It was uncomfortable, not having Ant at his side but Dec let the other man go when the conversation turned to their statement. After all, one of them needed to be well-rehearsed for the show that evening.
"We need to decide what tone we're going for," Dan said, smiling wryly. "I know this is probably the last thing on either of your minds right now but it's important we get the right message across."
"We're still saying something together, right?" Dec asked, looking to Ali.
"If you're both happy to do that," Ali said, immediately making Stephen nod. "We can write it collectively and then get it out through both of us. The papers will probably pick it up very quickly and then social media should take care of everyone else."
Dec found himself endlessly grateful that it was just the four of them, even if it was technically a matter for their PR team to handle. It had been bad enough tolerating their presence in the meeting; he couldn't face working with any of them for the time being.
"Is there any way we can make it clear we didn't want this to happen?" he asked, almost feeling embarrassed. He glanced at Stephen out of the corner of his eye, pleased to see his gaze had lifted from the table and that he looked to be in agreement. "I don't want us to come off sounding too negative – just, it would be nice to make it clear that this wasn't us at all. And also that we feel uncomfortable about it."
"We can work something in," Dan said easily, "You can say you're both surprised to be addressing it so soon, maybe that you wanted to wait until you were both ready. If we want to be upbeat overall though we're going to have to spin it into something positive in the end." He looked apologetic all over again as he brought them back to talking about PR matters, although that only made Dec like him more.
Stephen hesitated for a moment and then spoke up, uncharacteristically quietly. "It's important to be visible for other people, isn't it?"
"That works," Ali agreed, looking to Dec as if she were waiting for him to agree. He was a little preoccupied quelling his surprise that Stephen had suggested the one positive point that he himself had been holding onto all day.
"Yeah," he said eventually, "I was going to say the same. I know us hiding away for so long hardly sends the right message but if we have to be out now, I think we both want that to help other people."
They continued to go back and forth, slowly building up a statement that Dec could imagine sending out into the world, even if that very notion still made him feel sick. It was pointless worrying about it at this point but it felt a little like a proper coming out. It was a confirmation after all, that everything people had been speculating over that day was in fact the truth.
"Happy?" Stephen asked when they read through it one last time.
Dec bit his lip for a moment and then rested his fingers on the laptop keyboard. "We don't have to but" – he edited a section and typed something extra, looking to Stephen again – "Is that okay?"
Stephen smiled slightly and nodded. "I like that."
Dec turned the computer back to Dan and Ali, letting them do a final check, then returned his attention to Stephen who had started looking dangerously contemplative again.
"Are you okay?" he asked under his breath, all too aware of the two managers across from them.
"People really think we'd do all of this for a prank?" Stephen said in disbelief, clearly stuck on Paul's earlier comment from the meeting. "Can't they see what it means to us?"
"I don't know," Dec murmured. "Maybe they don't want to see it. They all thought we were straight yesterday and now suddenly all of this has happened. And that's not an excuse but everyone expects people to be straight – it's an adjustment when they're not."
YOU ARE READING
As we fall apart
Fanfiction"Maybe it would be best if..." "What's that supposed to mean?" "I don't think I can do this anymore." It felt like it came out of nowhere. They'd had a lot to contend with for a long time but still, after it all, they'd had each other. Until they di...
