ᵀᴿᵁᵀᴴ ᴼᴿ ᴰᴬᴿᴱ メ ᴾᴴᴬᴺ

-9-

phil was having a lot of fun with dan. he was surprised with himself actually, that he enjoyed the game so much. normally, he would squirm at the idea of dead people dripping with blood. it reminded him of when he used to cut. sometimes, he still does. but the fact that he won a round made him feel good, he hadn't loved playing games for so long. maybe because he needed a friend to play it with.

phil turned round to see dan who was concentrating, ready for the next game to load. phil smiled. he looked cute with his intellectual face on.

uh oh

phil recognised the group of punks that just entered. they were the friends Dan met. the punks immediately caught sight of Dan, with his black clothes which attracted them because no-one else wore such dark colours in this place. phil gulped, feeling intimidated.

"hey Dan," one of the boys smiled and patted dan hard on the back, "who's your friend here? is he your boy toy?"

phil could see that dan was stuck. what was he supposed to say to these punks? dan was certainly not going to say that he was his friend. phil knew that dan would hate him if he said anything so he stayed silent. one of them started to poke him.

"does he talk? does your toy talk?"

"is he your slave? where can I get one?"

phil felt his hands clench but he stayed silent, waiting for dan to respond.

"why is he dressed like that by the way?" the leader of their pack looked at phil, with a wide grin. he stared back hard. usually he would have looked down at his feet, scared, but for some reason something came over him and he wanted to say something. but Dan said something first.

"oh he's dressed that way because he lost a bet, didn't you phil?" He looked at me with eyes that said 'If you don't say yes, I'll kill you,'

"oh yeah, i... i lost a bet." phil nodded, getting the message and said, " he tried to look tough and laughed to try and fit in. he did not, and he knew he did not. but he didn't want to upset dan, that was the last thing he wanted. dan looked relieved as his friends laughed.

"hey, take him to the party, yeah?" he said to dan, and turned back to phil.

"i'm marcus," he said, introducing himself. "i bet you'd be fun at a party if you're brave enough to wear that out in public," he continued, smiling. "come along, it'll be fun,"

phil smiled a nervous smile and nodded, "we'll see,"

marcus nodded, and walked over to get a table, bringing the rest of his 'pack' with him, one of them whispering something to marcus who only shook his head, almost in dismay.

"thanks," dan said, with a frown, who had noticed how rude his friends were to phil, calling him a slave and he knew out of everything it was how they made fun of the way he's dressed.

"look, you don't have to go to the party if you don't want to, i'll make up an excuse for you its-"

"no, i want to go," phil interrupted him. dan looked at him, his eyes widening in surprise.

"what?"

"i want to go," phil whispered. "i-i haven't been invited to a party in a very long time,"

dan felt shattered. this was the saddest thing he had ever heard. back home, he wasn't the most popular kid but he was invited to many parties where he'd get pissed. very pissed indeed. for some reason, dan wanted to see phil pissed, but at the same time he did not want him to get too pissed. especially if the first party he was going to go in years was going to be a uni party.

"are you sure?" dan was worried, what if he exposes something, like that he's actually been hanging out with a pastel kid the whole time? and enjoying it? no, i'm not enjoying it, or am i? dan shook his head, confused.

"what are you thinking about? is it that bad i go?" phil interrupted his thoughts.

"oh nothing, i-i..." dan could not show phil that he was worried for him, that he cared for him. no, i don't care for him. or do i? "it's not that it's just-"

"if it's that bad i go, then why don't we place a real bet?"

dan's eyes made contact with phil's. did this pastel kid just wanna bet on something? he didn't even know he knew what that meant. phil's eyes were glowing, and he was wearing a menacing grin. all of a sudden, the innocence had gone from him and dan liked this side of him.

"name the bet." dan said.

"if you win, i won't go to that party. if i win, i get to go. fair enough?" phil stated, pointing at the game. dan had completely forgotten they were playing the game. his hands were now just sweaty at what just happened holding the gun controller.

"on one condition," dan said, "if you end up going to that party, you don't wear that."

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY DANNY!
11th June 2017