"Declan,what are you doing here?" Ant asked surprised "I thought you were seeing Georgie today?"

Dec just shook his head sadly as he stood on Ants front doorstep.

"Come on in" Ant ordered "it's freezing out here"

Dec immediately entered the house and made his way straight to the living room,throwing his coat over the back of a chair before plonking himself down on the sofa.

"What's happened Dec?" Ant asked concerned as he sat down close to his best friend "want to tell me about it?"

Dec nodded tearfully,although it was obvious he was finding it hard to find the words to explain what was going on in his mind.

Ant knew he would need to be his usual encouraging self to help coax Dec into opening up.

"Is it Georgie?" Ant asked softly.

"No" Dec managed to mumble.

"Family?" Ant asked concerned "has something happened?"

"Yeah" Dec sighed tearfully.

"Whatever has happened..." Ant said kindly "you know I'm here for you don't you?"

"I know" Dec smiled weakly "I'm just finding it hard to say the words"

"It's alright kidda" Ant replied as he pulled Dec in for a warm hug "there's no hurry,you tell me when you're ready"

Just the feeling of Ants arms around him as he drew Dec in towards his chest,was enough for the floodgates to open and Dec sobbed uncontrollably into his caring friends arms for a good twenty minutes.

Ant was terrified!He still had absolutely no idea what was going on,but he knew his Declan and he wasn't going to push him too hard until he was absolutely ready to talk,he knew from experience that that would probably end up with Dec getting even more stressed and upset.

So Ant held Dec in his arms,waiting for the tears to subside in their own good time,resting his chin on Decs head,stroking his back reassuringly and whispering the occasional "it's ok" and "it'll be alright" gently into his ear.

Eventually Dec pulled back from the embrace and sat up straight next to Ant.

"I'm sorry" Dec muttered.

"Hey,don't you dare apologise" Ant scolded "whatever has happened,you're entitled to be upset about it,no one is going to tell you that your feelings are wrong,especially not me"

"I guess" Dec sighed.

"Want to talk now?" Ant encouraged "but no hurry"

"Yeah I do" Dec answered with a cough.

"Ok" Ant smiled as he got up "I'll get you a glass of water first,I know how much crying like that can give you a sore throat"

"Thanks" Dec replied gratefully as Ant placed the tumbler of water down on the coffee table in front of him "it is a bit dry"

"So?" Ant coaxed gently.

"It's Dad" Dec announced abruptly.

"Really?" Ant asked cautiously "what's wrong?"

"Lung cancer" Dec stated in a matter of fact fashion.

"Oh shit" Ant replied shocked "bloody hell Decs..um...how serious is it?"

"Isn't all cancer serious?" Dec pointed out.

"Yeah,of course" Ant replied "I just meant is it treatable?what's the outlook?"

"He said it's fifty fifty" Dec shrugged "I'm not even sure if the odds are that good though,I think he might have been playing it down for my benefit"

"Possibly" Ant nodded "I'm so sorry Decs,that's awful news,no one wants to hear that about their dads"

"No,they don't" Dec agreed "he said he wished he'd never smoked all those years,but it's too late now"

Dec was staring with contempt at the packet of cigarettes on Ants coffee table.

"You shouldn't smoke either" he stated.

"Yeah,I know" Ant sighed,tactfully removing the small offensive packet from in front of Dec and placing it in his jean's pocket.

"I have tried" Ant continued "I'm just a moody bastard if I don't have a cigarette"

"You're a moody bastard anyway" Dec smiled.

"Yeah,I know" Ant replied "but I'm even worse without a quick puff on a fag,I know it's disgusting,but I just can't help myself"

"I just don't want to be announcing to the world in twenty years time that you are dying of lung cancer too" Dec replied sadly.

"I'm sorry" Ant replied "I'll have another go at giving up soon,I promise"

"Good" Dec snapped.

Ant was desperate to steer the conversation away from himself and back to Fonsey,who should be the main focus at the moment.

"So are they starting treatment?" Ant enquired "have they actually said that he's dying?"

"Not as far as I know" Dec replied "I can't help fearing the worse though"

"That's only natural" Ant smiled "but that means there's hope doesn't it?he has as much chance of surviving this as anyone else"

"I guess" Dec sighed as he took a sip of cool water "they're starting treatment next week"

"Well,that's promising isn't it?" Ant replied "they obviously think it's treatable then?"

"Yeah,apparently so" Dec nodded "I'm driving up tomorrow,will stay a few days,hopefully I can still be there when he starts the chemotherapy,work permitting"

"Don't worry about work mate" Ant smiled "we've got some free time at the moment and if anything work related does come up,then I'll deal with it"

"Thanks" Dec sighed "but you'll call me if there's anything I should know about won't you?"

"Yeah,of course I will" Ant assured him "but don't you worry about that right now,your family is your priority"

"Yeah" Dec nodded "I'm leaving first thing in the morning,not sure how long for"

"Don't worry Declan" Ant smiled "as I said,I'll deal with everything this end,you go and be with your Dad"

"Ok" Dec replied "I might go back home now and have a nap,crying always wears me out and gives me a headache"

"You do that" Ant replied as he got up to see Dec to the door "and remember Declan,your Dad is a fighter,he's strong and he'll get through this"

"Hope so" Dec sighed as he hugged Ant tightly at the front door "thanks Ant"

"Give them all my love won't you?" Ant requested.

"Yeah,I will" Dec promised.

So the next day,Dec was doing the long drive from London to Newcastle.He hadn't planned to be travelling anywhere so soon after arriving back from Edinburgh,but this had to be done.

Dec was desperate to see his family anyway,especially his Dad,but he was apprehensive.He hadn't seen him for a few months now because work had been so busy and he was worried how Fonsey would look.Would he look ill?would he look old?would he look weak?he just didn't know,but he was desperately hoping Fonsey would still just be 'Dad' and that he wouldn't even be able to tell that he was ill.

Fonsey was Decs idol!He adored him,admired him,looked up to him and he had always been such an amazing supporter of everything Dec did,as were all his family and Dec just couldn't imagine him not being around.

That thought brought tears to Decs eyes as he drove up the motorway,so much so that he had to pull over at the nearest service station to compose himself,his mind kept wandering to thinking about the situation,so he found it hard to concentrate on the road ahead,the last thing he or any of his family needed right now was for him to be involved in a car crash.

He didn't get out of his car,he just needed a few moments to compose himself before he continued on his journey,also he just couldn't face being recognised at the moment and having to put on the cheeky chappy persona that everyone expected from him.

So he parked up in a quiet corner of the car park,away from any other cars,he was thankful that the service station didn't seem to be too busy.

It wasn't long before Dec realised this probably wasn't the best idea.

Sitting in the gloomy corner of the car park,alone and lonely just made him feel desperately isolated and made him think about Fonsey even more.

The tears burned as they streamed down his cheeks,but he made no attempt to stop them.

They flowed uncontrollably off his face and dripped like sad,desperate raindrops onto his jumper,soaking it through.

Dec felt incredibly alone.He wasn't used to being on his own when he was upset.There was usually always someone nearby to comfort him in sad situations,sometimes Georgie or even Lisa,but ninety nine percent of the time it was Ant.

Dec smiled to himself at the thought of his loyal best friend.

Ant was amazing,Ant was his rock,the person he could always turn to,the person who never let him down,the person who was always there for him no matter what and the person who loved him unconditionally,maybe even more so than his own family,Dec thought on occasions.

He sent a silent prayer skywards, thanking God for bringing Ant into his life all those years ago.

Dec got a handful of tissues out of his pocket,wiped his eyes and blew his nose and composed himself enough to continue on with his journey,which felt like it was going on forever,he still had a couple of hours of driving left,so was now desperate to get back on the road and get to Newcastle.

Finally he pulled up into his parents driveway,parking up close to Fonseys old banger of a car which Dec had offered to replace many times,but Fonsey refused every time.It may be an old jalopy,but he loved it and it did the job,Fonsey always swore that old cars were better made and more reliable than newer models anyway.

"Hi Declan" Anne greeted her son cheerfully with a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"Hi Mam" Dec replied,returning the embrace.

"Long journey son?" Anne smiled as Dec took his coat off "you look tired"

"Yeah,you could say that" Dec sighed "doesn't matter how many times I do that journey,it always seems to go on forever"

There was no way he was going to tell his Mam how he had been sobbing in a service station car park on the way,she didn't need to deal with that on top of everything else,but it had no doubt added to Decs look of tiredness.

"Until you see the Tyne bridge right son?" Anne smiled.

"Yeah" Dec nodded affectionately "then I know I'm home,where's Dad?"

"In the living room" Anne gestured towards the second door on the right.

Dec entered cautiously,having no idea what to expect,but what he found totally took him by surprise.

Everything was normal,nothing seemed to be wrong,no one would have known anything was going on if they hadn't been told.

Dec felt an enormous amount of relief.In his mind,he had probably expected his Dad to look weak,feeble and sick,but that definitely wasn't the case.

Fonsey was sat in his favourite armchair,reading a newspaper and looked up as he heard Dec enter the room.

"Hello son" he smiled "come and give your old man a hug"

Dec happily obliged before sitting down on the sofa.

"How are you feeling Dad?" Dec asked.

"I'm actually feeling pretty good at the moment Declan" Fonsey informed him "except for this damn cough,driving me nuts it is"

"I can imagine" Dec smiled "I'm so glad I was able to come up to see you"

"Me too" Fonsey replied "it'll be good to spend some time together won't it?"

"Absolutely" Dec grinned "I'm staying until you start the chemotherapy too"

"Don't you have to work?" Fonsey asked concerned.

"Not at this precise moment" Dec smiled "Ant's got it all under control"

"Ah,of course he has" Fonsey nodded "good lad he is,how is he?"

"Yeah,he's fine" Dec smiled,looking up at his Mam who was bringing in a tray of tea and biscuits "thanks Mam"

"He sends his love" Dec informed his parents.

"Such a good lad" Anne repeated her husbands words.

"Yeah,he is" Dec laughed.

"And Lisa?" Anne enquired "they're both ok?"

"Yep" Dec replied "they're both fine"

"I must give him a ring sometime" Anne stated "it's been a while"

"Yeah,you should" Dec agreed "I'm sure he'll like that"

"So will you be catching up with everyone while you're here?" Fonsey asked "I'm sure they'd all love to see you"

"Maybe" Dec sighed "but the main reason I'm here is to see you,I want to spend as much time with you as possible"

"I'm not dead yet Decky" Fonsey laughed.

"Umm...yeah sorry Dad" Dec winced.

"Listen" Fonsey ordered "I don't want you to worry about me ok?I'm going to be just fine,positive thinking right dear?" He nodded towards his wife.

"Absolutely" Anne agreed "positive thinking"

Dec was happy to see this new positive outlook from his parents,it was a hell of a difference from just a couple of days ago when his Mam couldn't even speak to him on the phone because she was crying so much.

"That's great you two" Dec smiled,now determined to join in with the positivity "and you're right of course,the treatment will get rid of the cancer and normal life will resume"

"Absolutely" Fonsey laughed "bring it on"

Dec did feel a sense of relief.It helped enormously to see that his dad was just his normal,cheerful self and not the sickly,depressed man he had been expecting.

Maybe,just maybe,Dec thought, everything was going to be alright!