Dan's Overhead

Dan had Phil give him his address so that he could pick him up and walk him to the cinema. They had made a date for this weekend to see something together, that way they could have a more proper date instead of coffee breaks at the second floor Starbucks.

Phil lived in an apartment complex. Dan was happy to realize that it wasn't very far from his own, so the walk wouldn't be too far. He found Phil's door and knocked.

“Who is it?” he heard Phil call cutely from inside.

“You ordered a librarian?” he teased.

Phil opened the door smiling. He was dressed up slightly, and looked amazing. “Oh really?” he said, continuing Dan's joke.

Dan's mouth very slightly hung open, admiring Phil. “Wow,” he said. “You look great.”

“Aww, thanks.” Phil looked down and smiled, twiddling his hands in front of himself. He seemed embarrassed and a bit red. “I uh, I wanted to look nice. I haven't been on a date in... forever, really.”

Dan nodded and grinned at his cute face. God, he thought. I'm lucky.

Phil fixed his glasses equally on his face. “Do you want to come in?”

“Sure.” Dan took one look around Phil's apartment, and as he could have guessed, books were everywhere. Shelves were lined with classics, stack after stack of novels piled on the tables, at least two or three books in every room. With so many reading materials around, the place was actually very neat and organized.

“Sorry about the wave of books.”

“Phil, have you read all of these?”

“Honestly, only most of them. I'm working on the rest. I have so many because of when I was younger. I would only ever ask for books on my birthday or Christmas. It's all I ever did, really.”

“Wow, that's a lot of reading.”

“I'm locked up in here most of time, so it's pretty nice.” Phil offered Dan a seat on his sofa.

As he sat down next to the precious boy of whom he adored, Dan plagued a question: “What do you mean 'locked up'?”

He looked down. “They live in the same building.”

Dan's heart became worried. “Really?”

He reluctantly nodded. “They come bother me whenever I step out. I have to run out, or just be really quiet....”

“Oh my God,” he said in shock. “That's awful.”

Phil shrugged. “Enough about that, though. What time is the movie?”

He checked his phone. “Twenty minutes.”

“We should get going then.”

“Yeah.” Dan stood up first and offered a hand to Phil. He took it, and they went to the door.

Phil looked around nervously. To calm him, Dan's fingers searched for his and laced within them. He looked at Dan, then let his hand be held. Their fingers laced perfectly together, and Phil seemed to feel more secure.

Outside his flat in the halls, Phil was trying to pick up pace and leave quickly. He must've thought that the group of bullies would be back.

“Phil,” Dan said calmly. “It's ok. You're safe. They aren't coming back.”

“O-ok.”

They had made it outside with no trouble, and Dan kept Phil close as they walked to the cinema

~~~~~

The movie was nice and romantic. Dan couldn't really pay attention, instead he was busy cuddling with Phil in the back of the theater. Phil's head rested on Dan's shoulder and they kept their hands together. It was warm and comfortable, and every once in a while, they would sneak a kiss.

Phil seemed much better on the way back to his home. He walked happily up the stairs and to his door. But his smile was gone when he saw a horrible sight: the lock on the door had been broken.

“Oh no,” he said. He opened the door, and there sat one of them.

“Well, well, well.” he hummed. “Out on a date, are we Geek?”

Two more of the jerks appeared behind Dan and Phil and pushed them inside the flat, closing the door behind them.

Phil turned away into Dan's chest. He grabbed a piece of his shirt and held it for dear life.

“You,” the bully said. “You're the Geek's boyfriend, huh? Faggot.”

Phil's arms began to shake as he grasped around Dan. “G-go away,” he tried to say.

The guy threw a slap to Phil's sacred face, tumbling him to the floor. He tucked into a ball, holding the burning red mark.

“Phil!” Dan yelled.

The bully repeated the action on Dan's face, but he didn't fall, only tripped before catching his footing. “We warned you to stay out of this! Now either get out or get the same treatment as your looser boyfriend! Last chance!”

Dan would not leave Phil's side. He loved him, and promised to protect him. With noting to say, Dan let go of the stinging mark left on his face and stared at the jerk face to face.

“So that's how it's gonna be?”

Dan pushed him into a shelf, causing it to crash over him and cover him in books. Dan ran and helped Phil to stand, then dragged him out the door in a sprint.

“Get them!” he called.

The two other bullies ran after them, but couldn't catch up. Dan guided Phil to where his apartment building was – thankfully not very far – and led him to his flat. Exhausted and in shock, Phil collapsed to his knees on Dan's floor as he slammed and locked the door behind them.

“Phil... are you... ok?” Dan asked, gasping for air.

He nodded and began a coughing fit. Dan carefully helped him to stand and then be seated more comfortably on his sofa. Phil's breathing began to calm down, but then sped up as he recalled what just happened. He covered his face and began to sob quietly. Dan pulled him into a hug and he cried into his shoulder. His breath hitched, and Dan rubbed a small circle on his back to help him cool down.

“Phil, you're safe. They can't get you here,” Dan reassured.

“I'm so sorry.”

“For what?”

“H-he hit you.... I never wanted that to happen. I'm sorry, D-Dan.”

“It isn't your fault. I'm ok, really. Now I need to know if you are.”

He nodded.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. I-I'm fine.”

“Well, this is my place.”

Phil looked around. It wasn't as neat as his own, but was clean and kept well. It smelled like Dan – warm and loving. He instantly liked it there.

“It's nice,” he said.

“Sorry, I don't have many books.”

“That's ok. ...Do you mind if I stay here for tonight?”

“That's the plan. I'm not leaving you alone tonight.”

Phil's Overhead

They had done it, broken into his place. They wanted to kill him. But Dan had also done it: he saved him like a knight in shining armor.

“Are you hungry?” Dan offered him.

“No, not really.” Phil used to eat when he was nervous, but that would cause him to throw it back up. He would wait until he was fully calmed again.

“Make yourself at home here. I'm going to get changed.” Dan stood up. “Let me know if you need anything, ok?”

“Ok.”

Dan left for what must be his room. Phil touched the mark on his face – hot and stinging. He wondered if Dan's hurt the same or worse. Maybe he wasn't hurt at all. What if they take his books back at his house? What if they find Dan's home? Would they hurt him, too? Burn something he loves?

I would stop them, he thought. It's one thing to hurt me and my books, but I wont let them touch Dan.