Be My Juliet [on hold]

Chapter 26

"Finally!” Dan yells as soon as the taxi pulls up to the curb.  He starts running towards me, picking me up into a spinning hug.  I bury my head into his neck, knees bending in the air.  “I’m so happy to see you,” he says into my hair.

“My turn,” Phil declares, grabbing me from behind.  I laugh as he spins me around, rocking me back and forth in a tight embrace.  “Let’s get you inside.”  He wraps an arm around my shoulders as Dan comes to my other side and holds my waist.

“Are you guys okay?” I ask, noting the way that neither has let go of me since we met up.

“No.” Dan says flatly, his grip tightening like a boa constrictor.  “We are both so immensely pissed off-“

“And we’re making up for all of the hugs you missed yesterday.” Phil interrupts. 

“I’m fine, really…” I say.  Both of them look down at me at the same time, the exact same look on their face that tells me that they know I’m lying.  “You know me too well.” I whisper, rolling my eyes as Dan opens the door for me and ushers me inside.  Almost instinctively I take a seat on the sofa, sprawling out my legs to rest on the coffee table in front of it. 

“So,” Phil starts, sitting in the place next to me, “how are you?”

“I told you.  I’m alright.”

“Don’t pull that shit with us Pen-“ Dan interrupts, sitting on my other side.  “We all know it’s not true.”  He grabs my hand, intertwining our fingers.  “Tell us what happened before.”

“I just had a bad rehearsal.  I’m fine.”  I stare deeply into his eyes, trying to convince him that I’m okay.  He looks like he’s about to murder Jess, but if I was able to control myself then none of this would be happening.  “I’m fine.” I repeat, my gaze now turning to meet Phil’s.

“Why?  What happened?  Why did you hurt yourself again?”  Dan continues, and my face drops.  Phil frowns, swallowing me into another hug.

“It’s okay, just tell us.  We want to help you.  We love you Pen.” Phil tells me, rubbing my back.

“It’s all my fault; I promised I wouldn’t but I just couldn’t stop myself. I needed to…” I start babbling, holding Phil tighter.

“It’s okay; we understand.  You didn’t break your promise, don’t think that you did- all you promised was that you’d call.  You did.  It’s okay.  Just talk to us.” Phil continues.

“It’s not okay.” I sit up, detaching myself from Phil.  “It’s really not okay.  I can’t keep doing this, but I can’t stop.”

“Please, just tell us what happened at rehearsal.  Maybe we can help fix it?” Dan asks, pulling my head to lean on his shoulder. 

“They noticed that I looked thinner, and needed to take my measurements.  They started talking under their breath right in front of me and were judging me and I couldn’t take it.  I’m so sorry.” I feel tears trickle down my cheeks, resurfacing from when I suppressed them at James’ house.  “I’m sorry.” I hide my face in Dan’s sleeve, wanting nothing more than to disappear and escape this situation.

“Hey…” Dan says, lifting up my chin.  “It’s alright.  No one said you’d stop altogether right Phil?”

“No, not at all.  You tried to call, which is what we want.  We just want you to be happier, Pen.”

“Exactly.  They shouldn’t have been talking about you like that in the first place.  It’s inconsiderate.  You’re allowed to be upset by that; I’d be upset about that.” Dan continues, wiping off the trails left by tears.  “Just try not to again?  We are here for you.  You can get through this, I promise.”

“I’ll try.  Thank you.” I force a grin, and look back at Phil and thank him. 

“We love you and hate seeing you sad, so we’ll help,” he tells me, reaching up to tuck a loose piece of hair behind my ear and flashing me a smile.

Outside, the rain suddenly starts coming down harder, splashing the streets and leaving designs of water droplets on the windows.  I hear the chaos of people trying to get to shelter, swearing as their heels click on the pavement.  “I say we have a stay-at-home day.” I note.

“Agreed.  What do you want to do?” the boys ask in unison.  I laugh as I sniffle up the remaining tears, asking if they want to bake.  They nod, and we all walk into the kitchen.  We quickly decide on making chocolate chip cookies, and start working.  We end up adding way too much sugar- we can tell when we take the very first bite.

“Alright, who was in charge of the sugar?” Dan asks, looking and me and Phil suspiciously.  I laugh as Phil points at me, even though we all know that was his job.  “Good going.” Dan smiles, tickling my sides.

“No, no!  Get away!” I laugh, running back into the lounge.  The boys follow, and as Dan starts tickling me again Phil goes to the game collection.

“Want to play a video game?” he asks.  We agree, pulling the cushions from the couch onto the floor to make a make-shift mattress to lie on.  I jump on, grabbing a controller as the boys settle which game to play because they already know I don’t care. 

We end up barely moving from that spot, playing a bunch of different games together.  The rain continues to pour down, so for lunch we scavenge what’s  leftover in the fridge.  We make snacks, but that really clears the house of food.  By the time dinner comes around, there was barely anything in the house.  “I say we try to make something… see what happens.”

“Alright,” Dan and I reply, opening the fridge and pantry.

“I found cookies, marshmallows, dry pasta…” I say, pulling everything out.

“There’s peanut butter, bread, cereal, Nutella….” Dan continues.

“And there’s butter, milk, eggs and various sauces in here.  Any ideas?”

“Breakfast for dinner? We could make scrambled eggs, French toast, cereal: anything.” I muse.  They both agree, and I am placed on egg duty while Dan makes French toast and Phil pours out cereal for all of us.  After everything is cooked, we sit at the table and eat mostly in silence, then go back to playing in the lounge.

At 12:00, I notice the clock.  “Shit! How is it midnight?” I ask, grabbing my coat.

“Where are you going?” Dan asks.

“Well, home I guess-“ I start, but he cuts me off.

“We’re not letting you stay with her.  Especially not tonight.” He stands up, and walks into another room.  Soon, he reappears with a bag in his hand.  “Phil packed up a bunch of your things.  We’ll get the rest later, but I mean it when I say that you’re not staying with her.”

“But, that’s where I live.  Where would I go?”

“Here, of course.” Dan replies simply, as if it were common knowledge.

“Dan…” I start, overwhelmed by the situation.

“We can talk more about this later.   You look tired; you should get to bed.”

I nod, feeling my eyelids start to become heavier and heavier.  I take off my coat and put it back, then walk with Dan to his room.  I change into the pajamas Phil had packed, and crawl into bed.  Dan wraps his arm around me, twirling a lock of my hair around his finger. 

“I love you, Penelope,” he says sleepily, almost as if he was thinking it and it slipped out of his mouth.

A smile spreads across my face as I reply, “I love you too, Dan.”

HOLY SHIT A NEW CHAPTER! I’m so sorry it took so long; I was dealing with a lot.  I'm also sorry it's so short.  I actually have to go really soon, so I will reply to the comments on the last chapter, like I always try to do, when I get back.  Thank you guys so much for liking this story so much! Seeing your votes and comments honestly makes my day.  However, quick thing: a lot of people were asking about my tumblr.  My url is writingmaniac321.tumblr.com because I am so original and good at coming up with names. Please remember to vote if you liked this chapter! I need to go now, so stay amazing!