Phil closed his eyes in bliss as he drank in the cool morning air, the breeze played with this hair, making his fridge flap back into his natural longer hair.

"Ugh! Wind" he moaned, trying to fix it back. Dan dragged his hand away. "It looks nice long" he reassured him. Phil grinned at him and left his hair alone.

Phil's parents had died when he was young, and ever since he had lived with Dan. They weren't brothers, they weren't friends, they were far more than that.

In school, when he was younger, Phil was very shy and relied completely on Dan for support. Now they were fifteen and even though they were older, Phil was still seen as a bit of a target. The two of them were heading to their job at a stationery store.

Phil normally forced them to take the longer way. It was beautiful in autumn. The leaves turned golden or butter yellow and soft red, casting a reddish light onto them as the sunlight shone through.

"What are we doing today?" asked Phil as they brushed through the ferns and the big white building came into view. "Standing" said Dan, flicking a cobweb from his hair. "Walking, looking…what we normally do"

Phil brushed away remain of cobweb from Dan's face and grimaced, rolling his eyes. "That sounds unbelievably fun" he said sarcastically. He looked at Dan. His eyes were beautiful and dark, and shone in the early morning sun. He gazed, starting to get lost in Dan's eyes.

"Phil!" exclaimed Dan.

"Sorry what?" asked Phil, shaking his head. Dan chuckled slightly. "God Phil you have the attention span of…." He looked around. "That leaf!" he said triumphantly as a golden leaf landed on Phil's head. The leaf stuck.

"Seems I was proved wrong, the leaf shows intelligence" he laughed. Phil smiled. "Anyway, I said where do you want to 'stand…walk…do nothing?"

Phil looked through the window. He could see the group of the seventeen year olds near the entrance. The same ones that picked on Phil when they were younger, the same ones that picked on him now….

"Over there" said Phil quickly, gesturing to the other side of the store. Dan looked. He saw the others. "Hey, its ok Phil, you don't have to be scared of them now, if they're mean to you I'll whack them round the head" said Dan firmly. Phil laughed a little. "Dan you'll get us both fired!" he exclaimed. Dan smiled. "I don't care"

"Well I do!" he protested. "Come on let's just leave them" he said hopefully. He glanced at them. He recognised Casper, the rest of them were just pests but Casper was terrifying.

Dan sighed. "Come on Phil, see it as a sign of rebelling, you want to rebel don't you?"
Phil chewed his lip. "Not particularly I'll be honest Dan"

"Come on Phil" he dragged Phil over by them. Phil stiffened as one looked at him. She looked mildly amused. Phil tucked his hair behind his ears, one if his nervous habits. But Casper and the rest seemed to ignore them for a while.

Phil relaxed a little. Why should he even worry? Dan was here, nothing really bad could whilst Dan was here.

"Excuse me" a woman with a young child came up to Phil. "My kids been assigned a ridiculous project about castles and now we have to make the dammed thing, is there any paint or grey felt or anything we could use"

I don't have a clue!

Phil turned to Dan with a- "Please help me!" face. Dan smiled. "Sure, just follow me, I think its round here somewhere" he lead them off round a corner.

Phil was alone. He shook his head. He wasn't a nervous little kid anymore, he was fine! Casper got up to take his turn at the counter. He walked closer to Phil. Phil looked at the ground.

Then Casper suddenly knocked him over. Phil lost balance and fell. He winced as pain shot through his leg. "Faggot!" Casper whispered to him.

"Ahhoww" Phil groaned quietly as he got up, staggering and limping a little.

They laughed at him. "Wimp!" said Casper, and one of the girls giggled. Phil struggled.

"You're the wimp who's too scared to do anything when Dan's around!" he said. He meant it to come out like an insult but it came out like a whisper. He rubbed his leg and leant against an aisle, breathing heavily. Why was he such a pathetic wimp? Why did he let them walk all over him?

"Dan?" Casper scoffed. "What's that fag gonna do?" Phil flinched as if someone had slapped him. He could let them walk all over him, but he wasn't having them insulting Dan. Never.

He practically flew at Casper, hitting out at his face. The other joined in and it turned into a full scale fight. Not many other people were here so nobody seemed to notice the scuffle. Phil was outnumbered and he had a cut on his cheek.

Suddenly Dan walked back round the corner. The five teenagers froze. Casper had his arm against Phil's neck, making it unable for him to move. They were still stock still when Dan ran up and hit Casper in the face. Truly belted him. He sprang back like a surprised cat.

"Phil" he breathed, setting Phil free and gently touching the cut on his cheek. Phil flinched. "Uh…It turns out they still kind of hate me…" he mumbled.

Dan's dark eyes turned fiery.

"What did you do! What did you do to hurt him!" he yelled at Casper. Casper backed away. Now he was scared. Suddenly an adult member of staff rushed up to them, pulling Dan away from Casper.

"Three customers have complained at seeing you fighting! What in heaven's name happened?!" he said, his voice growing shrill.

Phil was about to speak but Dan stepped in front of him. "They just attacked Phil for no reason!" he said, his eyes still blazing. The man turned to the group.

"Is this true?" he demanded.

Casper looked shifty. "Well…Dan was….and..and Phil was…"

"You four, your all fired! Get out! Get out I tell you!" he yelled.

"Jeasus ok" said Casper. The four of them went out.

"Can he even do that?" asked Phil.

Dan shrugged. The day was over, and Dan was still silent as they walked back, the sky inky black and scattered with stars as they took the longest route.

"Dan…are you mad" asked Phil anxiously. Dan glanced at him. "I'm flaming furious that they'd do that to you…I..I ergrgr!" he growled. Phil shrank back.

Dan softened and pulled Phil next to him, making his hair long again and fly out behind him. Phil shook his head, making his hair fly in all directions.

"Sorry Phil, I'm not mad at you, you look like a scared kitten" he said softly. Phil relaxed, gluing himself to Dans side making purring sounds. Dan laughed. The starlight cast a pale glow on Phils face, illuminating his icy blue eyes.

He put his hand over Phils cut. Phil flinched sharply drawing in breath. "Sorry" he hissed. "Does it hurt?"

"Hurts when you touch it!" said Phil batting his hand away. Dan placed it on his shoulder instead. "Does it need antiseptic on it…or a plaster or something" he asked.

Phil gaze him a look in the darkness. "I'm not five Dan it'll be fine" Dan nodded. "Ok, if you're sure. We should run the next bit, I bet mums pretty worried about where we are"

"Kay" agreed Phil. They ran but no sooner than they had started Phil collapsed. "Oowwww" he moaned. Dan ran to him.

"Phil what's wrong?!" he asked. "Casper knocked me over earlier, and I kind of landed on my leg" he explained timidly.

"Oh Phil" Dan sighed. "Come on, lean on me"

It was very late when they made it back to their house as they were traveling at Phil speed. Phil was half asleep and Dan was almost carrying him which wasn't so comfortable. Dan awkwardly took the keys and opened the house dragging Phil inside and resting him on the sofa.

Then Dans mum rushed downstairs. "Oh my lord thank goodness your OK! Where have you been I've been worried sick!" she cried. "Do you realize what time it us"

Dan glanced at the clock in the lounge. It read 11:57. Cripes!

"Sorry mum…Phil got hurt, it took a while for him to limp home" he explained.

"What!?" His mum rushed over to Phil who had fully woken up. His head shot straight up.

"Dan!?" he croaked. Dan came to him side and stroked his black hair. "It's ok Phil, we're home" Dan reassured him. Phil breathed out. "Hi mum, sorry…I kind of hurt my leg"

Dans mum looked at his cut. "What this!" she asked in surprise. "It's a scratch" Phil moaned as he tried to move his leg. "I think it's broken" he groaned.

She rolled her eyes. "It's not broken, but it's probably sprained" she said. "Do you want to sleep?"

"Can I just sleep down here, it kind of hurts to walk" he asked. Dans mum sighed and nodded. "All right, Dan, you can go up to bed

Dan stiffened. "What?! No way I'm staying down here with Phil!" he said firmly. She smiled. "All right all right, but I'm going up to bed I'm exhausted"

Dan lay on the floor next to Phil.

"You ok mate?" he asked. Phil yawned. "Yeah..thanks for helping me on the way back"

"Well then I guess it was worth it, even if my back Is now actually permanently disabled form carrying you the whole way back"

"Love you too Dan" said Phil and he instantly sank into sleep. Dan smiled. Phil looked adorable when he slept. He looked at least three years younger and his expression was so peaceful. Dan sighed.

"Love you more Phil" Dan lay down and surprisingly fell asleep immediately.

Phil opened one eye. Dan looked so cute when he slept. Like he was concentrating, his eyes flickering beneath their lids. "I love you most" whispered.