,you'd have burnt the house down"

"Shut up" Dec replied,feeling slightly dejected at Ants teasing.

"And you do know you can heat baked beans up in the microwave anyway don't you?" Ant told him.

"What?no you can't" Dec insisted,Ant was being ridiculous now "they need to be cooked through,I don't want to get salmonella"

"Dec" Ant laughed raucously "they've already been cooked through,there's a clue in the title,BAKED beans,they've already been baked so all you have to do is heat them up"

"I don't believe you" Dec snapped "you just want me to catch salmonella"

"Yeah of course I do" Ant laughed "my one goal in life is to make Declan Donnelly sick and since when do you get salmonella from baked beans?"

"Well,I'm gonna phone Pat then" Dec announced "she'll know"

"Yeah she will" Ant mused "just like I do"

Dec poked his tongue out at his friend as he sat down on the sofa and started dialing his eldest siblings number.Ant listened intently as Dec explained his baked bean dilemma and Ants ridiculous idea that they don't need to be cooked through properly.

Dec wasn't giving much away throughout the conversation,just alot of umming and ahhing with the occasional "ok" thrown in.

"Well?" Ant asked gleefully as Dec hung up the phone.

"She said I'm a numpty" Dec whispered.

"Did she now?" Ant laughed "and what else did she have to say?"

"That you were right" Dec mumbled.

"Sorry didn't quite catch that?" Ant laughed "can you say it a bit louder?"

"You were right ok?" Dec said in a louder voice.

"Yes I was" Ant replied smugly "but I already knew that,so let's get these beans on the go shall we?"

"Don't fancy them now" Dec shrugged "might just have a sandwich"

"Such a numpty" Ant laughed "Pat is right about that,then maybe we should tidy up this place"

He glanced around at the offending mess.

"Nah" Dec replied as he started to make his sandwich "why tidy up if you don't have to?that's the great thing about not living with parents"

So Ant knew he would be doing the housework if it was to get done at all,which even he admitted would be highly unlikely.

Soon Ant,Dec,Clare and Lisa were regularly going on double dates.Lisa and Clare got on brilliantly which made the boys very happy.The girls however weren't so happy at having to keep a low profile so as to not upset any PJ and Duncan fans.Even though they didn't like it,they understood the need and they had no desire to be on the receiving end of any fangirls anger,so they got used to arriving and leaving restaurants at different times to the boys or hiding in the back of Ant and Decs drivers car.

The boys had by now really got into their new presenting career and they seemed to become more relaxed and natural with what they were doing with every show they filmed.They were still nervous of course but they learnt how to channel those nerves and make the best use of them.

The Ant and Dec show was becoming very popular and the boys had made alot of new friends on the show, although they thought one of the writers by the name of David Walliams was a bit strange,they thought they'd probably just do their best to avoid him and his oddball ways.

Life was really good now and Ant and Dec were loving every minute of it.Dec had even forced himself to go to one of Peters parties and he'd had a damn good time.Peter had by now agreed to tell them in advance about any parties he was planning and they were of course welcome at any of them.

Ant and Dec were surprised to learn from Peter that Dannii minogue lived in the other flat,they'd never seen or heard her,she was obviously a much more considerate neighbour than Peter.

Peter had also told them that he and Dannii often used the buildings gym facilities at the same time.That was probably why Ant and Dec never ran into her,the gym was definitely one place they avoided at all costs.

Anne and even Christine were now starting to give the boys a much harder time about never visiting,but it was out of their hands,they hadn't been home for months,they were just too busy,they both felt incredibly guilty but their careers had to come first at the moment.

That was until one day when their doorbell rang.

"Are you expecting anyone?is Lisa coming over?" Dec asked Ant.

"No,she's working" Ant replied "I'll get it"

As he arose from the sofa,Dec did the same and went and peeped out of the living room window.

"SHIT" he shouted "what's she doing here?"

"What?" Ant asked surprised at Decs reaction "who is it?"

"It's me Mam!"