Bad Timing

Phil's POV

"Can we get this Dan?" I asked, holding up a lion mask. It had holes for the eyes and mouth. I put it up to my face, making a "rawr" noise.

Dan laughed. "Where did you even find that?" I pointed to a secluded spot on the shelf next to a board game of Battleship. He reached for it and I handed it to him, giggling a bit when he held it up to his own face. It looked completely ridiculous on him. "This is so stupid. Why do they even have this?"

"I don't know. You should take a picture of yourself with it and post it on your account." I answered, knowing his fans would love it. He took my advice and took a selfie with his phone. I looked around more on the shelves and spotted a small glass llama. "Look at this!"

Dan texted something then shoved his phone in his pocket before he looked up. His brown eyes immediately lit up at the sight of his spirit animal. "Oh my god this is amazing!" I handed that to him as well and he took that item with his right hand. He held it up to the light and looked through it. I smiled at his enthusiasm.

"I'll buy you that if you want," I offered. It was almost Christmas anyways and I was the only one who brought money.

"Would you?" He asked. "Because that would be, like, completely awesome."

About fifteen minutes later we were walking out of the store into the cold London air with a small bag with Shreddies, the llama, and the lion mask, which I had bought on a split second decision. "Oh geez it's cold," I complained. The wind stung my face and I pulled up the hood of my space jacket.

"It must've gotten twenty degrees colder while we were in there." I could see his breath as a cloud. It also had gotten dark. The street lamps were on and they illuminated the sidewalk. A couple people were out, probably walking home like we were. I looked up at the sky. The moon glanced at me from behind a cloud. As always no stars were visible because of all of the lights of the city.

"What time is it?" I asked Dan because I had realized I had forgotten my phone at the house ten minutes after we had already left. He pulled out his phone again and it lit up his face.

"Jesus Christ! It's 11:30! We were in that store for three hours, Phil!" He looked at me accusingly. I had kind of promised that if he came with me to the store to buy some Shreddies it would be a quick trip.

"I guess I had gotten a little sidetracked," I admitted sheepishly.

Dan snorted. "You think? 'Dan look at this, no wait look at that'," he said overly mocking my tone. "Anyone would think you've never been to a store." I giggled, knowing that he was kidding. We both had fun and he knew it.

"Oh yeah. When were you going to upload a new video?" I asked. "Because I was going to do one tomorrow." We made sure we weren't filming at the same time so we wouldn't catch each other's voices in the recording.

He made a face. "Ugh. Responsibilities. I had just uploaded one."

I huffed. "Three weeks ago."

"Yeah, yeah. It's just so easy to procrastinate when you're playing Sonic." I smiled. He was always like this.

Suddenly I thought of something. "Oh! I almost forgot. I found this hilarious new cat sneezing video. The cat's sniffing some flour," I made a face what I thought would resemble a cat's, "And it sneeze's into the flour sending it flying-"

"Wait. How the hell does a cat's sneeze send flour flying?" Dan interrupted. I laughed- he had a point.

"I don't know. I guess it has strong nose muscles to sniff things or something. Anyways the flour coats everything making it looked like it has just snowed, including on the cat."

"Huh." He had his phone back out and it illuminated his face as he scrolled through something. I sighed, he probably wasn't listening to what I was saying.

Then I smirked. He deserved payback for always doing this. "Dan!" I screamed, pointing in front of us.

He jumped a little at my loud voice. "Fuck!" He fumbled his phone and almost dropped it on the cement. He looked where I was pointing, which was at nothing. "What the hell was that for?" He exclaimed.

I couldn't answer because I was too busy laughing. That was a better reaction than I was hoping for. Usually I can't ever scare him. "For not paying attention."

"I almost dropped my phone." He 'glared' at me, then smiled. "But you did manage to surprise me. I guess I did kind of deserve that. But I swear to god Phil if you make me drop my phone and it brakes I will put flour in your hairdryer again and it can snow for you like that cat." I guess he was listening after all.

I laughed and he joined in. But at least he put the electronic away. We talked and joked the entire way until we finally arrived at our building. We got to our front door and I stopped, grabbing the key out of my pocket. Dan was breathing heavily beside me because the elevator was out of order and we had to use the stairs. I unlocked the door and went inside, Dan closing the door behind us and locking it to make sure no demons break in at night.

I walked into the kitchen and opened a cabinet to put away the Shreddies. "I'll be in my room," Dan called out.

"Alright." I answered. I heard his feet walk down the hallway. I closed the cabinet door and set the two toys on the counter.

Suddenly I heard Dan scream. My blood chilled. Was he trying to get back at me for earlier? Then I heard something smash to the ground and I raced to Dan's room. The door was mostly closed and I swung the door open, not caring if it smashed against the wall and dislodged some pictures. "Dan are you oka-"

A strange man was in the room with a black ski mask on and a metal baseball bat. He was backing Dan into a corner. I sucked in a breath. Is this a fucking nightmare? How did someone break into our apartment? Dan looked terrified, like all his personal terrors had come true, which they had.

The man swung around to face me, alerted to the noise of the door. I was frozen in terror. He looked the same height and muscled through a long sleeved black shirt. Two holes were placed for him to see out of.

He swung the bat, and I barely had time to hold up an arm, which did nothing. It hit me in my left shoulder and I collapsed to the floor as a blinding pain seared through me.

"Phil!" I heard Dan scream. Tears pooled out of my eyes. It felt like I had gotten hit by a car. The edges of my vision became fuzzy and I felt light headed. I looked up to see the man about to hit me again and I cried out.

Then Dan grabbed his butt chair and swung it at the man's face. It hit him on its mark and he fell to the side. Dan rushed over to me and crouched down. "Oh god Phil, please tell me you're okay!" I could hear the panic in his voice through my pain induced haze.

"N-no," I choked out, tears streaming down my face as I cradled my shattered shoulder to my chest. It hurt so freaking bad. I wish I could just pass out and wake up and realize that this was just a very realistic dream.

"I'll call 999!" He yelled. My eyes widened in fear as I saw the man getting up, unbeknownst to Dan who's back was facing the robber.

"Watch out!" I screamed, Dan looking behind him, but it was too late. Instead of swinging the bat at him, the man just punched him in the face

I heard his fist connect with my friend's nose and a crack. Dan cried out, his head whipping to the side. The man raised his hand and punched him hard again. My housemate fell on his back, blood pouring from his nose and from a cut above his eyebrow. The man seemed to let him scramble to his feet, wielding the bat menacingly.

I had to do something. I can't let him hurt Dan. I stood up my legs shaking. I gritted my teeth through the pain. Before he swung I tackled him the floor, punching his face with my good arm. For about three seconds I had the upper hand. Then he recovered from his surprise and hit my injured shoulder. I screamed, my vision blacking out for a second. He stood up and kicked my side earning a groan from me. He raised his arm but Dan was there to hold it back. The robber spun around and slapped him. He recovered and threw his own punch, which missed. Dan took another hit and backed up against the wall for support.

I stood up again, wanting to throw up at Dan's blood and from the pain. I was shaky but I'd be damned if I wasn't going to help my best friend fend off this monster of a person. The man aimed another punch at Dan's face which sent him to the floor, moaning. "Leave him alone!" I shouted, throwing an object from Dan's bedside table weakly. It hit him in the back but probably didn't feel like anything. But it did grab his attention.

"Protecting your friend? How cute." The awful man's voice was gravelly and deep. "Too bad no one can protect you." Oh god.

He swung the metal bat and it hit me in my rib cage. All of a sudden I was on the floor, someone screaming. It was a voice I didn't recognize, filled with fear and agony. Then I realized that was me and feeling rushed back. This time I did throw up as a wall of complete pain swallowed me. It didn't even feel like I had gotten hit by a car anymore. More like I got hit, run over, then backed over.

I couldn't see through my tears. All I saw were two tall blobs moving around. Was that Dan? I couldn't tell anymore. It was hard to think in general. Why was this happening to me? To us? This wasn't fair! What about the life me and Dan had forged together? Was it all going to waste now? My vision dimmed. What about my lobster mom, my dad, and my brother? I sniffled. I'm so sorry. I don't wan't to be the cause of grief and suffering. My fans...I just wish I had the chance to live my dream life a little longer. Was I dying? It felt like it.

Then it was all forgotten, even Dan, as darkness claimed me as its own.

You get to pick how this story continues! I thought it would be interesting if you guys got to have a choice on how a story ended. I'll list several options and you guys comment on which one you want or even an original idea. I'll then either pick the most requested ending or a really good idea I didn't list.

Dan and Phil both wake up in the hospital

Phil dies and Dan wakes up in the hospital

Phil is kidnapped and Dan wakes up in the hospital

Dan is kidnapped and Phil wakes up in the hospital

Both are kidnapped

Both die

I'm excited for the results! I'm glad this doesn't predict the future in real life! Bye for now.

-BlackDragon2016