The Little Brother

The Liverpool Flu

Individual Summary: Dec knows better than to try and fuss over Ant when he's sick. Unfortunately, he forgot to tell Stephen this......

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There is an unspoken rule among the boys, one of many that they share - and have done since they were thirteen. But one in particular happened to cause more drama than most whenever the occasion happens that no one else is told about this rule.

And that rule is: never, ever try to fuss over a sick Ant.

Dec has long since learned - whenever his best mate is feeling unwell - to just silently supply the tissues and bottles of water, to not say anything or try to fuss and hover. He knows that his efforts are still appreciated, but that Ant appreciates his silence and discretion even more.

Unfortunately, Stephen doesn't have this knowledge.

Which means that - when he found himself alone with a clearly poorly Ant while they were waiting for Dec to arrive - he did exactly what you weren't supposed to do.

He tried to fuss and worry.

"Hey, you alright mate?" he asked Ant now, plonking down next to his friend on the sofa and fixing him with a worried look.

Ant groaned internally at the sound of the younger man's voice - this was the exact last thing he needed today. He'd been ill all night and most of yesterday, and he'd hoped that it would ease during the night. Unfortunately, it hadn't, and he was now faced with dealing with some sort of horrid flu on top of the usual stresses of the audition tour.

"Fide Steebie" he grumbled thickly, swiping the back of his hand under his nose and sniffling wetly to clear the congestion from his voice.

Raising his eyebrows at the sound of Ant's voice, Stephen blinked forcefully at him in surprise.

"You don't sound fine. You sure you should even be in today?" he wondered, bending down to try and catch a glimpse of his friend's face - an attempt to gauge just how bad this might be.

Seeing him out of the corner of his eye, Ant grumbled and pushed him away weakly. The last thing he wanted was to be fussed over - although there was a tiny part of him that was touched at the concern from the younger presenter.

"Seriousthdey. I'b fide" he growled hoarsely, but the effect was rather lost as the next noise out of his mouth was a crackling cough that rattled in his chest and bent him almost double with the force of it.

Stephen's concern doubled at the sound, and he reached over to awkwardly pat his friend on the back in an attempt to ease his coughing.

"You sure? Do you want a drink of water or something? What about some cough syrup? You shouldn't really be trying to battle-"

But Stephen didn't get any further than that, because the next thing he knew, Ant was on his feet and stalking out of the room, grumbling as he went.

"For God's sthake: I'b fide Steeben!" was the only answer he got before the door closed rather forcefully behind him, leaving Stephen rather shell-shocked and alone on the couch.

Barely a minute later, it opened again and Dec walked in, looking around curiously before his gaze found Stephen's and he raised an eyebrow.

"Everything alright? I just saw Ant storming off in a right huff" he asked, shrugging off his coat and sitting down next to Stephen on the couch. "You two fighting or something?"

Stephen shook his head, biting his lip as he lifted his gaze back to the door, replaying his and Ant's conversation in his mind.

"Hey, Earth calling Stephen Mulhern: anyone home?"