Hiya everyone, chapter 25 here :) I hope you are having a lovely summer as you sit procrastinating reading my fan-fiction :P :P :P

Dan POV:

I knew that convincing my mother to keep quiet would be difficult, but it is looking increasingly likely that it is nigh on impossible as she has not said a word to me since I got back. To be honest, it had been difficult enough as it is to get this far. Luckily I had managed to convince the school that I needed the weekend off for "bereavement" which, to be honest, I never thought they would buy. I guess my brother really can act as a bereaved father in order to fool them, although, I suppose his still raw emotions over what happened previously probably helped him build the character. The hardest part, however, was trying to convince my mother to let me come home. I had managed to fool her with a fake note written by Chris, who can do all of the teachers signatures perfectly, which insisted I come home for the weekend due to a water leak in our rooms. The plan has worked perfectly so far, but now I seem to have hit a brick wall. Its not that I'm afraid of confronting her, its just I don't want her to kick me out before I have a chance to interrogate her. Or worse, I don't want her to realise we have lied cause then both myself and Chris would get into trouble.

"Dan?" A tentative voice asks, halting my mental pacing.

"Huh?" I respond.

"Uh…hey, Dan," Adrian greets shyly as he steps across the threshold, crossing the room to sit beside my lying form. I sit up slightly; my creaking bed springs breaking the awkward silence. We haven't really spoken properly since he had agreed to help us, and even less so since the incident. I suppose we've never really known what to say as neither of us realised how sick and twisted our mother could be.

"You alright?" I ask the shorter boy.

"Yeah…it's just, why are you here?" I give him a look of confusion, "I mean, its not that I don't want you to be here, but, after everything, I'd of thought you'd want to be as far away from here as possible," I smile sadly at him.

"It's because of what happened that I'm here. I've got to make sure she won't hurt Phil, you or anyone else for that matter again," I explain, my voice laced with urgency.

"What are you gonna do?" His eyes glisten with worry as he speaks.

"Don't worry, I'm gonna show her that she won't get away with doing this again, especially not to Phil," my fists clench in anger at the recollection of what she did.

"Wow, you really love him don't you?" he smiles and I nod, "I wish my girlfriends cared about me that much," I chuckle softly at that.

"Well, you've still got a lot to learn if you want to be a Casanova like me," I grin and he scoffs laughing, as we fall into a comfortable silence. However, the loud rap of bare knuckles meeting chipped wood breaks it and we both jump.

"Adrian…dinner," my father beckons in his cold, dulcet tones which echo through the hallway.

"Coming," he replies grimly, "Come on Dan," I gulp nervously as my steel façade slips a little, "Don't worry, it'll be fine," Giving a sad smile, he gestures for me to follow him and I do in reluctance.

The dim lighting of the staircase and landing provide a setting fitting to the tension in the air. Thick and heavy; it clogs my lungs as I feel my chest tightening. Its gonna be okay….your doing this for Phil remember….I glance briefly at the now bare walls as the pain in my thorax increases. Patches of slightly less discolored wallpaper indicate purposefully forgotten memories of me; the happiness held in those photographs eradicated, just as quickly as any pride my mother had in me had vanished when I told her I was gay. I should feel sad at that, but the discomfort felt from the thought of her spitefulness is enough to anesthetize any sorrow over it.

Avoiding my mothers' eye contact at all costs; the pair of us focus on the spread in front of us and our undeniable hunger for its contents. I sit in the seat furthest from my mother, beside Adrian and opposite my father. Although I am not looking at them, I feel my mothers gaze boring into me, whilst my father prefers to remain indifferent. Taking a deep breath, I begin; trying desperately to prevent myself from collapsing. The eerie silence that has the room swallowed is almost unbearable; taking a small sip of water I attempt to calm my frayed nerves. My father is the first to speak.

"Delicious Diane as always," He compliments, but the slight quiver in his voice is evident.

"Thank you Howard, well, we have a special occasion to celebrate, our brilliant son making it as captain of his football team," she agrees coldly and I feel Adrian sink into his seat slightly when she looks at him.

"Uh…yeah," he mutters.

"You represent a fine example of a hardworking young man Adrian," she states.

"Um…thanks,"

"One that abides by the rules and shows he is worthy of living on gods earth,"

"He-he yeah," he chuckles nervously, but we both fully well know she is no longer at looking at him as she speaks.

"A truly respectable member of society, one that he would want to walk beside him,"

"Diane," my father interjects.

"What?" she snaps.

"Is a violent psychopath a fine example of your society then?" I pipe up, staring right at her but she ignores me.

"Dan," Adrian whispers, placing his hand on my arm.

"Anyway, shall we continue," she continues anyway.

"Well?" I ask louder.

"I hear the weather for your first game should be splendid," Scoffing at her deliberated ignorance, I raise my voice again.

"I'm pretty sure people like you would be better suited down below wouldn't yo-,"

"You'd know all about that wouldn't you," she snaps without turning, "Now…do you feel prepared Adrian,"

"Uh…um…I…um,"

"Come on Adrian if you want to win you have to have some confidence in yourself,"

"Um…,"

"Can't you see that even he doesn't be around you and your bullshit anymore," my voice cracks, but remains resilient. Adrian just shrinks further into his seat, afraid to breathe as my mother does not say a word. "Don't you understand; people won't stand for your poison anymore,"

"Listen to me you insufferable brat!" she growls, eyes narrowed in a glare as she eventually stares me down, meal forgotten, "You are the evil here, not me, with your disgusting ways. You have corrupted everyone around you into thinking your revolting behavior is normal. Sooner or later you will get your comeuppance,"

"Oh, like being beaten half to death," I snarl back, standing a little.

"Daniel that's enough!" my father speaks, but I ignore him.

"I did what was best Daniel, the poor dear needed to be taught a lesson," she curls her lip in disgust at the thought of Phil.

"What just because he was in love with a boy?" I scoff, "Well guess what whether you like it or not boys will love boys and girls will love girls. They would listen to you, possibly, but I'm afraid they can't hear your incessant nagging over their creaking bed springs," I retort and her eyes are ablaze with anger. I smirk slightly as her face goes even redder.

"Why you little-" she goes to raise her fist at me.

"Go on then, I dare you, I'm sure the police would love this," I bark.

"What? Dan!" Adrian cries, looking at me imploringly.

"You wouldn't dare…,"she whispers, too enraged to form words.

"Believe me I would, if you ever come near me, Phil, or anyone else like me again I will not rest until the police and all of your precious god squad know what a spiteful cow you are," With that, I leave the dining room and head back up to my room; too furious to even wait for a response. I don't need one, because regardless of what she says, if she hurts him again I know what to do.

(Meanwhile)

Chris POV:

I wonder how Dans getting on….I ponder as Kat continues rambling on about a cute boy she saw when she went shopping on Saturday. Alex looks just as uninterested as I am. This whole facade thing has been a lot more difficult than I had thought – she won't shut up! How am I supposed to get onto the topic of Dan and how I'm supposed to be keeping these two away from him if she won't keep her heavily lipsticked lips shut? Running my hand through my hair in boredom and frustration, I keep feeling my eyes drift to Phil who has taken to sitting in the furthest corner of this dusty old canteen. I hope he will appreciate the effort Dan's going through to win him back. Keeping to this new, accepting Chris persona is gonna be difficult if he hurts him. I turn lazily back towards the chatty female to notice she has stopped talking; choosing to frown and fold her arms at me.

"Huh?" I mumble,

"Have you been listening to me at all?" she pouts.

"I was sitting down at Starbucks when a cute south African boy with bright blue eyes walked in and kept winking at me….oh my gosh I just can't believe it," I retell sarcastically and her eyes narrow into a scowl.

"What?" I frown but she just scoffs.

"You alright Chris?" Alex asks, raising an eyebrow, "You seem really distant lately,"

"Huh?" Kat questions.

"Uh yeah…just thinking," I brush him off.

"What about...Dan?" His eyes search me for a reaction and I flinch slightly inside; but I remain composed.

"No…why would I think about that gay twerp anyway?" Speaking in a confident tone I straighten up and turn the situation onto him. His pressing eyes soften; somewhat. Kat just looks confused.

"Well…," his voice falters, "Why have suddenly become all friendly with him?"

"Like when?" I press, voice shifting to a harsher tone.

"Like…when you have been in lessons together; like in French you seemed to be actually talking to him,' His eyes narrow as he speaks.

"Alex, I would not piss on him if he was on fire," I speak as if the words were poison as I try to convey as much disgust at the brown haired boy as possible.

"So why the sudden interest?" he repeats, "You're not going gay for him are you?" Kats eyebrows rise at that.

"Argh don't be so disgusting twat" I snarl, surprising myself at my nastiness, "I'm not going gay for him…but…I have been keeping an eye on him," Now its Alex's turn to look shocked.

"Why?" Kat pipes up as she eyes me suspiciously.

"Because…you pair of idiots…I wanted to do a little bit of digging to see if I could get any dirt on loser Lester," I throw a sneer in the direction of the black haired boy and I thank got he was looking the other way.

"Why?" Alex asks, "I thought you were done with that little fag eh?"

"I am, but, keeping our distance from him isn't gonna let him know what a freak he is will it?" I really hope they buy this…

"I suppose, but why not just beat him up instead; it'd be much easier and funnier," Kat proposes, frowning.

"Yeah," Alex joins in, "We could make Dan watch; that'll fix him he-he,"

"No no no, that won't work, you see no matter what happens to Phil, he'll recover as long as Dan is with him," I explain, feeling terrible.

"So?" Both of them ask in unison.

"Sooo…if I get his precious little Daniel to give us the dirt on him, then we can use that against him and he'll be even more upset because he'll know Dan told us yeah?" The smiles that appear on their faces are quite sickening.

"Perfect," Alex sniggers.

"Yes! Then Phil will have to leave him and of course I will be there to comfort the crestfallen Daniel ha-ha," Kat beams; glaring at Phil who is now looking out the window absentmindedly. I really hope he cannot hear me…

"See, you two need to learn to trust me seriously," I chuckle lightly; hoping it doesn't appear too forced.

"Hey, how about Kat and I try and get some information on Dan from Phil so we can do the same to him," Alex suggests but I am quick to rebuff him.

"No! You can't…," I protest, praying I haven't just blown my cover.

"Well why not?" He asks, crossing his arms across his chest.

"Because…you idiot," my voice falters as I try to act casually obvious, "If we are all doing it, they are bound to suspect something,"

"I suppose, but why can't one of us do it?" Kat wonders, sitting a little closer to eye me in suspicion.

"You just can't ok!" Whoa, calm down Chris. I inhale deeply, "Look, I'm the least suspicious of the three us; after-all, since you decided to pounce on him the second you saw him he's bound to be suspicious of you. Also, Alex you were the last to leave Dan's little friend group, so he's probably still licking his wounds from that,"

"Fine, fine, I'm not really that bothered anyway," she huffs, before turning her attention to stare at a group of sixth formers. Trying to break the awkward silence, Alex speaks up.

"I can't wait to see the look on his face when he finds out ha-ha," he smirks.

"He-he, yeah,"

Dan POV

"So how'd it go?" Chris asks as he takes a sip from his water bottle. We had decided to congregate in the back of the library once I had gotten back to catch up.

"I don't wanna talk about it," I mumble, fiddling with the sleeves of my jumper subconsciously.

"Bad huh?" he scowls worried.

"Well…what's done is done I mean, I wasn't expecting a family reunion or anything like that but it still could've gone better," I explain as I turn to gaze out of the window.

"Hey, as long as you did what needed doing, that's all that matters right?" I hum in agreement. "You gonna go talk to Anya now?"

"I suppose," I groan, "I just hope she is easier to convince than my mother was," He gives me a solemn smile as I stand, throwing my school bag over my shoulder, before throwing a quick goodbye Chris's way as I pad towards the exit of the library. I'm so grateful that it is now late afternoon, so most of the students would have retired to their rooms or one of the small dining halls either side of the canteen. Walking down the almost deserted corridors, I head towards the schools music department; briefly remembering Phil mentioning that Anya could usually be found there when not in classes or asleep. The classrooms all look the same as my eyes scan each door number and I reluctantly peer into each one. Ugh, this is why I don't come in here….I am about to give up when a shout alerts me from behind.

"Dan! Hey wait up!" A familiar chatty female appears beside me and I give a warm smile, "I'm glad I caught up with you,"

"Hey Anya," I try to appear chirpy, but she just eyes me suspiciously, "You ok?"

"Ok what's going on Dan?" she asks bluntly; her eyes searching me for any hesitance, "I don't know what happened over the holidays but something is not right,"

"Anya,"

"I've been Phil's friend for over seven years so I know when something is bothering him, so what is it?"

"Anya,"

"Also, why on earth have you started talking to Chris all of a sudden, are you hiding something? Does it have something to do with the scar Phil now has?" I gulp nervously.

"Anya!"

"Huh?" she blinks rapidly, before crossing her arms across her chest. "What's wrong with Phil, tell me," Now I know why Chris calls her Phil's sniffer dog, as nice as she may be…

"Listen Anya, I need you to just shut up and listen for a second, please," Her face stiffens in hurt a little at my choice of wording, but softens when she notices my sincerity.

"Ok," she sighs, looking up at me unexpectedly.

"Look, I'm not gonna lie to you but something did happen over that week but I cannot tell you what-,"

"But-,"

"Phil's…really upset and…confused right now, but the last thing he needs is someone going on at him about it," I try to sympathize with her, but her concern for her dear friend is fogging her judgement.

"But I need to help him, have you seen him?! He's hurting and I need to make sure he's alright," she goes to run to him but I grab her arm; her eyes ablaze with confusion.

"Please Anya, trust me I know, don't you think it's hard for me as well?" I try to remain composed but tears prick my eyes; ready to spill at the thought of him.

""I know but, what can I do, please Dan," she sighs, "I've never seen him so sad,"

"It may sound hard, but do you think you could give him a bit of space yeah, just so I can have a chance to talk to him," I plead.

"But…why can't I talk to him, I mean, I've know him a lot longer than you have and I seem to be more on his side than you at the moment," My eyes narrow in confusion at her statement, "Well…why were you so friendly with Chris then?"

"Look, I've only been talking to Chris to try and get him to back off," I shout exasperated, "Phil's not gonna get any better with him and his lot sniffing around him,"

"Ok, I suppose," she agrees reluctantly, "If I do agree to stay away, how do I know that's not gonna hurt him more?"

"He's your best friend Anya…he would understand; besides it won't be for long. If my plan goes the way I want it to, we'll all have the old Phil back in no time," I let a small, hopeful smile grace my lips as she nods in kind. She may be a stubborn girl, but she is indeed an incredibly kind one.

We quickly depart from each other from our conversation and now, as I make my way back towards my own room I can only hope that the next stage of our mission, dubbed cleverly by Chris as "Stage 2: Luring the Lion Cub" will be as successful. I hope so, I really do as words cannot describe how much I care about Phil and I would do anything to get him back.

I hope this is okay :/

Thank you ever so much for everyone who has stuck with me and this story, even with my somewhat sporadic update times ;) I really appreciate the feedback you guys give and it really makes me feel happy that you take the time to read and respond :) :) :)

Once again, feel free to leave a review if you want :)

See ya next chapter

xxxxxxxxx 3 3 3