That's what friends are for

Comfort

Ant felt his peaceful sleep being interrupted as something touched his shoulder, shaking him lightly. He sleepily opened his eyes to find his bed side lamp being turned on, the sudden light blinding him. The next thing he became aware of was a rather teary eyed Dec standing beside his bed.

At once he was wide awake.

"Deccy" he exclaimed and pulled himself into a sitting position.

"What's the matter, mate?" he asked concerned, a brief glimpse of his alarm clock telling him it was almost 3:30 in the morning.

"I'm sorry Anth" Dec mumbled, his voice rather shaky. He was quite obviously on the verge of tears.

"Don't worry about it" Ant reassured immediately and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. "Come here" he reached his hand out, offering him to sit down beside him.

Dec sat down and almost immediately an arm wrapped itself around his waist, pulling him close. Ant's warm hand settled on his stomach.

"What can I do?" Ant asked quietly.

Dec was quiet surprised by this approach. Taken completely off guard he couldn't help it as the tears spilled over his cheeks.

Ant tightened his hold on him, watching him with concerned eyes.

"Can y- you just give us a cuddle, plea-h-se? Dec asked through his sobs, looking down, tears dripping onto Ant's hand which was still resting on his lower abdomen.

"Yeah of course" Ant reassured quietly and with ease lifted his best friend into his lap.

Dec immediately wrapped his arms around him and buried his face in the crook of his neck. Ant kept his arm around Dec's back, holding him close, his free hand came up to his friends head, gently cupping his tearstained cheek.

A minute or two passed in silence, only interrupted by Dec's sniffling and the hitching of his breath.

Ant waited for him to calm down a little, gently rocking him in his arms. It was something one would usually do to a child, but Ant had the feeling his best friend needed just that. Dec didn't seem to mind, quite the opposite in fact, so he continued the swaying motion until he had calmed down somewhat.

Pulling back a little, he looked into his friends tearstained face.

"Nightmare?" he inquired in a whispered voice and smiled sadly when Dec nodded.

"I'm sorry for waking you up..." Dec began in a small voice.

Ant choose not to interrupt him, even though he wanted to protest against the apology. He didn't mind being woken up by him at all.

"I just... I just had this horrific nightmare and..." he broke off and rubbed at his teary eyes, trying not to start crying all over again .

Ant put a reassuring hand on his thight, giving it a gentle squeeze to encourage him to go on.

"I just woke up really upset and... and..." he paused as his breath hitched, the memories from his dream resurfacing, his throat getting tighter by the second.

Ant resumed the rocking motion, waiting for him to continue.

"I just need... I needed..." Dec's voice broke, fresh tears spilling down his cheeks.

"... a bit of comfort" Ant finished for him, before gathering him back into his arms, feeling his heart breaking a little when Dec nodded weakly.

"There's nothing wrong with that" Ant reassured quietly, feeling his best friends tears on his skin as Dec pushed his face into the crook of his neck. "It's only natural to need some reassurance after a horrible dream" he whispered and rubbed his back soothingly.

"I wouldn't want to be alone in the dark with memories from my dream still haunting me. You want to tell me what what it was about?" Ant asked quietly.

"Maybe tomorrow" Dec mumbled, starting to feel tired again. "I don't want to think of it right now"

"Yeah, I understand" Ant said silently and shifted a little so he could look at him.

"You getting sleepy again?" he asked when he saw Dec's eyes drooping.

Dec yawned softly in reply and Ant could barely hide a yawn himself. Of course Dec noticed.

"Sorry for waking you up. You must be tired" he apologised once more, but this time Ant was having none of it.

"Stop apologising, man" he said a little louder, but not unkindly. "If I was to wake you up in the middle of the night, because I don't feel very good, would you mind?"

"No, course not" Dec shook his head. "I would want to look after you"

"You see?" Ant smiled, tightening his arms around him. "That's what friends are for. And best friends no less. You have any idea how glad I am that you woke me up? I'm always happy to look after you. Especially if you're upset"

Dec nodded softly. "Thank you" he said quietly. "You know that you can always come to me as well, right?" he looked at him.

"Yeah, I know that" Ant smiled warmly.

No words were needed as they pulled each other into a tight hug. It lasted quite long. Both men enjoyed the close contact, the warmth and just the feeling of being loved like that. There was nothing weird or awkward about the embrace. Just two best friends showing their affection for each other.

"If we stay like this much longer, I'm actually going to fall asleep on you" Dec mumbled sleepily. He was resting his tired head on Ant's shoulder feeling warm and content in the embrace.

Ant chuckled silently. "You want to stay here for the night?"

"If you don't mind" Dec mumbled. "I'm still feeling a little shaky"

"Course, I don't mind" Ant whispered and reached for the bedside lamp, turning it off.

Shifting a little, but never letting go of his best friend, he laid back down.

Dec came to rest with his head on his shoulder, all snuggled up to him, his leg draped over Ant's.

And just like that, Ant pulled the blanket over the both of them. He noticed that Dec had already fallen asleep. Smiling, he kissed his forehead gently, before letting himself drift off as well.