Last Love

Chapter 22

I went to the hall closet and grabbed some blankets, pillows and a spare blowup mattress for Dan. He came straight upstairs and dragged everything out to the lounge and put it in front of the couch. After the bed was blown up and all the pillows and blankets were set up, I sat on the couch and waited for Netflix to load. "What movie do you wanna watch?" I asked. He grabbed a blanket from the bed and sat next to me in the couch.

He put the blanket over the both of us and moved closer. "How about, Hannibal?" He suggested. I searched for it and put it on. "What, no snacks?" He said, laughing. I laughed, got up and walked to the kitchen. He ran after me. I grabbed my secret stash of malteasers and other candies and trotted back to the lounge. I sat back on the couch and he plopped down next to me. The movie started and it was quiet. "I don't think you should tell Phil." He said. I looked at him. "Oh. Why not?" I asked. He just played attention to the movie. "I just don't think he'll care." He said. "It isn't like he's going to stop what he's doing." "Dan. What do you mean. What is he doing?" I asked. I was scared. Part of me didn't even want to know. "Carrie." He said.

I don't know what I expected. We weren't together but I was still hurt just as much. I hugged Dan and wouldn't let go. I felt so alone, abandoned, lost even though I was in Dan's arms. "How do you know?" I asked. "Last night when he said he went to his parents. He was at home with her. You know what happens next." I rested my head on Dan's chest while we watched the movie.

All I remember is him saying something. Something about Phil and him and not wanting to hurt me. I fell asleep and tried to forget my troubles. Dan is really warm. I woke up in my bed. I went into the lounge to look for Dan and I found him curled up on the blowup mattress, sleeping peacefully. I went to get breakfast and to check the clock. It was only 8:14 am. I grabbed my phone and texted Peyton about what happened last night and about what Dan told me about Phil. About 3 minutes later she replied and Dan walked out. He didn't have a shirt on and he was in shorts, probably because it was the middle of July and hot outside. "Morning sunshine." He said. All I could think about was Phil and how I called him that a couple of times. "Morning. You slept in I see." I said.

I read Peyton's text. "I'm coming home soon to beat the crap out of him. Stay with Dan for now. I don't even know why you got with Phil when Dan is obviously the better choice."

I said: " Don't even worry about it, I have the situation under control. And I know. What happened with Phil was a mistake. I'll talk to you later though bye."

I turned to Dan and thought about what to do. "Hey Aliyah?" He said. "About what I said last night, about him and Carrie and not telling him.. I don't know what I was thinking but I think you should tell him because he deserves to know, as the father and all." He looked down and said "I understand if you'd want me to leave since I scared you so much about it. I also understand if you don't want me around anymore. I just, really care about you and I don't want you to get hurt." I looked at him and smiled. "I need you around though. You're going to have to help me out and I honestly really don't want you to leave." I said. I didn't know what was happening with Phil anymore, I was more so confused. All I knew was that I think I was starting to feel something for Dan. Something bigger than friendship. And I liked it.