Hate Me Closer (Phan)

Chapter Forty-Four

Dan's hands were against the piano, leading how the notes sounded against the keys as Katherine stood in the doorway, "Do you two want to help with dinner? I'm doing a spaghetti and need some veg cut up." she smiled, watching her son watch the boy they'd brought home.

"Sure." Dan agreed, instantly stopping his music and turning around. He looked at Phil, widening his eyes as if to warn him out of his gaze.

"Yeah!" Phil nodded, standing up and walking towards his mother. She led them through, both of them washing their hands before they ran the vegetables under the cold water.

"Just cut them up how you want, I'll get the sauce going." she grinned, "Did you cook much with your parents, Dan?" she asked, "I supposed you were too young."

"Not really." he shook his head, "I baked with Grandma, but I'd be stranded at college in student halls with no knowledge about how to cook more than rice and raw veg."

"How do you cook rice, then?" she quizzed him, throwing the tomato passatas into a saucepan.

"Well...you just fry it." he assumed. He pouted when Kath let out a cackle, shaking her head at the fifteen-year-old.

"No." she corrected, "You boil in in water, and make sure the water doesn't evaporate out. About fifteen minutes." she smiled, calling him over with his finger, "I'll actually teach you to cook some basic meals. Look, all I've done is put the hob onto high, two passatas into a saucepan. You'll only need one if it's just you and that'll probably give you a meal for the next day, too. When it starts to boil-"

"Bubble?" Dan asked.

"Yes. Boil. Then turn it down to medium and let it simmer. Once it's here, add the onion, garlic, vegetables, salt and pepper, the meatballs. Keep stirring it occasionally, but the sauce is done. Now, when it gets to simmer, you also need to boil the kettle, pour it into a pan and get the spaghetti on to cook it for ten minutes." she smiled at Dan, seeing her son appreciatively look over the other boy, "Got it?"

"Yes." Dan nodded, looking as though he was repeating it in his head, "Thank you."

"It's my pleasure." Kath smiled, passing him the plastic spoon, "I'll leave you two to it, then." she stifled back her laugh at the two boys' doe-eyed faces, walking out the room as she chuckled, "I'll only be in here."

"Wait!" Phil cried out, "You're serious?"

"Of course. You're sixteen." Kath pushed.

"Dan's fifteen, though..." he quietly complained.

"I have some words to put in if you start that argument." she raised her eyebrows, crossing her arms, "And I think the authorities would be more interested in my claims." she walked away from the bomb wreckage she left in the room, taking her seat on the sofa and turning on the TV.

"She knows." Dan very quietly muttered.

"Oh, she does." Phil nodded, "But it means if I do this..." he was standing beside him, only having to move his head to tilt his lips against Dan's for them to kiss, "then it won't be a surprise to her."

"Would be to your brother and dad." Dan pointed out, although he wanted the older boy's lips against his again.

"Martyn will be gone in a few days." he sighed, "And I doubt Mum's held back her gossip."

The two boys worked at the kitchen counters until they had five plates served, twenty minutes later. Katherine came in as she heard them serving, grating cheese on top of them and helping the boys carry them to the table. The family sat around, an extra chair propped at the end as Phil's mum announced her pride, "Courtesy of Dan and Phil, tonight."