After a couple more uncomfortable hours,Decs stomach finally began to calm down.Ant decided to just leave him alone for now,he knew what he could be like when he started to wallow in self pity,he'd let him make the first move if he wanted to talk about it.

It wasn't long before Dec rolled over and peered at Ant.

"Anything good on telly?" He asked,he hadn't been taking any notice of what Ant had been watching since he got back from his disastrous date.He'd been totally occupied with his toilet breaks,drifting into light sleeps on and off and thinking about Clare.

"Not much" Ant shrugged "just channel hopping"

"That was possibly the worse night of my life" Dec said sadly as he couldn't help but share little nuggets of information about what went on.

Ok,so Dec obviously did want to talk about what happened,Ant immediately turned the telly off to give him his full,undivided attention.

"I'm sorry you had such a shit...um...I mean bad date Dec" Ant smiled "but you should just forget about it now,can't change what happened"

"I know" Dec sighed "but I have absolutely no doubt that Clare won't want anything to do with me now"

"You don't know that" Ant stated "you didn't see the look on her face when you told her to go,she was so hurt and anyway,if she did dump you because of this,then she's pretty bloody shallow"

"She's not shallow" Dec whispered "she's amazing"

"Well there you go then" Ant smiled "what more do you need to know?give her a ring tomorrow and sort this out,I'm sure she'll be happy to hear from you"

"I'm not sure I could bring myself to do that" Dec moaned "I'm so embarrassed"

"Aww kidda" Ant got up and perched on the edge of Decs bed and patted his thigh comfortingly "you'll be fine,you'll see,you'll look back on this and laugh in a few years time,something to tell the Grandkids eh?"

"Maybe" Dec shrugged.

"And I'm sorry I laughed at you" Ant smiled "I should have been more sympathetic"

"It's ok" Dec replied "I would have laughed too if it was the other way round"

"You must admit,the image of you running to the loo while clenching your butt cheeks is a pretty funny one?" Ant grinned.

"Shut up" Dec snapped,now wishing he hadn't shared quite so many details with Ant,but he couldn't help but smile.

The truth was it actually could have been alot worse.Yes the date had been a total disaster,but at least he hadn't soiled his pants in front of his new girlfriend,every cloud has a silver lining he thought,but he still knew it would take a long time for the humiliation to go away and he still couldn't shake the feeling that Clare was done with him.

"Maybe we should have an early night" Ant suggested as he got up from Decs bed to get undressed "I'm kinda knackered"

"Yeah me too" Dec replied.

Ant looked down at his bestie,laying dejected on his bed.

"Let's get a good nights kip then" Ant smiled "just sleep on it and things will look better in the morning,that's what me mam always says anyway"

Dec didn't answer,he knew Ant was trying to make him feel better,but he couldn't actually imagine how things could be any different in the morning,what difference would a few hours make?the events of the evening will still have happened,he couldn't turn back time,but at least he'd have a few hours without thinking about it if he did actually manage to fall asleep.

"So?" Ant yawned and stretched as he sat up in bed the next morning.

"So what?" Dec asked as he laid on his back staring at the ceiling.

"So are you gonna call her?" Ant smiled.

"No" Dec stated bluntly.

"What?" Ant asked surprised "Dec you're being ridiculous.You're not gonna call the girl you've been lusting after for months cos of a bit of embarrassment?"

"Was more than a bit of embarrassment" Dec winced at the memory still fresh in his mind "it was ALOT of embarrassment"

"Just call her will you?" Ant snapped,he was beginning to lose patience with Dec and his pity party "and stop feeling so sorry for yourself"

"NO" Dec shouted "I don't want to and I'm not going...."

He was stopped in his tracks by the phone ringing which made them both jump out of their skin.

Ant answered,politely greeting whoever was on the other end of the line with a cheery "hello" before handing the phone receiver over to Dec,Ant couldn't keep the smug grin from spreading across his face.

"Oh hi Clare" Dec whispered shyly.

Ant did his best to try and block out Decs short conversation to give him some privacy,but it wasn't easy and he was also too nosey to try too hard.

"That was a quick call?" Ant frowned,worried exactly how the chat had gone for Dec.

"Yeah" Dec smiled "she had to get to work,she's got a busy day as usual"

"Soooo...?" Ant really hoped it was good news for Dec.

"She said we should just forget about last night and that she can't wait to see me again" Dec grinned.

"Ah ya see" Ant smiled as he raised his left eyebrow "told you there was nothing to worry about didn't I?she'd be nuts to let you go over something as ridiculous as this"

"Guess so" Dec beamed happily "how do you that?"

"Do what?" Ant asked.

"Raise one eyebrow" Dec giggled "I can't do that"

"Dunno" Ant laughed "just happens"

Dec attempted to raise one eyebrow,but ended up just wrinkling his nose and going cross eyed in an adorable way.

"Yeah Decky" Ant grinned "you can either do it or you can't,I guess you can't"

Dec stuck his tongue out playfully.

"Eeewww,are you gonna put that back in your mouth?" Ant teased.

"Eejit" Dec laughed,he was now ready for the day ahead.Knowing Clare hadn't been put off by his antics of the previous day had given him a renewed spring in his step.

A few weeks later after the boys had enjoyed a wonderful Christmas at home with their families,the time had finally arrived for them to move into the flat in Fulham.

They made their way back to London the day after boxing day,they travelled on the train again,but this time they could afford to travel in relative luxury in the first class compartment.

Mike was picking them up from the station and taking them straight to the flat.He had very kindly offered to keep their belongings at his place in London over the Christmas period.It seemed silly for the record company to keep on paying for the Bed and Breakfast over the holiday season when they weren't there and weren't even going to be returning to it.

As they pulled up outside the flat and Mike started getting their stuff out of the car boot,Ant and Dec gazed up at the building.

"I can't believe it" Dec grinned "our own flat finally"

"Let's get you inside then shall we?" Mike smiled.

"Wow,it's great" Dec announced as he wandered into the living room with Ant and Mike trailing casually behind.

"Um,I'd offer you a cup of tea Mike" Dec grinned "but we haven't got any"

"Don't worry about that" Mike laughed "I've got things to do anyway,you boys get settled,maybe go and explore the local area and I'll be in touch very soon"

They thanked Mike and Ant saw him to the door.

"So here we are" Ant grinned as he returned to the living room where Dec had already kicked off his shoes and was reclining lazily on the comfortable,blue sofa.

"Come on" Ant continued,let's have a proper look around.

"Ok,ok" Dec got up and followed Ant towards the bedrooms.

"I bagsy this one" Dec stated quickly as soon as he laid eyes on the largest bedroom.

"Hey" Ant snapped "you can't just bagsy it,that's not fair"

"Yes I can" Dec grinned "and I just did"

"Still not fair" Ant grumbled,before flopping down onto the bed.

"Get off my bed Ant" Dec snapped.

"It's my bed" Ant retorted.

"Ok" Dec sighed "there's only one fair way to resolve this"

"How?" Ant asked curiously.

"Let's toss a coin" Dec suggested as he rummaged through his jeans pockets,hoping to find any kind of coin that he'd forgotten about.

"Aha,he we are" he announced as he pulled a shiny ten pence piece out of his pocket "I'll even be nice and let you call heads or tails"

"Heads" Ant immediately answered.

Dec tossed the coin up in the air,catching it in one hand and slapping it down on the back of his other hand,making sure he kept it covered up.

They both peered intently at Decs hands as he slowly revealed the secret of the coin.

"It's tails" Dec announced smugly "this room is mine"

"Dammit" Ant snapped,but he couldn't complain,Dec had won the toss fair and square.

Dec immediately launched into an enthusiastic rant about what he was going to do to the room,which wall his Newcastle United posters would go on and where he would put his CD player and CDs amongst other things.

After having a quick look around the rest of the flat,with Dec showing zero to no interest in the kitchen,much to Ants amusement,they both headed back to their bedrooms to get unpacked.

Once they were done,Ant suggested getting a takeaway,he'd noticed a Chinese just a few doors down when Mike dropped them off.

Mike had filled the kitchen with some very basic foods like pasta,tins of baked beans and soup,that kind of thing,but the boys really didn't fancy any of that,so they both agreed to a takeaway.

"Could have got us some tea bags while he was at it" Dec grumbled as Ant listed what was in the cupboards.

"Such an ungrateful little brat" Ant laughed "he didn't have to get us anything"

Dec just shrugged his shoulders,he wasn't that interested in the contents of the cupboard,not since Ant had mentioned Chinese at least.

"We can have a little wander around while we're out too" Ant suggested "see what else is around here"

"What?" Dec asked slightly annoyed "we're not gonna get it delivered?"

"Dec,it's only down the road" Ant laughed "You can be so lazy sometimes,come on,let's go"

"I've just travelled back from Newcastle can I remind you" Dec pointed out "that's tiring"

"Yeah and so have I" Ant replied curtly "come on,we can pick up a few groceries too,get ya some tea bags"

"Ok" Dec sighed,knowing Ant was unlikely to let this go "but they'd better have Yorkshire tea"

They were soon back home,with Ant unpacking the few shopping items he'd picked up while Dec unwrapped the hot food with the delicious aroma wafting up his nose temptingly.

Once they were tucking in,with the TV on in the background,Dec made an announcement.

"I'm gonna buy another car" he smiled enthusiastically.

Fonsey had sold Decs beloved first car for him a few months earlier,to a girl who had just passed her driving test,Fonsey had assured Dec that he had absolutely no doubt that the girl would love the car that Dec had become so attached to just as much as Dec did.

"Really?" Ant enquired.

"Yeah,I miss driving" Dec replied "it's great having drivers to run us around,but that always has to be prearranged,sometimes i might just want to be spontaneous,you know,just jump in the car and drive somewhere on a whim"

"You're gonna be happy to drive around London are you?" Ant frowned "with all those lunatics out there and those crazily busy streets and all that road rage"

"Such a drama queen" Dec laughed "it's not that bad,millions of people do it every day"

"Yeah,that's exactly my point" Ant frowned "there's millions of drivers in London and very few of them have any patience"

"Well,you don't have to come in my car if you don't want to" Dec laughed "but I'll be out there showing all those numptys how it's done and as for road rage...who could be angry at this face?"

Dec put on his sweetest smile and fluttered his eyelashes playfully.

"Yeah alright" Ant laughed while shaking his head in mock despair.

"It's going to be so great living here Dec" Ant smiled through a mouthful of spare ribs "just me and you against the world"

"Yeah it is" Dec smiled "and having our own rooms means I don't have to put up with your snoring ever again"

"Oi" Ant laughed "I do not snore"

"Yeah,yeah" Dec smiled "of course you don't,how many times have we had this conversation?I'm not arguing with you about it yet again"

"You started it" Ant shrugged.

"I wonder who lives in the other flats?" Dec thought out loud,quickly changing the subject.

"Dunno" Ant replied "never thought to ask Mike,but I'm sure we'll bump into them at some point"

"Yeah,I'm sure we will" Dec agreed "but listen to that"

"What?" Ant mused "I can't hear anything"

"Exactly" Dec grinned "no slamming doors,no constant traffic outside,no tourists in and out all hours of the day and night,it's quiet,it's gonna be so good here"

As much as the lads had liked the Bed and Breakfast and it's staff,it was in the heart of central London,so was never quiet and sometimes they just longed for a bit of peaceful serenity.

After Ant had cleared away the food wrappers and got two more lagers from the fridge that he'd picked up while they were out,they were both ready to relax in front of the telly.

"Cheers" he said and and clunked his can against Decs "I might go to bed soon,been a long day"

"It's only nine o'clock" Dec frowned.

"Doesn't matter" Ant answered "if ya tired,ya tired"

"Yeah that's true" Dec agreed "I might do the same then,I'm pretty whacked"

Around half an hour later,Ant could barely keep his eyes open,he couldn't even be bothered to finish his lager.

"Right I'm going to bed" he announced.

When no reply came,he glanced at Dec who had obviously dropped off into a light sleep with his head bobbing up suddenly every now and again.

"Dec" Ant nudged him gently "come on mate,time for bed"

"Ok" Dec let out a wide mouthed yawn.

The lure of the double beds they now had in both bedrooms was almost enough to make him get up,but not quite,he was just completely zapped of any energy.

Someone...they didn't know who,maybe Mike,had bought new sheets,duvets and duvet cover sets for them and made the beds up ready,for that they were extremely grateful,after all they'd got used to the cleaning service doing it for them at the previous place,they had never done it for themselves since they'd left home,in fact Dec had never done it at all,his mam did all that boring stuff for him.Ant was used to household chores but no one loved this particular job,so it was a much appreciated gesture.

Dec let out a huge sigh "ok,I'm so ready for my bed"

"Yeah me too" Ant agreed just as the most unbelievably loud,thumping music came from the flat directly above.

Ant stared at the ceiling in disbelief as the light shade seemed to dance along to the beat.He could feel his anger immediately start to rise.

"What the fucking hell is that?"