4am

three

*PHIL'S POV*

I recognised them. I could tell it was them. The people that Dan always 'hung about' with. And I hated them, I hated what they did to him. I don't understand why he doesn't just stop meeting them. They hurt him, day after wretched day and he keeps going back to them. I had stormed out of the flat with the intention of finding them, but I hadn't thought it through. I can't fight, I'm weak, lanky, and certainly not intimidating. Fear crept into my head, I was such a fucking idiot, did I honestly think I'd be able to confront three guys on my own?

Just as fear was beginning to overtake, one of the men hollered my name. I froze. How did they know me? Maybe one of them was called Phil? It couldn't be me, they couldn't know who I was. I doubt Dan had ever dared to mention me; his pale, stupid little friend with skinny jeans and a matching fringe. My heart began to race in my chest as I attempted to walk, but my knees shook and I tripped, only just regaining my balance to prevent myself falling completely. Well done idiot, draw even more attention to yourself. Following my ridiculous act of unseemly humiliation, the small gaggle of men let out a hideous ensemble of cheers and snorts. Shit.

"PHIL!" One of them hollered a second time.

"Are you sure it's him?" one of them said, and his partners just ignored him.

"Is that faggot even going to say somethin' or do we need to go over there?" I heard another say. Shit shit shit. I didn't turn around, I couldn't, I was frozen in fear as I heard six domineering footsteps getting louder behind me. I just stood there like a pathetic idiot and waited for them to reach me, for whatever reason it might be.

"Are you FUCKING DEAF?" One of them roared. The sudden noise made me jump and my hands were shaking like hell. I turned on my heel so that I was facing them, and tried to act calm, but my breathing began speeding up and my head became a mess and all I could offer in response was some sort of brainless squeak. This didn't really go down in my favour. I scanned the faces of the three men, now standing close to me, illuminated by the orange tainted street lights. I found it hard to imagine Dan standing next to them, or even talking to them at all.

They all smelled of alcohol and smoke, this was increasingly how Dan smelt. And I hated it, Dan wasn't like these three men, he was nice, he cared, he was Dan. One of the men stepped closer until I could feel his breath on my face. I diverted my eyes away from him, searching my surroundings for anyone else out at this time. No one.

"You're Dan Howell's little friend then?" He cooed, a nasty smirk forming on his face.

"Y-yeah, how do you..." I stammered, my eyes strained to see his face so close in front of me. I clasped my cold, clammy hands together as they trembled, my breathing getting sharper with each second. The man sniggered at my obvious fear. He turned to the other two men.

"What do you think guys? Should we fuck this skinny little shit up? He's deadweight to our good friend Dan. Dan even said himself that he was an annoying fag, and I mean, good friends look out for each other, right?" He snarled. My heart stopped beating and fell into my stomach. My whole world took a crashing, my breathing lost it and my head started pounding. Dan said that?