Without love ~ phan

Chapter X

Phil's POV

It's been long enough now that Daniel thinks I'll be staying in this annoyed position until he does something about it. Well joke's on him because I am going to strike first and get what I rightfully deserve. Here goes nothing.

I don't even dare to move my head enough to discover the location of the book before whipping around and darting straight for it. Just as expected, he doesn't see it coming and fails to grab it back after my success. But instead of reading the title, a very angry Daniel takes up my vision. I hold the book as far away as I can reach.

"Phillip Lester, give that back to me right now," he says, all jokes aside. I feel a tiny rush because his darkened eyes remind me of a mother bear, how when you go near one you're sure it'll be the end of you. But then you remember that she's just protecting her babies. I open my mouth and let him wait for a satisfactory response before bluntly stating, "No."

His plan of attack is a futile one and I manage to easily block his grabby hands with my back. He protests with various forms of rude language but I'm not paying him any attention. The cover of the book comes and goes in my line of sight as I dodge his persistent attempts to take it back but in only a matter of seconds, I've seen enough.

Hands locked together. A beautiful sunset. The title in a frilly font.

I slacken my resistance and fall into a state of bewilderment. He seizes the opportunity and I crash back into reality upon the jerk of my hand that still holds his secret posession. I finally understand. In this little room where no one should've found him, where he thought he was safe from judgment, another human burst in without a care. It's no wonder why he was so protective.

"So," I say, pulling myself together and facing him with a smile. "You're a fan of romance I see."

Dan's POV

"No. No, no. I'm not. No." What am I still doing here? How have I let it come to this? No, no, no. Next thing I know, he'll be laughing at this with Tracey and she'll be spreading it through the minds of the rest of the school. They'll all whisper about what a freak I am. And no one will want to hang out with me ever again...and...and- "I definitely am not a fan of romance."

"Really?," he asks. "Because that would be pretty cool." I meet his eyes, my arms crossed tightly, feeling the compacted smallness of an ant. No one was meant to find out about this, least of all him. I might as well have just told him my deepest secret or given him an arrow to shoot an apple off my head. But somewhere in the sounds of praise he spoke, something tells me that if I had given him a weapon, he would've dropped it.

"Everyone has something extraordinary about them," he continues. "Maybe it's one tiny thing or maybe it's ten massive things, but the point is it's always going to be there and some people might not be so accepting of it. You just have to promise yourself that you are not like them and that they can't control you. Your actions should be a result of your own beliefs not anyone else's." Passing along such a profound life lesson without the least bit of hesitation shocks me to say the least. Maybe my brain has yet to catch up to his or maybe the ancient books around him are disguising him as wise. It must be the latter as he is the farthest thing from an old soul that I can imagine. Even now with that thoughtful look in his eye, there's no denying the hint of pink painted on his cheeks by innocuous shyness. 

"I think you mean out of the ordinary," I say quietly, keeping my head low only to notice that I am no longer pressing my book to my chest. "I meant what I said," he replies, his playful ambience returning once again. "Though I must say it is kind of a stretch." Without hesitation, my arms and legs curl themselves up tighter, processing the insulting commentary before the rest of me can. In a flash he's gone from a parent that wants the best for me to a bully on the school playground. And I'm still completely vulnerable in an enclosed space that no one ever goes into. Except here he is, somehow starting a fire from the inside out.