The next few hours passed in a blur, and all too soon, Dan and Phil were heading back to the Highers chambers, trying to walk as slow as possible to prolong their time together. It was a bit silly, how they tried to hoarde the time they had, because it wasn't like one of them was dying or anything. They would see each other again in less than a week. 

  Dan couldn't help but wonder if Phil would be the same after his transformation. He himself had had a personality change, it was only after his own ritual that he developed his 'anger management problems' or whatever. It had been quite a big change, actually, and it really hadn't helped with his antisocial behavior, and he didn't want the same to happen with Phil. It didn't happen to everyone, but it wasn't exactly rare either. Loking over at Phil, Dan could never imagine him changing in any way, especially not in a negative way, like him.

  "Why are you staring at me like that?" Phil asked, his voice was still a bit throaty from crying. Dan wished with all his soul that he had the ability to take away what Phil was going through, to make him less stressed and wound up. But fate hated him, apparently, and he knew that would never happen.

  "Just....trying not to think of the tramautic experience I'm going to be having with you not there." He said, and he smiled as Phil laughed.

  "It's only a few days, Dan, I'm sure you'll live."

  "Yeah, well you don't know me, and how much I love you. I might just die. A lot."

  "Shut up. You'll be fine, I swear."

  They were silent again, but it wasn't as tense as it had been before. Dan reached out and grabbed Phil's hand, squeezing lightly and smiling at his boyfriend.

  The moment was, of course, ruined as they finally stopped in front of the tall wooden doors that would take and hide Phil away from the world for too long. Dan hesitated before reaching out and grasping the door handle, pulling it open just enough for them to slide into the forever darkened room. It was different than the last time they were there. There were about twice as many candles, scattered across the floor hazardously, making the walls flicker even more with creepy shadows. The Highers were all circled around a huge platform, which Dan tensed when he saw it had thick cuffs attached to it. He knew that the ritual was painful, and the subject had to be tied down to restrain them from hurting themselves, but that didn't mean he wanted Phil to be tied down for three  whole days. It made his stomach boil, but he held it all back, he'd had enough confrontation from these bastards.

  "Daniel. Phillip. You have made it."

  Dan scoffed. Obviously they'd made it.

  "So what, you're just going to tie him up for three days like an animal?" He snapped at them, gesturing towards the cuffs angrily.

  "You know very well why we do this, Daniel. You yourself had to go through it too." The Highers responded, and if Dan didn't know any better, he would say that they were getting a bit agitated with his constant snarky remarks and sarcastic enjoinders.

  He was about to snap at them again, but stopped himself when he felt Phil squeeze his hand in warning. He bit back his words reluctantly, clenching his jaw.

  He really fucking hated how the Highers felt as if they ruled the world. Technically, they did rule this world, but that wasn't the point. They were like annoying parents, who demanded respect and obedience, without giving any sort of acknowledgement or praise in return. But he didn't have any place to start judging them, no matter how douchey they were, because they did provide these people with everything they needed; shelter, jobs, and they weren't unfair in the way they did things, they were just a bit selfish in the way they went about it.

  "You're going to have to leave now, Daniel. The ritual needs to start, and it can't be done with you here." One of the Highers said, and Dan rolled his eyes. He looked over at Phil, giving him a weak smile and pulling him into a tight hug.

  "Everything will be alright, I promise." Dan whispered into his ear softly, and heard Phil laugh.

  "You already told me that. I know, I just.....don't worry too much, okay?"

  "No promises on that."

  Phil slapped his chest lightly, and turned to walk towards the tall platform, but Dan grabbed his arm last minute and, not caring that the Highers were right there, kissed him hard.

  It was fast and rough, a collision of lips, tongues and teeth. Both of them were quickly out of breath, but they tried to continue as long as they could. Eventually, they needed to breathe, and Dan pulled away, staring into the deep blue eyes that he loved so very much.

  "Don't worry." Phil whispered once again, his face slightly pink and his breathe coming in short gasps.

  Dan didn't respond, just stroked his face gently, kissed him again and turned, leaving the dark room and the love his life inside of it.

  It was gonna be torturous, these next three days.

                                  *******************************
Day One

  Last night, Dan hadn't gotten any sleep, missing the warmth of Phil's body curled up next to his own. And the next day, he knew that he was gonna be in a foul mood.

  He didn't want to just sit in his room all day, because it only made him hyper aware that Phil wasn't there, so he decided to venture out into the halls and head into the dining area. Since they'd gotten back, him and Phil had never really left the room, PJ usually brought them food, so this would be the first time he really saw anyone since he'd left a year ago.

  He hesitated in front of the door, taking a deep breath before walking in. He didn't really know how anyone was going to react, but it definitely wasn't like this. The whole room got instantly quiet when he stepped in, and the first people he saw were, of course, his parents.

  They looked horrible, and Dan felt instantly guilty because it was his fault. His mum was extremely thin, like she hadn't eaten in weeks, and her face was pale, and tear streaks stained her hollow cheeks. His father wasn't much better. His brown eyes had once been full of life and emotion, but now they just seemed empty and dead. And as soon as they saw Dan, his mother started crying again and his dad gave him a weary stare. It made his chest hurt, seeing them like that, because of him.

  "Daniel..." His mum whispered, but he still heard it, even from across the room. He was still as they both rushed over to him, and gladly accepted their hugs, being squished in between the two of them. He could feel his mum's shoulders shaking, as she sobbed heavily into his chest, and felt his fathers strong grip on him, as if he was scared that Dan was going to leave again.

  He hadn't realized how much he missed them until this moment. He felt so bad that he had just up and left them, without any kind of goodbye, not even a fucking letter. It made his stomach hurt thinking about it.

  "Do you have....can you even imagine what you put us through, Daniel?" He heard his father say. He didn't sound mad, just a bit hurt and relieved at the same time.

  "I'm sorry, I didn't..." He trailed off because he knew there was nothing he could possibly say that would change this. He had put them through hell, and no amount of 'sorry' could fix what he had done to them.

  "We're just glad that you're back, sweetheart." His mother whispered. They stood like that for a moment, in the middle of the cafeteria just hugging each other. and Dan even forgot about all the other Reapers who were still whispering to one another. He was just glad that his parents didn't hate him for what he'd done.

  All too soon, his father pulled away as did his mum, and Dan looked at his feet so as not to meet their eyes. He didn't want to feel any more guilty than he already did.

  "We...have to go, Dan." His mum said softly, and Dan didn't even try to stop them as they walked past him to the doors leading out inot the corridors. After they had left, he became acutely aware of all the other people still talking about him. He knew it was about him because he would see them occasionally pointing at him or just directly staring at him. It was unnerving, and very annoying, and Dan would probably end up getting into a fight because he was just too irritated today. He looked around and saw PJ sitting with Chris near the back, and he gratefully walked over to them.

  "Is there no way possible for the people to just mind their own business?" He muttered angrily as he took a seat next to PJ, who looked over at him in surprise. Apparently, he didn't expect Dan to ever comeout of that room.

  "Well. What brings you out of the dark depths of loneliness, that you call your room?" He asked sarcastically, and Dan scowled at him.

  "It's not like I have anything to do in there. Phil's gone, and he won't be back for another two days, so I thought I would socialize some."

  "You look like you're about ready to kill someone, mate. You don't seem in the 'socializing' mood."

  Dan frowned at him, reaching over and snagging one of his fries from his plate. He grinned as PJ smacked his arm.

  "Get your own!" He complained.

  The rest of that time was spent joking and laughing, and damn, Dan had really missed being here, with his best friend. For that time, he forgot about everything; Phil most likely being put through the worst kind of pain, his parents looking sad and broken, all the other Reapers still murmuring about him and Phil. It was quite nice, to get away from all the drama for just a little bit.

                                                                        *********************************

  Eventually though, Dan had to leave and head back to his room, because he honestly had nowhere else to go. All the places he'd used to hang out had lost interest, at last while Phil was not here. And as soon as he stepped back into the dark room, all the thoughts and worries came back.

  He started to wonder if Phil was doing okay, because he didn't seem like the type of person who took pain too well. It was way too stressful, trying to convince himself that everything was fine, when all these horrible scenarios started playing through his mind. What if Phil didn't survive? That was stupid, it wasn't death-inducing, the ritual. What if he had changed, for the worst? That was a slight possibility, but Dan didn't dwell on that thought too much. What if the Highers tried somethimg, while they had Phil all alone, and Dan wasn't there to protect him? They hadn't wanted Phil the first time around, so what if they did something to him, and claimed it was an accident?

  Dan sighed, long and loud, flopping onto the bed and closing his eyes tightly. All this thinking was giving him a headache, and everything was starting to blur together confusedly. All his thoughts were running into one another, until Dan could barely tell if what he was thinking was even real or not. He slowly started to drift off, his breathing becoming deeper, until he was dead asleep.

  He really didn't know if he was going to survive the next two days.....

**********************************

A/N: That took forever to write! Sory if you all waited too long, I'll understand if you want to mail me dead babies.....