Cold Water

The Attention

"Twitter's a bit of a minefield," Laura, one of their runners, warned Ant reluctantly as she handed his phone over at the end of the show, passing Dec's back at the same time. Ant raised an eyebrow, pleased not to be affected too much by that knowledge but still feeling disappointed.

"About Stephen?" he asked needlessly, already knowing the answer before Laura had responded with a tentative nod.

"Worse than normal?" Dec's tone flared darkly, silently pointing out that social media was often an unwelcoming place for the younger man straight after a show. He used it far less than he once did, largely avoiding the temptation to read what people thought. It was a vocal minority that pulled him up on every mistake, claiming they couldn't understand what he was saying even though his speech was never incomprehensible. Some people just couldn't accept the idea of having someone who sounded like Stephen presenting live TV – or any TV. Ant still didn't understand the logic.

"People just seem to be drawing attention to it more today," she said eventually, wincing as Dec unlocked his phone and had a look. "You've got people who think he's doing a bad job so don't get why any part of the show was 'wasted' congratulating him. And then there are people who think he's just 'doing his job' and doesn't deserve any extra credit."

"Does he want people to shower him with attention or act like he doesn't stammer at all? You can't have it both ways," Dec read out, his tone the audible equivalent of an eyeroll as he continued to scroll down the page. "When are we going to stop congratulating Stephen for doing the bare minimum? He's just reading an autocue."

He turned his phone screen so Ant could see the tweet in question. What Dec hadn't vocalised was the way 'Stephen' had been written, Ant's stomach clenching uncomfortably as he scanned over the fake stumbles – 'St-St-Stephen'.

"Let's not concentrate on all that," he pleaded with Dec, already seeing the older man's eyes welling up out of both frustration and sympathy as he took in the extent of the insensitive comments. He hoped Stephen hadn't chosen that night to check Twitter, worried that he might have been looking for people whose videos had featured talking about it.

They tried to surround him with support, especially when they had the control to do so on Takeaway. If any crew member said something insensitive, Ant knew he and Dec would do everything they could to move them to another show. The only problem with that was the microcosm of positivity it created; if Stephen forgot what some people could be like, maybe he would decide to look at social media.

"They act like he asked us to do all that," Dec mumbled bitterly. Perhaps wisely, Laura had left them to it and Ant hoped the rest of the production team would continue to give them a wide berth. It was better that it was just the two of them when Dec's sadness turned to anger, paired with a raised voice. "How would that even make sense?"

"They're just looking for an excuse," Ant said placatingly. It was strange how their dynamic had changed. In the immediate aftermath, Dec's shock over what had happened had evened out his temper and he had been the one to extinguish Ant's uncharacteristically short fuse. Now, their roles had started to reverse. For Ant, it was resignation that had taken his urge to fight the faceless people on Twitter who continued to make Stephen's life difficult. It was easier to direct his attention towards supporting the younger man, trying to shield him from the outspoken few who continued to tear him down.

"I know they'll say whatever they want," Dec replied, locking his phone with a sigh and pushing it into his pocket with a burst of frustration, "But is it not the bare minimum to hope that they won't mock his stammer in the process?"

"It's not much to ask," Ant said levelly. "That doesn't tend to stop people like that though, does it?"

"Do you think he's alright?" Dec asked, suddenly seeming to remember that they were in a position to help the younger man if he wasn't. Often, when the online criticism got bad, it was for a show that they weren't all working on together and the helplessness that came then was worse than anything else. Stephen wasn't one to go out of his way to ask for help; he could often hide that he'd been affected by it until he was in front of one of them and couldn't lie anymore.