Entanglement

hold

Phil POV

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Dan had been acting so strange lately.

It had been four days since he'd abruptly left while I was in the midst of telling him a story. I couldn't remember the relevancy of what I'd been telling him, now, but it had still been weird to just get up and go no matter what I was saying.

The day after, he had kept his promise to come early, but something had been off the entire time. Unfortunately, I could not figure out what it was. He'd allowed me to talk nearly the full time we spoke, only nodding and barely looking at me as if he was trying to avoid doing so. I was tempted to ask what was wrong as more days went by and his behavior didn't change one bit, yet I knew that that would only throw him into complete defense mode and he'd most likely snap at me. No matter how close we had grown or how much trust was between us, I was still wary because of his issues with anger and fire. I didn't want to make him angry, and especially not at me.

I woke up wondering what the fifth day of his strange streak would hold. Part of me didn't even want to go so that I wouldn't have to deal with it, but a larger part decided that I still wanted to see Dan and that me talking calmed him, so it was one more step closer to him telling me what was wrong.

I almost couldn't believe that we had known each other nearly six months. You would think there'd be more visible progress between us, but all there was was more trust and an enjoyment of the other's company. Maybe that was all we would ever be.

But when I thought about wanting more, I couldn't decide what I wanted. What did I want?

Today, I wanted to go talk to Louise and then go to Earth, make some angels, then talk to Dan. That was all I wanted today. I couldn't afford to think about any long term goals.

To begin, I changed into a new gown because the openings for my wings weren't large enough on my old one. I walked out the door before anything could stop me, quickly flying towards Louise's. I had gotten much more comfortable with flying everywhere I wanted to go, and I suspected it was because of how much bigger my wings were now. Maybe my earlier hesitance had been embarrassment, or I was just changing into a better, stronger angel emotionally as well as physically.

My friend was standing outside of her house, as if she was waiting for me to come to her. As I landed, she smiled, running a hand through her long blonde hair before speaking.

"Phil!" She shouted. "I have great news."

"What is it?" I asked, folding my wings behind me comfortably. I was a bit surprised that they still sat snugly against my shoulder blades despite how gigantic they had become.

"Korey gave me the job on Earth," She replied. "I know I said I might not because of what you said, but I suppose you're right, you know? Maybe I should try to experience more. Now we can work together! We'll be a super duo, making angels and getting rid of the nasty cruds."

I felt slight panic seeping into me as she continued her words. Louise was going to be on Earth, every day, with me. She couldn't know that I spoke with Dan, which meant I wouldn't be able to speak to him unless she happened to get a day off. The possibility was unlikely, and I hurried to find some sort of excuse, some sort of reason why I couldn't work with her.

"I don't know, Louise," I began slowly, and my heart panged when her bright smile began to sink down into a confused frown. "It's already hard for me to focus when I work, I don't think it would be good to be talking to you the whole time. I probably wouldn't get anything done."

She frowned completely, then, and I felt so much disappointment radiating from her I almost wanted to forget it and ditch Dan just to spend each day with her. I didn't understand how I was supposed to choose between the two most important people in my life; why couldn't Dan have just been an angel? That would make things much easier.