Dan makes it home in record time. His breath is coming out in short bursts as he shoots through the front door and stumbles into his bedroom, closing the door behind him hastily. Panic fills his body once again. He's not exactly sure if the anxiety currently coursing through his form is due to the fact he was almost mugged and could have been stabbed, or that a guy saw him, really saw him and everything he did. Either way he feels almost as if he is suffocating. His heart beating a million miles a minute because what am I going to do now?

He can't think clearly. His clothes are soaking wet and sticking to his body, but it's the last thing on his mind. Dan tells himself to take deep breaths. His fists clench at his sides and he drops to the floor. He's okay. He's safe now and no one can get to him. No one is going to believe three criminals and that boy with the raven hair.

Dan doesn't understand though. That boy had just been waiting there, watching the whole thing play out. He looked terrified, but for some reason Dan couldn't help but think that it was less to do with himself and his abilities and more to do with the situation as a whole. There was recognition, possibly; almost like he was verifying something in a way. His eyes shone blue, wide and afraid but Dan was almost certain that it actually wasn't from Dan himself.

Dan sighs, unravelling himself from his previous position on the floor and pulling himself back onto his feet. He begins to rid himself of his wet clothing, peeling his jacket from his form. He's shaking and it's unclear whether it is actually from the cold or the left over adrenalin from the fight. He wanders into the main bathroom as quietly as his shaking form allows him, his parents seem to be asleep and he doesn't want to wake them up and explain this whole messed up situation.

He rids himself from the rest of his clothing, turning the water on and jumping in before the temperature has even reached warm. The drops roll off from his body and Dan can't quite distinguish between what's rain and what isn't. Dan closes his eyes, tilting his head towards the shower head as it begins to heat up. He lets the water fall over his shoulders, small throbbing sensations aching over his body. He can see bruises forming all over; a large one on his lower right side just above the hip and another large one forming on his shoulder, assumedly from where he'd been grabbed. Smaller ones scatter his body, more prominent on his legs and lower back. There are also a few cuts on his knees, which probably tore holes into his new pair of jeans.

The weight of the situation falls onto his chest, pulling him down but for some reason at that moment, he can't bring himself to care. All he can think about is how the water somehow seems to wash away his thoughts, drowning out his fears as if they never existed in the first place. He doesn't want to think anymore.

:::

Sleep doesn't come easily to Dan. He tosses and turns so much that his sheets become so twisted they fall off the bed. He can hear his parents moving around downstairs, assumedly getting ready for work. Dan is half torn between going downstairs and blurting out the entire situation or curling himself back up into a ball and staying in bed.

The latter option sounds much more appealing, after all his parents would probably freak out in the worst way possible. He can't take that risk. He needs to get ready for school. If his parents knew something like last night's events happened they would pull him from school, no exceptions and no excuses. That is definitely one thing that Dan does not want to happen. Despite many other children thinking that being pulled out of school is a dream, it took years for Dan to convince his parents that he could be around others. Convince them that he could control himself; no longer needing to stay at home all the time and be home-schooled, proving to his parents that he doesn't need to be confined.

Dan's best bet is to get himself up, look somewhat presentable and go to school. He'll be able to mention it to Chris and PJ; they are a much safer bet in regards to understanding the situation than his parents are. Not that Dan really has a choice when it comes to that anyway. PJ's bound to know when something is off; he can read Dan better than the average person, especially if they are people he has never met them before. That's sort of how he works; the more PJ knows someone, the easier it is to sense things.

The rest of the morning seems to go too quickly and it's not long before Dan finds himself walking the familiar paths among the school halls. Usually he meets Chris and PJ before class, but he's been distracted all morning and if he takes any longer he isn't even going to make it to class in time. Besides he'd rather discuss this whole situation at lunch rather than the 10 minutes that the three of them usually have before class.

Dan takes his usual seat; middle row by the window. Generally the window seat enables Dan a sort of weird sense of freedom. It's less confining than the other areas within the classroom and once he finishes his work, looking outside is a sort of distraction from everything else. He gets a strange sense of satisfaction as he watches the grass move and the leaves fall. It's almost like he's doing it himself. Dan' not though, because the number one rule is to not use abilities in public; of course that doesn't stop him from feeling like he can, imagining himself moving the littlest things. No one would notice that the leaves swirl just that little bit more in the wind. Dan almost bets that no one would even notice them swirling without any wind at all.

He pulls out his notebook, intent on not being distracted today. He has had more than enough time to think and for once, concentrating on his studies seems a lot better than having any more time to contemplate everything else.

First period flows by thanks to his teacher's immense work load and before Dan knows he's sitting in a similar seat for his next class. English Lit isn't exactly what Dan would say is his favourite class but it seemed a lot better than some of the other options. Besides, he's always had an interest in words; taken a sort of pride in articulating the English language with a wide vocabulary that surprisingly, not many teenagers his age use. The rest of the students filter in and Dan pulls his gaze from the window, focusing on the front of the class.

It's then he notices something's different. He gets this itching feeling, like he can feel something, someone looking at him. It crawls up his spine and makes him shiver. He frowns slightly, looking to the side of the class whilst shifting in his seat. Dan's eyes widen slightly as he takes in a familiar shape. Black hair cut in a similar fashion to Dan's own and vibrant blue eyes, which are just as wide as Dan's own in disbelief.

Dan tremors in his seat slightly; it's definitely the boy from last night. The image is burned into his head, swirling round on repeat. He pulls his gaze away, turning back to the front of the class, fists clenching at his desk. He doesn't know how to feel, or more importantly what to think.

He hasn't even seen this guy before and all of a sudden he shows up in his class after witnessing last night's events. A small burst of anxiety fills his chest. If he told someone, Dan could be in a lot of trouble. Of course, maybe no one would believe him. The scenario isn't exactly something that the average person would ever come across.

Dan resists the urge to turn back around and look at him, focusing on the front of the class room instead. He takes deep breaths, calming himself down in the process.

"Is everything okay, Dan?" Mrs Whitburn asks at the front of the class. Dan almost wants to face plant into the desk. If the raven haired guy didn't know Dan's name before, he definitely does now.

"Uh-yeah, I'm fine." Dan replies, pulling himself together and picking up his pen. He almost wants to kick himself. He should have said he was sick and insisted on leaving class; but of course he didn't think of that. Then again, maybe it would seem like yesterday's events didn't mean anything. That Dan won't let this boy get to him. Dan doubts it though, but judging by the boy's reaction he hadn't exactly expected to run into Dan again either.

The rest of the class goes agonizingly slowly and Dan has to consciously stop himself from looking backwards more than once. When the bell for break sounds, Dan wastes no time to scoop up his books and almost runs for the door. He makes it out of the classroom before anyone else does.

:::

"Dan?" PJ's voices rings out and Dan's head snaps in his general direction. PJ can tell already that something isn't right. Dan's sure that he practically radiates apprehension by this point. "What's wrong?"

Chris follows closely beside him, eyebrows raised. "I don't have to be able to gauge moods or emotions to know something's got you all twisted."

Dan isn't exactly sure where to start. "There's a guy here, who sort of saw me using telekinesis."

There's a pause of silence and Dan almost wants to melt into the ground. He almost doubts this situation could get any worse.

"Fucking what?" Chris proclaims, followed closely by a more sensible response from PJ, "what do you mean, saw you using telekinesis?"

Dan takes a deep breath and points to the ground beside him, indicating for the others to sit next to him. "I was walking home last night and I'm not even sure how it happened. But there were three guys who attacked me; they chased me into this alleyway. One of them had a knife and I didn't exactly have a choice. When it was over there was this guy practically pinned against the wall and he'd seen the whole thing."

"Jesus, Dan." Chris mumbles and suddenly Dan feels all the apprehension and stress drift out of him. He is completely positive that it is PJ's doing. He's never been so thankful for PJ's gift before.

PJ stares at him, in the sort of fashion he does when he's thinking. "How come you didn't call us or something? God, you could have been seriously hurt. We could have stayed the night or something. You must have been terrified."

"I dunno, I wasn'texactly thinking straight."

Dan is now though; he feels more relaxed than he has in a while, PJ is literally peeling all his worry away. If only he could remove Dan's problems as well. To be honest, Dan would probably start swearing at this point; he has a bad habit in general, but at the moment all his worry is pretty much non-existent.

"What happened to the guys that attacked you?" PJ asks.

Dan leans back on his hands, stretching his feet out on front of him, "knocked them unconscious with the dumpster the guy was hiding behind."

"You moved a dumpster?" Chris questions, his voiced filled with some kind of awe. His eyes are wide and he stares at Dan a little in disbelief. "That's kind of awesome and a little bit badass."

"Chris," PJ says a hint of warning in his tone.

Chris shrugs, "It kind of is, though. Have you ever moved something like that before? With enough force to knock someone unconscious, let alone three people."

Another small silence fills the air and PJ frowns slightly. "He's right, actually."

"Of course I am," Chris mutters somewhat triumphantly and Dan almost chuckles when PJ rolls his eyes.

"It was weird. I didn't even really think; it just sort of happened." Dan states, running a hand though his hair. He can remember it clearly. The force of power that pushed through his body had been stronger than he had ever felt before. He felt for once like he didn't need to worry about control. He felt like he could have ripped down a building at the moment, power surging though his veins.

"What about the other guy? The one who saw you?" PJ asks, however Dan has no idea how to really answer.

"I'd never seen him before; at least, I don't think I have." Dan replies and it's not his greatest response. But for some reason, he can't exactly shake the feeling that he does know this guy.

"You don't think?" Chris asks, giving Dan a look like he has more than one head. Dan thinks that is probably an accurate response, after all, this whole situation ispretty unbelievable.

"No I mean, I feel like there is something familiar about him but it's probably nothing. It all happened so quickly that I'm probably just getting confused."

PJ nods and pulls the sleeves of his jumper down. "I don't really know what you should do. I suppose you should just pretend like it never happened and pray that you never come across any of them again."

Dan's shoulders slump down. "The guy who saw it is in my English Lit class."

"Well, fuck." Chris says and Dan's sure he speaks on behalf of all of them.

:::

The rest of the day goes smoothly and somehow Dan feels like the entire situation has lifted off his shoulders. He feels less heavy, like the weight of the past 24 hours has shifted. He doesn't have another class with the mystery boy, much to his relief and even if he had, Chris shares two of his classes while PJ shares the other one.

Dan stumbles with the strap of his backpack, pulling them forward so it sits a little bit higher on his back. He has a fair bit of homework to do tonight, which he doesn't know whether to be happy or un-happy about. As long as he gets home safely, then anything is alright by him at this point.

PJ's advice had been to just ignore him. Act as though it never happened, because it isn't like any sane person would actually believe something like last night's events could actually happen. Dan's hoping that what he says will turn out to be true.

Dan moves towards the school entrance but as he reaches the gates, he soon regrets it.

He was standing there. Blue eyes and checked shirt, waiting for Dan to leave. Brown eyes lock with blue and suddenly, Dan knows it's too late.

He is so fucked.


Notes: Thanks to everyone for your lovely comments, favourites and follows. Next chapter things get a little more interesting ;)