Without You

48. A Dream

A/N - Yes, I'm still in the land of the living. Many apologies for the SUPER long delay in updating. Life has been overwhelming and all-consuming these past few weeks, and it's not looking much better in the short-term. I can't say when my next update will be - I need time to write first! - but here's a 4.5K chapter that hopefully isn't utter rubbish. Enjoy, and thank you so much for sticking with this story despite the long waits for updates. ❤ - H.x

"Declan, love, can't you at least try to eat something," Ali coaxed, laying a soft hand on her husband's arm. "Everything's okay, Ant's fine...You have to eat, you'll just waste away otherwise!"

Dec shrugged noncommittally, pushing his food around on his plate. "'m not hungry, Al," he mumbled, tone slightly pleading, "I'll prob'ly just chuck it up if I force anything down me..."

"Why aren't you hungry, though?" Ali was trying hard to bury her exasperation with her husband. Yes, by all accounts he'd had a tremendously rough day, but surely he could relax a bit now he knew that Ant was okay? She'd gone to all the trouble of cooking them a meal, the least he could do would be to eat some of it.

Shuddering, Dec answered pointedly, "You know why, Al." Letting out a devastating sigh, he dropped his fork onto his plate with a clatter and removed his glasses, tossing them on the table before burying his head in his hands, anxious fingers burrowing into his hair.

Setting down her fork, Ali leaned over and wrapped an arm around her husband's shoulders, pulling him close and resting her head against his. "You'll be okay, you know," she murmured quietly, "You're stronger than you think."

Dec shook his head despairingly, but didn't reply, instead letting out another anxious, almost strangled-sounding sigh. Squeezing him just a little bit tighter, Ali pressed a kiss to his tousled hair before drawing back and picking up her fork to continue with her dinner. She opened her mouth to urge Dec yet again to try to eat at least a little bit, when his phone started ringing.

And it wasn't any old ringtone. It was Ant's.

Her eyebrows shooting up in surprise, she glanced over at Dec, who had a puzzled – and somewhat frightened – look on his face. He clearly hadn't been expecting to hear from Ant again tonight. So why was he calling?

After a moment's hesitation, he swiped up to accept the call, bringing the phone up to his ear. "Alreet?" he quavered, Geordie accent thickening as his fear for his friend returned full force. Surely if Ant was calling him, something must be wrong. They normally just texted. Calling generally meant they were either lonely and needed to hear the other's voice, or that something was seriously wrong. And in his current state, Dec's mind was automatically assuming the latter option.

There was a long pause after Dec picked up the phone when not a sound was heard from the other line. Dec was almost beginning to think Ant had accidentally butt-dialed him when a small, "Hello, Dec," came through the phone speaker. His heart going into overdrive now as the fight-or-flight instinct kicked in – something definitely was wrong, this was not normal Ant behavior at all – dizziness quickly enveloped Dec, who grabbed onto the edge of the table, his knuckles growing whiter by the second as he held on for dear life.

Managing to breathe out a surprisingly calm-sounding, "What's wrong, Ant, why're you calling me?" Dec shook his head weakly as if trying to clear it, but that only served to make the lightheadedness more intense. Feeling a sudden tight grip on his left bicep, Dec turned to see an ashen-faced Ali staring at him in horror, her dinner long-forgotten. An intense feeling of guilt spread through him at seeing his pregnant wife so scared for his well-being, and he gave her a crooked smile, consciously loosening his death grip on the table and mouthing, "I'm fine, don't worry."