You're Never Alone

Chapter 9

Word count: 2382

Dan and Phil stayed up for hours on end. At first Joe was trying to help them but Phil told him to go get some rest because he was dozing off the whole time. Dan created a map of the entire palace inside and out. It was bigger than Phil had originally thought and without it they would've potentially gotten lost. Dan then created a list of guard rotations and the best times to strike along with entrances marked on the map to show the best ways to get in. The hardest part for Dan to provide was how everything in the palace was run.

    He went through schedules of staff, his father, soldiers, and even times of meals to give as much information to Phil as he could. Phil sent information to PJ while Dan provided it and the two finished when the sun started to rise. As soon as they were done, they both accidentally fell asleep on the table next to each other with Dan's head on Phil's lap and Phil slouched over with his head on his arms.

    Dan wakes up first with confusion muddling his thoughts as he opens his eyes. It takes a moment or so before he realizes he fell asleep on Phil's lap and he carefully sits up to not disturb Phil. As he rubs his eyes and yawns, two mugs of steaming coffee are set on the table in front of him. He looks up at Joe with a small smile and Joe smiles in return, walking over to the couch where he went back to doing stuff on his laptop.

Dan looks over at Phil, watching as he peacefully sleeps before taking a sip from one of the mugs. The other rebels in the room sleep soundly and the only two people up were Dan and Joe alone with maybe two other people that were waking up.

Dan let's Phil sleep and tells Joe he's going to go shower quickly. He's in and out of the bathroom in five minutes flat and he comes back to the table to clean up papers with important information on them. He puts them in a neat stack and places Phil's closed laptop on top. He sits back down next to Phil and gently shakes his shoulder.

"Phil, wake up," Dan whispers but Phil doesn't stir and Dan looks over at Joe snickering at him. He rolls his eyes and shakes Phil once more. "Come on, get up, Phil."

"Mmm," Phil groans, opening his eyes slightly to see Dan next to him with a small smile on his lips. He slowly wakes up and yawns before smiling back at Dan and muttering, "Good morning."

"Morning sleepy head," Dan replies as he takes another sip of coffee, handing Phil his own mug. Phil drinks some and hums as the warmth flows through him.

    Phil leans his head on Dan's shoulder. "What time is it?" he asks and Dan pulls out a phone he snatched from one of he bins back at the house to see it was 8:45 in the morning.

    "Only 8:45. PJ said that we all needed to make a plan at around eleven so we've got time." Dan looks over at Phil and sees his blue eyes looking at him.

    "Hey guys?" Joe calls out to them in a slightly worried tone and they look over at him as he stands and brings his laptop over to them. He clicks something before turning the screen back to them showing a timer. Phil sits up narrowing his eyes in confusion.

    "What's that for?" Phil asks but Dan's heart freezes and his breath catches in his throat. The timer read 1 day, 23 hours, and 43 minutes. His father was timing them exactly. He stares at the screen with wide eyes as he sets his mug down and the two look over at him as fear creeps down his spine. "Dan? What's wrong?"

    Dan finally looks over at him and Phil sees the fear in his eyes. "My father's timing us so we know exactly when he's going to kill someone." Joe's eyes widen and Dan looks at the two before saying the thing that's scaring him. "He's going to broadcast that live no matter what unless I'm returned to him before that timer hits zero."