Of Cuddles and Naps

"Oh, they are going to LOVE this!"

Ant couldn't help but laugh at David's exclamation as the taller man grinned excitedly and instantly went about posting the photo onto his Twitter, where fans immediately began favouriting and retweeting en masse - just as they had predicted.

Simon, Amanda and Alesha all sat back in their own chairs, watching them fondly - Simon in particular had a sparkle in his eye as he watched the three of them laugh and mess about in their usual silly way.

It had been a long, hard tour this year, and they were all piled into one of Simon's private jets on their way back to London. Everyone was exhausted, and more than ready to get back to their homes and catch up on some desperately-needed sleep. They had been messing about earlier in the flight, taking a few photos of them all pretending to argue, and then there had been some good-natured pinching of Amanda's sweets - which David had instigated, and who had then been the target of a rather hilarious battle to regain possession of said sweets (which Amanda won, of course).

Eventually, David retreated to pester Simon, and Amanda and Alesha settled back to chat among themselves. Ant turned back to his friend - who was still sitting on his lap - with a raised eyebrow and a tiny smile.

"You planning on getting off anytime soon?" he muttered amusedly, shifting his arms to wrap around Dec's waist.

Dec shook his head tiredly, leaning back into Ant's chest with a weary sigh.

"Nope. Comfy" he replied sleepily, his voice deep with exhaustion as he let out a jaw-cracking yawn.

Raising his other eyebrow, and with a fond smile curling his lips, Ant couldn't help but chuckle "I can see that."

Pouting almost minutely, Dec snuggled down and laid his heavy head on his friend's shoulder, nestling his cold nose into Ant's collarbone - prompting another warm chuckle from the other man.

"Come here then, sleepyhead" Ant murmured softly, shifting his position slightly so that they would both be more comfortable and kissing his friend's forehead tenderly. He was rewarded with a contented snuffle before Dec curled up properly and snuggled deeper into his side, his eyes getting progressively heavier with every second that passed.

"Go on, get some sleep kidda" Ant whispered, rubbing a hand down Dec's back before it shifted to gently rub circles on the back of his neck - the one motion guaranteed to make his little friend sleepy.

"Mm, cold" Dec grumbled, as he let out a tiny shiver and gave a quiet sniffle before burying his nose back into the crook of Ant's neck.

Ant frowned at that; it was quite pleasant in the jet, having left the frigid temperatures behind (and below) them, and it certainly wasn't cold.

"You coming down with something?" he wondered aloud, resting a palm against Dec's forehead and finding it maybe a little warmer than usual, but nothing alarming.

Dec shrugged, "Aye, think so" he croaked back. "Been feeling bad all day, head's hurting too, but it's just a cold though I think" he elaborated, hating the flash of worry that appeared on Ant's face.

Seeing it, he gave his friend a wan smile "I'm fine, mate. Just need to get home and rest."

Forced to agree, Ant pulled him closer to his side and guided his head back down to his shoulder and started to massage the bony process behind his ears - getting an appreciative groan in response.

"Alright" he conceded, "just rest then. I'll wake you when we land" he added in a promise.

He felt Dec smile against his neck and then the next thing he heard were his snuffly snores as his exhausted friend finally drifted off to sleep.