I would start a riot

On The Surface ~ July 2015

Dec was in a good mood.

Stephen had heard him humming in the shower that morning and then whistling in the kitchen as he made them both breakfast. He looked calmer than he had in weeks just from the knowledge that they would be up North by the end of the day.

Every time they returned there, Stephen felt a growing attachment to a city that had once been completely unknown to him. He wondered if it was purely because he appreciated somewhere that made Dec so happy or if he genuinely felt so trapped in London sometimes that he was grateful for the excuse to get away for a while.

This time in particular, he felt guilty for being so relieved at their week's holiday. It meant they wouldn't be going to his own parents' house that week, an event that was currently overshadowed by a palpable sense of guilt that his mum didn't seem able to get over.

BGT had brought a lot of things to the surface. Stephen didn't like to think about the fact that his parents had watched it happen on live TV, even if seeing the hurt on his face had finally caused his mum to think about the real impact of everything that had happened since he came out.

But rather than acknowledging what had happened and vowing not to make the same mistakes in the future, Maureen had taken a turn at trying to be distant, something that Stephen wasn't used to being on the receiving end of. Even Dec, who had the ability to put almost anyone at ease, was still struggling during their weekly meals to take away the painful awkwardness of their forcibly casual conversations.

Newcastle held none of those challenges for Stephen. If anything, Anne wouldn't stop talking to them. She always had something reassuring to say and Stephen was confident that she would address what had happened and move on in the space of a few minutes. At the moment, that was what he needed. He didn't want a reminder of what had happened every time he tried to relax, not when Dec was still torn up over the texts and Martha and his potential involvement in everything. In Newcastle especially, Dec had no need to feel at fault. Stephen was tempted to find a way to keep them both there once they arrived.

First, they had to leave though. Dec was fashionably late as always, wandering around the house looking for a long list of things he'd just remembered.

"We're only going for a week," Stephen reminded him, trailing after the other man as he walked into the living room for the third time in five minutes. "You can't forget anything that's so important you can't do without it for a week."

"Keys?" Dec challenged his point.

"You have your keys," Stephen replied, folding his arms. "You waved them in my face half an hour ago when I politely made sure you'd picked them up."

"You have no confidence in me," Dec retorted, brushing past him and heading for the kitchen. Stephen had lost track of how many visits that was by now.

"I wonder why," he muttered quietly, mouth twitching when Dec huffed out a reluctant laugh.

"I'm just checking," he said defensively. "Did you shut all the windows?"

"Yes," Stephen said slowly.

"Did you lock the back door after Rocky went out in the garden earlier?"

"Yes."

"And..."

"And I brought the bin back in while you were faffing around upstairs," Stephen finished easily.

"Not what I was going to say," Dec said, frowning jokily.

Stephen half-heartedly walked back to the front door, debating the likelihood that he would have to take his shoes off again if he decided to put them on now.