Never Good Enough (PHAN)

Adventure

After almost killing him last time, Dan never thought he'd be climbing a tree the prince of his kingdom again.

But here he was.

Fortunately, the tree stayed stable this time and there was no dramatic falling incident. Instead they were left with silence.

'So..' said Dan.

'La..' said Phil.

'Very funny.'

'I do try.'

And once again, silence. If they didn't live where they did there might have been a tumbleweed that came up over them and knocked them out of their awkwardness.

'This is funny.' said Phil.

'What is?' asked his friend.

'This. How come when we're on the ground we have so much more to say to each other.'

Dan envied Phil's outlook.

'Hmm.. I suppose you're right about that. Maybe we should play a game.' said Dan.

'What game?'

'Never have I ever?'

'What?' Phil asked.

'Never have I ever! One person says something and the other has to say whether they've done it.'

There was silence for a moment. 'Is this what you all played in the village?'

'Of course! What did you play?'

Phil had to think for a moment. '..chess?'

Dan couldn't help mocking him slightly. 'Oh yeah, and did you go have tea with the queen afterwards?'

.

.

.

'I mean my mum is the queen, so...' Phil replied but Dan cut him off.

'Okay, okay, bad example. Honestly though, did you never do anything like this?'

'Nope.'

'Well, no time like the present.'

~~

The two played for hours and hours, until the retired day turned into a newly promising one.

'Oh shit, gotta go. They're gonna think I've been kidnapped or something.' Phil said, climbing down the tree and running inside.

'Umm, okay. Bye!' Dan said, although there was doubt in his mind that the prince even heard him.

Phil took a shortcut up the stairs and managed to get into his room. He was panicked, afraid that there would be an entire search party waiting for him, but everything pretty much seemed to be in order.

He panicked as his door opened, but was relieved to find it to be one of the guards, Jason.

Jason was Toby's uncle, so Phil knew him pretty well.

'Phil? Where the hell have you been?'

'Umm.. out?'

Jason sat next to him on the bed. 'Look, I just saved your butt by telling everyone that you were in your room. But next time, please tell me or a guard you trust before you leave! We'll help you sneak out, but we need to at least know where you are.'

Phil sighed. 'Okay, sorry Jason.'

Jason laughed. 'It's fine, honestly. So, who's this friend of yours?'

Phil explained every detail of Dan, from his height to his smile. He'd never got to really explain Dan in full detail to anyone, so the experience was more than pleasant. It was like saying every reason he was fond of him ; there were more than it was possible to count.

Phil left out, however, the butterflies in his stomach. The flittering in his heart.

The way Dan made him feel.

~~

New horizons faced Dan as he awoke that morning. As soon as he let sunlight enter him, he had a bounce. Just something about the day ahead of him: he had a feeling it would be the best one yet.

He left the house to go on a walk into the village. He met his friend Lucius near the forest, and they decided to go in the lake for a bit.

As they stood in front of the lake, Dan's fickleness started to get the better of him. He stood there, slowly debating on whether or not to get in the water.

He felt a hard shove on his back and landed directly into the water with a loud splash. It took him a few seconds but he managed to regain his senses and bob on the top of the water.

'I hate you!' He shouted, pulling Lucius in with him. He'd had barely any chance to see his friend in the past few days and he'd really missed him. There was something about the way Lucius made him feel.

Did Phil make him feel the same way though? He was unsure. They definitely were good friends, but he was unsure whether they could be more than that. He was the crown prince of the kingdom, after all. He was, well he was Dan.

He was pondering this for a while, until he heard a shout.

'Boys!' Said the voice of an old man, slowly walking towards them.

Dan instantly recognised the voice as an elderly man by the name of Mr Davon.

Mr Davon was everyone in the village's grandpa. He was everyone's favourite little old man - everyone loved and respected him.

'Mr Davon!' Lucius said, spinning around and smiling.

'You better get out the water now. The prince is coming again in 20 minutes.

Dan felt his heart start to pound. 'He's coming in again?' he asked, unable to contain his excitement.

Mr. Davon laughed in reply. 'Yes! Lovely chap, isn't he?'

Dan managed to calm himself. 'Yes, yes he is.' he said, drying himself off as he got out the water.