How to Help Howell?

Part 13

Dan's POV

The next day, I woke up from the most peaceful sleep I had ever had, thanks to Phil cuddling me all night in his bed. We had planned to go for a walk today to nowhere in particular, just to escape the apartment and appreciate the outside world.

We walked on the pavement hand in hand, talking about anything and everything happily. That is, until we met some nasty passers-by.

A big, burly man and his girlfriend shot us dirty looks and shook their heads in disapproval. I looked down at my shoes, feeling slightly defeated.

"As if we needed their permission anyway," Phil whispered in my ear, making me cringe and the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I smiled and we kept walking.

A particularly large man started walking quickly towards us with a face full of rage and anger. He quickly grabbed Phil's shoulder and threw him to the ground, making him cry out in pain.

"Phil!" I cried as he grabbed my shoulders and pinned me against the wall of a building we had been walking next to.

"You and your little confused friend need to get your minds straight. Being gay isn't real, you're just corrupting everybody and it needs to stop," he spat in my face rather close for my taste.

Finding my voice I answered, "Oh, yeah? And who asked you anyway?" My remark was returned by a sharp slap across the face, leaving a stinging red mark on my cheek.

"People like you deserve to be dead," he retorted as he punched me in the stomach, making me double over in pain and fall to the ground along with Phil. He gave us both a few kicks to the side for good measure before he finally left us alone.

Only feeling slightly sore, I rushed over to help Phil.

"Baby, are you okay?" I asked worriedly. He coughed a little bit and I propped him up against the wall.

"I like the sound of that," he gave a small smile and I laughed a bit, just knowing he was going to be alright.

"What did he do to you, my sweet Philly?" I asked, stroking his cheek. I had just began to notice his bright blue eyes had been reduced to a dull muggy blue and his skin a paler tone than usual.

"I think I twisted an ankle, but I'll be fine." He assured me. I put his arm over my shoulder and assisted him as we kept walking. We spotted our fountain and decided to take a seat just as we had a couple nights ago. The crisp autumn air blowing through my sweatshirt, sending a shiver through my body.

"You okay, Love?" He asked. I gave a small nod and smile at his nickname returning from the other day. Nevertheless, Phil wrapped his arms around me to keep me warm. We sat there comfortably as I grinned, truly content with the thought of Phil always being there to comfort me.