Migraine

It was another day of auditions for the latest series of Britain's Got Talent, and they had arrived in Edinburgh early that morning, after another very late day of auditions the day before in Liverpool. Today's auditions had only just started, and it was not going quite as well as anyone had hoped.

The day had started with a pensioner who had tried his hands at ventriloquism with two sock puppets (Simon had buzzed him almost straight away). Then there had been a few – horrible, it had to be said – singers, and a group who had claimed to be singing Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody; but all anyone could hear was a bunch of off-key screeches and the occasional "Galileo!"

All in all, everything was going great.

Ant sighed and took another swig of his water bottle. It was a bloody hot afternoon, and hanging around backstage definitely wasn't helping matters. He could feel the sweat beading on the back of his neck under his collar. The fans on the side of the curtains provided little relief from the stuffy heat, although the breeze was definitely appreciated.

The next act sidled up to their side-stage area, and a smile somehow found its way onto his face as he and Dec approached the group.

They turned out to be a dance troupe; all around 15-17 years old, and their leader (their teacher, apparently) pushed his way to the front of the group and held out his hand for the boys to shake.

"Craig Partney" the tall man greeted enthusiastically, giving Ant's hand an equally enthusiastic shake.

"Hi Craig, nice to meet you" he replied, returning the shake and smiling around at the assembled troupe. The poor kids looked absolutely terrified, and – to be honest – Ant couldn't blame them.

Craig extended his hand to Dec, who took a second to notice the hand being offered to him. Ant raised an eyebrow at him, nudging him sharply in the ribs to get his attention. His eyes narrowed minutely as Dec seemed to come back to himself and reciprocated the handshake.

At that point, the call came for the troupe to head on stage, and the terrified teenagers wandered into the spotlight. The crowd applauded politely as they appeared, and the judge's questioning began.

Ant's eyes couldn't help wandering back to his best friend beside him as the troupe answered the judge's questions. Everything about Dec's body language screamed at Ant that something wasn't quite right: the tenseness around his eyes, the way his jaw kept clenching every so often, the constant shifting on his feet.

But it was when the act finally started that Ant got his biggest clue.

The speakers in this particular theatre were placed in very strange places. One of those places was right where the boys sat and watched the acts. Which meant that any music – especially music that had a deep bass or a strong beat – was very, very loud.

The loud dance beat suddenly blared through the speakers, making the boys start in surprise.

As the group's routine began, Ant was once again distracted by the behaviour of the man next to him. Dec's discomfort was now clearly visible – although he appeared to trying his hardest to hide it. Each loud bass beat of the song would incite a flinch, almost too small to see, and every so often, his eyes would snap shut for a second, as if they had suddenly become painful.

The troupe's routine was now accompanied by flickering of the stage lights, perfectly in time with the harsh beat of the song. One of the dancers then leaped off the stage and began a solo routine in front of the judges. 

Ant snuck a glance out at the audience: most of the crowd was on their feet, loudly cheering the teenagers as the routine continued. Alesha and Amanda seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the solo performance, cheering and whooping almost as much as the audience.