I would start a riot

Epilogue ~ January 2016

"You don't have to come," Dec said for what felt like the tenth time. Stephen abandoned the tie loosely done up around his neck and turned around, facing the other man as he continued to get ready for the NTAs.

"You've said that so much, I almost think you don't want me there," he replied teasingly. Dec rolled his eyes, attention returning to his shirt buttons.

"You'll get bored," he said lightly, disguising the real reason he had. Stephen knew what that reason was, knowing Dec too well at this point to see through a lie.

"You'll get bored," he said in return, "Everyone who goes to an award ceremony gets bored."

"Yeah, but I won't be bored for the five minutes that are actually relevant to me," Dec replied.

"The five minutes where you win for the hundredth time, you mean?" Stephen asked, pushing to get a reluctant laugh out of the unusually nervous man in front of him. He was used to second guessing their relationship far more than Dec did, particularly when it came to being public about it. Dec was better at ignoring the external attention which had only started to build since they got engaged.

"We might not win," Dec said a little redundantly. They would win - Stephen was tempted to bet good money on it. He crossed the room to be stood in front of Dec, far further through the process of getting ready because Dec had been stalling, as if not being dressed for the occasion would somehow lengthen the time between now and the ceremony starting.

"Who says I'll be bored for the whole thing?" he asked, standing in front of Dec as his head tilted upwards slightly for their eyes to meet. Stephen smiled gently, watching the curve of Dec's mouth slowly follow suit as his voice dropped. "Maybe there will be five minutes where I'm a little less bored."

"Only a little less?" Dec smirked more familiarly.

"I might even stretch to feeling proud," Stephen said, finally making Dec laugh. His hands rested distractedly on Stephen's shirt, lifting to fix his tie properly almost sub-consciously. Stephen moved easily with the light pressure on his neck, tilting his head downwards to pull Dec's focus once more. The older man smiled against his mouth, kissing him back softly.

"I'm already proud," Stephen murmured. "You're amazing."

"Don't make me blush, Stevie," Dec retorted, his cheeks reddening anyway. He looked quietly pleased though and unusually bashful. At least he wasn't trying to persuade Stephen not to go along to the award ceremony anymore.

"But it's so fun," Stephen complained with a grin, only taking pity on him because they really were going to be late if he didn't dress himself a little quicker. "Now get ready."

"You'll be bored," Dec tried one more time, simultaneously doing as he was told. Stephen shook his head amusedly, tossing a tie in his direction.

"I'll be proud of you," he said firmly. "I want to be there."

Dec didn't argue back.

(*~*)

Despite what people thought, Dec had never got so comfortable as to assume they would win every year. The nerves faded over time; winning mattered less from the point of view of their career but retaining the same award year on year meant a lot to him personally. In recent years it had been proof that enough people supported him after he came out. Often, it was just a reassurance that they were still producing shows that the public wanted to see.

So, he was probably more nervous about having Stephen sat on his left, not nominated for an award and therefore only attending to be there with him. They didn't make public appearances often unless they were both already meant to be somewhere and their work didn't intersect frequently enough for this to be a regular occurrence.