Ant smiled to himself as he observed the look on Dec's face.

"Wow" Dec beamed "this place is amazing"

"It's just your average hotel room" Ant pointed out "nothing special"

"Well,it is to me" Dec grinned "especially after sleeping on the streets for months"

"Fair point" Ant nodded.

Dec then threw himself onto the king sized bed and let out a contented sigh.

"Oh my God" he giggled "so comfy"

He suddenly shot up off the bed and stood next to Ant staring at where he had just lay.

"Sorry" he mumbled.

"What?" Ant asked confused "what for?"

"I'm dirty" Dec replied sadly "I shouldn't have sat down until I'm clean"

"Oh Declan" Ant smiled sympathetically,while placing a comforting arm around Dec's shoulder "that doesn't matter,you're the only one who is going to be sleeping in it tonight and I'm sure you're not that dirty anyway"

"Really?" Dec smiled wryly "can you not smell me?"

Ant laughed gently at his new friend.

Dec really appreciated what Ant was doing for him,but he was extremely self conscious about his appearance and the look of disgust on the receptionists face as she checked Dec in for the night hadn't gone unnoticed by him,even if Ant had been totally oblivious,Dec had felt like a piece of shit on her shoe as she looked him up and down,obviously not impressed with who or what Ant had dragged into her nice workplace.

"Don't you worry" Ant smiled "you've got plenty of time to get cleaned up and then you can relax and get a good nights sleep hopefully"

"Thank you so much for this" Dec replied "it's really so nice of you"

"It's really not a big deal at all" Ant smiled "a little kindness goes a long way"

"Yeah,it does" Dec nodded as he peered into the bathroom "can't wait to have a shower...ooh or maybe a bath"

"I'll leave you to it then" Ant smiled.

"Wow,they've got bubble bath" Dec pointed out excitedly,totally ignoring Ant's attempt to leave "can I use it?"

"Yeah,of course you can" Ant laughed "you can use whatever you like,it's all for you"

"Really?" Dec grinned,still in slight disbelief.

"Yeah,really" Ant replied softly "help yourself to whatever you want,there's room service too,order yourself some dinner and breakfast tomorrow,it'll all be charged to me so please don't worry about the cost"

Ant was slightly taken aback when Dec emerged from the bathroom and threw his arms around him.

"Thank you,thank you" Dec mumbled into Ant's shoulder.

"You don't need to keep thanking me" Ant laughed and patted Dec on the back reassuringly.

"You can eat downstairs in the dining room if you prefer?" Ant pointed out.

"Yeah,think I'll stay in the room" Dec replied "enjoy the privacy...you know?just relax in front of the telly and all that"

"Well,you enjoy it" Ant smiled.

"Can't wait to have a shave" Dec said,more to himself than Ant as he ran his hand over his stubbly beard.

"Disposable razors provided" Ant grinned,nodding towards the bathroom.

"Yeah,I saw" Dec smiled "oh,a mini bar"

He rushed over to the small fridge in the corner of the room and started excitedly rummaging through it's contents.

"Ooh,white wine" Dec announced "and beer"

Ant was finding Dec's excitement at his new surroundings incredibly endearing,but he knew he had to tear himself away and get home as he had to be back in the office in just a few short hours.

"Ok,I really am going now" he smiled "I won't see you in the morning as I have an early meeting,but I'm sure I'll run into you after work as usual"

"What time do I have to check out?" Dec enquired.

"Midday" Ant replied "but I can get you an extension if you like?"

"No" Dec smiled "midday is fine,that's plenty of time"

"Ok" Ant nodded,as he opened the door "enjoy yourself and remember,please order whatever you like,don't worry about the price"

"I will,thanks" Dec beamed as he saw Ant to the door.

Once Ant had left,the first thing Dec wanted to do after having a quick shave was to get into a warm,luxurious bath.

He giggled to himself as he ran the hot tap and poured the bubble bath under the steady stream of warm water,still not quite believing what was happening.

He stripped himself off and frowned as he caught sight of his naked body in the full length mirror.

He was dirty...filthy in fact,he reminded himself of the little boys that used to be sent up chimneys to clean them back in the olden days.

Having slung his tatty clothes onto a nearby chair,he slowly eased himself into the inviting bath.

"Aaaaaaaggggghhhh" he sighed contentedly to himself as the soothing mix of calming water and tingling bubbles washed over his entire body.

He closed his eyes and appreciated every single second of the experience.

Dec had always been such a clean person,almost obsessively clean,often showering twice a day.

He didn't often have baths before he was homeless,but as he lay relaxed in the tub,he wondered why?

It was so wonderful and he vowed once he was off the streets,this would be his chosen method of relaxation.

Washing his hair had never felt so good,every grain of the dirty London streets washed away.

After then laying with his eyes closed for a full ten minutes,absent mindedly fiddling with the tap with his big toe,he stared at his filthy toenails and shook his head in disgust.

Grabbing the provided nailbrush from the side of the bath,he quickly started scrubbing them rhythmically,getting harder and harder with every stroke.

He just had to get this dirt off,it was disgusting to him...he just couldn't bear the result of wearing the same shoes and socks for months on end embedded into his nails and he felt ashamed.

He scrubbed and scrubbed until he made himself sore,completely oblivious to the tears now cascading down his cheeks.

As a small drop of blood dripped into the water,parting what was left of the bubbles,Dec was suddenly brought back to his senses.

'God Dec' he mumbled to himself 'what are you doing?'

That was his cue to get out of the bath,wrapping a soft,warm towel around his waist and dabbing his bleeding big toe with a piece of toilet paper.

As he sat down on the bed,propping himself up on the pillows and flicking through the TV channels,he was startled by the sound of the phone ringing on the bedside table.

"H...hello?" He answered cautiously.

"Dec,it's Ant" came the friendly voice on the end of the phone "how's it going?"

"Fine thanks" Dec replied "had a bath,now just channel hopping and will order something to eat soon"

"Great" Ant replied "listen Dec,I've sent you some clean clothes ok?"

"At this time of night?" Dec frowned.

"Yeah" Ant laughed "it's not that difficult to arrange when you have contacts,a courier will bring them over to reception,then they'll bring them up to you"

"Thank you" Dec replied gratefully "but you really didn't have to"

"I know I didn't" Ant said and Dec could sense that he was smiling down the phone "but I wanted to,it's nay bother"

"I appreciate it" Dec whispered in a quiet voice,astounded by Ant's continuous kindness.

"I'd better go" Ant announced "early start tomorrow,I'll see ya"

"Yeah,see ya Ant" Dec smiled.

No more than ten seconds later,there was a sharp knock at the door.

"Mr Donnelly?" The receptionist who had looked at him with such scorn earlier on asked.

"Yes" Dec replied,not sure why she needed to ask,she had checked him in not so long ago after all.

But this time she seemed friendlier,even smiling at him which actually made him think she was quite attractive.

Amazing what a bath and shave can do for a persons appearance Dec thought to himself,he obviously scrubbed up pretty nicely.

"There's a parcel for you" Fiona announced,holding up the package to show Dec.

Dec read her name from the work badge pinned to the pocket of her blouse,he hadn't noticed it earlier,but that was probably because he was sheepishly hovering behind Ant.

"Thank you" Dec smiled.

"You're very welcome" Fiona beamed "and please don't hesitate to call down to reception if there's anything else we can do for you?"

"Thank you" Dec repeated,before taking the parcel and closing the door.

He did wonder if Ant might have given Fiona a telling off for her earlier attitude towards Dec,although he was pretty sure Ant hadn't even noticed,even so,Dec didn't know Ant well enough to know if that was the sort of thing he'd do,but it wouldn't surprise him,Dec was pretty sure Ant didn't become a senior partner in a law firm by being timid and shy and not speaking his mind after all.

Dec enthusiastically opened the package and emptied the contents out onto the bed,picking up and examining each garment.

A pair of navy blue pyjamas.

It hadn't even crossed his mind about what he would sleep in.

When he was with Ali,he had slept naked most of the time,that was until she made him so self conscious of his body by putting him down all the time,but now the thought of snuggling up in bed in some warm,cosy pyjamas was very appealing,so he immediately let the towel that was still wrapped around his waist drop to the floor so he could put them on.

The feeling of the soft material on his skin was amazing and he couldn't wait to see what else Ant had sent.

Two thick jumpers,two pairs of comfortable looking tracksuit bottoms,a pack of three thermal vests and some socks and underpants.

Dec frowned to himself,wondering if it was a bit weird that Ant was buying him underwear,but he figured out putting brand new clean clothes on over filthy pants and socks would be even weirder,that was what he assumed was Ant's line of thinking anyway,it was no doubt Ant just being kind and considerate again.

Dec placed the clothes in a neat pile on the other chair,poured himself a glass of white wine from the minibar and settled back to watch some television while browsing the room service menu.

He settled on watching the news and was slightly taken aback by all the things that were going on in the world.

He had read the occasional newspaper that people threw away in a nearby bin,but what was on the screen shocked and saddened him.

So much violence,hurt and anger in the world and worst of all was the horrific story about the poor homeless guy who had been kicked to death by a gang of thugs just for the fun of it.

Dec quickly changed channels to something more lighthearted,not really paying that much attention now that the menu was captivating him.

'So much choice' he mumbled to himself.

He could already feel his mouth starting to water as he read the descriptions of every delicious dish,the prices did make him wince though.

Although Ant had told him to order whatever he liked.

This was going to be good!