Dan didn't know what to do. He needed to know if that was actually Phil because if it wasn't, Dan was just wasting his time.
"You don't have to be scared of me, you can come out from the shadows," Dan told the man knowing very well that he should be scared of him; he was going to kill him if that's who he was looking for.
"Very well," the man's silhouette soon vanished and creaking was heard from what Dan presumed were stairs.
"Hello." Dan said.
"Hi." The man stepped into a beam of light shining from a crack in the wall and Dan could now see his face.
It was Phil.
"Any chance we could go to the coffee shop on 5th street? It's nice and quiet there." He spoke.
"Sure,"
Dan knew Phil had to hide from the government and police and whatnot so he agreed to go there. The coffee shop Phil was talking about was very secluded and nobody around there would know that he was wanted. They walked outside to the chilly London air and got inside Dan's car.
Dan looked at Phil once he got inside; he was paler than the photo and his hair was definitely messier too. His eyes though were still shockingly blue and Dan found himself staring at them.
"Hello?" Phil waved his hand in front of Dan's eyes to catch his attention.
"Sorry," Dan turned forwards and fumbled with his keys.
Their drive wasn't long but it felt like forever without any conversation or music to avoid silence. They pulled up by curb and walked into the dated coffee shop.
"Uh- what do you want?" Dan asked awkwardly.
"Maybe a hot chocolate?" Dan nodded.
He ordered two hot chocolates as Phil found a table. Normally, Dan would take his assignments to a forest or something to kill them as soon as he found them but this time, he was buying his assignment a cup of hot chocolate. He didn't know why Phil was different than the others. Dan carried the cups to the table Phil was sat at. Phil thanked him as Dan sat down.
"Why'd you come into the theatre?" Phil asked, his voice still grumbly, scratchy, and low sounding.
"No reason," Dan lied, "why were you in there?"
"No reason," he copied
"I don't believe you told me your name," Dan questioned even though he knew the answer.
"Phil,"
"Cool name,"
"Thanks," Phil took a sip of his beverage before speaking again, "it's not a very popular name anymore so I'm glad to have it," he gave a weak smile.
"If you think about it, because names stop being used, there will one day only be one person in the earth with a certain name...and you could be that person without knowing," Dan babbled on.
"You're a pretty deep thinker, huh?"
"Yeah, I suppose,"
"Me too, I don't meet many people that are like that- not that I meet many people anyway," Phil spoke softly at the end.
"So do you want me to drive you home after-" Dan spoke but was interrupted by Phil,
"No-I...um..." then Phil mumbled something that was inaudible.
"Sorry?" Dan asked, indicating he didn't hear Phil.
"I don't-" Phil paused, "I don't...have a home anymore..." he looked down to his cup, then out the frosted window while talking.
"You could stay with me tonight? If you'd like,"
"Um, I- sure. That'd be great, thank you,"
"It's no big deal,"
And with that, Dan and Phil talked about many things, but one thing stuck out to Dan; Phil would flinch just the slightest bit whenever Dan mentioned family, friends, people, or when someone would walk into the door, Phil would turn quickly before returning his gaze towards Dan and sighing in relief.
---
The car ride to Dan's flat wasn't as quiet as it had been but they didn't have too much to talk about. Dan unlocked his door and Phil walked inside.
"Nice place," Phil said looking around the room.
"Thanks," he said as he set down his keys. "So, what do you want to do? I don't really know what people do together so you'll have to help me out,"
"I have no idea, I've never had friends to do anything with."
"Me either," Dan sat on his couch and Phil followed suit.
"I never had friends growing up but it doesn't matter because who needs people,"
"I like being in solitude most of the time but you know, sometimes it's lonely," Dan said and Phil didn't reply for a while.
Phil changed the subject, "why don't we play a game?"
"Sure, Mario Kart?" Dan suggested, Phil nodded happily.
They played for a while, Dan beating Phil most of the time. "I haven't played this in years," Phil said.
Dan laughed, "So, movie? Or food then movie?"
"We could make food, then watch a movie?"
"Sounds like a plan."
They stood up, walking towards the kitchen. Dan looked in his freezer to where he found chicken breasts and some instant mashed potatoes. "Chicken and mashed potatoes good?" He asked, Phil nodded.
---
"Phil how did that even happen?" Dan asked through fits of laugher as he looked at Phil covered in mashed potatoes.
"I don't know!" Phil was laughing too. He looked quite disappointed and his face went slightly red of embarrassment. "Sorry," he apologized.
"That's alright," Dan looked in the fridge and found rice from the previous night. "Rice?" Phil nodded as he tried to clean up the potatoes.
After making their dinner, they watched a netflix movie. They sat side by side on the couch that was a little small for two guys over 6ft tall. Dan couldn't help but notice that they slowly leaned towards each other until their shoulders brushed against each other. They jolted back a bit but leaned back together.
All Dan could think about was that he should be in the middle of a forest or something with a knife through Phil. But at this particular moment, with his shoulder only slightly touching another human being, he wanted to keep it there forever.
They ended up getting closer and closer. Phil became sleepy and his head fell to Dan's shoulder which sent a nice shiver through his body, Dan liked the feeling. He felt needed, and important. He rested his head on Phil's.
Just before he was almost asleep, Phil groaned in tiredness and lazily put his arm on Dan's waist. Another shiver shot through his body. Phil's skin still looked pale, but it also looked soft against the hue of the room and outdoor lights. He looked so precious and peaceful. He couldn't kill a boy who looked so beautiful; could he?
