I would start a riot

Clouds Parting ~ November 2015

"It's all anyone is talking about," Phil warned them as soon as they arrived at the This Morning set. He sounded serious enough, although his eyes were gleaming mischievously and Dec suspected he was one of the main culprits responsible for all of the gossip that was supposedly circling. After all, he'd never once been on the morning show without coming away with more stories than he would ever need about people he'd not met before.

He'd debated the need to even announce the engagement on social media. He and Stephen were private about their relationship anyway and it seemed hypocritical to expect that privacy whilst simultaneously broadcasting certain things to the world.

Ali had told him he was being paranoid, pushing him not at all subtly towards making the news public. It was good to give the fans something, apparently, even if it was just a simple announcement that they were getting married. 'You don't have to say a lot, really,' she promised, before him and Ant were roped into a series of interviews for I'm a Celebrity almost as soon as he'd pressed publish on the post.

He'd agonised over that post as well, taking it to Stephen for his opinion over and over until the younger man was bored enough to tell him to say whatever he wanted. And then he'd agonised over the freedom that gave him, too tempted not to make a bit of a joke out of the whole thing.

The time and effort had been worth it for the grin on Stephen's face when he read the short paragraph accompanying an Ali-approved photo of the pair of them. The words Dec had chosen had not been Ali-approved or even read by anyone but him before he added the photo to their Instagram account, locked his phone and threw it to the opposite end of the sofa. He'd learnt by now to let their media team take care of editing the comments before he went to read them. 90% of their job seemed to be filtering out homophobia by now.

"When I said write whatever you want," Stephen had said with a smirk, "I didn't mean insult me for the majority of it."

"I don't know how to be genuinely nice without sounding soft," Dec retorted with a lazy grin. "People will get the message."

"I suppose the end is sweet," Stephen conceded eventually. Dec wasn't looking at him but he could hear the upturn in the corners of his mouth. He was content and that was all that Dec was bothered about. Everyone else could keep their opinions to themselves (or, in the case of Ali, send him a strongly worded text about his inability to take anything seriously).

He was good enough friends with Holly and Phil to expect the interview to fall to pieces in seconds as they both tried to get him to talk about Stephen and the wedding and absolutely nothing that he was there with Ant to actually say. Holly, for one, had practically screamed in his ear when she hugged him as they arrived on the set before filming.

"I can't believe you've both kept it quiet," she said with a gasp when he told her he'd asked Stephen in September. "I saw what you wrote on Instagram. It was so sweet."

"Wasn't meant to be," Dec grumbled with a forced frown, rolling his eyes when Ant smiled fondly and cuffed him round the back of his head.

"Declan's a right sap with Stevie," he teased lightly. "Even when he's trying to insult the guy."

Dec hadn't wanted the post to be taken as a complete joke so he'd been careful to say enough to make it clear that they were genuinely engaged and still, despite some people's beliefs, in a relationship that was definitely real. Beyond that, he'd made fun of Stephen as much as he thought he could get away with, settling into his usual role of mocking the younger man far more easily than he played the role of doting partner. He'd do that in private when there was no one there to hear it but Stephen himself.

"Well, I thought it was very cute," Holly said firmly. Dec groaned under his breath when he felt his face heating up, looking away with a self-conscious laugh. Ant's arm wrapped around his shoulders, more reassuring this time, tugging him in closer. He moved with the gesture as naturally as breathing, not so mock-annoyed with the other man that he wouldn't accept a bit of comfort.