Philophobia - Phan

Chapter 4

--Phil's P.O.V--

I took a deep breath as I stepped outside, slipping my hands into my pockets. The air was crisp and cold, filling my lungs with every breath. Every step I took I felt lighter, as if the morning air was giving lifting me up, giving me energy. I smiled slightly, walking a little faster. 

The ground was icy and it was difficult to keep proper balance, my feet sliding every other step. Tesco's was a twenty minute walk from here, Pj had told me. I looked over at him and Chris, who were walking beside me, their fingers interlocked. 

'I might as well be a professional third wheeler,' I laughed, and a haze of mist left my mouth. 

Chris and Pj giggled, only tightening their hold on each other. They weren't strictly 'dating', but they definitely weren't just friends, anyone could see that. 

After another 15 minutes of walking and quiet chatter, we turned another corner and Tesco's was within view. We just had to cross another few roads and we'd be outside it.

We stepped cautiously over the first, stopping at the island in the middle and pressing the crossing button. Traffic flew past at speeds I was very sure was over the 40 mph speed limit.

A very familiar lock of brown hair caught my eye across the road, and I nudged Chris, motioning towards it.

Dan was there, huddled into his hoodie. His face was wet and his hair was sweaty; he'd either been to the gym or something had happened.

And then everything went into slow motion.

Traffic still raging at ridiculous speeds, the traffic lights still green, a tiny child in a green coat slipped out of his mother's grip. His legs seemed to work faster than the woman could catch up with and before long, the little boy was stood in the middle of the road.

To my horror, a van much to big for the driver to see him was gaining ground towards the child.

And I couldn't do anything.

I was too far away.

But in that moment, there was a blur of black. 

Someone had run into the road.

The mother was stood, mouth open wide, not knowing what to do, terror etched into her deep-set eyes.

Suddenly, I heard someone shout 'Phil!' and I jumped, seeing no one around me who would've said it.

'PHIL!' It was the man in the road... How'd he know my... 

Dan?!

For less than a second, our eyes met, before he pushed the boy towards me at full force. The child's feet left the ground and, aided by adrenaline, I caught him in one sweep of my arms, holding him close to my chest. 

'Dan! Get out of the road!' I screamed, but the van kept coming, and even though Dan was running, it didn't look like he was fast enough. 'DAN! PLEASE, DAN, RUN!' I felt tears in the corners of my eyes, some trickling down my face.

The van driver had seen none of this, sat in his car with his head bowed towards what looked like a phone. I practically threw the boy into Pj's arms, and, without thinking twice, sprinted in front of the van, grabbing Dan in my arms.

Dan was smaller than me, and it really helped as I scooped him up and ran across the road in a dead straight line, my eyes squeezed shut, praying everything would be okai...

Please, please, be okai... Please...

I felt the tarmac under my feet change slightly, and I let one eye open slightly. 

I'd made it to the other side, and I was barely able to turn around slightly before I dropped to my knees, tears streaming down my face simply from the joy of getting to the pavement. I released my grip on Dan, and he slid out of my grip and sat beside me. His breath was like mine, laboured and heavy.

'OH MY GOD THANK YOU SO MUCH!' The mother of the little boy screeched, throwing her arms around us. 

The traffic had stopped altogether, even the van. People were shouting and swearing at the man in there, someone even ripped his phone out of his hand and threw it.

Chris and Pj ran across the road, carefully handing the boy to his mother, who instantly wrapped him in a suffocating hug.

Suddenly, Dan burst into tears. Before anyone could react, he had got to his feet and he dashed into the crown, back in the direction of the apartment.

...What?

'Well. That happened,' I whispered, my eyes wide with disbelief. 

'Yeah...' Pj breathed.

'I... I kinda want to go home now,' I muttered, feeling everyone's eyes on me, heat crawling up the back of my neck.

'Okai,' was all Pj said before grabbing mine and Chris's arms and starting to walk back the way we came.

A/n okai okai, I know, dramatic. But I wanted a way for Phil to realise that Dan is actually a nice person, he's just scared. Because at the moment, however lovely and non-judgmental Phil is, Dan really didn't seem very nice. So yeah, okai, see you later (hopefully!) Ciao! ~ Author-chan