soul searching

iii. no matter what else goes wrong around us, we're safe in our own paradise

A/N: my spotify has been telling me that i've had "eternal love" by pj and duncan on my "on repeat" playlist for the past month lol.
have a short(ish) chapter to make up for the monstrous part 2 i posted the other day.

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2023, London: (Before) BGT Live Semis

"Dec!" A panicked voice comes from the corridor, quickly bursting through the doors and into their office space. "You have to see this!"

"What?" Dec rolls away from his desk, plucking an earbud out of his ear. He folds his arms over, fiddling with one of the hems of the blue short-sleeved polo he was wearing. "What's wrong?"

In front of him is their PR manager, a tall, fit man with (what was usually) a perfect quiff of hair. Now, in his rush, Simon's hair stuck in absurd places, a pile of papers falling haphazardly over his arms and over his iPad.

"The papers, they..." Simon pushes his device towards Dec's reach, pointing at the headline. "Since your Golden Buzzer at the auditions, we've had hundreds of inquiries regarding you two and, well... soulmates."

Dec frowns, reading the headline.

The Truth Hurts? Ant and Dec's Golden Buzzer– heart-wrenching singer makes the Geordie Duo emotional.

"They haven't published it, but I managed to get my hands on it before then."

Dec receives a new stack of papers. This time, in big, bold letters, are emails and faxes asking for the truth behind their emotional golden buzzer act. Several of them are asking if they had soulmarks, others asking about their relationships with their wives, one of them is uncomfortable, touching on Ant's previous marriage and horrible theories regarding soulmark removal. The article concludes with the author's theory– that Ant and Dec (or at least one half of them, Dec, they named) had a soulmark, leading to the emotional reaction to Dianne's performance.

The older Geordie stacks the papers back into a semblance of order. Suddenly, it feels like something snaps within Dec. "If they're so insistent, why don't we just tell them the truth?!"

Simon is one of the few people who know– after their wives, families, and managers. He shakes his head at Dec. "Dec..."

"I know Ant and I, we've never talked about this with you," Dec starts, rubbing his head with a knuckle. "But we're not necessarily hiding it, at least, not anymore..."

"People are going to think it's a stunt." The darker-haired man retorts. "If you two say something now, people are going to assume you're completely making it up. The timing would be too unlikely if you two open up about it now."

"It's not like we've been naked on the telly, now have we?"

"I'm not saying that you shouldn't be open about it, Dec. Surely, a lot of people will believe you regardless. I think now is not the best time."

The surge of fatigue is dissipating now. Dec slowly spins the iPad around to hand it over, refusing to read the headline once more. "What do you want us to do?"

"Don't say anything, at least not now." Simon sighs, pulling the articles back into his arms. "I'll be in touch with these outlets, I don't want them making any bold claims when they're unfounded."

Dec winces at the mention of 'bold claims'. "And Ant?"

The man in question hasn't arrived at the office yet, not late at all, only that Dec came over too early.

"I'll have a word with him as soon as he comes in." promises Simon. "Look, Dec. I understand where you're coming from, I really do... I hope you'll trust me with this, alright? I want what's best for you, and I had to let you know as soon as I could."