The Switch

Part 1

It was 9:30 on a rainy Saturday morning when Ant began to stir. As his eyes fluttered open, he was met with a sharp pain surging through his head. It felt as if he had a severe hangover, however he didn't remember drinking much the night before.

The previous night, Ant had gone over to his best mate's house while their wives were out for a "girls' night." He and Dec did what they usually did when their wives were away, and that was cuddle on the couch while watching movies and drinking. Although Ant had little recollection of the night before, he was sure they hadn't drunk much.

As Ant sat up, he surveyed the room through squinted eyes. He jumped at the sudden sound of thunder, which was odd because usually storms did not faze him. Although it was dark due to the storm, one thing was evident. Ant was not in his bedroom. He was in Dec's.

"Shit! We didn't, did we?" He looked around frantically, searching for any clue of the night before. His best friend was nowhere to be seen. As Ant stood up, he saw he was fully clothed. He was wearing a light blue t-shirt and grey joggers. "Okay, good. But why did I sleep in Dec's bed?" He thought to himself.

As he walked across the room, he felt a sudden jolt of pain shoot through his shin, causing him to almost trip.

"What the hell was that?" He hadn't run into anything, but it felt as if his leg had been slammed against a coffee table, a feeling which he was quite familiar with. "Declan!" Ant yelled through the unusually silent house. He waited for a moment but got no response. "Decs, I'm not sure where you're at, but I'm gonna pop home for a bit to change and whatnot. I'll be back in a bit!" He yelled again only to be answered with more silence.

Meanwhile, a few doors down in Ant's house, Dec was a having a similarly strange morning.

Dec was awoken by a loud crash of thunder. He immediately pressed his head deeper into his pillow in an effort to ease his banging headache. He let out a loud groan before deciding to get up to get some pain medication. As Dec glanced around his bedroom, he realized he was not snuggled in his own bed. He was not cuddled against his own pillow. He wasn't in his bedroom. He was in Ant's.

"Did Ant and I..." he quickly looked down at his body which was covered by a faded red t-shirt and black gym shorts and let out a sigh of relief. "No. Good."

"Anth!" Dec croaked out. When he didn't get a response, he decided to get out of bed and investigate. He crept through the dark room and cried out as his shin made forceful contact with the corner of the bed frame. "Shit!" He continued to wander into the bathroom where he knew Ant kept his medicine. Dec flicked on the light and promptly screamed as he saw his reflection in the mirror.

"Declan?" A soaked through Ant called out in confusion as he shut the front door of his house. "Mate?" He took off he wet shoes and began cautiously creeping through his own house.

He went to where he believed the familiar shriek came from. Ant entered his bedroom and carefully looked around. Suddenly his headache was gone, but he felt all of the blood rush out of his body when he saw who was standing in his bathroom. Himself.

Out of the corner of Dec's eye, he saw a figure standing in the doorway. He slowly turned until he found himself face to face with himself. His headache had also magically vanished.

"What. The. Hell," both men whispered in utter disbelief.

To be continued...