When they stepped through the portal, Dan was surprised to see that they were in PJs room, and not in the Highers chambers.
"I thought the Highers wanted to talk to me?" Dan asked.
"They do, but I just decided to go through my room. It was easier." PJ replied, but for some reason, he was whispering. It was then that Dan looked over at PJs bed and saw that it was occupied, by none other than Chris Kendall. He was shirtless, from what Dan could see, with the blankets covering his waist and below.
Well, hot damn.
Dan raised his eyes at Peej, who blushed and looked at the floor. Dan laughed quietly and grabbed his friend's arm, pulling him out of the room and cautiously closing the door, so as not to wake the sleeping Kendall.
"You guys only kissed?" Dan asked, laughing as they made their way down the corridors. PJ was looking everywhere but at him, his face still bright red.
"We didn't have sex, if that's what you're implying. We just, hung out last night, and yeah, maybe it got a bit heated. But I didn't sleep with him. Not yet."
"So what you're saying is that you do plan on hitting that?"
"Stop, saying it like that!" PJ said, shoving Dan playfully. "I don't want to just 'hit it'. I want it to..... I don't know, be special? I want it to mean something."
And, holy hell, Dan was surprised, because PJ was like, the king of one night stands. He never got this sappy and romantic over a person, but apparently, this Kendall guy was enough to make his horny friend stay in line. He must be some kind of magician or something.
"You like him a lot, don't you?" Dan asked softly, and Peej nodded.
"Like, a lot, a lot. I think...... I think I might love him, Dan. Like, really love him." PJ admitted. His gaze was trained on the floor, and his hands stuffed in his pockets. It was silent between them after that, but not uncomfortable. They were just lost in their own thoughts.
Because PJ talking about Chris had made Dan think about Phil, and all the shit they had to go through. At least Peej and Chris could be in a relationship without any trouble. And that made Dan jealous of his best friend, not in a hateful way, just sort of envious. Why couldn't he be happy, with the person who made him happy? He had the worst luck, falling in love with Phil. But he was also lucky to have found someone like Phil, who seemed to like him back.
There were very few options to choose from in this situation, and Dan didn't like the thought of any of them. Either, he could choose to stay with Phil, and be exiled from the Reaper community. He'd never work another job, never see PJ again, and that was a horrible thought, because Peej was one of the only people who made him sane. He could drop this job, have some other Reaper finish and forget about Phil. But that would be way too painful, he couldn't just leave like that.
Or he could ask Phil if he'd be willing to become a Reaper himself.
There was a process in which humans could be changed into Reapers, but it was a pretty long process and a painful one. Dan knew, because he'd been put through it, along with his parents. It usually took about three or four days before the ritual was complete. Dan would never want Phil to have to go through that physical pain, because he just seemed so fragile, with his pretty blue eyes and pale skin and skinny frame. He really didn't seem like he'd be able to handle it. But it was up to him, if he wanted to or not, Dan couldn't stop him.
His train of thought was interrupted, as PJ stopped in front of him, almost causing Dan to run into his back. He looked up and saw that they had reached the tall, wooden doors that hid the Highers chambers.
Dan stood there for a minute, staring at the dark wood in front of him, before sighing and pushing the doors open. He glanced back at PJ as he walked in, who gave him a reassuring smile, before the door slammed between them. As always, it was completely dark inside except for the few candles spread out, and it took a moment for Dan's eyes to adjust to the dim lighting. The Highers were, of course, standing along the opposite wall, their faces still hidden by their dark robes. There was something about the way they just stood there, silent, that gave Dan a weird feeling in his stomach, like he just knew something bad was going to happen. Of course, that was most likely the case.
"Daniel." One of them said, and it made Dan shiver, because the tone was cold, but still loud as it boomed all around the room. "I assume you know why you're here?"
Why the hell did they always 'assume' that he knew why he was there?
Yeah, this time he did know the reason, but they couldn't expect it all the time.
"Um, yes I do." he replied awkwardly, clearing his throat. He had no idea what they were going to say, but he knew that it couldn't be anything good. It never was.
"I thought that we warned you about this, Daniel." said one of the Highers to the right. "Any emotional connection with your subject can-"
"-be highly consequential, I know." Dan interrupted. It was showing disrespect to the Highers, and it was just plain rude, but he was pissed off at them, and their bullshit rules. He knew the problems of falling in love with Phil, and he'd still decided to go after him. So what? Did all that mean nothing to these insufferable, narrow minded idiots? He was just now realizing this, but...... he would rather die than lose Phil. Because he was the only one that made him really, truly, good. Physically and mentally....
"And yet you still decide to disobey our orders? And our culture?" The middle one said again.
"That's kinda why I'm here, isn't it? Or did I 'assume' wrong?" he replied, and he knew that being a sarcastic ass wasn't helping the situation, but he didn't care cause goddammit, they were trying to take Phil from him. And damned if he let that happen.
Dan was getting angry, and he was sort of surprised, because he hadn't been very mad the last two days, and it was kind of foreign to him. But regardless, right now, he kinda wanted to punch something, preferably one of these Highers stupid faces. If they even had faces.
"Control yourself." the Higher said, his voice cold and threatening, and usually that would snap Dan out of his rage fueled emotions, but it just pissed him off more.
"Why?! So you can try and convert me into your perfect little lap dog, who does everything he's told? I don't think so, I'd much rather stay this way. Just because you're too stupid to-"
"Dan!" One of them shouted, and Dan immediately shut up. Not because they'd yelled at him, they always did that, but because they'd called him Dan, not the usual Daniel. They'd never called him by his nickname, not since he'd joined them.
"We understand how mad you are-"
"Do you really?"
"Yes. But you obviously knew what was going to happen if you did this, and we found out. You can't be mad at us because of how we react."
There was a silence the seemed extremely loud, as it covered the giant room. Dan's ears were ringing, and it was then that he realized that he hadn't lowered his head, not since he'd walked in, but the Highers didn't take too much notice of that.
"Well, what am I supposed to do?" Dan asked, his voice desperate as he tried to find a solution to this.
"Do you really like him?" the Higher asked, and Dan was surprised because his voice was soft and not so cold.
"I......I love him."
"Then there are only two options, if you want to be with him."
And Dan already knew what those two options were because he'd been going over them just before he got here.
Dan could leave the Reapers, or he could have Phil join them.
"I don't know which one to choose." he said, his throat closing up and his eyes pricking, and damn he was going to cry because he was so frustrated.
"We can't help you, Daniel. You have to, or you'll never see him again."
When the hell had they gotten so understand? They were going against their sacred ways, just so he could be happy.
"Why are you doing this for me?" he asked.
"We just think it's a good thing, not seeing you so mad at the world anymore." The Higher said, and Jesus Christ, he laughed. This was definitely different and so, so weird.
"You're dismissed, Daniel." One said, and Dan nodded then turned around and left. He walked out, and saw PJ leaning against the opposite wall. He looked up and hurried over as soon as he saw Dan, his green eyes filled with worry and concern.
"What happened?" he asked, grabbing Dan's shoulder and shaking him slightly. Dan laughed.
"Calm down, they didn't eviscerate me or anything."
"But what did they say? Why are you laughing?!"
Jeez, he was dramatic.
"PJ, shut up and I might have a chance to explain." PJ finally let him go, and Dan sighed. They started walking back to Peejs room and Dan filled him in on what had happened between him and the Highers.
"So, what are you going to do?" PJ asked, after Dan had finished explaining about having to choose what to do with Phil.
"I have no idea." he replied, sighing and running his fingers through his hair roughly. This was all too much to handle right now, and the stress was really wearing on Dan's nerves. "I don't want to just leave here, leave you and this job. It's kinda the best thing I have right now. But that Reaper ritual is a bitch, and I don't want Phil to go through that."
"Well, it's really up to him, isn't it?"
"Yeah...."
They were silent the rest of the way, both thinking of the mess they were in. PJ felt that he was involved in this just as much as Dan, because it was his best friend. He couldn't just let him go through this alone.
They'd finally arrived at PJs room and he pushed open the door slowly, seeing as Chris was probably still asleep. But there was no need, because as they walked in, they say that Kendall was wide awake, sitting up in PJs bed. He looked up as they opened the door, and smiled at PJ but then blushed when he saw Dan beside him.
"Well, hello there." Dan said, smirking as Chris's face flushed deeper.
"Uh, h-hi." he replied, looking down at his lap.
"I'm Dan, PJs best friend." He held out his hand, which Chris took carefully, and they shook.
"Yeah, I've, uh, heard a lot about you."
"Really now?" Dan said, raising his eyebrows at Peej, who rolled his eyes. "Well, I hope you've been treating my PJ right. He's very sensitive."
"Don't listen to him, Chris, he's a prick." PJ said, and then faced Dan. "Don't you have your own problems to deal with, with your own lover?" he asked. There was an awkward silence as he realized what he'd said, and his face turned red.
"Interesting...." Dan said, smiling at the two. PJ scoffed at him and pushed him towards the closet, handing him the Portal Key.
"Just go, you prat." he said. Dan laughed and pushed the key into the door, but didn't go through just yet.
"Don't dirty the sheets while I'm gone!" he shouted over his shoulder.
"Dan!" PJ yelled.
"Okay, I'm going." he said, holding his hands up in surrender.
He opened the closet door and stepped through, into his living room, which was empty.
"Phil?" he called out.
"In here!" Phil shouted, and walked into the living room from the kitchen. Dan hurried over and without any warning, pressed his lips against Phil's. They kissed for a minute, and when Dan pulled away, they were both out of breath. Phil smiled.
"Well hello to you too." He said.
"How long was I gone for?" Dan asked. It was a lot darker outside, so he knew it had to be at least a few hours.
"About two or three hours. I was a bit worried."
"Don't worry about me."
They stared at each other, blue eyes colliding with brown, until Phil bit his lip, looking a bit worried.
"So...... what happened?" he asked. Dan hesitated, because he really didn't want to do this to Phil, but he had no choice if he wanted to be with him.
"I need to ask you something, Phil. Something important."
*********************
a/n:
sorry for the cliffhanger, I didn't know how to finish it. Uh, vote and a that.....