Ant and Dec OneShots

Nightmare

The darkness was deep and heavy like a black blanket sprinkled with stars. Australia's nature was sleeping, even the wind seemed to be asleep, occassionally snoring and rippling through the trees. But except for that, it was exceptionally quiet. The crew of the I'm a celebrity... Get me out of here! -team was fast asleep in their apartments where they always stayed during the filming, and so were the contestants in camp. Everything was almost scary peaceful.

With another breeze of wind that made the trees sway as if they were dancing, a originally black window showed suddenly a spot of light. In the darkness, that surrounded the building that the window was part of, one could see the source of the light. It was a nightlamp, switched on by sweaty, frantic, slightly trembling fingers. The room wasn't completely dark anymore now, the small lamp distorting the shadows of the wardrobe, the bed and the man who sat upright in bed. His chest heaved with unsteady breaths, quick as if he had been running. His eyes flickered through the room as if he would search for something or someone, heart racing like the beat of a fast popsong. The blanket was only covering one leg of the man, kicked away while he had tossed and turned in the dark only minutes ago in his sleep.

The heaving of the man's chest slowed down as he slowly caught breath again, heartbeat calming down the slightest bit. His hands still trembled and were sweaty; unconsciously he wiped his palms at the bedsheets. His frantic looks through the room got slower, but his eyes couldn't stay at one point in the room, they had to keep moving as if they would fall shut if they rested for too long. The trembling of the hands slowly started to transfer to the rest of the man's body as he swung his legs over the edge of the bed, feet searching for steady ground. Knees shaking, the man tried his best to get over to the door without tripping or falling over, and surprisingly, he succeed. Taking the cold doorhandle in his hand and opening the door, he was greeted by a completely dark hallway. The breath of the man hitched in his chest as he turned around and looked inside the room; the bed enlightened by the still turned on nightlamp, sheets and blanket rumpled, everything reminding him of the nightmare that had infested him only minutes ago. But turning back to the black corridor wasn't any better, the images of the dream seemed to be light signals in the dark, haunting him from everywhere and slowly but surely overwhelming him.

He knew that it were only two steps, two steps down the dark hallway and he could knock on his best friend's door and it would be okay. But he couldn't do it. His legs refused to leave the threshold, keeping him trapped between the memories of his dream and the darkness. The man felt how hot fluid started to pool in his eyes; in an attempt to hold back the tears he pressed them shut. His heart rate was still too fast, his hands were still shaking and with his eyes closed, the nightmare seemed to edge closer with every second, every shaky breath he took. There was only one thing he wanted. He wanted and needed comfort.

He didn't even notice how his knees finally gave in, having enough from the shaking and trembling they decided to lower him to the ground, his back was slipping down at the wall, eyes still pressed shut. He buried his head in his knees, hitching breath slowly turning into sobs, he couldn't do anything about it. The images of his dream started to shoot through his mind, every single one of it like an hot arrow through his heart. The man almost jumped out of his skin when suddenly something touched his shoulder. "Please, leave me, I... I can't take this, don't hurt me, don't hurt him!" Probably not even himself was aware of if he was half asleep or fully conscious as the exclaim left his lips. "Calm down, it's just me." The sound of the voice was slowly getting through to his ears, settling down in his brain like a warm blanket on cold feet. The warmth, the affection, the security of this voice embraced the man like the hug from a mother. He now realized that the thing that had touched him was a hand that still rested on his shoulder. "What are you doing out here, Dec?"

Dec didn't make the attempt to look into his best friend's eyes, it was too dark in the corridor anways. "I... I was... I wanted..." He wasn't able to form proper words, his mouth left him in the lurch. But his friend understood, of course he did, he always did. "Were you trying to get to me?", Ant suggested. Dec nodded, then shook his head. "Yes... no. I... I don't know, I was..." He wasn't even aware of how his voice still wavered in the attempt to hold back the tears until his friend squeezed his shoulder lightly. "Hey, hey, hey. Deep breaths, Deccy, okay? Take it easy, kidda." For a few moments it was completely silent except for the steady breathing of Ant and Dec's attempts to match his own the the breathing of his friend. "That's it", Ant encouraged quietly after a while. "Should we get you back in your room?" Immediately, Dec's breathing started to speed up again as he shook his head frantically. "No, please, I... I don't want to go back in there. Please." The last bit came out as a broken whimper which all but broke Ant's heart. "Okay, okay. It's alright, Dec, it's alright. Should we go in my room then? We can't stay here in the hallway." Hesitantly, Dec nodded, letting himself being pulled up. As soon as they both stood upright, Dec felt the urge to fall onto his best friend's neck, he was desperate for somebody to hold him, to make sure he was alright, to keep him warm and safe.