An unlikely friendship

part 13

Ant stood in front of Nick and Dec,looking from Nick to Dec,then back to Nick again.

He narrowed his eyes at his so called friend.

"What the fuck did I just hear?" He demanded to know.

"Um...I...I..." Nick stuttered.

"You what?" Ant asked angrily.

"We were...er..." Nick still struggled to find his words "we were just messing around,weren't we Dec?"

He glanced desperately at Dec,somehow misguidedly assuming Dec might just save his skin,but Dec's distraught,tear stained face told another story.

Ant gently took hold of Dec's elbow and pulled him away from Nick to stand at his side.

"Phone" Ant demanded,holding out his hand to Nick.

"What?" Nick asked surprised.

"You know what" Ant fumed "give me the fucking phone"

Nick reluctantly handed over his mobile and Ant immediately went to the photos and clicked on to the most recent one,showing Dec sobbing into his hands.

Ant held it up in front of Nick's face.

"This was messing around was it?" He asked furiously.

"Well..." Nick began.

"Don't fucking bother" Ant snapped,immediately deleting the picture and practically throwing the phone back at Nick "I heard everything,you've been making Declan's life hell...is that right Dec?"

Dec nodded sadly.

"From day one?" Ant continued.

Dec nodded again.

"It was just a bit of banter" Nick tried desperately to defuse the situation "honestly Ant,that's all it was,nothing more"

"Banter?" Ant growled,every word that came out of Nick's mouth made him even more angry.

"I don't call attempted murder banter" Ant stated.

"What?" Nick asked shocked.

"Spiking someone's drinks and leaving them to freeze to death in a field" Ant scowled "oh yeah,I heard it all"

"Well,you're a lawyer Ant" Nick snapped back "how do you plan to make that stand up in court?"

Ant ignored the question,suddenly grabbing Nick by the collar of his shirt and shoving him hard against the wall.

"You get your belongings and get the hell out of here" Ant demanded "and don't ever come back"

Nick now knew he was fighting a losing battle,but had no intention of going quietly.

"This is my place of work" he stated,pushing Ant away "my business,my livelihood and if you think I'm just going to give up on it just like that,then you are seriously deluded"

"Fine" Ant replied sarcastically "prison it is then"

"You're bluffing" Nick smirked "you haven't got any proof of anything"

"Oh yeah?" Ant smirked "haven't you heard of a little thing called CCTV?those cameras are everywhere these days,it wouldn't be hard for the police to retrace your steps and find out just exactly where you were that night,who you were with and where you went"

Nick was starting to panic now,he'd never thought about anything like that because he genuinely believed he would never get found out,so in desperation,tried another tactic.

"Please Ant" he begged "try and see it from my point of view,I swear I was just looking out for you,we're best buds right?I'd do anything for you..."

"Including killing someone?" Ant interrupted.