Without You

49. You Need Each Other

A/N - Hi, everyone. I hope you're all OK and staying safe. I'm still in the midst of college, but will no longer be graduating this spring unless I'm able to get a couple of clinical requirements done before the end of April (highly unlikely). And my business is currently closed indefinitely, so things are a bit odd at the moment, to say the least.

I know it's hard and there's a lot of uncertainty right now, but we will get through to the other end. Hang in there. ❤❤

Just a quick note, if you happened to miss my announcement earlier in the week, a full recording of last week's joyous Saturday Night Takeaway is available to watch (and download, if you want) here:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/16Z0YJeKRvur4uRGfofBnjG46jcnj8Q-_?usp=sharing.

I debated whether I should find a cliffhanger in this monstrous chapter and chop it in half, but I decided I'd be nice for once (😜😂) and give you all what is hopefully a treat: a 6.6K word chapter. Here's hoping it isn't rubbish. Enjoy, and take care of yourselves! ❤ -H. x

11:05am Monday morning, the 7th of May, 2018. Linda chuckled to herself. She'd always wondered if Declan Donnelly's habitual tardiness was overexaggerated. Turns out it really wasn't.

The weekend had passed fairly quietly. She'd heard from Ant a couple of times via text, and from what she could tell, it seemed he'd been spending far more time at Anne-Marie's house than at his own these past few days. He'd been bitten by the love bug, there certainly was no doubt about that.

Surprised when a timid knock sounded at her door, Linda let out a cheery, "Come in," hurriedly standing to put away the new patient psych history she'd been perusing while waiting for Dec to arrive. "Take a seat, Dec," she smiled, her back to the door as she stood at her file cabinet, "I'm glad you could make it."

"Call yourself a lifelong fan and ya can't even tell us apart??" Came a mildly amused, husky voice from behind her, "I'm disappointed in you, Linda!"

Turning around in shock, Linda's mouth fell open when she found Ant McPartlin standing in front of her, a wide grin painted on his face. "Ant?! What on earth are you doing here?!" she squealed, promptly closing the distance between them and engulfing her friend and patient in a warm hug.

Grinning, Ant explained, "Traffic was light so I got here early for group therapy, thought I'd drop in and see youse."

"But your group therapy's on Wednesdays, Ant," Linda interjected quietly, not wanting to embarrass him but feeling the need to point out the obvious to save him from making a fool of himself, "Today's Monday."

"Oh, aye, I know it is," Ant chuckled, "But Clive's out this week, so we've got a different lead therapist and they could only fit us in on Monday, see..."

Letting out a relieved giggle – and comically facepalming herself – Linda smiled. "Oh, of course! I'd totally forgotten about that! Thank goodness, I thought I-"

She stopped short as the door opened behind them and a pale-faced, tousled-looking Declan Donnelly stepped into the room, his head down and eyes glued to his iWatch screen which was lit up with a notification of some kind. Quickly darting out a hand to touch Ant's arm in warning, she said quietly, "Good morning, Dec, it's good to see you."

Ant's eyebrows shot up, and he hurriedly turned around, exclaiming, "Declan! Fancy seeing you here!"

Dec jumped, hastily dismissing the notification on his iWatch, wide eyes finding Ant's and mouth falling slightly open as he stuttered, "A-Ant?? What the-"