I'll Fight for You

There's a few things you have to get used to if you're in a relationship. If you're with someone who is stunningly beautiful, one of these things are the passive glances and the double takes made by strangers trying to get a better look, desperately grasping onto details so they can envision them again later. Whenever I bring Dan anywhere, heads turn. A lot.

His lean, tall body is fascinating in itself, but upon closer inspection, these strangers may notice the sun kissed skin, the melted chocolate that inhabits his irises, the soft brown hair that anyone would want to run their fingers through, the plush pink lips that frame his perfect smile, the dimples that make their hearts sink. People are practically breaking their necks just to catch a glimpse of his perfection. Even though they can't help it, it makes me somewhat ill when I notice people eyeing Dan. I don't want to know what they're thinking about doing to him inside their heads.

"Phil. Phil!" Dan tugged at my sleeve.

"Sorry, what?"

"What's wrong with you?" Dan giggled and held on to the sleeve. "I was saying before, will you get us drinks? I'm going to find Chris and Peej's table and you can meet us."

"Sure, babe." I kissed him quickly on the head, and he ambled away, his perfect little head turning in search of our friends in the crowded, dimly lit bar scene.

I ordered a few beers, and when I turned back around, I saw Dan's hand waving me over. His face was lit with joy, and the expression evoked an emotional ache in my chest. Even though I tell him every day, Dan will never know how beautiful he really is.

I approached Dan and our best friends at the circular, wooden table with high chairs, located right near the center of the bar floor. After putting down the drinks, Chris and PJ stood up for hugs, and we all proceeded to converse over the recent happenings in all of our lives. PJ's immaculate storytelling and all the hilarious faces Chris could pull had us laughing and smiling warmly within seconds. While Dan told a story of a pigeon entering our home, a hand landed on his shoulder, taking us all by surprise.

"Hey, how're you doin'?" The stranger locked eyes with Dan, admiring his beauty. Dan replied saying that he was doing fine while I became livid. I glared at the strange man, but he didn't seem to notice. I put a protective arm around Dan, as to signal that he is mine, however this guy did not take the hint.

"Can I buy you a drink?" The guy inquired of Dan, serving him also with a wink and a smile. Dan smiled back politely and assessed the contents of his drink.

"No, you can't." I said sternly, scowling at the guy who was hitting on Dan. My Dan. He stood about my height, sporting short brown hair and scruff covering his face. I stood to meet his gaze. His eyes finally met mine and he smiled.

"And why not?" The man asked me playfully.

"Because he's taken. Get a move on, now." That was my polite way of saying "get the fuck out." He didn't respect it, though.

"All I want is to buy this gorgeous guy I saw all the way across the bar a drink. That's all." Was this guy looking for a fight? I stood to meet his gaze.

"Not today, mate. Scoot."

The man and I were glaring hatefully and intensely at each other, almost growling. Dan stood up and came between us, trying to help the situation, though unsuccessfully. He got in front of me, facing me and telling me to sit back down, but I was far from done with this guy.

"Fine, fine, kids. I'll leave you alone." The stranger said his last sentence while rolling his eyes.

"Good, thanks." We were still standing up, and I smiled, although my hostility continued to brew towards him.

He grinned mischievously and did the unspeakable.

With one disgusting, rule-breaking, disrespectful hand, the stranger squeezed Dan's butt and muttered "damn," causing Dan to yelp in surprise.

Without thinking, my body suddenly balled my fists up and got into the stranger's face, gripping the collar of his shirt and pulling it up with rage.

"You do not touch him."

"Yeah? What are you gonna do about it?"

As if in cue, I swung my angry fist straight into the guy's face and we all heard a crack. I was too pissed off to be surprised at my own actions. I never saw myself as the type to get into a bar fight, but if this guy wanted a brawl, he would get one.

"Fuck, no!" The guy shoved me violently back by my shoulders into a table, knocking it over. He swung at my face, but I ducked so his fist missed me. I shoved him back, both of us releasing random strings of profanity to each other. A crowd began to form a circle around us, but I heard Dan screaming for us not to fight. Too bad the rest if the bar, including Chris and PJ, of course, were urging us on to fight.

I made quick eye contact with a worried Dan. All I had time to think about was, this isn't like me at all! What am I doing? Am I still Phil? Then it hit me. His fist, I mean. It slammed into my face like a sock full of stones, leaving half my vision blurry. Instead of backing down, I felt more rage come up, a sensation I have never felt before. True, animalistic wrath. I could feel a literal heat flood my gaze as I locked eyes with my enemy once more. I smiled with confidence, wiping some blood off of the corner of my mouth, and I swung my fist like it was the last punch I would ever throw, straight into the man's skull like Captain Falcon, knocking him out.

"K.O.!" I heard Chris yell excitedly from the surrounding crowd of spectators. "Take that, ya little bitch!" PJ and Chris high-fived.

In that moment it was like I could feel my soul re-entering my body. What just happened? I just fought someone?! What?!

I suddenly felt an arm around me, pulling me towards the door. PJ's. And Dan and Chris were trailing close behind, the fantastic foursome running out of the bar like crazy people in the middle of the night. "Go! Go! Before the cops get here!" PJ and Chris were running and pulling and laughing, while Dan followed in shock. "My place is the closest to here! Come on!" PJ shouted back as we turned a corner on the dark London streets, heading towards his flat.

When we got there, PJ swung the door open and Chris let out an "Ayy-Ohh! I still can't believe it, Phil!" I felt the dull sting of a bruise forming around my left eye and on the side of my face, but that didn't keep me from smiling.

"I can't either!" I exclaimed, still not down from my adrenaline high. Dan still hadn't spoken yet, so I wasn't sure how to react to that. The thrill I, no, we, got from that fight was striking. PJ, Chris, and I could not stop giggling as we plopped down on PJ's sofa.

"Are all your teeth still in, mate?!" Chris joked as he playfully socked me in the arm.

"I reckon they are! Geeze, guys. I've never outrun the cops before! That was crazy!"

"Yeah, it was crazy, Phil." Dan muttered, staring at the floor. Everyone shut up immediately. He got up and went to the freezer, extracting a bag of frozen peas and walking back over to join us. The three of us were so silent after Dan spoke that the tension could be taken from the air around us, rubbed between your fingers like a cloud of fine powder. It made me think back to my early school days when the teacher would be upset at the class, and everyone sat quietly, ready to endure a punishment.

Dan approached me again, not looking me in the eyes, but instead pressing the bag gently to my bruise. His face didn't look angry. It didn't look disappointed, either. I couldn't put a label to it, looking intently at my boyfriend's face as he treated my bruise and ghosted his fingers over my cuts, letting his brown hair cover his eyes. And then, he sniffled.

I thought my half-blurred vision was deceiving me when I saw a tear run down Dan's cheek. Then he sniffled again. I placed a hand on his cheek, feeling the hot tear with my own touch and wiping it gently off his face as he held the peas against my face. "Is everything okay, love?"

Dan sat down on the floor, almost collapsing in emotion, and looked up at me. The usually bright white scleras in his eyes were bloodshot red, brimming with fresh tears, as he broke down further. Seeing the love of my life like this, crying beneath me, struck an awful, clenching pain in my heart. I cupped his face and tipped his chin up. "What's wrong, babe?"

Dan sniffled again and somehow managed to choke out, "I was so worried..." He wiped his eyes and swallowed, while his throat was clenched and he couldn't speak beyond a whisper. My insides shattered. "That you would get hurt, Phil." Dan crumbled and covered his face with his arms, resting his forehead on my knee. Chris and PJ took this intimate moment as a cue to leave us alone, so they crept out as silently as they could into another room in the flat.

"You could have gotten killed out there, Phil! I hear about this kind of bullshit all the time! People die like that every single day!" I pulled Dan up onto the sofa to sit next to me, wrapping him in a tight hug and resting my head on top of his, breathing him in. He tried to hard to stifle his sobs, but they all released into the crook of my neck as I held him tight.

Dan pulled himself together a little more and looked back up to me. His big brown eyes set my soul on fire, causing my heart to beat faster and harder until our lips touched, the kiss becoming more passionate the longer we were connected. "I'm sorry, Dan. I just had this feeling. Like I couldn't help but fight that annoying guy off. Have you ever felt that? It sounds crazy, because I'm normally against violence and all that but... I don't know. I just didn't feel comfortable with that guy hovering over you. And he kept staring at you, and talking to you, and when he touched you it just sent me over the edge."

"I understand, Phil. That's really sweet, but it scared the shit out of me."

"I know, baby." I kissed his forehead and continued explaining myself, with new thoughts that I hadn't even processed internally since the event. "I just feel so protective over you. You're my everything, Dan. I literally can't trust anyone with you. I need to protect you at all times. But I can't bear to see you this upset. I love you so much."

"I love you, Phil." Dan squeezed my hand reassuringly, looking into my eyes again. "I just can't lose you over something so small, in the grand scheme of things." He sniffled again before speaking, something he had obviously been holding onto, afraid to let it out because a wave of emotions would come with it.

"You're my first and only love. You're my one love, Phil." Dan let out a single sob but kept going. "And I'm afraid of losing you so much because I know I'll never feel this way about anyone else, ever again in my life. Don't you understand? You're the first boy that I have fallen this deeply for. You make me feel beautiful, sexy, valuable, wanted, needed, every single day. Just the thought of losing you, because you fought to defend me?" Dan's eyes let out a fresh let of tears that ran down both of his flushed cheeks. "That would be the worst thing."

"That's interesting, Dan," I kissed his hand and held it close to my heart, allowing him to feel each beat through the fabric of my shirt. "Because you're the only one I want to fight for."

Dan giggled and kissed me hard on the lips. Though the tears still rolled in succession of each other, I could tell he was feeling much better. That's the beautiful thing about Dan and I's relationship. We can always, always make each other feel better when we're going through something. Together, we can go from crying to laughing within a couple of minutes.

"Do cuts and bruises suit me?" I asked playfully, sticking my tongue slightly out the side of my mouth, smiling.

"Of course. You look so sexy with a black eye!" Dan leaned up and kissed the dark purple mark on my face gently, though even the slightest touch stung. I tried to hide the pain I was going through, because at this point I wanted more than anything for Dan's loving lips to be on my face, the gestures making us stronger.

Chris and PJ re-entered the room with some pocky and donut holes. "Everything good in here?" Chris asked, smiling when Dan and I both nodded. "Right, now lets watch a movie! We've all had a long night. How does The Fantastic Four sound? Because, you know. It's us!" PJ dispersed the snacks and grinned at Dan and I. Had they heard all those lovey-dovey things we said?

Dan squeezed my arm, pecking me once again on the lips, then continued holding into my sleeve as we maintained eye contact, as if we were telepathically communicating, blocking out the noises from our friends and their TV. All I could see was Dan's smile and his molten brown eyes, making me fall in love all over again.

Dan pressed the frozen peas to my bruise carefully, while intertwining our fingers with his free hand. Kissing my jawline, he whispered, "I love you so much, you crazy motherfucker."

(A/N: I really hope you enjoyed the story! What do you think about hardcore Phil? ;3 I'd also like to thank the people who are always so sweet to me with their reviews: DovahFinn, Neverlandnat, stellapurple219, potatoes-are-not-for-sex, LoveAndLaughter, and many more! Thank you so much for all the kind words, they mean so much to me and encourage me to continue writing!)