Red Side of the Moon

V

Phil and I spent a majority of the night talking, which was rather nice. Around two in the morning, I started getting tired, so Phil insisted that I went to sleep. I cuddled up next to him as he kissed the top of my head.

The next morning, Phil was woken up by his mother opening his bedroom door. He lifted up his head and lazily blinked at her a few times. His mother stood in the doorframe with crossed arms and a raised brow. She looked to my sleeping body, then back to her son.

Phil's right arm was trapped underneath my head and my right arm was slung over his chest. Phil was subtly running his fingers through my messy hair as his mother tapped her foot.

"Philip, please come here," she whispered.

He rolled his eyes and did his best to escape from underneath me without bothering me too much. Once he got out of bed, he grabbed his glasses and joined his mother in the hall.

"What?" he yawned.
"Who's that boy in your bed?"
"It's Dan."
"Who's Dan?"
"The fresher that comes over practically every day."
"You have him over every day?" she asked.
"No..." he lied.
"Wait, okay, backtrack a bit, for my sake. You said he's a fresher... How old is he?"
"Why does it matter?"
"How old is he, Phil?"
"Thirteen..."
"Philip Michael Lester..." she sighed. "I'm very disappointed in you."
"Why?"
"Because you have this poor naive boy in your bed. You're just leading him on, I'm sure. One last fling before you head off to uni," she scoffed.
"It's not like that..." Phil teared up.
"I have a hard time believing you..."
"I like him a lot, mum... I really do. He's so sweet and caring and isn't just in it for sex."
"Please tell me you haven't had sex with this boy."
"I haven't, don't worry. I could never do that to him..."
"Do what to him?"
"Make him do something before he's ready... I had the opportunity to do that last night, but I just couldn't. I love him too much," he whispered.

She gently caressed Phil's cheek, wiping a few of his tears away in the process. She flashed him a warm smile as she gave him a tight hug.

"Alright, well, breakfast is ready, birthday boy."
"Thanks, mum."
"You two come down when you're ready."

She walked downstairs as Phil walked back into his bedroom. As soon as the door closed, I popped up behind him and giggled. He let out a gasp as he fell back onto his bed; I laughed a bit more and straddled his waist. I rested my hands on his stomach and teasingly bounced on his lap.

"Baby, what are you doing?" he chuckled.
"You love me," I beamed.
"Says who?" he smirked.
"Says you." I leaned down and gave him a kiss. "You love me!" I said in a sing-songy voice.
"Your hair is curly, holy shit."
"Don't change the subject. You lo–"
"Can you keep it like that? Just for today."
"Yeah, whatever, birthday boy." I kissed him again. "You love me..."
"Shut up, stupid," he smiled. "Come on, my mum made breakfast."

***

Later that day, Phil's parents had left to pick up the last of the party decorations and a few of Phil's friends came over unannounced. He reluctantly invited them in to hang out for a few hours. They all circled around me on the couch once they discovered I was there.

"Hey, twink," one of them said.
"Watch it," Phil warned.
"So, Lester, are you gonna get us alcohol or not?"
"When you're legal, sure," he smirked.
"Oh, come on, Lester. Get a guy a beer."
"Fine." He rolled his eyes.

Over he span of the hour, Phil's friends got wasted. One of them started giving me threatening glares, so I quickly excused myself and headed for the kitchen. I grabbed a water bottle and cracked open the lid. I leaned against the counter, debating on whether I should go home or hide out in the kitchen for a little while longer. 

I walked over to the sink and began looking out the window that showed the rather large backyard. I let out a sigh as I continued drinking my water. After a few minutes, I felt Phil wrap his arms around my waist. I leaned back onto him and cracked a small smile.

He started running his hands up and down my torso, even sneaking a hand underneath my shirt every once in a while. I let out a giggle and teasingly shooed his hand away. He seemed to dispose of my signals and continued getting handsy. He reached for the button and zipper on my jeans. I let out a whine and tried stopping him, but nothing seemed to work.

"Phil, knock it off," I whispered.
"Who the fuck are you calling Phil, twink?" My eyes nearly popped out of my skull as I had a panic attack.
"Ph–"

As I went to yell, he grabbed my mouth and was sure to keep it shut. I started squirming and fighting against all of his advances. Once he managed to unzip my pants, I tried stomping on his foot, but he picked me up and slung me over the counter.

"Stop squirming, you little shit."

Tears prickled at my eyes as I tried prying his hand off my mouth. I managed to muster up all of my strength and peel his hand away just enough so I could bite it. He jumped back with a hiss—I took the opportunity to call for help.

"Phil!" I cried.
"Shut up, fucker," the guy snarled. "Stay still for me, baby. Do that for– hey!"

I suddenly felt the weight of him being lifted of me and I immediately went to fix my trousers. I looked over my shoulder to find the older boy on the floor with Phil straddling his chest. Phil's knees were pressed into the guys shoulders and his hands were over his throat.

"If you ever lay a hand on my boyfriend again, I will not fucking hesitate to end your pathetic life. Got it?" Phil spat.

Tears ran down the man's reddening face as he did his best to nod.

"Good." Phil quickly got up and kicked him. "Get the fuck out of my house."
"Phil–" he breathed.
"Out!"

The man stumbled to his feet and ran out of the house. Phil followed him into the living room and forced the other two two leave as well. Once the front door was shut and locked, Phil walked back into the kitchen.

He found me clinging to myself in the corner with stained cheeks, puffy eyes, and a reddened nose. I sniffed a few times before trying to stop my stupid, leaking eyes. Once I heard the kitchen floorboards creek, I looked up in a panic.

Phil was standing in the doorway with sad eyes. He let out a shaky sigh and sped over to me. I opened my arms and clung to his torso as he did the same to me. My damp face was pressed into his chest as I continued to sob.

He did his best to hold back his cries as he protectively rubbed the back of my head. He inhaled a bit before brushing my hair back and pressing a kiss into my sweaty forehead. I flinched a bit, which only made him want to cry more.

"You're okay, baby... I promise..." he whispered. "I will never let that asshole Craig or anyone else hurt you ever again. You are safe with me. I swear it."
"I love you," I mumbled.
"I love you more..." He managed to crack a small smile.
"Not possible," I pouted.
"Hey, Dan..." I looked up so I could meet his beautiful eyes.
"Yes?"
"Do you want me to pop us some popcorn with extra butter and extra kernels? Then I can turn on whatever Quentin Tarantino movie you want. Does that sound good?" I sniffled a bit before nodding. "Okay..."

He pulled out of the hug and lightly held onto my cheeks. He wiped away what was left of my tears before placing a kiss on my forehead.

"Are you okay?"
"I will be," I sighed.
"I am so sorry that this happened to you... I feel so awful that I wasn't able to protect you."
"You didn't know it was going to happen," I whispered. "You came to my rescue before things got really bad, so you were able to protect me." I slung my arms around his neck and cocked my head to the side. "How did I get so lucky?"
"Don't get too cocky, Howell, you're losing me when I go to uni."
"You're not gonna leave me," I teased.
"I might," he shrugged. "You never–"
"Shut up," I giggled.
"Come on," he laughed.

He struggled to pick me up, but eventually managed to sling me over his shoulder. He plopped me down on the couch and accidentally fell with me. He did his best to avoid falling directly on me, but he still ended up elbowing me in the stomach.

"Ah!" I hissed.
"I'm sorry!" he panicked.
"It's okay," I reassured.
"Really? Are you–" I pulled him into a kiss and giggled a bit.
"Shut up, stupid," I grinned. "Now where's my pity popcorn?"