Stray Cat

Chapter Thirty-One

Phil hung up his phone after saying goodbye to his mum. Dan was in the kitchen with him, the Styrofoam bowls containing their breakfast cereal momentarily forgotten.

"Well?" Dan asked. "What did she say?"

"Dad was able to borrow that van from his friend. He's driving now. He'll be here in a few hours and we can start loading up the van. Unless he's too tired to drive back, we could be in Rawtenstall by tonight."

Dan nodded. "So, this could be our last day in London. What do you want to do for the next few hours?"

He wasn't sure if Dan meant that to be suggestive. They had had sex that morning, and while he could never get enough of Dan, Phil was starting to feel safe in the knowledge that he and Dan would have the rest of their lives together. Meanwhile, this might be the last time he lived in the same city as his brother. Hoping that it was okay with Dan, he asked, "How would you feel about going to see Martyn?"

Dan beamed at him. "I'd love to. Besides, maybe we can guilt him into helping us move some of these boxes later today."

Martyn told them that it was a good time for them to come over – he'd heard from Mum, too, and he wanted to see Phil before they left town. When they arrived at Martyn's, Cornelia was already there. They introduced her to Dan, whom she greeted with a hug like he was an old friend, much to Dan's surprise – Phil knew that Dan still wasn't used to people being nice to him. Phil felt a rush of affection for the girl, and he hoped that she would be in their lives for a long time.

None of them felt like playing video games, so the four of them looked over Martyn's DVD collection. Phil and Martyn wanted to watch My Neighbor Totoro for the nostalgia, and Cornelia and Dan – who had never seen it – agreed. They settled onto the sofa with a bowl of popcorn that they passed around. As the animated character on the screen twitched his pointed ears, Phil felt his hands drawn to Dan's ears, and he rubbed at the soft brown fur.

"Don't please, that makes me sleepy," Dan whispered. Then he leaned against Phil's chest, grabbed Phil's arm, and looped it around himself so that he was hugged against Phil. He didn't let go of Phil's hand and he gave it a squeeze. Phil settled down, happy with the change in position, and he returned his attention to the movie.

After the movie ended, they were in the mood for a double feature. Cornelia got up to put in Spirited Away. Before anyone pressed 'play', Dan asked, "Can I ask you guys something?" They all nodded, so Dan went on, "Any advice for winning over Mr. and Mrs. Lester?"

"For a start, they're going to want to be called Nigel and Kath, but I guess you have to get their permission to call them that..." Martyn hesitated.

"That's not very helpful advice," Phil said, before turning his attention to Dan. "Look, don't worry about it. They're easygoing people. They'll like you. You don't have to do anything to win them over. Especially my dad who you're about to meet – he's a quiet guy. He probably won't even strike up a conversation."

"That's true." Martyn nodded. "Mum is the one who is going to interrogate you."

Dan groaned and Phil could see how nervous he was, so he shot Martyn a glare. He shook his head and tried to get Dan to listen to him. "Dan, don't worry. Please. They're going to love you, I swear."

Cornelia piped in, "This is my first time meeting Nigel, too. So, you're not going to be the only one he's judging."

Dan nodded, and this seemed to calm him down more than anything else.

As the movie was wrapping up, Phil got a message from his father telling him that he would be there soon. Phil let him know that they were all at Martyn's. Nigel showed up not long after that, and as Phil had promised Dan, he wasn't much of a talker. Phil introduced Dan and Martyn introduced Cornelia. Nigel shook their hands, looked them over, and announced that he'd like to take a nap in Martyn's bed so that he didn't fall asleep driving tonight and run them into a ditch.