Bent (Boyxboy)

Chapter 42

Danny sat quietly next to Sebastian in the passenger seat of his car as they drove to go pick up Philip from his friend's place, where he had stayed the night before. Danny didn't like leaving Philip at the house alone, so he did whatever he could to make sure that Philip was out of the house whenever Danny needed to go out and have some time to himself. When they had finally reached the house Danny got out and walked up to the door as Sebastian sat in the car and waited patiently for Danny to get Philip.

Danny walked up to the door and quickly rapped on the door with his knuckles. He took a step back in case the door swung forward too quickly for him to be able to avoid.  The mother slowly opened the door and smiled at Danny. Danny smiled back as he could hear Philip in the house laughing and having a fun time with his new friend. It kind of made him feel bad about coming to pick him up, but this time they weren't going back to their parents this time they were actually going to escape.

"Hello Mrs. Packer, I've come to pick up Philip," Danny replied trying his best to not fiddle with his hands. He wasn't as good as Sebastian was at talking to adults or authority figures, it made him more than a bit uncomfortable.

"Hello Daniel, he's just finishing up a game and should be done any minute, would you like to come inside and wait it out?" Mrs. Packer asked and then saw the person that was sitting in the car behind Danny. "Your friend can come too if he likes?"

"Just tell Philip that I brought a friend with me and I'll wait here for him to come," Danny replied smiling a bit bigger as he thought about how Philip would react at seeing Sebastian waiting for him in the car.

"Alright," Mrs. Packer said looking a little confused but turned around to walk towards where Philip and his friend were playing. All Danny heard from the door was some muffled talking from Mrs. Packer and then Philip saying very loudly and excitedly, "Really?!"

Danny could hear a couple sets of feet slap on the hardwood floor as they were both running towards the door. Danny knelt down to Philip's height as Philip practically jumped into his arms for a big bear hug, with his new friend only trailing a couple steps behind him, stopping just before the doorway. Philip was laughing excitedly before letting go of Danny, staring up at him with shining eyes.

"Is he really here?" Philip asked as he bounced around in place, a ball full of excited energy.

"Yes he is," Danny replied as he waved back towards the car, and then gestured for Sebastian to come out and join them in front of the door. Philip bounced excitely next to Danny for a moment until Sebastian stepped out of the car. Philip took off directly towards Sebastian and hopped into his arms just as Sebastian had shut the driverside door.

"Sebby!" Philip cried excitedly as he hugged him around the neck. Danny noticed Sebastian flinch but other than that Sebastian held back just as tightly to Philip as he smiled at him. This made Danny's smile faulter for a second as he realized that Sebastian was okay with Philip touching him, but not when Danny was touching him. What was so different between the two of them? Could it be that because Danny was taller and older than Philip that there was less of a sense of vulnerability coming from Danny? Sebastian was still a lot taller than Danny though and more than a little bit stronger, so that didn't make too much sense to Danny.

"What are you doing here, Sebby?" Philip asked as he sat on Sebastian's hip with one of Sebastian's arms supporting his position.

"Well I was thinking that maybe you and your brother would like to have a permanent sleepover at my house," Sebastian started as he looked at Philip in the eyes, Danny felt something swell in him as he saw how good Sebastian was with Philip, "your brother won't give me an answer until he hears what your answer is, so we thought that we'd come ask if you would like to do that."

"Do you really mean it?" Philip asked his smile disappearing, as his eyes started to fill with tears. He turned his head to look at Danny. "We really can stay with Sebastian and we don't have to go back to live with mom and dad anymore?"

"If you want to, we can," Danny replied as he walked over to Sebastian and Philip with Philip's friend trailing just behind him looking confused with his head cocked slightly to the side.

"Yay!" Philip cried as he gripped back onto Sebastian's neck in a tight and happy hug, making Sebastian a bit uncomfortable again but he was able to quickly recover and hug Philip back, smiling as Philip giggled in his arms.

"But we do have to go pick up a few things first, buddy," Danny mentioned, not meaning to put a damper on the mood but knowing that it needed to be addressed quickly. Philip's expression immediately shifted to a more nervous and fearful expression, and he stopped hugging Sebastian's neck.

"You don't think that they are going to be there, do you?" Philip asked as he nervously played with his hands.

"I'm sure that everything will be okay, but how about you introduce us to your friend first before we head off to do that?" Danny asked as he smiled and held out his hand towards his younger brother and gestured towards the little boy that was still standing behind him.

"Okay," Philip replied getting some of his smile back as Sebastian put him back down on the ground to join with his friend again.