You Raise Me Up (Quite Literally)

A/N: For the record; as said in the description of the story, this piece includes descriptions of knee locking and general brief mentions of joints/bones. If that's something that triggers you/makes you uncomfortable, I would recommend skipping this story. The idea basically originated from the need of writing h/c of this duo and my own struggles with knee locking that I have to finally channel somewhere. That said, obviously, I don't wish anyone to have to struggle with said issue. Other than that, hope you'll enjoy!

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"Jesus Christ, man," Ant murmurs to himself, trying to get back up after a nasty tumble he just experienced.

Despite his best intentions, however, his body seems far from agreeing with his mind on what action to take upon itself. And the excruciating pain radiating from his knee isn't helping either. He grits his teeth trying to stop the hiss from escaping his lips. This is just his luck, isn't it? His stupid joint couldn't lock while at home - it absolutely had to happen at work. And if that wasn't bad enough, now he's causing people around him to fuss, not sure what's wrong with him and whether they should call someone or just leave him be to gather the remains of his dignity from the ground while he's at it.

Anthony feels a lump grow in his throat. Recently, it happens much more frequently than he'd like to admit; almost any inconvenience has him on edge. He's more stressed and mentally wrecked about being at the centre of everyone's attention, backstage at BGT, than he is about the physical issue his leg is suffering from. Right now he just wishes one of the two would happen; either he gets swallowed by the ground or someone else gets a hold of the unfolding situation.

Fortunately for the man, Dec chooses right this moment to appear by his side, seemingly out of nowhere. As his gaze falls onto the younger presenter, the older's eyes immediately widen with worry. He almost flies through the rest of the distance separating him from his best friend, eventually crouching right beside the younger man.

"What happened?" he asks and Anthony can tell his friend's already going into a state of panic. It's not often that he sees Ant so physically vulnerable and in such pain - to be entirely honest, Dec is the one to usually experience such sensations. His regular headaches and more than sporadic migraines are definitely close to usual by now, which is why the younger is so used to helping his friend through them whenever they appear.

At the moment, the tables are turned and Ant begins to feel gradually more uncomfortable with the entire thing. He huffs with irritation, trying to play it off as if he wasn't stuck on the floor unable to get back on his feet, yet the sound comes out sort of strangled and shallow.

This only increases Declan's concern. "Ant, look at me," he orders after a good while of observing his friend avoid his gaze. The second the younger's eyes meet his, Dec's expression softens into a sympathetic frown. "What's wrong?" he repeats.

And even though every single instinct that Anthony possesses is screaming at him to keep fighting, to act like it's nothing, to sweep it under the rug, he knows better than to try anything anymore. Truth be told, he's probably too exhausted. Maybe even too desperate for comfort because - goddammit - the pain is growing stronger and stronger with each second passing and he can feel his eyes watering at the discomfort.

"My- My knee locked," he rasps out, the uncomfortable sensation of bone being stiffly stuck on another bone overwhelming him. "I can't-" he attempts but cuts himself off when he hears his voice waver.

"God," Dec whispers, the blasphemy addressed to no one in particular. Realising just how bad it is, it doesn't take long for him to take over. "Alright. Hey, listen to me Ant; you're alright, pet, okay? Let me just grab you a chair and I'll help you up, yeah? Just hold on for a second." That said, the older raises back up (Ant can't even begin to explain how jealous he is), rushing away at an inhuman speed only to come back literally a few seconds later with a chair in his right and a heating pad in his left hand.

He puts both by Ant's side, then re-approaches his friend. Seeing the distressed expression on his best mate's face as he comes to hold him up, Dec's heart clenches. "You don't need to do much work here pet, I promise," he murmurs soothingly. He puts his arms under Anthony's armpits, his forearms wrapping around his friend's front. "I just need you to elevate yourself slightly on your good leg, okay? Just that, I'll do the rest." And the younger does as he's told, although a grimace of pain crosses his features again as Dec finally manages to get him up, straightening his injured leg in the process.

Soon enough he's sitting more or less comfortably in the chair, leaning heavily into it. He watches as his older friend crouches in front of him, holding onto his good knee for balance. All the while, his left holds the heating pad to the injured joint, as Declan makes sure not to press it too hard in fear of hurting his mate even more. Anthony slowly begins to relax.

"How is it?" Dec asks quietly after a good while of simply silently enjoying each others' company.

"Still hurts like hell," the younger man replies weakly. "But it's better."

At that, a sigh of relief leaves the older presenter's lungs. "That's probably the best we can hope for right now," he says softly. "You just sit tight for the rest of the day, yeah? We're gonna leave as soon as we can and then you can rest properly once we're home."

Ant nods.

The remaining few hours of their work pass without any more unpleasant experiences. The younger one of the duo avoids getting up at all costs while his mate does his best to cover the rest of the work, talking to the few last auditionees while also keeping an eye on his friend around the clock.

Every time Dec begins to fuss, Ant makes sure to huff irritably at the older's behaviour, which on most occasions earns him an apologetic yet still concerned smile. The worry doesn't cease, however, and by the end of the day, the older man appears just as exhausted as his friend, although for an utterly different reason.

Nevertheless, he still helps Anthony to the car, mindful of his still quite useless knee. The ability to walk has returned to the younger only several minutes after the incident but the unbearable pain still seems to be bothering him a great deal.

Upon reaching Ant's house, the first thing Declan does is secure his best friend on the sofa before heading for a painkillers search. Relieved to find them relatively quickly, he hurries back to the other man's side and hands him the pills.

"Thanks," Ant murmurs under his breath, leaning back against the couch. Dec nods at him, distracted.

For a while, the younger presenter simply observes the latter shuffle around his house, channelling his anxiety caused by Anthony's pain into doing something useful, probably unable to make his mind stop racing. But Ant can see the way his movements get sloppy and his eyelids heavy.

He pats the spot beside him.

"Decky, come here," he pleads, no longer able to watch his best mate tire himself.

A few seconds of hesitation pass before finally the older of the two gives in, flopping down right next to his friend.

"Y'okay?" he asks softly, his tone audibly worn off.

"Yeah," the younger man reassures quietly, then reaches out, his arm wrapping itself around the smaller figure. Without any warning, Ant pulls the other in, slumping into the laying position.

"Ant..." Declan huffs, all too well aware that he should go back to his own flat before they both fall asleep.

"Stay." Guessing his mate's exact thoughts, Anth swiftly disagrees with them.

For a short while, they both fall silent and after another minute or two, Anthony is fairly confident that the older man has already fallen asleep.

But then Dec says one more thing. One more word. And with that word, the remaining tension bleeds out of his body as if it was never there.

"Sure."