What's Next? || Ant x Stephen

PR Meetings - Chapter Six

Today Ant and Stephen had a lot of meetings planned, some they weren't exactly looking forward to, they knew at least one person would try and talk them out of coming out. Someone would say it was bad for the 'image' they had, someone wouldn't agree with their decision, but they knew that they wanted to do this, they wanted to show the public who they really are. 

"Stevie!" Ant shouted up the stairs. "Come on, we're going to late" Ant shouted, as Stephen rushed down the stairs, still brushing his hair. "Yeah, I know." Stephen said still rushing around. Ant was waiting by the door, as Stephen grabbed his jacket. "Okay, let's go!" Ant said as he left Stephen's house. "Keys!" Stephen reminded Ant, once again, as Ant turned around and walked back into the house to get his keys. "Every time" Stephen rolled his eyes as Ant walked out of the house. 

As they got to the office Dec was waiting at reception for the boys. "Just in time" Dec said teasing the boys, as they made their way up to the meeting room. 

*Time skip*  

Stephen and Ant have been sitting, practically, in silence. No one in the meeting has let them say a word since they brought up that they are planning on coming out to the public, all they've heard is half the room saying 'well done! That's a great idea' and the other half saying, 'I don't think that's a great idea.' They've been listening to this argument for the last 10 minutes, and they couldn't handle it anymore. All they wanted was to let their team know what they were planning on doing and get an opinion, not start a debate.

"Should we say something...?" Ant whispered into Stephen's ear "Um, probably" Stephen replied, they didn't know how to say something or what to actually say. Eventually Ali, Dec's wife and Ant and Dec's manager, asked the boys a question. "Are you sure you want to do this?" Ant and Stephen looked up to Ali as the whole room went quiet. "If you do, we will support you and help you, but we don't want you guys to do something that you may regret." Ali finished, Ant and Stephen were so happy that they had Ali's support, even though they knew that she accepted them, her and Dec have been amazing through this whole thing. "Yes, we are." Stephen started. "We don't want to lie to the public, about who we are anymore." Ant finished, as he grabbed Stephen's hand under the table. "What if there's backlash?" an executive said to the boys, which didn't take the boys by surprise, they knew someone was going to ask. "Well, if there is, we can cross that bridge when we come to it." Ant stated. They were going to do this whether or not they had the support of their PR team. They were tired of hiding or sneaking around like they were teenagers. "Then, we will support you no matter what!" 

"Wait-" An executive from the back of the room said, after Ali finished talking to the boys. "Yes?" Ali asked him "I don't think it's a good idea!" The guy says, as he stands and walks forward a bit, making Ant and Stephen a bit nervous. "Why not? If their ready, I don't see the problem." Ali tried defending them, because it is their choice, they didn't have to have the meetings, yes, the PR team could help if they were hugely worried about their image, but they weren't, they just thought it was fair and the right thing to do, to tell them what they were doing. "Because it's going to ruin their career" He started "And It's not just Ant and Stephen's career, it's Dec's career. Some things are best kept Secret" As the executive said that Stephen dropped his head to look at the floor, it just took him back to when he came out to his mother, she had said so many things that stuck with him and he hadn't heard any of the things his mother said, until now. When Ant noticed Stephen's leg bouncing under the table, he placed his hand just above his knee, to try and calm him down. "I just don't want them to throw their career away because of a relationship that might not last. I mean, they've already broken up once, who says that they won't break up again, for good this time?" 

This executive had kept going on about how they shouldn't come out because it won't be good for their career, or because their relationship might not last. They hadn't met this guy before, mainly because they'd never really had to focus on their 'Image' before, they'd never needed to focus on their PR team, usually they don't have to get involved with massive things like this.

But that last point he'd made about when Ant and Stephen broke up really hit him, that tipped him over the edge, and when it comes to protecting the people, he loves and cares about, nothing will stop him. "What's your name?" Ant asked the guy, as he looked over to the pair after going off on, practically, a rant about why they shouldn't come out. "Uh, it's Michael..." The executive said, sounding a lot more nervous now. "Well, Michael, we know that we've broken up once, but that's not going to happen again" Ant started, pausing to see if Michael had anything to say, unsurprisingly, he did. "Well, you don't know that most relationship don't last longer than 14 months, so-" He started when Ant interrupted, getting more and more irritated the more Michael spoke. "That's most couples. That doesn't mean all couples. I mean, Dec and Ali have been together for over 2 years, so what's so different about me and Stephen?" Ant asked, everyone could tell he was getting annoyed just by the tone of his voice. "Well-" Michael was about to say something, and everyone knew what he was about to say. "If you say, 'because your gay' then you're going to need to find a new job" Ant said, really started to get angry at this guy. "Me and Stephen are coming out to public. Whether or not you guys are going to help." Ant said proudly as he sat down. Michael was slightly shocked, Ant was this close to firing him, Michael turned around slowly and went back to his seat. "Okay, well then, let's do it" Ali said smiling at the boys, secretly proud of Ant for standing up for him and Stephen. 

The meeting finally finished, and Ant, Dec and Stephen all left first, they were standing outside the office when Michael walked out. As he passed the three boys, he gave Ant and Stephen a judgmental look. "We're going to have to put up with him for a while aye." Ant said laughing as Stephen looked to the floor "Hey, Stevie? It's going to be fine" Ant said smiling, trying to comfort the younger man. Stephen just nodded at Ant; he didn't want to let him know that Michael's words had sort of got to him, they hit close to home and no matter how badly he wished they didn't, they did make him think. "So, we're doing this?" Ant said, snapping Stephen out of his thoughts, making him jump slightly. "We're doing this!" Stephen said, trying to hide the nervous tone, it didn't work, but Ant didn't say anything about it, he just thought that it was normal for him to be nervous about this. They were about to take a huge step, this could go hugely wrong, but it could also go amazingly well. 

Let's hope it goes well!