"I almost hit him, Noah." Phil said in a monotone, staring at the still-open hotel room door. "I almost hit my best friend."
"He's not your best friend." Noah whispered, stepping forward and reaching out to comfort his boyfriend.
"Don't come near me."
"Phil, please, look at me. He deserved to be hit, he really did."
"No one deserves to be hit."
"Yeah, some people do."
"Do you think that Dan really did use me for views?"
"It's a possibility-" Both Noah and Phil were cut off in their actions as their names were called. At first they both thought Dan but it was definitely a girl's voice.
"Phil! Noah!" A girl then ran into the room, her breathing heavy as she leant against the wall. "I don't think Dan's okay."
"You're the girl Dan met aren't you? What are you doing here? And how do you know that Dan isn't okay?" Phil muttered and Olivia sighed.
"I was on the phone to him and he told me about what happened and, long story short, he thought I called him a liar as well and he sounded really upset. Then he hung up."
"What if he dies and it's all my fault?"
"We need to find him."
-
Dan was silent. He was no longer crying but silently staring out into the lake, his mind blank. He wasn't entirely sure what to do- wait. He had an idea. He jumped up, before running from the lake back in the direction of the hotel.
He had to push himself forward as he ran because he wasn't used to exercise at all. But, once he got to the hotel, he was more than proud of himself. He ignored the elevator and raced directly upstairs, heading for his room. When he got there, he shoved open the door to find that Olivia was with Phil and Noah.
"Dan!" They all exclaimed at the sight of him. He just looked more than confused as he stepped back his eyebrows raised.
"Olivia? What are you doing here?" Dan gasped, walking passed her to find his wallet was exactly where he left it, on his bedside table. He snatched it from the surface and glared at everyone in the room (making sure to direct most of it at Noah).
"I was scared.. I thought you were going to hurt yourself." Olivia responded, her voice small and weak to show how afraid Dan was making her.
"I'm not that stupid," Dan retorted. "Bye everyone. Cancel the tour or whatever, I'm leaving!" (This isn't the right time but I'm laughing so hard)
"Dan, that's stupid. It will take you ages to buy the correct ticket and leave, you know." Noah muttered, making Dan clench a fist.
"What do you know? You're the reason I'm leaving, after all. Without you, Phil and I would still be cuddling and we'd be happy but no. You had to come along and ruin everything."
"Don't say that about him!" Phil chipped in, stepping forward and glaring at Dan.
"He's been threatening me and you had no idea. You're so blinded by his apparent 'perfect ways' that you don't realise your best friend is suffering."
"Dan likes-" Before Noah could even think about saying Phil's name, Dan jumped forward and clasped his hand over Noah's mouth.
"Don't you dare say it."
"You like someone?" Phil whispered. "That's not a bad thing, who is it?"
"I can't say!" Dan let go off Noah but only so he could drop to the floor and pull his knees to his chest.
"PHIL!" Noah yelled and Dan was quick to shove him and stand back up.
"That's not true-"
"You like me? Oh."
"I'm going now." Dan mumbled, slipping his wallet into his back pocket and getting ready to leave the room.
"No! Stay and Noah, Olivia.. could you step outside for a second? Dan and I need to have a private conversation." Phil shot Dan a look to say 'you better not leave' as Olivia and Noah exited the room. "You like me? Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
"I thought you'd hate me..."
"Well I kind of like you too?" Phil said but it sounded more like a question. Dan leaned in closer for a moment before Phil gently pushed him away. "But I have Noah now so.. I'm sorry.. I really am."
"Oh." Dan mumbled, diverting his gaze to the ground, too embarrassed to meet Phil's eye.
"You should have told me sooner.. then maybe we could have had a chance. I love Noah now though so.. I'm sorry."
"You would have dated me?"
"Before Noah, maybe. Not now though. I think we should just ignore everything that's happened today and go back to being friends. I know you hate him and all but can you please not lie and say he's threatening you? That's not nice at all and I am willing to ignore the fact that you said that because I understand that you were so upset."
"I wasn't lying. He's been blackmailing me, he really has! Why would I lie about that?"
"Dan.. you've lied about so much lately, I have no reason to believe you." Dan didn't say anything. "I am really sorry. You're my best friend and you always will be.. as long as you tell me the truth."
"Only best friend?"
"Remember Noah."
"I'm going for a walk."
"Dan-"
"Do you not trust me? I can go for a walk without doing something bad." Dan snapped, tears filling his eyes at the overwhelming topics they were discussing. He turned, pushing open the door and walking out. He glanced at Olivia and shook his head slightly, as if to tell her not to follow. Noah was just wearing his fake sympathetic face but it didn't anger Dan as much as it would have a couple of days ago.
-
Dan must have been walking for hours. The light quickly turned to dark and stars began to appear in the sky. He had no idea where he was going and he had no phone to call someone for help on. His cold hands were deep in his pockets and his stare was glued on the dirty pavement below him. Everything around him seemed silent, perfectly suiting his busy, racing mind that was running at one hundred miles per hour. He found that there was a familiar itch in his arms; he subconsciously went to itch at his right arm. No tears filled his eyes, his body felt numb and all he could do was walk.
-
"What did you say to him?" Noah immediately asked in a calm tone, taking Phil's hand into his own.
"I told him I didn't like him. That's all." Phil mumbled, not wanting to say much more about it.
"Would you like me to go find him?" Olivia piped up, concern in her voice. "It's cold out there and, I don't know about you but, I am quite worried about leaving him on his own."
Phil shook his head. "No, leave him. He probably just needs time to.. think."
"What if he isn't 'thinking'? What if he is doing something else? Something bad? It would be all your fault." Olivia turned, glaring at the pair of boys before walking straight out of the room.
"I'm going to bed." Phil muttered before hastily walking into the bedroom.
-
Dan must have come home very early in the morning because, when Noah got out of bed, he was sitting on the sofa with a bowl of cereal. He noticed that the cereal was all soggy and Dan didn't seem like he was about to touch it. He was just staring at the TV screen, despite it not even being turned on. Dan?" Noah said, his eyebrows furrowed.
"What, I have nothing to hide now so don't bother with the blackmail." Dan responded in a monotone voice, not once tearing his gaze away from the blank screen.
"I'm not-"
"Just leave it. You have ruined my life so congratulations, you succeeded."
"Dan-"
"Don't just try and be all nice. I know how disgusting you are now, Noah."
Noah opened his mouth to say something but decided against it- he had done enough damage.
I doooon't like this chapter