A/N - Another 4AM update - yay! 😂🤦‍♀️ I'm telling you, it's hard to write Ant and Dec when they're like this, but hopefully this doesn't seem too out of character. Enjoy!

"Dec." Ant's rough but gentle voice reverberated through the line, serving as both a salve and a sharp scalpel on Dec's wounded psyche.

When more than 30 seconds had passed, a bewildered Ant repeated his friend's name. "Declan?"

The voice that answered was tiny, desolate, but strangely cool. "What's up?"

If Ant hadn't known Dec so well, he wouldn't have caught on to the peculiar tone in Dec's voice. But he knew as soon as those words left Dec's mouth that something was terribly wrong. He had been expecting sympathy from Dec, reassurance. Instead, he was presented with a rather worrying mystery that demanded answers. Was it possible his friend had discovered what the tabloids' "sources" were claiming? He'd sworn Georgia to secrecy on that, but she did have a tendency to blab things out when she was agitated....

"You okay, Dec? Ya sound a bit off...." Ant trailed off, unsure of what to say.

"What does it matter?" Dec sounded slightly bitter for a moment, before his voice softened again, tender now, "How are you, Ant, are you okay? We kept the press off your backs as long as we possibly could."

"Yeah, I'm fine, Dec. Glad it won't be a secret anymore after tomorrow," Ant sounded happy, excited, before sobering again, "though I'm worried about Anne-Marie. You know how delicate she is."

"No, I don't, actually. But I'll take your word for it," there was that sour tone to Dec's voice again. Ant was getting really confused now. "But as long as you're fine with it, it's all good. I mean, if I'd known, I wouldn't have had the office working so hard at keeping everything quiet. There've been rumours for a while now."

"No, no, Dec - I appreciate it," Ant hurriedly added, realizing his mistake. "We needed the time to get to know each other and figure out if it was going to work. Thank you."

"Yeah...no problem..." Dec didn't seem to know what to say now, although he supposed he really ought to say something along the lines of, "I'm happy for you." There, he'd said it. In reality, he was smarting, the pain of hearing firsthand Ant's joy with his replacement filling him with throbbing hurt.

Ant and Dec had always had a knack for reading each other like a book - spending nearly all day, every day together certainly helped - and Ant was busily reading Dec via his voice alone. He didn't like what he was hearing, but wasn't sure how to remedy the situation, unwilling to outright ask Dec why he was acting so strange. This was not the Dec he knew, but he just couldn't quite put his finger on what was wrong.

Quickly realizing this was not a conversation to have over the phone, Ant formulated a plan. He had heard through Anne-Marie - and via a few short texts exchanged with Dec - that Ali was really struggling right now with pregnancy-related high blood pressure. It would be nice to give Dec a break from the caregiver role he'd apparently taken on – something Ant still couldn't quite imagine, by the way – and give Ali a treat. Maybe he could arrange for the girls to have a spa day or something? Anne-Marie had been going on about wanting a spa day for several days now, so maybe that would be the perfect solution. Leave a whole day for him and Dec to spend together, just the two of them. He missed his friend desperately, and he knew they had to conquer the personal issues keeping them apart.

To be fair, the seeds for this particular idea had been planted in his mind a few days ago by his mam, Christine, who had apparently been talking with Anne. Both mothers were extremely concerned about their sons, both their own flesh and blood and their "adopted" son. Dec had apparently been an emotional wreck when he was up in Newcastle last weekend. He had sworn his mother to secrecy in regards to telling Ant....And technically, she'd kept that promise, only telling Christine....Who then passed it along to Ant because she felt the unnatural distance that had built up between the two men had gone on for long enough, and she told Ant as much, ordering him to fix things up between them. He'd have to live with his regret for the rest of his life if he lost his only true friend just because he couldn't face up to reality. Tough love was his mam's specialty.

And Ant had been nervous about having the chat with Dec, so had been putting off calling or texting him because he was scared. But the story being run in tomorrow's papers had offered up the perfect excuse to finally put this particular ghost to rest. So here he was, on the phone to his best friend. And it was time to make his move.

"Ya know, Dec, we really ought to get together." He paused, thinking Dec might offer up a witty retort about him meaning they should be together together, but when none came, he continued, "Anne-Marie's been wanting a spa day – think she wants to make a day of it with Ali." Not knowing if Dec was out or at home, Ant mimed texting to Anne-Marie, who was seated next to him, mouthing 'text Ali' at her. This had to seem genuine if he was going to pull it off successfully. "Be good to have a day to ourselves, right?" Ant added, hoping against hope Dec would say yes.

"Why? " What Dec really wanted to say was, "Why spend time with me when she's the one who makes you happy?" but he didn't have the courage to ask that loaded question. So he settled for a lame excuse instead, "Ali's laid up at the moment, don't think she's really up for a day out."

"Waddya mean, why?" That one word response had really taken Ant by surprise. "And who said anything about going out? You know very well they can bring the spa to you these days. Or Joe can pick her up and drop her off so she doesn't have to walk or drive anywhere. Anne-Marie's fixing it up as we speak. You can't say no, Declan, I won't let you." His previously affable tone took on a slightly intimidating quality as he attempted to force his friend into accepting his invitation.

Sounding defeated, but oddly – hopeful? relieved? – Dec conceded, "Right, okay. What day?"

Glancing over at his girlfriend, who was flashing her phone at him while pointing at a date on the calendar app, Ant confirmed the day and time for their rendezvous – his place, this Wednesday - not giving Dec any chance to argue or come up with excuses. Ant ended the call with a quiet, "Love ya," that took Dec by surprise, rendering him speechless for so long that Ant had ended the call by the time his brain kicked in to reciprocate.

Turning for home – his morbid thoughts from earlier in his walk forgotten for the moment – Dec hurried back to his abode, feeling somewhat befuddled by the sudden turn of events. Maybe he hadn't been replaced after all? And Anne-Marie seemed to be instrumental in arranging this weird "spa day" idea...So maybe he was just being silly?

Confused thoughts and feelings flooded Dec's mind as he continued on his journey home. By the time he stepped into his living room, Dec had calmed somewhat, and had apparently forgotten completely that he was in the doghouse when he left earlier that afternoon. Ali seemed to have forgiven him regardless, and now gave him a soft, knowing smile as he entered the room. Something about him seemed different. Perhaps he looked lighter somehow, like a tiny bit of the dark cloud that had been hanging over him for so long had lifted.

"I'm sorry I shouted at you, dear," she began apologetically, "You didn't deserve that – you've been so wonderful the past week. I love you."

Leaning down to capture her lips with his, Dec answered with his own, "I love you, too," before fixing her with a suspicious stare. "Was all that you, pet? That whole "spa day" thing with Anne-Marie? Ant would never think up something like that himself!"

"No, love, it was Anne-Marie's idea," Ali lied smoothly....Well, to be fair, she thought, she wasn't actually lying, just not telling the whole truth. Christine had had the original idea after her talk with Anne, she'd just passed it on to her son's girlfriend. "So Wednesday, then? What are you and Ant doing?"

"I...I don't know. Just hanging out?" Dec sounded insecure, uncertain. It was painful to see him like this. Ali hoped against hope her boys could work through everything and find each other again. The current situation was untenable.

~~~

Back in Wimbledon, a perplexed Ant McPartlin was still staring at his phone, his mind racing. Where had things gone so wrong with his one true friend? Well, actually, that was a dumb question, but still. Perhaps he had misread the signs, but he very much doubted it. He knew Declan inside and out – every inflection of his voice had a different meaning, and Ant was 99% certain of what he'd heard. The more he reflected on his friend's odd behavior, the more convinced he became of one thing: Dec was jealous. Ant couldn't quite wrap his head around why Dec would be jealous – of Anne-Marie?! – but he was pretty sure that's what was going on here. He supposed he'd been spending less time with Dec as of late, but to be fair, Dec had been busy and Ant had been changing his whole life around....So, basically, they'd both had their hands full with life recently.

Ant had exchanged a few texts with Dec here and there over the past couple of weeks, but they hadn't actually spent time together in over two weeks. Perhaps Dec was right to feel he was being pushed out of Ant's life - if that's even what was going on here - but that certainly hadn't been Ant's intention at all. Ant was still struggling with guilt, which hadn't been assuaged at all by Christine's confidential report via Anne of Dec's mental health status. But after hearing Dec for himself, Ant was determined not to mess this up. He had to clear the air with Declan, make him realize how important he was, no matter how painful it was for him to see what he'd caused.

And truthfully, Ant needed Dec in his life. Yes, he'd been getting along just fine without him the past few weeks thanks to Anne-Marie and her daughters, but he was missing him quite badly. It's just that life was such a whirlwind of change at the moment that he hadn't really had the time or energy to keep up with his best friend....

Ant was overjoyed at how his life was turning around. To have gained a soulmate and a family in the space of a few short months after such a painful jolt back to reality was mind-boggling, and words could not express how happy he was. He was worried about how Lisa would take the news, naturally, but they were both adults who'd made their choices. And he hoped things could remain civil between them, even as they went their separate ways in life. He wished things hadn't ended the way they had, but there was nothing to be done about it. It was over now.

Guilt. It seemed like it was an ever present companion these days. Guilt over what he'd done, how he'd traumatized families with his reckless actions, hurt those closest to him, let down their fans who'd trusted him, broken Lisa's heart....He couldn't get away from it, but he supposed maybe it was a sort of purgatory on earth, punishing him for what he'd done.

There was a positive side to guilt as well, he reminded himself. Guilt made him strive daily to be a better man, to right his wrongs. It forced him to take accountability for his actions and change for the better. And if there was one thing he intended to do this Wednesday, it was to take charge of his guilt, accept how his actions had affected Declan, and try to make it right. He wasn't fool enough to think it could all be swept away in one single day, but he was going to make a start, no matter what it took.