The Moth and the Firefly

Chapter 2

We walked out of the cab, linked hands. 'I'm dreaming', I kept telling myself, 'this can't be happening'. But it was. It was definitely happening.

Phil must have sensed how nervous I was, he squeezed my hand and gave me a look of reassurance. "Hey, it's going to be fine", he whispered into my ear, "now smile or something to make it look like I told you something cute because that's what couples do", he joked. I gave him a warm smile and a chuckle.

We walked up to Phil's parents hand in hand. I could hear my heart beating in my ears. It was too late to turn around now, they'd already seen us. I could see Phil's mum with the biggest smile on her face, his dad's filled with confusion.

"Hi Mum! Dad!", Phil exclaimed as he let go of my hand to hug his parents as I stood there awkwardly.

I never see Phil's face light up more than it does when he sees his parents. Light. There's that word again.

"You know Dan right?", I heard Phil mention my name as I break out of my trance. "Of course we do! Hello sweetheart", Phil's mum opens her arms, inviting me in for a hug. I accept. It's the most loving hug I think I've ever had, no wonder Phil loves his parents so much.

"So, you're the one who's stolen my sons heart then?", Phil's dad says, joining the conversation. I see Phil shoot me a look out of the corner of my eye, hoping I'll say the right thing. "Actually, I think it's more like he stole mine", I manage to shyly say. I feel the blood rush to my cheeks. I'm blushing.

Phil let's out a sigh of relief. I must've said the right thing. "Well why don't we all head inside it's absolutely freezing", Phil's mum suggests. "Sure", Phil and I say in unison, we glance at each other and laugh.

We make our way through the dimly lit hall of the building, bumping off each other's arms before Phil eventually linked his fingers with mine.

We slowed down to get out of earshot of Phil's parents.

"How do you think we're doing?", I ask him. "I think they're buying it but it's too early to tell", he replies, "we need to be prepared if they ask questions". I nod. "Just try and remember what the other says so anything we say will make sense", Phil tells me.

We continue walking until we walk into a huge hall, decorated with gold and white balloons and streamers. There was music playing in the background, it wasn't too loud which was great. I spotted a table with Phil's parents and his brother sitting at it. "Should we sit with your parents?", I suggest to Phil, pointing at the table with my free hand. "Yeah, sure", Phil smiled.

We took our seats at the round table and smiled at everyone sitting there. "Now Dan sweetie, this is Martin and Cornelia I believe you know each other", Phil's mum says warmly.

"Yeah, please to see you again guys", I say, smiling at them. They smiled back at me.

"If you please excuse me, I uh, need to use the bathroom", Phil announced. We all watched as Phil walked away, I turned around and all eyes were on me.

"So, Dan, how long have you and Phil been a thing", Phil's brother Martyn asks. "Well, uh, officially about a month but I guess there's always been something there", I respond. "Do you love him?", Phil's dad asks. Everyone goes silent and soon all eyes are on me again.

"Well, I- uh", I take a moment to think. "Yes. I do, but I haven't told him yet, I'm too scared it'll chase him away or it'll be too soon", I say, which isn't a lie. I see Phil's mum put her hand to her heart and sigh, "aw sweetheart", she says, "I've heard the way he's talked about you before, of course he loves you back, you just need to be the braver one and say it out loud", she tells me.

Phil returns and sits down at the table, "what did I miss?", he asks. All eyes, once again go to me. "Phil, um, could you come with me a second I need to ask you something?", I ask. "Uh, sure", Phil says, confused.

We walk over to the far corner of the room out of earshot of anyone. "Ok so your parents just asked me how long have we been together and I said about a month", I tell him, filling him in on the story. "Is that all they asked?", he questions. "Yeah", I lied.

We start to make our way back to our seats. Phil gives me a quick peck on the cheek. I immediately turn my head. "What was that?", I hissed. "We're supposed to be a couple Dan, we can't just hold hands once and hope we fool everyone", Phil protests. He's right. If we're going to fool everyone we need to act like a proper couple.

We take our seats at the table once more and everyone is again, looking at us. "So, did you do it?", asks Phil's mum. "Do what?", I ask. "Tell Phil that you love him".