Adopted by Phan

Chapter 82

Phil's P.O.V.

It was the Monday following the trial, exactly a week since we had found out the verdict, and Jay was finally going back to school after over 2 months off. She didn't seem excited, she didn't to have any reaction at all when we told her over the weekend that she was going back, she just seemed to accept it and move on.

She had grown at lot steadier on her crutches over the week, having gone back to physical therapy 3 times since the trial and could get around for a few minutes at a time without her wheelchair. We had mentioned getting a prosthetic once or twice and she had just shrugged at the idea, saying something about 'maybe later.'

Jay was a different person, it was like someone had sucked all of her emotions out and not replaced them with anything, leaving the blank slate of a person behind.

"Jay? Officer Briny's here, he's dropping you off." I saw her nod, hoisting herself up off the floor and into her wheelchair. She was wearing a large and baggy hoodie and a pair of track pants with one of the legs tied off so she could stand up without it getting in the way.

5 minutes later after Jay was out the door and on her way to school after many scared but hopeful goodbyes and promises to keep in contact during the day through Skype on her computer as we hadn't got her a new phone yet, then it was just Dan and I alone.

Dan was standing in the doorway of the kitchen, his huge hoodie on that once used to be mine, hands covered by his sleeves and staring at the floor, looking utterly lost. I reached out and hugged him, feeling him bury his head in my neck.

"What the fuck do we do now?!" His voice was higher pitched than usual and I could hear the anxiety in the sentence, and I just wanted a day just for us.

"We just wait okay, but for the rest of the day we aren't doing anything. Cuddles, anime and lots of hot chocolate and no stressors, just a day for us okay." I heard him sigh happily into my neck and I squeezed his waist. "Lord knows we need one after all that."

"But it's not ov-" I placed my finger against his lips.

"I don't care. We can forget it all for now, wait until Jay comes home. Then we can think, don't use your brain today."

"I'm completely fine with that." He pulled his head up from my shoulder and I looked straight into his beautiful brown eyes, one thumb resting on his cheek and the other hand still on his waist. He leaned into the hand on his cheek and closed his eyes, and I became transfixed with the tiny dusting of freckles across his cheeks and nose, which had faded a little bit over the past few months.

I had noticed that whenever he had long periods of feeling down or depressed the freckles would fade and disappear even, which they had done before. Over the year before we met Jay they had been slowly growing bigger and brighter and I took it as a sign of happiness.

"Come on, I want cuddles." Dan laughed, taking my hand and pulling me to the couch, where he went to turn the television on and I went to boil the kettle, to make hot chocolate. We had a tin of hot chocolate powder hidden somewhere in the cupboard, half the time even I forgot where I had put it.

5 minutes later the both of us were settled on the couch, sitting up so we could drink our hot chocolate and with a blanket wrapped around our shoulder. Dan kept taking sneaky sips from my mug and even though he knew full well that I knew he was doing it, I let him.

It was nice to just sit there and bask in the silence, knowing we didn't have to worry about anything for at least a few hours, when Jay came home and we could panic about the fact that we hadn't put any videos out for almost two weeks.

The fans had taken our absence surprisingly well and I'd only seen a few comments asking for videos over the two months. We had tried to keep track of our social media but it had got a bit out of hand and we hadn't checked anything for ages, not with Jay home and her state, unable to do most things on her own.

It only took an hour before Dan was fast asleep against me, taking advantage of our time together much. I wasn't complaining though, I knew he had suffered through a lot of sleep deprivation and I just wanted him to be okay, feel happy even, though I didn't know if it would possible.

I twirled the curl of his fringe with one of my fingers, trailing one of my fingers up and down the soft patch on his stomach and adjusting my position so I was comfortable, ready to sleep myself.

And it didn't take long either.

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"Wakey wakey sleepy heads, Jay's home." I mumbled something under my breath, confused and still tired.

"What?" I felt a small finger gently poke my back.

"It's four o'clock, I'm home." That was Jay and I think she was the one poking my back, still trying to wake me up.

I opened my eyes and looked down to see Dan, his eyes still closed and one of his hands curled around his face, lashes stuck together and his breathing slow with sleep. His hair was curlier that normal and falling in his face so I brushed it out of the way, turning around so I could look up at Jay.

She was up on her crutches, standing right behind the couch and with her backpack slung over one of her shoulder. She looked okay, a tiny smile on her lips and her phone in one hand.

"I wondered why you weren't replying, you must have slept the whole day." I groaned.

"Yeah I think so, we fell asleep like right after you left."