Nothing Burns Like the Cold (Phan)

Chapter Twelve

Their first course of action, of course, was to confront PJ. After PJ came Chris, who looked at Dan as if he was crazy before softening when he met Phil's desperate gaze. Phil had to explain what was happening: that the dangerous ability class was using Dan and Phil and many other students as their own personal assassin, "getting rid" of those who stand up against the academy and who could ultimately be a threat to the school.

"Fine, I'm in," Chris had said. "But only because Phil's looking at me like he's about to keel over."

From there, they moved onto Michelle who obviously agreed, and soon enough, the entire class agreed to be in on protesting against the school. They agreed even when Phil warned them of the dangers, of how terrible the school could be, but they all rolled their eyes at him.

"If the school hurts one of us, all of us get hurt," they stated.

The whispers among the class attracted the attention of Mr. Parker, who raised his eyebrows and smiled at them. "I've been wondering for years when this would happen," he murmured. "I'll help out as well. It's about time someone took a stand against it."

The entire thing was entirely hushed after that. No one really talked about it except for in quiet whispers behind cement walls of their bedrooms. Only talking in passed notes and scribbled letters. How, when, where. Phil was forever grateful to his classmates for helping him out when he most needed them to, for having Dan's back as much as he had theirs when he picked up the job in the first place.

But Phil couldn't force himself to worry about his classmates or the rebellion at the moment, because it was Christmas, and Christmas was supposed to be filled with happiness. It was definitely not supposed to be filled with sadness, stress, and the oncoming threat of a war with their own school.

He awoke at the buttcrack of dawn with a vibrating buzz almost coursing through his entire body. Despite the fact that he had trouble sleeping the night before due to his excitement over the holiday, he still somehow managed to wake himself up early without feeling the slightest bit tired. His energy was off the walls and he didn't even get dressed into his everyday clothing before he was bolting out the door.

His feet took him down the long hallway and down the stairs, to the third floor that had become quite familiar to him over the past week. The halls were dark, small paintings hanging on the white walls that had no composition besides splattered paint on canvas.

Eventually, he got to a door. It was a plain door, one that was the same as everyone else's but with the words 'Daniel Howell' engraved in a metal slate by the room number. There was a scanner by the door as well, one that every person was recently granted so the use of keys wasn't necessary. Made specially by the technical ability class, these contraptions scanned the person's fingerprint to allow access into the room. It also gave the owner of the room an option to allow other people to enter the room by scanning their fingerprints.

Before, only Peej was allowed into Dan's room, but after much begging and pleading, Dan caved and registered Phil's fingerprint as well. And vise versa.

Phil scanned his finger with as much vigor as a person trying to fight a bull. The door clicked, unlocking with the command, and Phil hummed successfully. He barrelled his way through the now-opened door, stopping a moment to marvel at how pretty Dan looked when he was fast asleep.

Even though he had seen Dan in this position before, it didn't make the fact any less magical. Dan's face was smooth, his hair in little ringlets over his forehead and slightly covering his eyes. His lips were partly lightly and Phil resisted the urge to kiss them. He would in a second, anyways, so that kept him in his place rather than completely attacking the brunette in his sleep.