What's Next? || Ant x Stephen

Talking - Chapter Three

"Hey" Ant said quietly, as Stephen looked up from his phone, surprised to see Ant. "Hey" he said as he stood up almost instantly "How'd you find the show then?" Stephen asked nervously. "Uh..." Ant laughed "educational?" he said half asking, as Stephen started laughing taking a step closer to the Geordie man without realising. "I didn't know someone had a tattoo of me and Dec on his arse, you learn something new every day I guess" Ant finished "Well Dec didn't know you let him eat a dog cake" Stephen teased, they both stood there laughing for a moment. "Yeah...He's going to try and get even with me now" Ant said making Stephen laugh. That laugh!! That laugh still made Ant feel weak in the knees, still gave Ant butterflies, even after all these years. 

And neither of them could lie, it felt great to be hanging out talking, laughing, all of it. It felt amazing, like some form of normality had been established. They felt, almost at peace, like it was actually going to get better, maybe it would get better...hopefully. 

"Stephen..." Ant started trailing off, Stephen didn't respond he just looked at Ant with a curious look. "Well, I-" He started "I know things between us right now are a bit Eh- so to say...I just" Stephen's face turned from curious to nervous "I just wanted to know if maybe...you want to get a drink or something, so we can talk about it, because I didn't handle it great and never actually explained It..." Ant was going to say sorry here and now, but he wanted to do it properly, actually be able to explain "I owe you an explanation" and he did, he owed the man a reason and an explanation for why what happened, happened. Stephen was sceptical at first, he wasn't really sure if he could do it "Sure...Why not" he said, which did catch Ant off guard, he was ready for Stephen to say no, or something like that, so when he didn't, when he agreed to hear the older man out and hear what he had to say. He couldn't help but smile! "I'll meet you at the pub?" Ant asked as Stephen nodded. 

*TIME SKIP*

Ant was waiting in the pub for Stephen to show up, hoping he wasn't going to bail last minute, he waited for 5 minutes when Stephen finally showed up. "Hey, sorry I'm late!" Stephen said smiling at Ant as he rushed to sit down. "No problem!" Ant smiled, thinking to himself 'thank god he actually came' He smiled at him "No problem, I haven't been waiting that long, it's fine" Ant said as Stephen sat down, Ant slid a half pint over to him "I- uh, I got you a drink" Stephen smiled at Ant, his way of saying thank you to him.

At first it was quiet, no one said anything. They sat in silence, but even though things were a bit awkward between them, this silence was the complete opposite, it was comfortable, it was like they didn't need to be chatting when they hung out, it was exactly the same as they were before, when they could just hang out, just being in each other's company. This felt normal, it felt as if nothing had changed, but it had, it had changed quite a bit. 

"Stephen, I'm sorry" Ant finally said, as Stephen looked up from the table, where he was fiddling with the mat his drink was waiting on. "I didn't really handle things great." He said, waiting to see if Stephen had a response. "Why uh...Why did you break up with me Ant?" Stephen asked, scared to hear Ant's response. He knew he wouldn't like the answer, either way. "I- I don't know, I guess I got...Scared" Ant started "I didn't mean to do it" Stephen looked at him confused "I- I just wanted to talk to you, I wanted to let you know how the way you dealt with my feelings towards Mason, how you made me feel...bad about them" Ant finished explaining as Stephen looked to the floor "Ant-" He was going to say something when Ant interrupted him "Then when I came over to talk about it, There he was, Standing in the doorway and then you said I was being paranoid and I just-" Ant trailed off, realising he had been talking over Stephen "sorry..." Ant said as Stephen shook his head "No...uh, no, you don't have to be sorry, I was a pretty bad boyfriend, I'm the one who should be sorry" He said, realising how he treated Ant's insecurities about Mason. Eventually Ant and Stephen left the pub, they went out for a walk, but they continued their conversation.

"I guess, I took the easy way out, I ended it before it got too messy. Which wasn't my plan." Ant said as Stephen looked up at Ant "I wanted to fix things, not make it worse" Ant said, Stephen looked back down to the floor "I didn't exactly help-" Stephen replied with a hint of guilt in his voice. "Neither of us handled it very well" Ant said jokingly trying to lighten the atmosphere once again, making Stephen huff out a laugh, which in turn made Ant smile "Stephen...I know I messed up-" Ant started as Stephen interrupted him "We both did" he said which made Ant smile slightly, knowing Stephen didn't fully blame him. "Yeah...But I don't want to give up on us." Ant said, which made Stephen smile slightly, the younger man looked down to the floor before responding "You know, I've hated myself for not running after you, for not fighting for us. I couldn't do anything for weeks...I just-" Stephen stopped himself "I missed you so much, and I thought you didn't miss me because you didn't message or call, so because you didn't, I didn't." Stephen finished "I didn't call or anything, because I thought you wouldn't want to hear or talk to me, but I felt so guilty for hurting you!" Ant explained to the younger man, which did make Stephen giggle a little. They started walking down this alley way just past the park, they weren't really sure where they were going but it felt nice getting everything of their chests, so they hadn't really thought that part through. "I meant it, you know?" Ant asked, which left Stephen a bit confused on what he meant "I really did miss you" Ant explained to Stephen and he did believe him, he and Ant had spent so much time together over the last year he knows when Ants lying or telling the truth, or when Ant's teasing or being serious. Stephen didn't give the man a response, he didn't say anything. Without thinking he leant down and pressed his lips to the shorter mans. 

It took Ant by surprise at first, but he quickly kissed back. It was nice, it was soft but passionate. Ant slowly moved his hand to the bottom of Stephen's back and Stephen lifted his hand up and brushed it through Ant's hair and rested it on the back of his neck. The kiss lasted a few minutes, until Ant pulled away. "I- um..." Ant swallowed the lump in his throat. "What was that?" Ant asked confused but smiling "I don't know..." Stephen replied sheepishly, also smiling, it had taken them almost two months, but they had finally realised it, they finally realised that neither of them wanted to break up, neither of them wanted to be apart from the other. "But we're in public Stevie" Ant said, that was the first time he'd call him 'Stevie' for a month or so now, and the nickname still made him blush, but only when Ant called him it. "Oh yeah, and we are" Stephen said, he had this proud smirk on his face. They were still standing halfway down the alley way, standing inches away from each other, Ant's hand was still resting on Stephen's lower back and Stephen's had made his way up Ant's face and was cupping his cheek, they both had a huge smile on their face. "I don't want to give up on us either." Stephen started "Ant, you were the best thing to happen to me, I love you so much and I don't want to-" He almost finished his sentence when he got interrupted by a pair of lips, again, this time Ant had pulled him into a kiss. 

When they pulled away from each other Ant asked "does this mean we're..." He trailed off towards the end before finally finishing his question "back together?" He felt like he was a teenager asking, but he wanted to know, he needed to know, even though he had a pretty good idea on what the answer was "uh, yes!" Stephen said bluntly, whilst laughing. "idiot" he said under his breath, but still loud enough for Ant to hear. Ant laughed, as he pushed Stephen playfully, "but I'm your idiot" Ant said smirking, they walked back out of the alley hand in hand, once they were on the street they let go of each other's hand, but they stood closer than they usually would when walking in public. 

They didn't seem as scared to be seen in public anymore, they weren't out yet, but maybe this meant they were ready...Maybe they were ready to let the public know about them and their relationship. 

Who knows...?