The Space Between Us

Chapter 2

Dan pushed away the knot of anxiety that quickly formed in his stomach from the thought about going home. He hated going to his house. His new house. Dans' old house was much more comforting than the new 2 bedroom duplex that him and his mum were forced to live in. And Its not like he could change anything. It was all they could afford at the for now. Daniel walked on the pavement, pieces of chewed gum and soda bottles every few feet. He quietly bent down and picked up each plastic cup that lay peacefully on the dark grey ground that was stained by the rain. The male found a nearby recycling bin and emptied his arms of the foul smelling bottles. 

How easy would it be to get rid of me like this?  Daniel thought, suddenly aware of how much stress and regret his mother must be under. 

I've been no help for her stress. I've only made it worse. Dan  thought again miserably. He continued to walk along the grey pavement until he reached his bus stop. Dan went through his head and thought about what he needed to do before he got home.

Dishes, Sweeping, Vacuuming, Cat litter, then homework. Dan thought to himself, but he couldn't help feeling like he was forgetting something. The young male took out his house keys to realize the doors were already open. 

Huh, that's weird, mum must be home already, then. Dan opened the door to the small mud room with his bike and a few pairs of skis. He quietly slipped his shoes off and pushed them with his feet to the side. Dan opened the white door to his house and hung his light green coat and umbrella on the coat rack. 

"Hi mum," Daniel quietly greeted his mother, not sure how to apologize after the mornings' small argument. 

"Hello son. Your friend is waiting in your room. He said something about an Art project?" Dan's mum spoke louder than usual, speaking clearer and more outgoing. 

"Mum! My room, it's trashed-" The young teenager exclaimed, worried and a bit upset. But was cut off by his mothers protest.

"Don't worry, I cleaned it up for you,"His mother assured him, but that didn't ease Daniel's distress, if anything it made it slightly worse. He didn't want his mother going through his room, he kept things in certain places that he didn't want his mother to know about. Dan just kept quiet, not wanting to make his mum feel bad for doing him a favor.

"Thanks mum. Do you know what we're having for dinner?" Dan asked, half to his mum and half to himself. 

"Chinese," she answered. Daniel picked up a stray carrot that lay on the counter and walked down stairs, hearing his mother curse at him for taking the carrot. Dan laughed as he headed downstairs to his room. The lights were off and the window curtains were drawn. He lay his backpack down along with his beanie on his desk. Daniel grabbed his remote for his bedroom lights and made the room brighter by 3 notches so he could see properly. Once his eyes adjusted, he spotted a a dark clothed figure laying atop of his bed. The figure was breathing, and snoring softly. Dan grabbed a near by baseball bat and swung it over his shoulder, prepared to swing if necessary. Daniel creeped up to the creature that was not yet known to him, and poked it with his foot. The dark creature stirred but did not awake, instead, it turned its back and lay on its rights side. The beautiful  black hair lay on the creatures face. Dan hadn't relised he'd been moving closer to the handsome male until he was on top of him now. Though, he still did not wake. Dan brung his head closer to the older males, and there lips were only an inch away. Dan opened his eyes in shock when the male shifted. 

He's starting to wake up! 

Dan slowly lifted his head upwards again, realizing  who he was on top of.  The thought of it made him want to puke with anxiety. Dan tried to get up, to erase the awful memory from his head, but he soon figured out that his foot was stuck between his bed frame and his mattress.     Dan started to panic 

"Ugh.. wah.. what- what time is it-" Phil rubbed his eyes, waking himself up from his short nap. Dan looked down, holding both of his hands under his chin, wishing he could disappear. He quickly unhooked his foot with struggle and fell onto the ground, trying to pretend like nothing happened. 

"W-we should get started on out p-project." Daniel stammered, smiling nervously. Phil just nodded, getting out his notebooks and pencils. For the first time in Daniel's time meeting Phil, he was quiet.