Take Me Dancing - AJ Pritchard - I'm A Celeb 2020

The Lookout

AJ P.O.V

"I feel like we've been waiting for hours," I complain to Vernon as my stomach howls. "I'm so hungry."

We're all gathered in the living space with only the heat from the fire to keep us warm. Today's trial was much worse than I imagined it to be, but I would do anything for some food right now. My stomach is already cramping from the hunger and we're only on the first night.

"Where's Demi?" Victoria asks. I scan around the living quarters and count eight of us.

"She's with Giovanna," Beverly says. "They went to go and debug each other. I think Gi had a cockroach in her bra."

"Didn't need to know that." I chuckle. "I'll go and get them. Dinner is going to be here soon and Giovanna wants to help Shane with the cooking. Back in a second."

I search the washroom, the sleeping quarters and the boiler room, but can't find the two girls anywhere.

Walking out into the courtyard, they must be here as it's the only part of the castle I haven't looked in. The night has that frosty and bitter feel to it like how the air feels before a heavy snowfall. The privy is vacant, and they're not sat around the watering hole either.

"Hey, AJ." Giovanna startles me, appearing from behind a rock. "You coming inside?"

"I will in a minute. Where's Demi?"

"She's up at the lookout." Giovanna points to some steps in the corner of the courtyard that I've never noticed before. "She's a bit emotional. She'll join us in five, but I think she just wants a moment to herself."

"Is she alright?"

"Yeah. I think she's homesick."

"I'm gonna go and check on her." I smile. "We'll be back soon."

Giovanna disappears around the archway and into the sleeping quarters. I pace to the other side of the courtyard and ascend the wooden steps that lead to one of the castles hidden gems.

"Hey."

When I get up to the top, there's a small grey bench where Demi is sat. She's staring out over the view - fields upon fields of Welsh land which act as the foreground for the mountains of Snowdonia. It's pitch black, so I can only make out the outlines of mountain peaks where the stars are shining down on them.

"Hey," Demi replies. "You scared me."

Her hair is pulled back in a low bun, exposing her tear-stained cheeks and watery eyes. She makes a quick attempt to hide her face, but I can she's upset by just the tone of her voice. "What's wrong?"

I sit down on the other side of the bench, interested in what could have upset her. "Annoyed we didn't get the last three stars?"

"No." She murmurs. "I'm just thinking about home."

"That's understandable. I miss my family a lot too."

". . . You see the moon?" She points up to the half-crescent that floats in the sky. "My mum said to me that if I miss her, I should just look up at the moon. When she looks at it too, it means we're both looking at the same thing, and then it feels like we're together."

Her story pulls at my heartstrings. "I'm sure she's really proud of you."

I reach my hand over and rest it on Demi's knee. "It's late. We've had a really long day. We're all hungry. Things are gonna feel better in the morning." I reassure her. "Dinner is going to be here soon."

"I don't think it's gonna be anything tasty."

"Well if Shane's cooking it's guaranteed to be awful." Demi cracks a small smile at my remark. "Come on. Wipe those tears away. Let's get some grub."

Demi and I make our way back into the living quarters just as dinner arrives. A bell rings, and Mo collects our wicker basket full of food from the dumbwaiter. "Celebrities! As a result of all of you winning seven stars in tonight's trial, you have rabbit and mixed vegetables."

Who would have expected anything else?

Shane and Giovanna prep and fry the meat, whilst Mo and I undertake the rancid job of emptying the privy. It doesn't smell too bad, but it has only been one day. I dread to think what it will smell like in a couple of weeks.

Dinner tastes better than I thought. We all tuck into a medium-sized portion of rabbit and mushrooms. I can tell Demi and Jordan find it hard to stomach (at least Shane didn't burn it), but everyone ends up finishing their portions with no leftovers to spare.

Once the dishes have been washed and put away, the camp decides collectively that we'll have an early night, to rest up for tomorrow's adventures.

"See if you can find the light switch AJ?" Vernon chuckles.

"I will do. Night Vern."

I hop into my bed that is adjacent to Shane and Hollie's. Even though Shane is snoring like a bunged-up pig, and the bed is as hard as nails, the weight of my eyelids forces them to fall shut.

I'm asleep in minutes.

* * *

Demi P.O.V

I'm woken up from my slumber with the sound of a loud thud. The sun hasn't risen yet, and the moon is still tip-toeing across the sky. My eyes are full of sleepy dust. It took me ages to fall asleep, so I really didn't want to be up in the middle of the night.

I lift my head from my rock-solid pillow and meet eyes with Vernon, who looks as confused as I am.

"What was that?"

"I don't know." He shrugs.

I peer around the room. It's dead silent; thank god Shane has stopped snoring. Nothing looks out of the ordinary. AJ and Hollie are sound asleep, and Victoria is cosy and bundled up in her hammock.

I hear Vernon chuckle from across the room. "Look at Mo."

Turning over, I peer into the corner of the room. Mo's hammock has inverted, and the Olympian has crashed in a heap on the floor. I watch head pop up like a meerkat.

"Is he okay?"

"Yeah, he's fine." I can tell as Mo rests his head on the stone floor and swiftly drifts back to sleep. ". . . Is he just gonna sleep on the floor then?"

"I think so." Vernon giggles. "Night Demi."

"Night Vern."

I don't think I would have ever believed last year, that I would be camping in a Welsh castle with Vernon Kay, and get to witness Sir Mo Farah hilariously crashing out of a hammock.

- - - - -

I love making up cute scenes between the campmates. If you have any suggestions for cute scenes between the campmates, comment below and I will try and include a few!

This chapters shout out goes to kaelynswriting for the lovely comment on the last chapter! It means so much to hear what you guys are thinking of the show! Xx