You're Never Alone

Chapter 30

Word Count: 1286

That night Dan goes out for a little while. His father finally trusts him enough to let him go out alone and come back by the next day. Dan wears a shirt and dark jeans to one of the clubs a little farther from the palace. He steps inside and instantly the smell of sweat and the heat of bodies hugs him. As time went on in the palace, he found that being with a bunch of people who don't know who you are is more comforting than going to a place where everyone stares at you for being a prince.

He goes to the bar and orders a shot of tequila, downing it in a second. He dances for a while with random girls and guys that he didn't know just trying to forget that he's royalty just for a little while. But after a while, the air in the room becomes too suffocating and he steps out the back doors for some fresh air.

Dan climbs the side of the building with the ladder and watches the city from above as he breathes in the cool night air. He stays there for a little while until he hears voices from below. He looks over the edge and sees a group of people walking.

There's five of them: a guy with curly brown hair, a girl with blonde curls, a boy with straight brown hair, another guy with brown hair but shorter than the rest of them, and a guy with pitch black hair on his head. They're all laughing and talking loudly but Dan can see from his point of view that guards from across the street and a couple blocks behind them are following them.

Dan begins to panic. He doesn't recognize any of them from up here but he sure as hell knows that they aren't safe out in the open. He hops down the ladder in seconds and steps out in front of them quickly. He can't recognize any of them with how much alcohol is in his system but they all look familiar.

He quickly grabs one of their hands and drags that person down the alley. The person is in shock at how fast Dan grabbed him so he goes with him to the back doors of the club. Dan glances behind him to see all of them following him and trying to get him to let go but all Dan is focusing on is the soldiers who are still following them. He shoves the five of them in the back doors of the club and drags them into the crowd.

Dan finally let's go of the person's hand and looks them in the eyes. Wide, blue eyes look at him and Dan's heart stops. The world around him slows down as he finally recognizes who he's with.

"Phil," he breathes.

*** (sorry not sorry)

Phil looks at Dan in shock until he sees how frantic Dan is. Dan looks behind them and sees that the guards have followed them in here.

"Quickly, spread out," Dan hisses and the rest of the group disperses into the crowd except Phil who sticks with Dan. Phil is looking at Dan like a fish out of water but Dan is too panicky to notice. "Dance with me," he says suddenly and Phil looks at him in surprise.

"What?" Phil asks in shock but Dan shakes his head.

"Look like you belong!" Dan demands and the two start to dance together despite how much shock Phil is in. A "sexy" song plays and they pretend to dance like they've been here the whole time. Dan grabs Phil's hips and pulls them close together. Phil gasps in surprise because it's been so long since they've seen each other.

Phil notices Dan subtly moving them throughout the crowd. He also notices Dan pinching people's asses which he realizes as they get to the door that he was getting Phil's friends attention to follow them. They all finally make it out the side door and Dan is gasping for a breath. They all look at Dan with wide eyes until one of them leaps forward and wraps their arms around him.

Dan stumbles back as his brother hugs him tightly and he smiles as he hugs him in return. PJ is next to hug Dan and Dan laughs as PJ squeezes the life out of him. They all take turns until Dan gets to Phil who's still looking at him in shock.

"I-I...how...you.." he mutters and Dan goes to reply but something in the corner of his vision makes his head snap to the side. He looks for a moment and Phil watches as panic fills his eyes.

"Run," he mutters and they all sprint for their lives.

Dan weaves through the streets and leads them to another alley before finally stopping. They all pant to catch their breaths and Dan looks at Phil for a second before Phil punches Dan across the face. Dan stumbles back and PJ gasps, covering his mouth with his hand. Dan smiles bitterly at Phil as Phil shakes his hand in pain.

"Nice to see you too," he says angrily, cupping his cheek with his hand. Dan turns away from Phil and looks at PJ. "Next time, be careful. You were being followed by at least twenty guards. They all know Phil's face, Peej."

PJ nods as Dan turns back to Phil with a glare. Phil finally realizes what he did and covers his mouth with his hands. "Oh my god. I'm so sorry."

Dan sighs. "It's fine." He looks at his watch and thinks for a moment. "I have to go."

"What? But you just came back," Phil says with a tint of panic in his voice. Dan shakes his head.

"I can't come back yet," he mutters before rushing forward and kissing Phil on the lips quickly. He pulls away and walks backwards slowly. "One more week, Phil." And with that he sprints off into the city leaving Phil and the other rebels behind once more.

***

"Wait so let me get this straight," Phil says, pinching the bridge of his nose. "The four of you made this plan with Dan and didn't tell me for the past 7 months?"

PJ, Adrian, Louise, and Joe all sit around the table they use to plan on looking like kicked puppies. They all nod but Phil can't believe it.

"This plan, or idea you might say, wasn't ours. All of this was Dan. All we did was you know help him..." Adrian explains, trailing off on the end.

PJ fiddles with his hands in front of him. "Phil, he comes back in almost one week. We've kept track of all the information he's gathered from the past months but we didn't expect for this plan to go on for this long."

Phil slams his hands on the wall behind him, making everyone jump. "I haven't seen him for over half of a year!" he yells and they all look away guiltily.

"Phil, he's protecting you," Joe says, looking into Phil's icy eyes. "Dan is doing all of this to protect us but most of all you because he cares about you. He's risking everything just so you can be alive right now!"

Phil storms out of the room and back into his own angrily. He throws things that won't break and screams in rage. He thought Dan truly went back to his father on his own but all along this has all been some kind of plan. Phil begins to sob, leaning his back against the wall. He reaches up and touches the necklace around his neck. Dan's necklace.