The Unknown. Phan AU

Chapter 5

I lowkey put myself in the story :)

"Daniel, your parents have been taken in for questioning due to reported claims of neglect and abuse. You'll need a place to stay so we have found you a home for the time being. The woman who looks after you all is called Alice and she is a lovely woman. There are a four other children who are currently staying there. There's a boy called Jack, Melissa, an older girl called Dodie and a boy around your age named Ethan. (These aren't all YouTubers what? I mean Melissa isn't a YouTuber :p) I'm sure you'll fit in just fine and make some new friends," The officer said, making Dan silently nod. "Here's Alice now!"

"Hello, are you Daniel?" Alice was talking to him like he was a five year old; he would have been offended if he wasn't in such a state.

"Yep, you've heard about his parents I assume?" The officer answered for Dan who was just glaring at his feet, refusing to even look at either of the adults.

"I have. I'm very sorry but I can assure you that you're perfectly safe with me." Dan felt like he had made a mistake. He wanted to go back home and see his parents, even if they would bring horrible words and pain with them. He just wanted to go back to everything he knew: the unknown was the scariest thing on the planet. Dan had so many questions to ask but, for once, he couldn't speak. It wasn't that he didn't want to anymore. He was just so afraid that he couldn't find his voice.

Alice guided Dan over to her car and watched him as he climbed into the passenger seat. "We'll lend you clothes for now until your house has been searched and you can get your belongings." Alice set off down the road, assuring Dan the journey wasn't too far. "You don't talk much, do you?" There was a slight bit of humour in her voice, expecting Dan to just be timid. What she didn't realise was that Dan didn't talk at all. He wouldn't really need to unless his dad was proven innocent.

Dan's phone vibrated and he took it out of his pocket to see a message from Phil. He found himself smiling slightly, despite the circumstances.

I hope you're alright. Remember I'm always here if you need to talk :)

Dan was quick to type out a response.

I will remember. Thank you so much for everything. I'm so glad you came into my life... Wait does that sound too cheesy? I'm sorry.

Phil: Aw, no. I appreciate it!

They pulled up at the house which was fairly big. It had a small drive but the house itself was bigger than Dan's used to be. He walked up to the door which Alice unlocked and opened before going inside. She called out a bunch of names that Dan remembered the officer telling him earlier and some children ran into the hall. One person was a lot slower than the others, looking a lot more reserved. He was wearing skinny jeans and a band t-shirt and his hair was dyed blue. As well as this, he had a range of piercings, including one on his eyebrow, his nose and a large amount on his ears. He looked like the exact type of guy that Dan would try to avoid in school.

"This is Jack," A boy with green hair waved with an eccentric grin on his face. He looked around thirteen or fourteen and he was wearing quite bright clothes. "Melissa, please use their preferred pronouns of they/them," Dan nodded, looking at how they were blushing slightly. They were about the same age as Jack and had short ginger hair. They seemed to be very shy because they weren't making much eye contact. "Dodie," She was the oldest of them all, looking around seventeen. She had long, dark hair and was smiling very timidly. She looked nice enough, just a bit shy. "And finally, Ethan." Ethan was the first boy that Dan had noticed; the intimidating one. He didn't even send Dan a smile, instead choosing to glare. "Introduce yourself?"

Dan didn't. He could feel his breath getting short and his whole body tensing. He literally needed to say one word, his own name, but he couldn't: his throat was closing up. Once Alice realised he wasn't going to talk, she spoke up, saving him from the hole of panic he was falling into.

"This is Dan. Please be nice to him as he has been through a lot," She turned to face Dan. "You'll be sharing a room with Ethan. He'll show you which room it is and he'll lend you some clothes for tomorrow." Ethan let out a groan and started heading up the stairs; Dan took that as a sign to follow him.

Ethan's room was equally scary as the boy himself. The walls were painted grey and he had posters of bands on the wall. Dan had only heard of a couple of them- My Chemical Romance and Fall Out Boy. His bed covers were black too, adding to the darkness of the room. "Do you like any of these bands?" He asked, his voice a monotone. Dan pointed at the My Chemical Romance and Fall Out Boy posters whilst nodding. "Awesome. I listen to them like.. all the time so you better like them." Ethan picked up a pair of Xbox remotes before handing one to Dan. "Do you like Halo?" Dan just shrugged, making the blue-haired boy furrow his eyebrows. "You don't talk at all, do you?"

Dan shook his head, sadly looking down at the remote he was holding in his hands. Ethan narrowed his eyes before loading up the game and pressing start. After about five minutes of Dan's character continuously dying, Ethan paused it and moved closer to him. "You're not very good at this, are you?" Ethan chuckled slightly as Dan's face got slightly redder. Ethan put his hands on the remote with Dan's, pressing a couple of buttons for him. "This is how you move, how you shoot, how you..." Dan could feel himself getting warmer as their fingers touched, blushing intensely throughout Ethan's whole tutorial. "Got it?" Dan nodded quickly and they started the game again.

Maybe it wouldn't be so bad? Ethan seemed decent enough and he felt surprisingly safe in the house. He could get used to the feeling of security.

-

"Time for bed everyone!" Alice yelled up the stairs, making Ethan and Dan exchange similar looks. Ethan's floor was a tip: filled with things ranging from books to gaming controllers and odd socks.

"I suppose we're going to have to share a bed for tonight? If that's okay?" Ethan mumbled, going through his draws to get out his pyjamas. Dan just shrugged, going slightly red again at the thought. "Oh and I sleep shirtless." Ethan chucked Dan some trousers and a shirt, commanding him to get dressed in the bathroom. Dan did as he was told and came back to the bedroom to find Ethan was already dressed... or should he say half dressed? He was most definitely topless and he was... attractive to say the least. "I have something to say too before we get into bed..."

Ethan was avoiding eye contact, a couple of moments passing before he blurted out, "I'm bisexual. Would that make you uncomfortable?"

Dan bit his lip before shaking his head and pointing at his self as if to say me too.

"Are you? Is that what you're implying?" Dan nodded, making Ethan smile ever so slightly as they climbed into bed together. They laid quite far apart from each other.

-

Dan woke up and blushed intensely once he realised that Ethan had an arm around him. They had moved closer in their sleep and he could only hope that Ethan was so fast sleep that he didn't notice Dan slipping out of bed.

I'm going to start to update this book twice a week now because it feels like ages between updates! So expect an update on Monday too!