Phil's Overhead

Phil woke up by Dan's side on a sofa in his apartment. He figured they must've fallen asleep there together. Dan was still out, breathing slowly on his neck. It was comforting.

Dan woke up soon after and stretched. Phil turned around to look at him. "Good morning," he cooed.

Dan smiled. "Hey you."

Phil giggled. He felt so safe and cozy with Dan by him.

After a few more minutes of morning cuddles, they got up for some breakfast. Phil then went back into the book Dan gave him.

"You like it?" he asked.

"Yeah."

"Jane Eyre" appeared to be about the life of a fictional woman named Jane. She was in love with a man named Mr. Rochester, but he was bound to marry another woman called Blanche Ingram. Phil was pulled in. This book was more valuable to him than his others - this one was given to him by Dan.

Dan looked unhappy. "Phil?" he said. "I don't want you to leave here. I mean, I just don't want you to go back to your place. I'm worried they'll try to hurt you again, and I can't let them."

"Well, what should I do?" he said, putting down his book. He looked concerned. He knew Dan was right.

"Do you want to maybe... move in with me?"

"You mean here? And with you?"

He nodded. "I just want you to be safe."

Phil's eyes lit up. It seemed like such a wonderful idea to live with Dan! He would be safe and happy with him, and he'd be with someone he loves. He would read while Dan worked at the library, and everything would be so... unreal. He nodded his head. "Yes, I would love to live with you!"

Dan opened his arms for a hug and took him in. "I love you, Phil."

"You too."

"There's just one problem."

"What is that?"

"We need to go back to your place to pack your things."

A small shudder shook Phil's spine. He didn't want to return. They were mad, and after him. But he would be brave this time. This time he had Dan with him. "Ok," he responded. "I'll be brave."

"I'm proud of you, Phil."

~~~~~

Dan had gotten dressed and given Phil new clothes, then walked him to his old flat not very far away. He breathed a sigh, and Dan helped him inside. Phil had brought "Jane Eyre" with him for comfort, and kept it under his arm. He would be brave.

Once inside the building, Phil guided Dan back up to his door. The lock was still broken, and the door was wide open. It smelled like smoke.

"What's that smell?" Dan asked, covering his mouth.

"Hey, who's there?" called a voice.

"Is there someone there?" another asked.

"I don't know! Go check!"

A large, familiar face showed from around a corner that led to the kitchen. It was one of them.

"Well, well, back to play, are we?"

"Dear God," Phil whispered.

"Hey Jason!" the guy yelled. "Get a load of this mess!"

The second one who looked to be the leader poked his head over. An evil grin spread across his face. "Hey! Geek and his boyfriend came back! Ahahaha!" he laughed meanly at them. "Thanks for letting us stay, yeah? We got a nice fire going."

"Fire?" Phil questioned nervously. Why would there be a fire? Dan ran into the kitchen with Phil following, and sure enough, there was a fire burning in a metal bucket in the center of the kitchen.

The one called Jason removed a book from one of the stacks on the table and tossed it in, blazing and destroying the pages.

"No! What are you doing?! My books!"

"Come on now! Come here, you faggot, and have a marshmallow!" He took out a bag of them and began throwing them at him. He covered his face and ran to the lounge.

As they laughed at Phil's misery, Dan stepped in and walked up to them. "What's wrong with you? Why are you roasting marshmallows over a pit of burning books? What's your problem?"

"What's yours?"

"Yeah, let us have some fun!" another grinned.

"This isn't fun!" Dan shouted. "This is horrible! Why do you do this?! What did Phil do to you guys?!"

"That's none of your business, gaylord!"

In the other room alone, Phil had opened up the book he brought along. He was reading it shakily, but couldn't seem to get the words to make sense. One of them, the leader Jason, must've noticed, and snatched the book right from his trembling fingers.

"Jane Eyre?" he read the front. "Really?"

"Give it back!" Phil yelled at him. "That's mine!"

"Too bad, looks like a nice book. Ha, as if." He brought the book with him back to the kitchen and held it over the fire pit.

"No!" Phil screamed. Any book, he thought, but please, please not this one! This was the book Dan gave him. He stood up and ran after the guy, grabbing and pulling the book back from his hands. He was just too strong for Phil's skinny arms, and sent him to the floor in one blow.

"Phil!" Dan yelled, trying to run to him. The other had grabbed Dan and held his arms behind him so he couldn't move.

Phil's body shook, but he couldn't take this anymore. He was hurt often, but that was it. A bruise here and there never meant much to him. But this was Dan being held and hurt now. He would not let them touch him. He shakily stood, and balled his fists, tensing his muscles.

"I want my book back," he commanded. "And let go of him."

"What are you gonna do about, you stupid fuck-face?"

Phil said nothing, and just stood, staring face to face with his bully.

Jason threw a fist into Phil's jaw, giving him a large black and blue mark. Phil did not go down with it. He tried again, blackening his eye. Another time, and his nose was bleeding. Phil was still standing.

Dan's legs kicked wildly around. "Phil! Stop! Leave him alone!" he yelled as loud as possible at him. "Stop it!"

Phil was beginning to feel faint, but he didn't fall.

The bully finally gave up on him, and suspended the held book over the burning pit. "You are some weird piece of shit, you know that?"

"Don't you... dare..." he said, breaths in between.

"Phil! Let it go! Its not worth it!" Dan yelled, trying to get him to come to sense.

Phil decided to use smarts versus his muscles, and very quickly swiped the book from his loose grip.

"Hey!"

"Now let him go!" Phil yelled.

"Shut up!" Jason attacked his whole body, tackling him to the floor and taking back possession of the book. "You've done it now, Geek. We went easy on you. You never listened to us! You should have killed yourself when we told you to!" he screeched in his face, slapping him with whip-like force.

Dan struggled to break free, but couldn't. He could only scream and watch Phil's red face burn.

In one swift move, Jason chucked "Jane Eyre" into the pit. Phil watched the pages catch fire, the binding turn to ash, the happy face of the woman on the front cover be scorched and destroyed. Before even thinking, Phil's only intention was to recover it. He leaned over the fire and watched in terror as his gift was torched to nothing.

With Phil so close to the burning bucket, Jason must've seen an opportunity. He pushed his foot into Phil's back, sending him over and into the blazing fire. His body turned, so that only his right forearm landed in the scorching metal bucket.

He let out a horrendous scream as his arm baked. Dan kicked the guy holding him back where it counts, and ran to Phil to bat out the flames. His arm seared.

"You are so done," Jason taunted, coming closer.

That's it, Phil thought. We are gonna die. "Dan, get out."

"What?"

"Run, leave," he said weakly.

"No."

"They're going to kill you."

"I don't care, I'm not leaving you to die here."

Time moved slowly. He couldn't see from one eye, his arm looked like toast and burned like Hell, and he was bleeding from somewhere on his head. He was going to die here, on the kitchen floor, with all his books burning to dust. Dan held his body to sit up, but Phil's mind was gone.

"C'mon, Phil," Dan said,trying to pull him together. "Don't surrender yourself! C'mon, you'll be ok."

"I love you, Dan."

Phil's body let go. He did not brace for an impact as he saw Jason's fist pull back. He used the last of his strength to throw Dan off of him, saving him from the hit. He went black.