Days later, Dan had come to visit Phil, this time with a plan. It was time to stop his admiration for him and remember that this was a mission.

“You're really good for never playing before, Dan!” Phil said happily after another game. He'd been there for a few hours already.

“Thanks.” He looked at Phil, but avoided his eyes. Then lowered his defenses. “Hey Phil, we're friends, aren't we?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“I can trust you, yes?”

“Yes, of course!”

“Great, and you can trust me. See, I was wondering if you had something... something of interest, perhaps?” he said slyly, offering a small wad of cash.

“Whoa, Dan, I don't know what you're after but you probably wont find it here.”

“C'mon, Phil. Word on the street is you're the one with the good stuff, you know what I mean?”

“No, actually. I don't.” Phil became frightened.

“I can pay you much more handsomely than this, you know.”

Phil stood up and backed away, completely unaware of Dan's desire, but also quite fearful. “Dan, I'm not a prostitute.”

Dan switched his gaze to Phil's nervous face. His cheeks blushed violently. “Oh, no no no no, that's not what I meant!” Dan stashed away the money and stood up as well. This had never happened before. “I – I... No! No, Phil, no. I – I just... I... Oh my God, no!”

“Dan, I thought we were friends. Are you ok?”

“No Phil! No, I am not ok!” He sat down on Phil's sofa and held his face in his hands, not sure of what to do anymore.

Phil sat by him. “What's wrong? I'm so confused.”

“Believe me, I'm much more confused than you are.”

“What's going on, Dan?”

“What's going on? What's going on is that I cant freaking focus! Something weird is happening to me and I don't know what it is! I haven't felt this way before and its really freaking me out.”

Phil looked sadly at him, trying to find some way to help.

“This is going to sound really weird, but do you or don't you use, sell or smuggle drugs?”

“What? Of course not. Why would you ask that?”

Dan opened his face a bit and looked at him. “I have no idea why I'm telling you this, but Phil, I am an undercover police officer. You were a suspect for a drug-lord and I was supposed to come here to investigate, prove it, and arrest you. When I suspected you were innocent, I had to further investigate.”

“So... you aren't really my friend at all? Is your name even Dan?”

“Yes, my name is Dan. But here's the thing: I've never felt this way around another person as I do around you. All the fun we had in the last week was real, and I don't know why. This was supposed to be a go-in get-out mission, but for some reason.... I don't know. You're innocent, though, and I have to prove that before I return to base or they'll have you arrested.”

Phil's blue eyes were wide with concern. “...So why were you having all this fun with me when you should have been doing your job?”

“I don't freaking know! I just couldn't stop thinking about what you said when we first met. I like you. Why did you say that? Why do I care? What the hell is wrong with... with this?” he said, putting a hand over his chest to feel his terrified heart.

“Your heart?”

“Yeah. Why does it hurt? I don't get it. Its never done that before.”

Phil giggled and his pale cheeks turned red. “Dan, do you like me?”

“Huh? No, I'm not supposed to. I'm not supposed to like anyone or anything, and no one is supposed to like me. I'm not a person, I'm a weapon. That's what I was meant to be.”

“No, Dan. You are a person with emotions and feelings too. And there's no reason for someone not to like you.

“What do you mean?”

“I like you, Dan. A lot, you know.”

Dan could feel his veins pumping furiously. He couldn't speak.

“You're handsome and kind, Dan. And you're fighting to prove me innocent in a case I didn't even know about. I think that's brave.”

He stared at Phil's perfect face smiling with delight while his own was bright red and stained with a look of perplexity. “I... I don't know what to say. I've never been told something like that before. I've trained for 15 years only to be reminded that I belong to the agency and have to focus for them, do my job for them, live my life for them. Why do you just happen to be here and make me feel so different?”

“How so?”

“Well... when I look at you, everything around the rest of the world is gone. I forget about the agency like it doesn't exist when you're around. I think about you and all I want to do is have you in a weird, unexplainable way. I thought they taught me everything I needed to know in life, but they didn't teach me this.”

“That's love, Dan. It's not something that can be taught, only experienced.”

“I've heard of love, but you could say I've never been in love before. I never cared. But... is this what its like?”

Phil put on a small, almost embarrassed smile. “If you think its love, then that's what it is, I say. No one can tell you otherwise.”

“I don't know if I would call it love, but I guess I would say that I really like you, Phil, if that explains it.”

Phil's once pale face glowed red. “I really like you too, Dan. Thank you for everything.”

“Yeah well, its my job, after all.” Dan looked at his phone. It was late. “I, um, guess I should be going. Mind if I come back tomorrow?”

“That would be wonderful.”

Dan escorted himself to the door. “Well, um, bye then.”

 “Goodbye, Dan,” he called sweetly. Dan's heart flipped.