Speak [ phan ]

chapter twenty three

"Oh, sorry," Phil laughs, blushing slightly, "I don't mean to."

I know. It's cute ^_^

"It's not cute, it's annoying," Phil insists, rolling his eyes at himself, "I just keep going on and on without realising."

Well it's cute to me.

Phil smiles warmly at Dan, crinkles appearing at the corners of his eyes and his face a picture of happiness. Dan smiles back, but he thinks that his smile is nothing compared to Phil's, that he is nothing compared to Phil;

In Dan's opinion, he is a spark, and Phil is the whole freaking sun.

***

Phil's arm is around Dan's shoulders.

Dan is snuggled into Phil's side, his head on Phil's shoulder while Phil holds Dan close. They seem to mound perfectly, forming one person as the movie plays on the laptop which they have sitting on Dan's left leg and Phil's right one.

Dan is surprised at how comforting and happy the simple act of being with a certain person can be. Whenever he's with Phil, he just feels happy and warm. He doesn't know why, but it's definitely a good thing. Dan couldn't imagine his life without Phil in it.

"Dan, Phil, I'm going out okay?" Quinn says, opening the door and peeking inside Phil's room, where they are now.

Dan sits up while Phil pauses the movie, pulling his phone out of his pocket and sending a text to Quinn, who pulls his phone out and reads what Dan sent him.

Dan: where are you going, who with and when will you be back?

"I'm going to the movies, I'll be back in around three hours, depends when it ends," Quinn replies, flicking his fringe back in place after he looks up from his phone.

Dan: what movie and who with?

"I dunno, Mockingjay I think," Quinn says, getting flustered, "stop with the questions."

Dan: you're not leaving until you tell me who with.

"A girl okay? I have a date!" Quinn snaps, throwing his arms in the air exasperatedly, "I'm nervous, what if I screw up..."

Dan looks at his brother. It makes sense - the straightened hair, the new jeans, the neat shirt, the strong smell of deodorant - Quinn basically screams 'first date'. Dan is partially in shock at how fast his little brother has grown up, but at the same time, proud that he has even got a date.

Dan: you won't. Just be yourself Quinn, that's all you can do. Good luck lil bro!

"Thanks Dan!" Quinn says, turning to Phil, who is watching the scene between the brothers amusedly, "bye Phil!"

"Bye Quinn," Phil replies, laughing lightly as Quinn runs out, and they soon hear the front door click shut, signalling that he has gone.

"Now what? I need a break from the movie," Phil says, stretching his arms out from where he is sitting on his bed, accidentally messing up Dan's fringe.

Dan swats his hand away before fixing his fringe, brushing it to the side of his forehead. Dan smiles across at Phil, who's black fringe is ruffled from earlier, when Dan was playing with it. He resembles a puppy who just woke up, and it's the cutest thing that Dan has ever seen.

"What are you smiling at?" Phil asks, noticing Dan smiling softly at him, raising an eyebrow suggestively before adding, "your smile is so cute Dan."

Dan shakes his head, pointing at Phil and mouthing 'you're cute', to which Phil chuckles in response. Dan links his fingers back through Phil's own, wanting to be as physically close to Phil as possible. He really just wants to kiss Phil right now, but he's afraid in case he's too over the top.

"I really want to kiss you right now," Phil's voice says, saying Dan's own thoughts out loud.

Dan thinks he partially imagined those words, but when he turns his head to face Phil, a pair of lips attach themselves to his own and he is gently pushed against the headboard. Dan feels the Fire inside of him light up.

[ again, #danisonfire ]

Dan is a spark and Phil is gasoline; together, they're a bright, all consuming fire.

***

It's eleven, Phil's clock on his bedside table tells him that.

Everyone is in bed, his whole house is silent. If he presses his ear against the wall, he can hear Dan's soft snores. Phil wipes a small trail of sweat from his forehead, walking over and opening his window, letting a cool breeze in and leaning out.

He stares up at the sky, where the stars are shining and a half moon lights up the darkness. The street is empty and everything is eerily quiet. Phil feels as if he is the only one in the whole world, and he feels almost lonely.

He props his elbows on the windowsill, resting his head on his hands. His thoughts drift to Dan. As soon as he ran into Dan, he wanted to befriend him. Not because Phil needed another friend, but because he could see the pure loneliness inside of Dan's eyes and it broke Phil's heart. After Dan ran off that first day, the split second decision Phil made to chase after Dan is what made their whole friendship.

It scared Phil to think that is he didn't make that decision, how different things may have turned out. Dan could've just been another kid in his class. But he isn't, Phil reminds himself, he's in the next room, and you just spend the afternoon making out.

Phil can't remember being happier than when he's with Dan. Dan has suffered through more than Phil probably ever will, and Phil admires that. Dan is so strong. Phil knows that Dan is an amazing person, even without a voice, he doesn't need one to be loved and to count, Phil just wishes Dan could see that.

Phil sighs, stepping back and locking his window half shut. He walks back over and sits on his bed, pausing briefly to check how tired he is. He isn't very tired, so he turns his lamp on and picks up a book, flicking it open to where his bookmark is.

An hour later, Phil let's put a loud yawn and closes his book after marking the page and puts it back on his bedside table. He's about to flick the lamp out when his phone buzzes with a text. He reaches over and picks it up.

Unknown number: Phil, break Dan's heart or else.

Phil frowns, looking at the text. Who was it from? Why were they telling him to break Dan's heart? How did they know about them? Phil's heart starts racing with anxiety, and in the moment, he decides to reply.

Phil: who are you?

Unknown number: break his heart, or else one by one, your secrets will be leaked.

Phil doesn't reply, deciding to ignore the texts. He switches his phone completely off so he won't receive any more. He lies back in bed, switching his lamp off and staring at his ceiling in the darkness. And although he was tired, he's now wide awake and unable to sleep. His mind is racing too quickly, his heart thumping too loudly.

As much as he tried to ignore them, the worries about the texts were slowly eating away at him. Someone seems to be really against Dan's happiness. Why couldn't the world just leave them alone? All Phil wants to do is make sure Dan is finally happy, and he isn't going to let some random person stop that.

Whoever it is could just be sending empty threats. He isn't going to tell Dan about them, Dan deserves to be worry free for once in his life. Phil will deal with this himself.

He'll just have to be careful.

***************

an// heyo hope you enjoyed! Please vote, comment and share! What are your thoughts on the chapter? What's going to happen with the texts Phil received?

Hope you're enjoying this book! I'm not sure how much longer I should make this book, any suggestions as to how many cheaters long it should be? Anyway, thanks for reading! Update within a week :D

p.s: I CANT WAIT FOR PINOF 7