On The Run [phan]

twenty.

Phil let his eyes trail over the wilting daisies on his table.  The petals have begun to dry and fall to the table in a heap of discolored white.  The stems seemed heavy from its life, finally beginning to give into death. 

"Why do we kill these beautiful plants for our own selfish wants?  Killing life to surround ourselves with something we deem aesthetically pleasing."  Phil sighed.

Dan stopped scribbling in his notebook for a second and looked up at Phil, "do you not like my flowers?"

Phil shook his head, "no, I love it.  Thanks, babe."  Phil lifted his finger to a flower letting it shatter under his touch and join the rest of its dead family, "I just think it's weird that we take away these perfectly lovely lives."

Dan leaned back in his chair, "are you high?"

"Nope,"  Phil replied simply.

Dan raised an eyebrow and let his chair fall, "are you drunk?"

"No."  Phil let out a laugh mostly made of air, "I'm sober, I promise."

"Okay good."  Dan closed his book, "my dad yelled at me again today."

"For what?"  Phil asked feeling a twist of guilt.  He wished he could protect Dan from everything.  Even dumbass parents.

Dan played with his pencil his eyes low, "he said I was causing him too much stress."

"Why is that?"  Phil asked trying to find his eyes under his lowered head and curtain of mousy brown hair. 

Dan shrugged, "I think it's because I've been with you."

"They know about us?"  Phil felt a moment of panic.

"No." Dan tilted his head to reveal a bit of his eye, well, mostly his eyelashes.

"Then what's the problem?" 

"I mean you've kinda put an influence on me."  Dan looked up, "not in a bad way, that came out wrong.  With the nose ring and the staying out late."

Phil huffed, "if your parents are upset with you for that they should meet me."

"I don't think that would help my case,"  Dan smiled at Phil's light attitude.

"I was kidding."  Phil dragged a hand through his hair and let it quiff slightly, "I could make your parents go crazy."

"How's that?"  Dan asked, "they're already pretty insane."

"If they met me I'd do it.  I'd tell them off for treating you like nothing." Phil nodded, "yes. And I'd be sure they know how terrible parents they are."

"You do that." Dan chuckled.

"I want to." Phil felt some of his anger bubble down.

Dan looked all the way up, finally making eye contact, "do you think they'd let me stay the night?"

"I don't know." Phil shrugged, "I know in the past if you asked it was usually a yes."

"True." Dan took out his phone and began to type. 

"Let's do something."  Phil stands up shaking the table slightly.  The flowers bend under the sudden movement and begin to fall in a rain of white.

"Okay."  Dan stands up and wraps his warm hands around Phil's neck.  Phil looks down at the boy and smiles, "like what?"

Phil snakes his hands around his waist and pulls him close, "I don't know." 

Dan has to strain his head a bit to maintain eye contact, "Let's go for a walk?"