Unforgettable

It was once upon a Tyne...

Dec took this as a positive change and waved before walking towards his car.

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The first thing Dec did in the next morning was checking his phone as usual. Ali had left with Isla for a doctors appointment that would take a couple of time and visit an old friend of hers afterwards so Dec had the whole house for himself. Taking a sip of his still brewing hot coffee he nearly choked on it when he saw a message of Ant's contact number: Hi, wanna come over today? Gf is out for girl's night, could stay here over night. x Dec felt his heart swelling with happiness. Ant wanted him over for the day and the night! Maybe he was starting to remember? He definitely seemed to enjoy Dec's company in any case and that was a thing that made the man happy beyond words. He hurried to type a quick response: Sure, I'd love to. Cu at 1 pm. x Just two minutes after he got the confirmation and the hint to not be late again. And that was how he ended up humming happily even though it was quite early while he took Rocky for a walk. He texted Ali that he would sleep at Ant's and a few hours later, he took his car to drive over to Ant's.

"Wow, only ten minutes late today! We're improving, aren't we?" Dec laughed at Ant's cheeky comment and nudged him in the side. "You better watch out, you!", he teased while walking in. "Or what?", Ant argued back and for some wonderful seconds everything seemed to be just as always. Dec followed his friend into the living room where two cups of tea and some cookies were alredy waiting. "Oh, you are prepared!", Dec said smiling. "I always am! I hope you're okay with the cookies?" Dec nodded and bit his lip to not say something like You know how much I like these cookies. Ant didn't know. But the older man didn't want to dampen the mood just now, so he just sat down to Ant's left as usual and took his cuppa. He noticed Ant's glance, lingering on the photo album he had brought again. "You are curious, aren't you?", he teased and Ant nodded. "Curious as hell! You know, since yesterday I was just thinking the whole time and... I don't think my memories are back, but... something inside me has changed. I think we are on the right way." Dec smiled and for a second he could see a small glint of hope in the dark. Would there be a happy end of this nightmare soon? He sipped his tea and sat up a bit more straight. "Alright. So, I've told you how we met and that we became real good friends, right?" Ant nodded and rested his head against the sofa again. Dec hesitated a second, not knowing what he should tell next. Eventually, he decided for a memory. He opened the album at the very last page. Glued to the inside of the album's back was an empty crisp bag. Ant frowned. "Why do you have got a crisp bag with you?", he asked. "Well", Dec started, "that was like that..."

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Ant and Dec were sitting under a tree where they had a good view on the set. They both had already finished their scenes for today but they enjoyed sitting there, watching the others play and chatting about anything and everything. Shortly before the shooting would end, one of the producers jogged over to them. "Ant, Dec, good that you are still here. Do you have a minute to come to my office?" The boys exchanged a nervous glance but stood up and followed the man. In his office, they stood in front of the desk awkwardly until the man asked them to sit down. "Now", he said, putting some papers from one side of the desk to the other, "you know, you are the most famous characters in Byker Grove at the moment. You've got loads of fans, the public really loves you." Ant and Dec looked at each other in excitement. What was this about? Would they get an offer for another job? The producer looked up from his paperwork now, a sad expression in his eyes. "Boys, I'm really sorry, but we have to write you out." It looked kinda funny: as if they were programmed, Ant's and Dec's jaws fell open and they faced each other, then the producer and each other again. You could have had quite a laugh if the situation hadn't been so serious. It was Ant who broke the silence first. "How do you mean... writing us out? You mean, PJ and Duncan will just... not be part of Byker Grove anymore?" The man in front of them bit his lip. "Well... basically, yeah." That was when Dec jumped up. "But you can't do that!", he said, the desperation making him angry. "As you just said, we are the most famous characters, you can't just write us out! How will you explain this to the watchers?!" "Dec", Ant muttered and pulled his friend back into his seat, where he crossed his arms and glared at the ceiling in a dertermined attempt to not break down in tears.