Phil is awoken by a ray of light pouring through the crack in the window. of course the first thing he does is roll over and check his phone. one text from PJ
[PJ]-9:43
Want some breakfast from McDonalds?
it was only received 2 minutes ago, so Phil taps a quick reply.
[Phil]-9:45
Coffee and a McMuffin thanks :)

As he walks into the living room, he spots something out of the corner of his eye. An envelope. Dans from last night. Even though he knows that Dan was obviously very private about this letter, his curiosity got the better of him and he found himself walking over to the envelope and picking it up. He twirled it around in his fingers a few times. Before he knew what was happening, his hands reached inside and scooped up the letter.

Listen faggot, I don't care if we were born from the same parents, you're no brother of mine. I'm warning you, don't you ever come home, unless you want to relive what happened in year 10?

'How could someone say that to him?' Phil thought. 'Being gay is not different from being straight, except its same gender!'
Not really knowing what to do, Phil slides it back in its envelope. His thoughts rushed through his mine like a flock of unicorns. Questions filled his brain.
Was that his brother?
Why was he so horrible?
Why did he want to keep this a secret?

He was ripped from his thoughts by a knock at the door. He groans and stands up to open it.
'Coffee and a McMuffin, you're majesty!' PJ mock bows as Chris hands Phil his breakfast. He took it gratefully and gestured for the boys to come in. They all wandered inside. Then Chris receives a text.

[Emma]-10:01am
I'm so sorry Chris! I've been busy! Come over this afternoon, And we can have a catch up!

Chris smiled down at his phone. The last time he saw Emma was when Oliver was 3, so 2 years ago now!
'Whats gotten you so happy all of a sudden?' PJ chuckles, not used to seeing his best friend so happy. Chris smiled even wider.
'Emma! She's invited me over this afternoon! I gotta go!' And with that, he was gone. PJ looked over at Phil, who just shrugged and walked to the sofa.
'Get the plates out, Peej, I'm gonna see if Dans awake' PJ looked at Phil warningly.
'I wouldn't if I were you. When he's woken up he goes a bit cuckoo!' PJ raises his hand to this head and spins his hand in a circular motion, but his sleeve slips up and Phil spots something.
'PJ, come here a sec?' Phil says quietly. PJ walks over to him.
'Now hold your hand out' The green eyed boy slowly moves his hand towards Phil, shaking. Phil grabs his hand and pushes the sleeve up.
'What is this PJ?!' Phil points at the many lacerations, dancing up PJs arm. 27 angry red marks.
'PJ Liguori. Shirt off. NOW.' PJ removes his shirt, hands shaking, tears streaming down his face. More cuts. 56 little lashes, 6 long, deep cuts and 4 big, red, blistered burn marks. A small tear rolls down the black haired boys face.
'PJ why?' PJ falls to the ground, sobbing. Phil kneels down next to him and wraps his arms around the younger boy. They sit there for about 5 minutes, PJ sobbing, Phil rubbing circles into his back.
When PJ stops crying, he looks up at Phil, whose face is full of remorse and regret.

*Phils POV*
I look down at the boy crying on the floor. His arms are covered in scars, his body covered in burns. Did I do this? All of a sudden all of my feelings from when we first met come flooding back. A wave of emotions that I can't control. Without really contemplating the what, why and how, I lift his chin up and kiss him. Unlike the first time, where it was awkward and unintentionally gross, this time it feels good. It feels almost right. Like I was meant to be here, kissing PJ. Then he pulls away. I open my eyes to see his green ones staring at me. He looks confused.
'But- but you said- and then- what?' I smile at him. His face drops.
'I don't want your pity. I don't want you to date me because you feel guilty for this happening. I want this because its real' I don't know why, but I all of a sudden have a craving to kiss his perfect pink lips.
'If it wasn't real, why would I do this?' I kiss him again, this time with more passion, more feeling. And this time, he kisses me back.
*Warning, slight smut. I'm not good at this, and if your awkward reading it, skip to the next set of stars, it won't affect the plot line*
My tongue traces along his bottom lip, requesting entrance. He happily grants it, and my tongue hungrily explores his mouth. My hand finds its way up his shirt and I massage his chest lightly. Our tongues battle for dominance, as he begins to unbutton my green checkered shirt. I remove his quickly and we lay down on the floor. I can feel a bulge growing in my jeans as our hips grind together, in perfect harmony with our kiss. I can feel his doing the same. My mouth trails from his mouth to his neck, placing little kisses on every piece of available skin on his way. I never realised I wanted PJ so bad until now. When I reach his neck, I nip and suck, leaving a small bruise in place. My hands travel down to the waistband of his boxers, which were hanging ever so slightly out of his jeans. I fiddle with the button, and eventually get the jeans off. I see the tent in his boxers. He looks down at me, whimpering, waiting for me to do something. I place my hand on his crotch and begin rubbing, softly at first, then harder. He moans softly. Then there is a knock at the door.

*Almost-smut over. It was bad, I'm surprised you even got through it if you did*

'Shit' is all I could say. I mean, thinking about it, maybe it was a bit impulsive, but now there is someone at the door and PJ is just in his boxers, and I don't have time to Put my shirt back on. PJ runs into my room, and I just answer the door without a shirt, hoping he won't notice my fairly obvious boner.
'Grandma, grandma, grandma' I think to myself as I open the door to reveal a very smiley Dan.
'Your topless and you have sex hair. Who's here?' I feel my cheeks flush.
'Is it Carrie' My cheeks go redder, and I try to straighten out my hair.
'Ah okay, so where is she now?' He laughs at me. I just don't know what to say.
'Anyway, I was hoping we could spend today together like we were going to last week?' I nod.
'Sure, come on it' I let him in awkwardly, silently hoping that PJ doesn't make a sound. I see him looking at something on the other side of the room. PJ's jeans. He was wearing the same jeans as me.
'So, if you're wearing your jeans, whose are those? I don't think Carrie would be wearing mens skinny jeans' then there was a sound from my bedroom.
'Oh, so 'Carrie' is in here is she?' He walks over to the door.
'No!' I shout, jumping over the sofa to Dan. Then he spots PJ's shirt in the corner.
'Hey, PJ has a shirt like-' then he gasps. My face goes red again.
'Oh my god! Oh my god! You did it with PJ!' He shouts, giggling and running round the apartment. I can almost feel PJ's embarrassment through the wall.
'Well, not technically. I mean, uh, no?' He laughs at me. He knocks lightly at my bedroom door.
'PJ? Are you in there?' Grab him by his collar and clap my hand over his mouth. He licks it.
'Ew, that's disgusting!' I say, wiping my now wet hand on his face.
'Gross! Phil!' He complains, but I just laugh at him. He grabs the totoro that is sat on the sofa and hits me with it.
'Ow! Dan!' We laugh and mess about as if we've been friends for years. I almost forget about PJ.
'Go into the kitchen, ill be back in a Sec.' I grab PJ's clothes and run into my room. PJ is sat on the bed.
'Im sorry Peej, I completely forgot, here are your clothes, get dressed quick and we'll get you out whilst Dan is in the kitchen' he nods and gets dressed quickly.
'Oh, and PJ?' He looks up at me, his emerald eyes sparkling.
'Will you, uh, be- be my, uh' I say awkwardly.
'I'd love to!' We share one more passionate kiss before exiting the bedroom. Luckily Dan isn't there. We walk quickly and silently to the front door, and there, waiting in the hallway, is Dan.
'I told you to wait in the kitchen!' He laughs at me again.
'And miss the embarrassment on PJ's face? I don't think so!' Sure enough, PJ looks absolutely horrified. I can't help but laugh at him.
'He has a point though Peej, you do look pretty funny' he gives me the death glare.
'Not funny! You know how much I hate being embarrassed!' I laugh at him and pull him into a tight hug.
'Don't worry, Dans just being an idiot!' He smiles at me.
'Well I better go, I need to shower!' We wave him off and he gets into the lift.
'Well, that was eventful. Coffee?' I ask him as he follows me back into my apartment. I bustle around in the kitchen, making coffee and getting some biscuits.

We spend the rest of the afternoon playing sonic - which he is really good at - and Crash Bandicoot, and eating chocolate popcorn (my favourite thing ever) and just getting to know each other better. I find out that Dans birthday is the 11th of June, his favourite sweets are malteasers, his middle name is James, he's been gay since he was fifteen, he has an older brother called Adrian, who he's never really gotten along with (this must have been the guy who sent the letter) and his favourite band is Muse.
I tell him all about myself, how my birthday is January 30th, my middle name is Michael, favourite sweets are cadburys chocolate popcorn, been bi since I was 12, I have an older brother and how my favourite band is also Muse. Now that we've gotten to know each other a little better, we've suddenly gone from strangers to best friends in the space of 3 hours!
'What do you want for lunch?' I ask him, searching for some form of food in the empty cupboards.
'Never mind, ill get a takeaway. Pizza or Chinese?'
'Pizza. Meat feast' I pick up the phone and order a large meat feast pizza and a bottle of pepsi from dominoes.
'I need to go shopping' I say.
'Wanna watch a movie?' He looks up at me, nodding.
'Go choose one!' I tell him, pointing at my massive DVD collection. He looks at all the DVD's I is before deciding on Love Actually. My secret favourite film.
'This is my favourite movie! Don't tell Chris or PJ though, they'll take the piss!' I look at him, surprised that we have that in common.
'Its my favourite too!' I place the DVD and we sit on opposite ends of the sofa. My feet are cold, so I pull the blanket from the back of the sofa over them. Dan puts his feet under it too.
After about half an hour the pizza comes. I get up and grab my wallet from the side, and open the door. Stood there is a fairly tall girl with long, dark blue, frizzy hair. She smiles at me, and hands me the pizza. I pay her, and just as I'm about to close te door she stops me.
'I'm sorry, I don't mean to be unprofessional but I'm Jade, and I was wondering if you wanted to go out for coffee sometime? You could give me your number?' I shift from foot to foot awkwardly.
'Or I could give you mine?' She pulls card out of her pocket. Then Dan comes up behind me and puts his hands round my waist.
'Honey, what's taking so long? I'm hungry!' She looks at us, first at me, then at Dan, then back at me.
'I'm so sorry! I'll just...yeah' she walks away quickly, and I shut the door.
'Thank you so much Dan! I hate saying no to people! Oh my God did you see her face?!' We burst into fits of laughter, giggling like maniacs. Is it weird that having Dans arms round my waist was strangely compelling?
'Don't tell PJ about that, he'll kill me' Dan says sternly. Then we laugh again.
'In the whole twelve years I've known him, he's barely said boo to a goose!' I say between laughs. 'Right, pizza?'
We sit on the sofa, just chatting about nothing, stuffing our faces with pizza, whilst Love Actually plays on in the background.
'Wow! It's only 3 o'clock!' Dan says as the film finishes. I look at my phone.
'God! I thought it was later!' We sit on the sofa, silence filling the room.
The sound of Muse coming from my phone indicates that Chris is phoning me. I have a different ringtone for all of my friends.
'Hello?'
'Right, is Dan with you? If he is, go into your room' I do as I'm told, apologising to Dan on my way. As soon as my door closes, Chris begins talking very quickly down the phone.
'Phil, I just got a text from Dans brother, I don't think he meant to send it to me, but it said this.
'I'll be at yours at 6pm, faggots like you new to be taught a lesson' that doesn't even make sense? I think it may have been for Dan, and Dans brother is really big and scary and I'm worried!' I think back to that letter.
'How long have you and Dan known each other?' I ask.
'About a year?'
'How about Dan and PJ?'
'Well, their parents went to school together, and have always been really close friends. Their whole life, I think?' Perfect.
'Okay thanks for letting me know. I'll call you later' I hang up and dial PJ's number.
'PJ! You've known Dan your whole life, correct?'
'Yeah, why?'
'Year 10. Anything significant happen?' There was a pause.
'Uh...why?'
'Listen Peej, it's vital that I get this information'
'Well we went to different schools so I don't know what actually happened, but from what Dan told me, his brother got loads of his mates to beat him up' I gasp.
'Thank you PJ, that's so helpful! Is Dans brother homophobic? Is there any reason they didn't get along?' Another 10 seconds of silence. Then PJ breathes in.
'Dans brother is gay, but he never told Dan. Well, I don't know if he still is but he was. He only ever told his best friend, who at the time was me. I told Dan, because I felt like he deserved to know, and Dan told their parents. Dan was fifteen and Adrian was 16 at the time, and it was just after Dan came out. Adrian wasn't very happy about Dan telling their parents, so that's how the fight happened.' There's just one thing that doesn't quite add up.
'So if Adrian was gay, why did he call Dan a faggot in the letter?' I clap my hand over my mouth.
'Letter? You read Dans letter?!' Whoops.
'I was curious. It said 'listen faggot, don't come home unless you want a repeat of year 10' and something about how Dan was no brother of his' PJ takes a small breath in.
'Well, I better go, I'll speak to you later Peej. Thanks again!' I press the Hang up button and go back into the living room. Dan is staring down at something on his phone. I can't really make out what his facial expression is, but swear i see a tear roll down his cheeks.
'Phil! I'm gonna go now, i got a lot to do' I look at the clock. 3:47pm.
'Okay Dan, I'll see you later.' He exits my apartment, and wave goodbye. I watch him get in the lift and as soon as he is, I get my phone out and phone PJ again.
'I need you at my apartment at 5:30. Don't ask questions, just do it' then I hang up. I phone Chris and say the same thing.
'But I'm at my sisters house!' I sigh guiltily. I know how much he missed his sister.
'Please Chris, I need you!' I hear him sigh down the phone.
'Fine!' I hang up. I have an hour and a half, so I decide to got and get a milkshake. The closest shake-away is only round the corner. I grab my coat, keys, phone and wallet and exit the apartment.
The cool air hits my face, and I relax. The walk to the shop is quite calm.
I approach the shop and there is only one other person in there. I place my order of Oreo and Daim bar and wait.
'Hey, you're Phil right?' The other boy asks me.
'Yeah. I don't mean to be ignorant but do I know you?' He chuckles.
'No, you don't. I'm Charlie. I was in the hospital with my mum when you were. I heard them say your name and I saw you walk out so I assumed that was your name' i smile at him.
'Well, nice to meet you Charlie!' The person at the counter puts my drink up and I pay.
'Well, bye!' We smile at each other and wave politely.
I walk back to my apartment, sipping on my milkshake as I walk. I get back at 4:32. An hour until everyone turns up. I don't really know what to do. I try and watch TV, and play Sonic, and read my book, but nothing will take my mind of what's gonna happen. 5:04. I shift in my seat, watching the clock ticking. The little hand going round and round. Just like my head. Thoughts spinning round and round, making me dizzy. I put my headphones in, hoping that a bit of Muse will clear my head. At least for a while.
The little hand shifts on to the 6. That means its now 5:30. Right on cue, there is a knock at the door.
'Come in!' I shout, and in comes PJ. He walks over to me and pulls me into a hug.
'Why did you want me over?'
'I'll tell you when Chris gets here' then the front door opens again.
'Hi guys! So why did you force me away from my sisters house to here?' I shift awkwardly.
'Well, Chris, read this letter' I hand him the letter that Dan dropped here. He reads it, and his mouth drops in shock.
'What happened in year 10' PJ explains the whole thing again.
'So we're here to protect Dan, yes?' I nod.
'Lets wait right downstairs, try and stop him from coming in at all'
We all exit my apartment and go down in the lift. We all wait downstairs, just outside the apartment block. We stand there for 20 minutes, all chatting, trying to calm our nerves, when a big silver car pulls up in front of us. A boy gets about, about 22. Really tall and well built. You can tell by his face that he's Dans brother. I look over at PJ. He steps forward.
'Adrian! Hi!' He smiles as convincingly as he can, and Adrian smiles back.
'Hi PJ, it's been a while!' I look over at Chris, and I can tell by his face that he's angry. He steps forward, and before I can stop him he's yelling at Adrian.
'That text you sent to me! You think I wouldn't tell anyone! You threatened my best friend! I oughta kill you right here right now!' Adrian laughs.
'You? Are you sure about that?' I look at this man, he doesn't look strong, just big.
'So how about you?' He looks at me. 'Who the hell are you and what do you have to say?' I really wish I hadn't done this now.
'Uh, I'm Phil. Apparently you've been threatening Dan and I really think you shouldn't' he laughs at me. It's weird, I'm four year older, he shouldn't intimidate me as much as he does.
'And what are you gonna do about it?' He pushes me lightly.
'Please no fighting, I'm a strong pacifist' he looks at me with disgust.
'Oh, so you're a faggot just like my brother?' I look up and all of a sudden I am filled with adrenaline.
'No more than you! Not my fault you're in denial' he punches me square in the face. I stagger backwards, not letting a single tear fall down my face.
'There was no need for that Adrian! Come on!' PJ yells and grabs my hand. I can feel the blood running down my nose, but it doesn't sway me.
'So if your gay, why did you call Dan a faggot? Must mean you're a faggot yourself then?' I instantly regret saying it. He punches me again, and then kicks me in the...painful parts. I groan in pain and fall to the floor. He kicks me in the stomach and again on the face.
'Stop it! Stop it now!' Chris yells, pulling Adrian away. He kicks and yells, but Chris doesn't let go.
'Get off me! Get off!' Chris let's go, and punches him on the side of his face. He shouts in pain. Chris raises his fist again, but Adrian stops him.
'Not again, please! Ill go! Please just don't hit me again!' He runs back and gets in his car.
'Don't start fights you can't finish!' Chris shouts as Adrian drives away.
'Pussy' PJ shouts, and we all laugh.
'He's all talk! I don't think anyone's ever done that before, always too scared!' Chris looks pleased with himself.
'Come one, lets get you cleaned up!' We all get into the lift.
As we approach my floor, Dan is there waiting.
'Phil, I think I left my...WHAT HAPPENED?!' He yells, running straight over to me.
'He found out about Adrian and stopped him from coming up and getting you' I try and smile, but my lips hurt too much.

*Dans POV*
I can't believe this. He's all beaten! He did this for me? He took a beating...for me? Why would he do that? Nobody has ever done something that sweet for me! Even old boyfriends, they've never been so sweet. PJ is a very lucky boy for having Phil as his boyfriend. I'm happy for him. I really am. And not at all jealous. Nope.

Okay, I'm a tad jealous.

Meant to be a cliffhanger. Could you tell? Never mind. This took me FOREVER to type out! Its the longest chapter yet! over 4000 words! Don't worry, I will do the part about Emma and Chris in the next chapter! Hope you enjoyed! R&R for potato friends! (You'll get that if you watch LukeIsNotSexy) Love and kisses!

~Georgie'xo~