Chapter 25: Don't let me lose him.
They walked hand in hand past the houses and Dan glanced up at the sky. "Phil, we better hurry up or we're going to look like we've gone for a swim." Phil glanced up at the sky to and grinned quickly before squeezing his hand. They both sped up, glancing up at the darkening sky now and then. It was a grey, flat and dull sky, contrasting the brightness of the houses. They were proper houses; ones that made you think that nothing could go wrong in there. Of course that was rubbish, and both boys knew it. They'd both lived in houses like those once. Phil stared at some of the houses and broke the silence with a sigh. Dan glanced over at him, and putting on his best Miss Miles voice said "Tell me whats on your mind." Phil chuckled and then replied "It's just… It's going to be weird living in a place like those again. It'll be so… calm!" Dan giggled and asked "Isn't that a good thing?" Phil stayed quiet for a long time before replying "I don't know. I'm so used to it." He sighed and continued "It'll just be different I guess." Dan nodded and said, trying to comfort him "You'll settle down with someone, have loads of kids." Phil stared at him, stopping in the middle of the street. After a few seconds he started walking again, but he still stared at Dan, one eyebrow raised. "Dan, I'm going to have to live in a silent house for a while, considering you don't get out for another two years." Dan sighed, but didn't say anything.
He'd been feeling insecure about that for a while now. He couldn't stop thinking about Phil's friend, PJ, and how he stopped visiting. Would Phil really want to stay with Dan once he left? He'd be meeting new people, he'd realise Dan wasn't good enough. He'd meet someone his own age. Even if he didn't, he wouldn't want to have to come to the care home all the time to visit. He wouldn't want to have to see his boyfriend in certain hours. He was going to want to move on with his life, he was going to leave Dan behind. It was so close now; his time with Phil was running out so quickly.
Phil studied Dan's face, unsure about what he was thinking about. He looked distracted, and Phil could have sworn he saw a flash of pain in those beautiful chocolate pools. His eyes were normally so warm, so welcoming, but they just suddenly turned dull. He didn't say anything; he just thought to himself he'll tell me when he's ready. He tried to stop staring at him, to give him space to think. He glanced behind him instead. He saw a quick movement out of the corner of his eye, and he glanced back again. Weird he thought to himself. It looked like someone had darted into an alleyway between too houses. He was probably imagining things, but he brushed that thought of. He hadn't been imagining it. Probably someone going in through a side gate or something.
They were about 5 minutes away when Dan said quietly to Phil "Phil, is there somebody behind us?" his hushed whisper was so low that Phil could barely hear it, and that worried him. Dan was seriously scared. Phil glanced over his shoulder casually and saw what he assumed to be a man. He was walking with his head down, hands in his pockets. He was wearing dark jogging bottoms and a dark blue hoodie. Phil turned back and replied quietly "Yeah." He watched as Dan took a deep breath and asked quietly "What's he wearing?" Phil squeezed his hand before replying, trying to keep his voice low, "Dark trackies and dark blue hoodie." There it was again, that flash of fear in his eyes, and he whispered, voice trembling "Was there a yellow cuff on one arm of the hoodie?" Phil stayed quiet for a moment, thinking, picturing him in his head. After a minute, he nodded. He saw Dan stiffen reflexively, and then Dan whispered quickly, urgently "Limited edition. It's Owen. Get your phone out, call Dave. Stay on the phone to him till we get there. Don't walk any faster, and don't tell Dave whats wrong, he's not stupid, he'll know." Phil nodded quickly and removed his phone from his pocket.
Dan had heard the footsteps following them for about ten minutes, and he had become paranoid. Now he knew who it was, he felt his heart rate increase and his body tense, ready to run. Owen wouldn't have come on his own, the others were somewhere. He watched Phil remove his phone. Dan didn't know where the instructions he had just given had come from, but he knew he was right. Dave needed to know, but if they walked any faster Owen would realise they knew and Dan did not want to see how long it would take Owen to get the others. If Phil was on the phone at least Dave would know if something happened, and Dan and Phil wouldn't be left to cope on their own this time.
Phil placed the phone to his ear, and Dave answered after the first ring, giving Phil the impression he'd been waiting by the phone. He tried to keep his voice up beat and happy when he said "Hey Dave! We're under 5 minutes away, ok?" Dave sounded confused. "Ok?" he said, making it sound like a question. "Yeah, you told us to call so we thought we better."
Dave listened to Phil, and he realised quickly what was going on. He had told them to ring if they saw them, and that was exactly what they were doing. He asked urgently "Are they there Phil?" he heard Phil laugh at the other end and he replied "Yeah, that's a typical Oliver." Yes. He didn't need Phil to tell him, he could hear it in the laugh. Anyone else would have been fooled, but Dave had known Phil for years now. He could hear the strain in his voice. "Phil. I'm coming to get you. Keep walking and stay on the phone." Phil replied quickly"Uh-huh, Dan's test went fine. How was your day?"
They rounded the last corner and they could see Dave starting to walk out of the gate. They both waved, and Phil hung up the phone, sliding it into his pocket. They walked towards each other and met about a meter away from the gate. Dave spun on his heel almost comically and started walking back towards the house. None of them said anything. They had just walked through the gate when it happened.
"Hey Dan, Phil!" The trio spun round quickly, and Dan opened his mouth to speak, but someone else beat him to it. "So, it's safe to assume you're Owen?" Dave spoke loudly and clearly. Dan was shocked; he never knew Dave would do this. He didn't even sound scared! Owen removed his hood and raised an eyebrow before saying "You guess correctly, although I don't know how." Dave smirked slightly before replying "Well, you've been following them for a while, but haven't tried to hit them. So I assumed you've got to be the wimp." Owen returned the smirk and walked towards them briskly.
Phil wasn't listening to what was being said, he was too busy watching as people removed hoods and started crossing the road and walking towards them. It looked like something out of a bad horror movie. He heard Dave say loudly but calmly "You two, inside, now." Him and Dan both replied loudly "No!". He bought his focus back to the scene in front of him. Owen had also removed his hood, and he was stood less than 3 feet away. He watched, frozen, as Owen launched himself at Dan.
He didn't stay frozen for long.
He launched himself at the boy, and managed to knock him out of the way less than a second before he would have touched Dan. Owen was on the floor; Phil sat on top of him, breathing heavily. Why had Owen tried to hurt Dan? He didn't fight. Phil could tell why, he was weaker than Phil! Suddenly, he was yanked off.
Dan flinched as Owen leapt towards him, but no impact came. He opened his eyes to see a sight which chilled him. Phil was restraining him; Owen was lying on the floor. This wasn't what terrified him though. He knew that Phil wouldn't hurt him, not properly. He knew that he could look after himself against Owen. Well, he would be able to if it was fair, but it wasn't. He wasn't thinking about the others, the fact they were outnumbered. He was staring at the glint of metal in the weak sunlight.
Phil could take Owen.
He couldn't take a knife.
Dan did the only thing he could think of. He ran forward, grabbing Phil roughly by the shoulders and pulled him away as hard as he could. He dragged him backwards, his eyes never leaving the weapon. He hissed at the other two "Inside. He's got a knife."
Knife. For some reason Phil didn't feel scared, all he could think was huh, that's why he tried to attack Dan. Wait. He tried to attack Dan. With a knife. Oh god. What would have happened if he hadn't tackled him? He heard Dave telling them both to get inside. "No." he said straight away "I am not leaving you out here." Dave gave him a stern look and replied harshly "For once will you two do as I say? It's my job to protect all of you, and I can't do that if I'm trying to make sure you two don't get hurt." Phil watched in surprise as Dan nodded and turned to Phil quickly. "Come on Phil." Phil shook his head in disbelief. "You need to go Dan, I can't risk you getting hurt. I am not leaving Dave." Dan stared him in the eyes, and time seemed to slow down. He seemed to be staring into those pools for eternity. They didn't need to say anything, they both knew. Dan wasn't going to go in without Phil. Phil wasn't going in without Dan. They both wanted the other to go in for their safety. Phil sighed, and they both turned to face Dave. He smiled sadly at them both before saying "I knew you'd make the right decision, but I can't come in with you. I'm going to stand right outside the door, ok?"
Soon they were both being shoved inside and Dave slammed the front door behind them. They both turned around to find Sarah stood directly behind them, eyes wide. Phil suddenly found himself lurching back into action. "Sarah, do you know where Dave put the number of the police detectives?" she stared at him for a moment, shocked, before nodding. Without another word she walked away. Phil turned to Dan and said quietly "You stay here, watch and… help if you need to. Just make sure you don't get hurt, ok?" Dan nodded quickly before asking hoarsely "What are you going to do?" Phil smiled at him before saying "I'm going to find the others, get them all in one room, and make sure they're safe until this is over." They stared at each other for a moment.
What if I lose him? Don't be stupid. You're not going to lose him. They are not getting in the house. Everything will be fine.
Please don't let me lose him.
They pulled themselves together, and hugged each other tightly. Eventually they pulled away, and they turned away without another word. Dan wandered over to the window, and Phil darted up the stairs.
Both of the boys had silent tears dripping down their faces.