What's Next? || Ant x Stephen

The Future - Chapter Twenty-Three

Ant and Stephen were out taking Hurley for a walk. They usually take Hurley out for a walk in the morning because it was calmer and quieter. They got back from Australia about a week ago and they settled back into their usual routine pretty quickly, it was almost muscle memory at this point. 

As they were walking through the forest, and Ant was throwing a ball for Hurley, Stephen was stood there deep in thought, he was thinking about him and Ant, what their future might hold. Ant had been talking for about 5 minutes before he realised that Stephen wasn't paying attention at all. He playfully nudged Stephen trying to get his attention when Stephen shook his head as he snapped out of his thoughts. "Have you been listening to anything I've been saying" Ant said laughing as Stephen gave him a guilty smile "Sorry"

Ant had noticed yesterday that Stephen seemed to be a little pre-occupied, just wasn't sure what he had been thinking about these past 2 days. Ant noticed a bench a little further ahead, as he and Stephen got there, he pulled Stephen to sit down. He took the ball off of Hurley again and threw it into the trees once more and as Hurley ran to grab it, Ant spoke "What's up?" Stephen looked at Ant confused. "What's been on your mind recently?" Ant clarified, as Stephen gave Ant a nervous smirk.

"Oh- Uh nothing really, Just..." Stephen trailed off as Ant grew more curious leaning forward on the bench to pick up the ball and throw it again. "Just thinking... about the future I guess" Stephen finished leaving Ant even more intrigued into what He meant. "The future?" Ant asked as he smiled at Stephen.

"Yeah... like our  future" Stephen had been thinking about where this relationship was heading a lot recently, they'd moved in together almost a 5 months ago now, and other than that, they'd never really spoken about the future, I mean Stephen knew what he wanted in the future, he wanted to get married and have kids... like any other couple, but he didn't know whether or not Ant wanted the same thing and that was kind of nerve-wracking, because if he didn't then what would happen, because Stephen loves Ant with his whole heart, but if Ant didn't want kids, he wouldn't know what to do because it's always been Stephen's dream to be a dad, he doesn't know if he would be able to just give that dream up... but he he also doesn't know whether he could just not be with Ant because of some silly little dream...

"We've just... never really spoken about it and I guess, it's been playing on my mind recently" Stephen started as he watch Hurley run back and drop the ball in front of Ant. "What about the future?" Ant asked, looking for a bit more clarification. "I mean, what do you want the future to look like?" Stephen asked as he watch Hurley search for the ball.

The question kind of took Ant by surprise, because Stephen was right, they hadn't really spoken about it, they hadn't had a proper conversation about it. Which Ant had never really noticed before. To be completely honest Ant hadn't really thought about what he wanted their future to look like, these last few months haven't been easy for the boys, and Ant has been so focused on making sure Stephen was okay, and that he wasn't overthinking everything and Michael wasn't be to much of a dick at work, he hasn't really thought about anything else.

Ant took a moment to think, as Stephen was watching Hurley struggle to find the ball. "I mean honestly, I haven't really thought about the future, what about you?" That took Stephen by surprise slightly, he wasn't sure why, he probably should've realised Ant was going to ask him that questions. As Stephen turned to look at Ant, with a look as if he was thinking. He wasn't, he knew exactly what he wanted the future to be like, but he didn't want to come off as weird to Ant, like he thinks about it non-stop.

"Uh- well, I mean, yeah I've thought about it before" Stephen started, as Ant turned properly to look at the younger man with a curious expression on his face, as if to say 'carry on.' Stephen smiled at Ant and turned to look forward. "I guess, I've had it planned out since I was about 16, if I'm honest" He said smiling. "You have?" Ant asked, with a smirk.

"Yeah, It's pretty much the same as almost everyone else I guess. I want to get married and have kids, and all the things that I never thought I'd be allowed to do" Stephen explained further, leaving a smile on Ants face. "What about you? You want kids?" Stephen asked Ant, he was so nervous for the answer, he was hoping he did, having kids has always been apart of Stephen's plan and he doesn't know if he could just... Not want them anymore.

"I mean..." Ant started, as Stephen nervously turned to face Ant properly "Yeah! I think it'd be fun" Stephen's face lit up at that exact moment. He was so happy that Ant wanted kids, and now he could just see their future together. Ant was confused when Stephen started smiling, he wasn't 100% sure why he was smiling so much. "What?" He asked after a moment, and just before he threw Hurleys ball again. "Oh- uh nothing, I'm just happy"

And for the first time in months, Stephen was genuinely happy, he wasn't thinking about everything that was going wrong in life right now, and in this moment, nothing could change that. Nothing in the world.

"I love you Stevie" Ant said as they both stood up from the bench, ready to start walking again. "I love you too" Stephen replied with a massive smirk on his face.