Hate Me Closer (Phan)

Chapter Forty

The two teenagers were sat on Phil's double bed, with their legs under the covers and their backs against the sidewall. They had the Wii remotes in their hands, their knees up to their chests as they jumped around the 2D world.

It was late in the afternoon and Katherine was beginning to think about cooking dinner, but heard no signs from the boys who used to run down asking for food by six. She crossed her arms, leaning on the kitchen counter with a cup of coffee in her hands. Nigel walked through from the living room, turning on the kettle for himself as he asked, "Lost in your thoughts?"

She chuckled, nodding her head as she stood up, taking a sip from her drink, "Just...Phil, really. Dan of course, too, but I mean more Phil because he's our son. Constantly changing. It was bad enough when he was little, but now he's away for weeks at a time and he comes back and..."

"He's different?" Nigel asked, pouring the water into his mug.

She hummed, agreeing with her husband, "It's strange seeing him with Dan, too. Dan hated him and now, well, we've barely seen either of them since they came back. You'd think they'd be sick of each other, being in the same house at school and then coming home." she shook her head, letting her husband refill her cup, "Do you ever think we made the wrong decision sending Phil to boarding school?"

"But not Martyn?" Nigel questioned openly.

"Well, he loved it from day one. Phil's...quieter. Until Dan befriended him, he hated that school." she turned the oven on, letting it preheat.

"I think we've done alright." Nigel comforted his wife, standing on the other side of the counter, "What are they doing up there?"

"Playing on one of their consoles, I think." she chuckled, but she wasn't convincing herself. She furrowed her eyes slightly, shaking off her thoughts and taking a saucepan off the hooks.

***

"We can't beat it!" Dan complained, trying to bite on the remote as Phil pulled it away from him, "I SWEAR IT'S IMPOSSIBLE!" he let go of the remote, letting his friend put it to the side, "I give up."

Phil was cackling, his head leaning backwards slightly and only small sounds passing through his mouth, "It's possible, I swear." he breathed.

"Tell that to the last fucking hour!" Dan scrunched his nose, crossing his arms and pouting. He took a breath and relaxed, turning towards the older boy who was looking at him with a softness in his eyes. He hummed annoyedly, looking away from the expression that took the words from his mouth, but he turned back around when he felt Phil's hand on his left hip. He rolled his eyes, smiling up as he took the black-haired boy's shoulders in his fists and pulled him towards himself, enjoying how their lips felt as they moved so fluidly together.

He pulled away for a moment, kicking back the duvet as Phil complained, "You're making us stop."

"I'm coming back." Dan chuckled, holding his palms on Phil's neck until the bedsheets were out the way and he could shuffle his leg over his friend's lap, "I was just doing this." he giggled.

"Okay." the older boy agreed, but he took Dan's back in his hands and clumsily pushed his back down into the bed, so he was knelt between the helpless teenager's legs and staring down at his softened features from above, "But I'm just doing that."

"Shut up." Dan sighed, lifting his neck so their lips could collide again.

After a moment Phil muttered, "I can't keep myself up like this." his weight was on his elbows as he was kissing Dan from above.

He was about to kneel upwards when the other boy tightened his grip around him, pulling him down onto his body so their fronts rested against each other, "Then stay here." Dan whispered, enjoying holding Phil on top of him, the weight of his friend pushing him into the bedsheets.

They heard footsteps up the stairs, so they exchanged a fearful glance before scrambling away from each other, taking back their remotes and continuing to play on the Wii as though Phil's bed sheets hadn't been push off of the bed.

Katherine opened the door, smiling as she glanced in, "Dinner's ready." she told them, "Is all of your washing in the laundry basket down the hall, both of you?" they both nodded, swallowing the saliva in their mouths and grinning innocently. She hummed, "Right. Well, come down as soon as you can."

The second the door was shut, their mouths were pressed together once again, swearing to themselves they were addicted to it, before they pulled away at the same time without exchanging a word, "We should go down." Dan murmured, his lips upturned.

"Let me just fix your hair." Phil laughed, combing it out with his fingers and then standing upright, "We really should be revising this holiday."

Dan rolled his eyes, leading his friend out of the door as he mumbled, "I've got something more interesting to spend my time on."

"I know that one." Phil's voice dropped as they approached the stairs, "Because I've got something more interesting to be doing."

Dan squeaked, hitting the older boy with his sleeve on the shoulder. They trudged their way into the dining room, where Nigel was already sat with a drink, "Something just arrived, Dan." he smiled, pointing to a side table where a large envelope sat.

Dan furrowed his eyebrows, walking over to the cardboard with massive "DO NOT BEND" letters printed on it in bold. He looked up at Katherine as she entered the room, smiling at him hopefully. He looked at Phil who watched him with an intensity he wouldn't forget, nor would he want to.

He took the cardboard off of the side and unfolded the envelop, pulling out a cream piece of card that he stared at for a moment, reading the contents of it, "I didn't think I'd get this until I was back at school."

"Looks like they sent it out because it's the holiday." Katherine smiled, "What did you get?"

"A merit." he grinned, "I got grade five." he couldn't hide his smile and all he wanted to do was throw his arms around Phil and scream. But, instead, he took in a breath and handed it to Katherine, letting her and Nigel take a look at it.

While they did, Dan stepped closer to Phil, their eyes locking as the older boy raised his eyebrows and grinned. They both looked away, sighing as they took their places at the table.