True Beauty lies Beneath the Skin (Phan)

I've Broken Through the Chains

I am finally free
I've broken through the chains
I have no fear, I'm wide awake
You can't take this away
I'm finally free

Dan woke up the following morning smiling and feeling more alive than he had in probably his entire life. Memories from the night before came flooding back to him; what a magical evening it had been. All they did was talk, but it felt like they could have kept talking for hours.

Things had been going really well for Dan, lately. He'd gotten a lot more customers at the shop lately and was making more money, he'd grown closer with his boss, so Dan knew that his job was secure, Bella was making progress in school, Dan was for the most part eating on a regular basis again, and now he was dating this really incredible guy...Dan knew that being in a relationship wouldn't solve all of his problems, but it damn sure solved five or six of them.

Dan thought he could hear Bella's voice coming from her room, so he decides to will himself to roll out of bed and see what she was doing. He walks out of his room and down to hers where he knocks on her door.

"Bel?"

Dan opens the door to find Bella playing with her stuffed animals. She looks to Dan and smiles.

"Hi, Daddy."

"How long have you been awake?" Dan asks, sitting on the edge of her bed.

Bella shrugs, "I dunno. Not that long though. Ooh! How was your date?"

Dan laughs, "It was good. We went to a restaurant and Phil knew all the people that worked there. It was fun, we'll have to take you there some time."

"So are you and Phil gonna keep dating?"

Dan chuckles again, "Yeah, I think so."

"Yay! I love Phil. You should date him forever. What's for breakfast? Do you have to work today?"

"Yes I have to work, but not for another couple hours. Let's get some food in your tummy and take your medicine."

x

Phil walks downstairs at eleven o'clock and finds Iesha sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee in hand. Phil jumps about a meter in the air.

"Ah!" He exclaims before exhaling, "You've got to stop showing up unannounced."

"Or you could just get used to it," Iesha says.

"Are you that lonely at your apartment?"

"Yes. I was tempted to help you get down the stairs, but that risked you jumping at seeing me and falling down the stairs, thus hurting yourself more; I decided it was better to just let you figure it out yourself."

"How gracious of you," Phil deadpans.

"Oh, hush, I wanna hear all about the date! You sit down and I'll get you some coffee."

"Two sugars."

"I know what to do," Iesha says, standing as Phil sits, "So where'd you two go?"

"I took him to Giuseppe's."

Iesha stops what she's doing, then turns around to face Phil, "What?"

"I'd always wanted to go back, and it seemed like an appropriate occasion..."

"Well, yeah, that's a pretty good place for a date, but...I mean, did you see anyone you know?"

"I knew everyone that works there, but not anyone else that I knew, no."

"Are you gonna start going back there as frequently as you used to?"

"I dunno, maybe. We talked about taking Bella there one day."