Without You

50. The Greatest Showman

A/N - Well, here I am again. Chapter 50!! How on earth did that happen?! 😱😂 Another 5.7k words for you. Hopefully it isn't rubbish. I hope you are all staying safe and well wherever you are in the world. Thanks for reading, as always! ❤ - H. x

"Come on, Declan, Joe's here," Ali pleaded, tugging on Dec's jumper sleeve, "Don't keep him waiting – you want to be on time, don't you?"

Dec stared back at her for a long moment, glassy eyes holding more than a hint of panic as he refused to budge from his seat on the sofa, holding a contented, albeit somewhat worried, Rocky tightly on his lap. He blinked slowly, and as his eyes reopened, a sense of stoical calm came over his features, washing away the deer-in-the-headlights look and replacing it with one of expressionless professionalism.

With a nod, he gave Rocky a final, fond pat on the head, removed him from his lap, and rose from the couch on wooden legs, hiding his wobbliness as best he could from Ali's concerned gaze. Giving her a swift peck on the lips and a little half-hug, he swung his checkered backpack onto his back in one quick motion, stumbling hurriedly out of the room and through the front door, legging it for the open door of the black van idling in his driveway.

"Morning," Joe greeted as Dec clambered in, swiveling in his seat to get a glimpse of his employer and friend. Noting that Dec looked somber and sullen, he quickly decided to just get on with the drive through the busy streets of London. If Dec felt chatty, he'd start talking of his own accord. You didn't want to bother Dec when he wasn't in a good mood.

Giving Ali a friendly wave as he turned around in their driveway, Joe pulled out onto the road, heading in the direction of ITV HQ. Traffic was heavier than usual today, so he'd gotten to Dec's rather earlier than they'd planned. He was beyond surprised Dec was actually ready when he pulled in 20 minutes early. Must be Ali working her magic again...

Dec really couldn't have found a better woman to be his life companion – organized, efficient, always on time...The complete opposite of Dec in that respect, to be honest, but it worked, and it worked well. He'd been working with the boys for a long time, and had been privy to many of Dec's failed flings and heartbreaks over the years. And Dec had never been as happy as he was when he got together with Ali. It really was lovely to see.

"Joe?" a weak voice sounded from the back, "Do we still have any of them sick bags? Ya know, the ones we'd keep in the back here just in case?"

Startled, Joe glanced in the rear view mirror, finding himself staring back at a pasty-faced Dec who'd gone rather green around the gills. "Yes, yes, umm, they're in the left-hand compartment under the seats. There should still be a couple in there."

"Thanks," Dec gulped, diving down and hurriedly yanking open the storage compartment. The sounds of retching were heard moments later, while Joe kept his eyes glued to the road, not wanting to embarrass Dec in any way. It wasn't the first time one of the boys had been sick in the back of his motor. Oh, no – when they were out on an all-nighter, Dec generally ended up chucking up at least once. He couldn't hold his liquor like Ant could, that's for sure...

His expression turning sad, Joe shook his head to clear his thoughts, surprised when an even weaker voice than before piped up, "There any water bottles in here, Joe?"

Eyes momentarily sweeping up to the mirror again, now finding a sweaty, ghoulish-looking Dec looking back at him – rather less green around the gills than before – Joe nodded. "Yeah, there's some stashed in the middle compartment. Help yourself. I think there's a few face towels under your seat, too, if you want."