*Book One* Slave Boy (Phan)

Chapter Eight

Word count: 1735

Chapter Eight

So it's been three days since Liam was at the Lester's. Dan hasn't seen him since; he also doesn't know when exactly Liam plans on coming out and to whom. The position he's in currently, being on house arrest and all, makes it difficult.

But he promised.

Dan has a thing with not breaking promises. Though, he just has to do it—there was never a time limit. However, two years will probably not pass.

Dan sighs and gets out of bed reluctantly, missing its warmth within seconds. He slips on a shirt and heads to the bathroom.

Dan's reflection in the mirror shows him that his bruises are now beginning to fade. Instead of a dark blue-purple color, they are turning a bit yellow. That's good. It's been a week since Lance punched him, also causing Dan to have a minor concussion, but no one knows that part. No one needs to; its not a big deal.

Besides, Phil wasn't going to do it, and Dan wanted him to. It would've made Dan feel a little bit better about what he had said to him.

Dan splashes cold water into his face, bringing more color to his slightly pale face. He brushes through his hair with his fingers, deciding that's good enough. It's Sunday.

Exiting the bathroom, he runs into Lance. "My bad," Lance says, patting Dan's shoulder. Dan doesn't say anything; he keeps his look blank.

Lance walks past Dan into the now empty bathroom. Did he stay the night, or does he just start the day early?

Dan brushes it off and walks downstairs. He goes into the kitchen. On the counter is a note, the writing being Sheila's neat cursive.

Boys,

I've run to the store; I should be home around eleven. Behave please.

-Sheila/Mum

Dan sighs and grabs an apple out of a bowl that is placed in the center of the counter in front of him. This is a good enough breakfast, right?

Dan walks over to the builtin board hanging on the wall. On it is a newly updated list.

1) Gutters
2) Dishes
3) Laundry
4) Basement (see me)
5) Bathrooms

Well, Dan will most likely get all but the basement done, whatever basement means...

Dan quickly finishes the apple in his hand. Then he goes upstairs and changes out of his sweats into work jeans. He normally goes in order down the list.

He grabs the ladder out of the garage, after getting shoes on, and props it up against the side of the house. He then climbs up and begins scooping the fallen leaves out of the gutter.

It's now November, so it's getting cooler, but all the leaves have fallen off of their trees.

Getting all the leaves out takes about an hour and a half. In Dan's mind, that's pretty good, considering the size of the house. Eventually he just climbed on top of the roof and crawled across to get the leaves out. That probably made it go a lot quicker.

Once Dan finishes, he closes up the ladder, puts it back in the garage, and grabs the rake. May as well rake now instead of later. That takes another thirty minutes, including the bagging of the leaves.

He goes back inside, slipping his shoes off by the door, and heads upstairs to change into cleaner clothes. He doesn't want to make a mess of the house, especially because he'll probably be the one who has to clean it.