I Want It, I Got It

Chapter 14

Phil wants to set himself a reminder to never book a flight as early as 6am ever again. He makes it to Gatwick with bleary eyes and a small bag haphazardly packed with a set of clothes for overnight.

He boards his plane and then when he lands, he throws the strap of his bag on his shoulder and walks through the airport to find his mum waiting for him where she always does.

When he sees her, he gives her a big hug and then steps back with a smile. "You look tired dear." She comments, rubbing his arm. "Did you sleep well last night?"

Phil doesn't want to tell her that no, he didn't really sleep because he Skyped with Dan until he fell asleep. He also wasn't going to mention to her how he and Dan have been slowly progressing past the friend stage and he's getting to the point where he can hardly imagine not knowing what Dan is doing and whether or not they can speak.

"Just pre-flight jitters." Phil says with a forced half-smile.

His mum gave him a knowing glance. "I know how you feel about flights, dear." She said, pulling her hand away from his arm. "But let's get going now. Your father insisted on staying back and making breakfast for when we get back."

Phil followed his mum out of the tiny airport to the carpark and got into the car with her, tossing his small bag into the backseat before climbing in the front. The Isle of Man was small and he enjoyed having his parents living here now because even if he only went for a few days, it still felt like a holiday.

"How is the BBC?" His mum asks as they head onto the main road towards his parents house.

"Normal." Phil says. "I'm working on making a new website for the BBC Radio 1. Like, not an entirely new website but a new webpage. That's taken up a big portion of my time."

"How is PJ?" His mum then asks. He's actually surprised that she's gotten his name right. The last time, she called him Peter. He still doesn't know how she ever got Peter from PJ but he still laughs about it.

"He's good." Phil says. "I actually just went out for drinks with him a few nights ago."

"How about him and Sophie?"

"Mum..." Phil says with a laugh. "I'm not PJ."

"I know," She says with her own chuckle. "But you know how your mum likes to gossip."

"How can I forget?" Phil says.

His mum reaches over and smacks his arm gently and Phil laughs. They pull into his parents driveway and it's exactly like how Phil remembered it. The same cozy little cottage on an old road with the same stone fence around it. The same pink and red flowers bridged the outside and the same weather grey stone shone on the outside.

Phil honestly likes this house better than the house he grew up in outside of Manchester and his dream is to retire to such a little community like this.

"Come on, Philip, grab you bag! Your father is waiting and you know how he can be a bit impatient."

Phil steps out of the car and opens the backdoor, grabbing out his small bag from the seat. He puts the strap on his shoulder again and follows him mum inside the small doorway into the kitchen.

His father is sitting at the table with his newspaper in his hand and Phil has to chuckle at how typical this setting was for him. He remembers being a teenager and waiting up to see his dad sitting at the table with his newspaper.

"Hello Phil!" His father chimes in. "How was your flight?"

"It was fine." Phil answers, his answer automatic. He always responds the same way. Maybe it has to do with the awkwardness he still feels around his dad. He's not sure.