'NAT! You're gonna be late!" he shouts from the doorframe of the front door as he glances at his watch nervously. "Damn it, you know it's not nice, Nat!" Dan whines but as he looks up, he smiles widely. "Do you like the new clothes?"
His sister rolls her eyes but turns around in her pastel blue jersey and black flared skirt,
"Yes, they're awesome, but," she pauses, staring intently at him. Her green eyes show the smallest sign of worry, "Are you sure we can have them?"
"Nat, it's not so much," he explains, "we're able to afford that and, well," Dan smirks, "actually it's ours already. I've cut off the price tag so I don't think we could give it back to the shop."
Nat seems thoughtful for a while before a beautiful smile forms on her face. A smile of a happy teenage girl which Dan sees so rarely he feels proud from the achievement,
"Okay," she agrees, happy her brother isn't spending too much on her.
"You ready? Got your sheet music?"
He follows the girl with his eyes as she squeaks, hurrying into the apartment once again. There's a rustle of papers and movement and silence when-
"Got it!" she's at the door five seconds later, visible excitement and happiness written all over her face. All Dan's worries and exhaustion fade away at the sight before him and a quiet thought pops up in his mind, This is why it's worth fighting for.
"Okay, put on your shoes quickly. We're running late," he orders. They shouldn't be late, they should show up on time as the lady is kind and sweet enough to charge them only £20.
Dan expects to see a disappointed expression, the 'I trusted you and you lost my trust' face. Yet, when they're finally standing in front of a two-floor building with white door and wait for someone to answer, the face which greets them is nothing but what he imagined.
"Good morning, Ms Farwell!"
"Hello, young boy! I was afraid you wouldn't come," an elder lady speaks up, her smile welcoming and warm. "Come in, you two," she opens the door more and they walk into a white hall, a soft carpet under their feet. Dan looks around and his smile falters, the house is everything he would imagine a happy family would have.
And what we can't have, he thinks sadly.
There is an arch on his right leading to an open living room and stairs right before him. On his left stands a small table with a lamp and a vase with real flowers which give away their beautiful scent.
"This way," says the lady, guiding them into the living room. They sit on a flowery sofa and Dan can't help but feel how much his tattooed arms and oversized t-shirt stand out in such a clean and nice room. At least Nat has some rad clothes, he thinks as he looks over at the teen. Her eyes are taking in the colourful and warm atmosphere of the place.
Joy. It's written over her features. Her eyes shine brightly and in a childish way which makes him realise once again that she's only fifteen.
"Do you want some tea?" cuts off any of Dan's further thoughts and he shakes his head, moving on his place uncomfortably, trying not sink into the crease.
"No, thank you. I don't have much time, I have to leave for work," he explains. "So..." he starts after a while, "we spoke over the phone earlier but I want to make sure the price is still the same."
"Yes, it is," she smiles at him in a motherly way and Dan nods.
"Can I ask why you've decided to teach?" he can imagine Nat rolling her eyes at him right now, but the girl keeps her smile on, looking around the room curiously.
As much as the house doesn't look like some psychopath's, the price is surprisingly low looking at where the lady lives which raises Dan's suspicion. And he's not gonna just leave his baby sister in this place alone with someone he doesn't know.
Sophia has been teaching cello for as long as her memory reaches and she's met all kinds of parents over the years. The suspicious ones who'd demand to meet her children to make sure she has experience in cello, protective mothers hoping for their offspring to stay away from bad influences and find interest in the instrument, busy business men leaving their children and giving her extra tip only for her to take care of them for a few more hours, ambitious ones who would expect their children to play perfectly after the first lesson.
She has seen all kinds of parents but never has she seen someone so protective, caring and loving. The young boy called Daniel makes her wonder if he's the father or just a brother of the girl. If yes, what about their parents?
As Sophia explains to him that her children are all grownups now but she loves teaching too much and decided to start giving private lessons, the boy relaxes slowly, earlier sitting all rigid. She shows him photos of the ones she taught and a smile creeps on his face when she tells him little stories of how everyone thought one of her worst students wouldn't go anywhere but was admitted into Royal Academy of Music.
Though the appearance and clothes of the young man doesn't score much, he wins her sympathy with his honest smile and courtesy. Sophia would never think someone looking like a drug addict would turn out to be a very polite, sweet and caring young man.
Dan's nerves aren't settled, he's never calm when his sister isn't around but as he stands by the door he feels more at ease after getting to know Nat's teacher a little,
"I'll see you in a bit, sweetheart, act nice," he kisses Nat's head like she's a toddler and the girl nods. He says his goodbye to Ms Farwell, sparing one last glance at his sister. The teen gives him thumbs up and smiles as the door closes.
"You're what?!"
Dan rolls eyes at his friend's reaction. He should've thought of a different way to break this to Kevin.
"A model, Kev," he explains patiently, staring at the man lying on the other sofa. He's known him only for a year but damn, they both met when they had no one to go to. Dan just lost his job after his manager found out he was a minor and Kevin had only turned eighteen and decided to move out.
Kevin's eyes are closed and he's shaking his head in disbelief,
"A model..." he repeats blankly, waving his hand as though it's too hot in the room and Dan rolls his eyes at the spectacle.
"It's just a one time thing though. I don't have in plans to become a model," he spits out the world bitterly. "We need money now, more than ever," he adds.
Kevin's blue eyes shot open at that and he sits straight on the black, rigged sofa. His forehead wrinkles,
"I thought you have a job," he looks at Dan and the boy drops his gaze to the floor.
Dan rubs the nape at his neck nervously. He laughs bitterly,
"I have a job, Kev."
"Then, what's the problem?" he asks and Dan's tongue gets stuck in his throat as he thinks what he can tell and what he shouldn't.
"It's- he- I," he stutters out finally.
Kevin inspects his friend carefully. He smells a rat. Something is clearly wrong about the job.
"I..." Dan takes in a breath. "I told you what a blessing getting this job was," he starts and Kevin nods, sensing he's gonna hear something he would rather not hear. "Well, I was wrong," Kev cocks his eyebrow at Dan questioningly who lets out an exasperated breath, looking down at his feet.
"At first, it was all good. The job was fine, the payment was enough to rent a crappy place and afford books for Nat. My boss changed after a while though. He..." Dan bits his bottom lip. His hands start shaking slightly. "He started threatening me, cutting off my pay for the stupidest shit. I... I don't know why he's doing this," he finishes, hiding his head in his arms.
Kevin says nothing for a good minute, trying to combine some facts he noticed himself. He takes out his lighter and cigarette, lighting up the end and bringing it up to his lips. He draws on the cigarette for a while, focusing on his friend,
"So when you said lately you had no time to meet up it was-"
"Because my boss told me to come earlier to work," Dan fills in.
"But he paid you, of course?" he asks and when the brunette doesn't look up, Kevin only nods knowingly. "So he turned out to be a total douche," he sums up. "Did he do anything else besides taking advantage of your situation?"
Dan casts him momentary glances as he spills out all what happened recently in his life. He tells him how he stepped in between his arguing boss and co-worker and his boss hit him because of it. Kevin's eyes grow more and more angry as Dan confesses he's scared it won't end there,
"Fucking psycho," mutters Kevin, running a hand through his hair. His cigarette lays forgotten in the ash-tray. Dan sits in front of him in the armchair, massaging his temples. "You know you have to quit, right?"
"I know- I mean, no," Dan mumbles, looking up at him with tired eyes. "I know we need money and I know there aren't many people out there eager to give a job to a runaway minor with practically kidnapped sister."
Kevin examines him for a second. He looks exhausted with his droopy bloodshot eyes and slouched posture. Kevin would love to get his hands on the bastard who is the main cause of making his friend's life worse than it already is, but he's aware Dan will never tell him the name of his boss.
"It will happen again," Kev states, no trace of doubt in his voice.
"I know."
"He'll manipulate you more," he tries again.
"I can take it," Dan replies, stare firm.
"He's gonna cross more lines."
"I am aware of that."
They stare at each other in a silent agreement. Kevin knows Dan isn't gonna give up on the job because he needs the money. He understands him all too well. The boy can quit his job, practically kicking himself out of his flat or stand all the tortures Dick The Boss will give him until he turns eighteen. Which will happen in six months so it's not for such a long time.
Dan stares at Kevin stubbornly, reading off his face that he respects his decision.
"How are you?" he asks finally, breaking the eye contact.
He and Kevin used to rent this flat together until Dan found out a little bag with white powder in Kev's wardrobe. They argued, a lot. Dan was convinced Kev was a dealer and had a bad influence on Nat, and his friend had nothing to protect himself with. No matter how many times he repeated it was a one time thing, Dan didn't believe him and as soon as he got his first pay at the new job, he rented a new flat, his actual home. He visited Kevin a week later and when he found another package of white powder hidden in a book, sparks flew.
However, when Dan found out that Kevin was taking drugs as an escape from losing the only and closest person to family he had, Dan felt he had messed up as a friend. They made up and from that time, Dan often checked the place for any traces of drugs to avoid Kev getting back to old habits but so far, Kevin was clean.
"Old stuff, as always," he shrugs. "I found a part-time job at a cafe, it's enough to pay the rent," he smiles and Dan nods.
"What about your flatmate?" he looks around, noticing the lack of colourful posters which usually hang on every wall.
"He met a girl and lives with her now..." Kevin goes quiet suddenly. "You could move in, you know. I could help you with Nat."
Dan says nothing, contemplating. Of course they could move in and share the rent, but the biggest plus of their actual crappy home is that it's theirs.
No matter how comical it may sound, Dan likes the feeling of the words 'their own' in his mind. Though most of the stuff doesn't really belong to them, the same thought that they have something that is theirs, and only theirs creates a small, weak excuse of 'home' is comforting.
"I'll think about this," he tells and Kevin nods, though both of them know the answer.
They catch up with what's going on in their lives. Kevin met a charming girl at the cafe he works at, though he insists with might and main that nothing is between them. Dan laughs at that,
"When you get married, I wanna be your best man," Dan grins as he quickly ducks down to avoid being hit by the flying pillow.
He sticks his tongue out at his friend as Kev denies further,
"I only work with her! We're friends!"
"Yeah, right, right. Keep repeating that, maybe someone will believe you," says Dan, smiling from ear to ear. He squeaks when he needs to jump away from Kev's hand. Dan's smile only widens and Kevin rolls his eyes at him.
His phone dings suddenly and Dan takes it out to read the message. His forehead wrinkles and Kevin stares at the boy who suddenly face palms,
"I forgot I'm meeting with Phil today," he types a short reply, standing up from the sofa.
"Phil?" Kev wriggles his eyebrows at him, grinning.
"The photographer," he replies. Dan looks at his watch, "Shit, I'm gonna be late."
He puts on his jacket quickly and Kevin shouts after him as Dan goes to the door, "Your boyfriend?"
He hears nothing before Dan shows up in the room again,
"Shut up!"
Kevin's smile only grows, "Knew it!"
He laughs uncontrollably when the other shows him his middle finger,
"But when you get married, I wanna be your best man! Remember, Dan!"
He can hear Dan rolling his eyes at him as he mutters,
"You're crazy," before the door shuts close behind him. Kevin only responds with more laughter.
I usually update in the evening but we're going to a charity auction later and I doubt I'll have time, so here it is :D
Comments inspire a lot 3
