#so like if spooky daniel excuses himself from the room when i come in from my morning run i'm not gonna think

[my-thoughts-and-junk]

literally any romance trope is made better with monsters but unrequited romance specifically... gets me

[cantolopejeevas]

Good Morning, Goodnight

It’s spooky season, ya’ll, so here’s a fic for an AU where Daniel’s a serial killer because why not?

Warnings: Death, Torture, Mind Fuckery

Daniel watched as Liam peacefully slept away. Oh, how the sight made his heart throb almost painfully. Lips slightly parted, face so at ease, hair a tousled mess. And the smallest ghost of that charming smile. Gorgeous. A part of him wanted to just stay here and watch this forever. The mere thought that it would end made the pounding in his chest pick up.

Slowly, those blue eyes began to open. Still hazy, but that soon changed when Liam finally saw him.

“Ugh, where am I? Who are you?”

…Who was he? Who was he!? What the fuck did he mean by that!? 

No. You know what? Daniel should’ve expected this. Especially after what happened. So he simply took a deep breath and let a smile slip onto his face.

“I know you were drunk and drugged last night, but that doesn’t give you an excuse to forget a pretty face like mine,” he teased and circled around, putting his hands on Liam’s shoulders. “Come on now, think hard. I told you my name.”

Liam groaned and lolled his head back to look at him. “Last night? What, did we hookup or something? Fuck, my head hurts…”

Hookup. There was that damn word again.

“You could say that,” he said, voice still pleasant. Now it was forced, though. Forced through hurt, bitterness, fury. “We met at the club, danced a little, had a nice conversation. You told me that my eyes were the prettiest you’d ever seen. Then you took me home and, well…”

His face grew as hot as the boiling lava in his chest.

“I don’t think I need to spell it out for you.”

A moment of silence passed. Then Liam drew in a sharp breath, and began to struggle against the metal chair he was bound to. He pulled his arms and legs, even tried to shake off the little nodes that had been so carefully placed all around his body.

“What the fuck!? Oh god, are you some kind of fucking psycho!?”

“That’s not very polite,” Daniel muttered under his breath. Then he cleared his throat and dropped all friendly pretenses, throat tight as he continued, “But I guess the answer is again: you could say that. But you haven’t seen the fucking extent of it yet, so don’t go slinging those kinds of words around.”

“Let me go, you son of a bitch!”

Daniel heard the crack in Liam’s voice. Even saw the bravado on his face drop for just moment. So he leaned down, pressed his lips so lovingly to Liam’s ear, and whispered a sweet nothing to reassure him.

“Don’t worry. It only gets worse from here.”

That’s when he pulled back, ignoring the slew of curses and slurs thrown his way in favor of getting the game set up. Let’s see, what did he want to play today? Mario Kart? No, he wasn’t really in the mood for that. Too cartoonish. How about…

“What the fuck are you doing!?”

“Getting Smash Brothers set up. Do you want to be player one, or two?”

“I’m not playing any stupid fucking game with you, asshole!”

Daniel shrugged, then pulled out his handy-dandy little remote control. Back still to Liam, he made sure it was within his line of sight as he let his thumb toy with the dial. “Alright, then. I’ll just send a million volts through you right now and not even give you a chance to save your own miserable skin. How does that sound?”

Liam drew in a sharp breath. “Woah, wait! Fine, I’ll play! I’ll play! Just don’t fucking kill me!”

“That’s what I thought.”

Without further ado, he continued where he left off. But as usual, he couldn’t focus on the task at hand. There was a terrible, painful thought nagging at the back of his head. Too much ambiguity around it too, nothing had ever really been explicitly said. Well, now it seemed like this was his last chance to clear it up.

“I have a question for you,” he said coldly as he navigated through silent menus. The music was always too distracting during moments like this. And maybe he liked how the dead air put his guests on edge. “Now you better be honest with me, or I won’t be happy. Got it?”

“Okay, yeah, what is it?”

Finally at the character select screen, he idled about, half his brain wondering which character he should play as while the other half forced words out of his mouth. “You never intended to keep me around, did you? All those things you said, that was all just to get in my pants, wasn’t it?”

Thump-thump. Thump-thump. Thump-thump. Their hearts were in sync, he could feel it. 

“No, I mean, you’re defintiely a keeper, you know? A guy’d have to be fucking crazy to do that to someone as… As hot as you!”

He was right.

And a goddamn liar.

“‘Get your shit and go. I don’t let flings stay the night.’”

“…Huh?”

Daniel quickly turned the dial on his remote halfway and pressed the button. Screams and static electricty filled the air, running through him, sending wonderful chills down his spine and along his skin. He counted out the seconds. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Then released the button to end Liam’s torment.

“‘Get your shit and go,’” he repeated and finally turned to face him, glaring hard even as his eyes twitched. “‘I don’t let flings say the night.’ Is it ringing any bells now? Or do you need another fucking reminder?”

Liam could only wheeze and tremble as lingering spasms rocked through him. Those pretty blues were all out of focus too, but still so wide with pure terror. 

Good.

“How about I tell you the other things you said to me, since you were so drunk last night,” he said in the sweetest voice he could muster, fingers fiddling with the dial. “Let’s see… Oh, how about this one?”

Zap!

“'No, you can’t have my number!’”

Zap!

“'No, we can’t meet up again tomorrow!’”

Zap-zap-zap!

“'Get out of my house already, whore!’”

Each controlled shock was punctuated by a hoarse scream. It was almost melodic how he got Liam to change pitch, tone, volume in the midst of it all. By the end he looked a little worse for wear, but that somehow made him even more handsome than before. In a sickening way that made Daniel want to drop him off the end of a pier, at least. He wasn’t truly attractive anymore, no, not at all. But now he was an experience, ready to be enjoyed.

Liam’s head dropped to his chest, but Daniel roughly grabbed his hair to force him back up. “It’s very rude to pass out on the first date.”

“F…” He drew in a harsh, wheezy breath as tears leaked down his cheeks. “First… Date?”

“And only,” Daniel muttered and let go of Liam’s hair. It was almost cute how he could barely hold himself up. And very frustrating. “Don’t worry, I’m just calling it that to make myself feel better about sleeping with such a vitriolic degenerate. I have a clean record to keep, after all.”

“What…”

“Don’t hurt yourself now. I love to talk, so I’d be more than happy to fill you in.” Letting a small smile slip onto his face, he turned the dial down to its lowest setting. “And maybe play with you a little more…”

“N-No, stop…!”

Zap!

“Let’s see, where should I start,” Daniel mumbled to himself and tapped a finger against his lip. Then his smile broadened. “Well, introductions are probably in order, right? The name is Daniel. Daniel Nadiva.”

Recognition briefly crossed Liam’s face. But the poor thing, his eyes just couldn’t focus no matter how much he tried to scrutinize. “I… That sounds familiar… Fuck…”

Daniel preened and placed a hand to his chest. “It should! I have a show that I do right here in the city. Talking Video Games, I’m sure you’ve heard of it. Not to brag too much, but I am a bit of a celebrity.”

“That’s… Cool.”

“I know, right? Of course, given that, my quick wit, and my pretty face, it makes me quite the catch. Even if people don’t quite see it…”

Was that a little passive aggressive? Maybe.

“That brings me back around to your little question,” he said as that quick little high faded back into familiar anger. But he kept up the facade. Wouldn’t do to have Liam on edge right now. “My clean record. See, it would be a shame if people found out that someone of such a high status slept around. One wrong move and my name gets smeared in the dirt. And I can’t have that, then how would I be able to do my show?”

“…I dunno.”

“Exactly! I can’t be seen as a harlot. So when someone tries to ruin that for me, I bring them here for a little date. That way I can say that I’ve only slept with people I’ve dated. See? Of course, that’s not all this room is for.”

“Oh yeah? And do you…” Liam swallowed thickly, his fear almost palpable. “Do you do this to everyone you bring in here, or…?“

Ah, the right question. But Daniel wasn’t quite ready to answer yet. 

He cupped a gentle hand to Liam’s face, letting his thumb stroke along his cheek as he said, “Well, before we get to that, it’s time for a little—” his smile fell into into snarl and he pulled his hand away— “test.”

Liam’s bottom lip trembled. “Test? What— ah!”

Just a little jolt to help jog his memory and motivate him. After a quick second, Daniel let go of the button and asked oh-so sweetly, “Do you remember my name, Liam, dearest? Or do you need a reminder?”

“Daniel! It’s Daniel! Please, oh god…!”

He hummed and fiddled with the dial. “Daniel…? Come on now, I gave you my last name just a minute ago. Don’t tell me you already fucking forgot it.”

“Fuck… I don’t know! You’ve been shocking the shit out of— oh, god, stop!”

This time, he kept up that steady stream of electric pain for another five seconds. It wasn’t as nearly as intense as the first time, Liam would be fine. Daniel knew better than to break his games before he was done with them.

“Let’s drill it into your empty fucking head, then,” he snapped as he released the button. “Nah-dee-vah. Can you say it with me? Nadiva. Nadiva!”

“Nnn… Nah… Dih-vah…”

“Wrong.”

It was moments like these that Daniel knew it was worth the investment to soundproof this room. Unfortunately, he was still subject to Liam’s beautifully horrid screams, and the sound was giving him a pounding headache. Not to mention he was getting a little bored.

“One last chance,” he growled, grabbing Liam’s jaw and turning his head up to lock eyes with him. “Daniel. Nadiva. Say it.”

“Dan… Daniel… Nnnn… Diva…”

Oh, that was pathetic. The glaze over Liam’s eyes was thick now, a sign that he was almost completely gone. Luckily for him, Daniel was feeling a little merciful. So he simply let Liam pass out. A little rest would get him right back into playing condition.

After a couple hours— during which Daniel made himself a nice cup of tea, took some ibuprofen, and made some good progress on his next script— he came back to the Game Room, pleased to see that Liam was wide-awake.

“Good morning,” he greeted in a cordial tone. “I’m glad to see you’re feeling better. Do you need anything before we play? A cup of tea, maybe a snack?”

“I’m fucking tired of playing nice with you, fucking psycho!” Liam snarled and thrashed against his chair. “You better let me out of here right fucking now, or I’ll fucking kick your crazy ass and call the cops on you!”

Daniel snorted. “You really think they’ll be able to help you?”

“I-I mean, duh!” That crack in his voice betrayed his doubt. “Why wouldn’t they? They’re the fucking cops.”

“Hm. Cute.”

That was all he said for the moment. Just enough to get Liam’s mind racing. He knew how those kinds of thoughts worked. They’d build up and fester, only spiralling down and down and down until he’d created his own living nightmare for himself.

Meanwhile, Daniel could finally get to the next step of the game.

“I call Samus,” he said as he picked up the controller and selected his character. “Who do you want to be?”

“Fuck you!”

And here Daniel had been hoping that Liam had learned his lesson. But maybe he hadn’t. There was that little unanswered question from earlier, that would be perfect to put it into perspective for him.

“You wanted to know if I do this to everyone I bring here, right?” he asked coolly. “Well, the short answer is yes. But do you want to hear the long answer?”

Silence. Conflict. The tension in the air almost made Daniel lose his goddamn mind. He could imagine what Liam was thinking— it was almost like they were made to share this moment together. Is he telling the truth? What’s the long answer? Oh god, there isn’t any hope for me, is there? I’m a fucking dead man! 

“The long answer,” he continued, voice a perfected deadpan that he knew would only set Liam off more, “is that I bring each and every person in here who well and truly pisses me off. Most of the time they’re one night stands. Sometimes they’re unruly guests on my show. I even—”

“What’s the fucking point in telling me this?”

Daniel let the thick silence sit for a few moments before interrupting it with a fresh round of Liam’s screams. After three seconds, he cut them off with a distasteful click of the tongue.

“Don’t interrupt me again,” he warned dangerously, then went about getting Liam’s arms unbound. “But the point is simply to let you know that you’re the newest guest for a rather prolific murderer. The Moonlight Killer? I’m sure you’ve heard of him, he’s all over the news. Well, fun fact, you’re getting on his last fucking nerves.”

Now he was close enough to hear whimpers. But that glare still managed to strike him to the core. That wasn’t part of the script. And it made his blood boil.

Zap!

There. That had Liam looking nice and pathetic once again.

“If you don’t want to end up being the twenty-seventh body fished out of the lake in the last two years, then you better clean up your act,” Daniel suggested with a gentle caress to Liam’s jaw. “Now your arms may be free, but that doesn’t mean you can go ruining my little gift for you.”

Liam’s finger twitched. Leftover static running through him, or the insatiable need to escape? The world would never know, because Daniel didn’t care to find out.

A harsh pull on his hair, jerking his head back and making him yelp, really emphasized Daniel’s key point. “One wrong move, and I’ll fry your ass right here and now. Is that finally getting through that thick, empty skull of yours?”

A nod, slow and careful. Finally.

“Good. Now I’ll ask this one more time: who do you want to play?”

Just to be nice, Daniel began to cycle through all the characters. As soon as he hovered over Samus, Liam finally spoke up.

“I wanna play him.”

“Her.And no. Pick someone else.”

No one else seemed to be good enough for him. About halfway through, Daniel’s brain glazed over in boredom. He was just about to say “fuck it” and really wreck his electric bill when Liam’s voice pulled him out of his own head.

“Him! That army guy, I wanna play him!”

Solid Snake? Whatever, to each their own. He selected the character and handed Liam his controller with a quick glance over to make sure every last node was still in place. With that taken care of, he got seated in his recliner and started the match, ready to finally feel that spark of excitement again.

Unfortunately, he didn’t get it. The match lasted all of two minutes because Liam’s hands were still a little twitchy. Or maybe he just had no idea what he was doing. In either case, he lost.

Hard.

“Wait, no,” Liam’s panicked voice started. “This is bullshit, you have to—”

At that point, Daniel tuned him out and went about cleaning the room up. Put controllers away, turn off the Wii, was there anything else he needed to do before the grand finale?

“Hey, psycho! Are you even fucking listening to me!?”

“No,” he answered in a long sigh, one hand pressed to his forehead. “I’m not. I got bored about ten words in. You might as well save your breath while you still can, I’m trying to think and all that yelling just makes me want to kill you sooner.”

“Wait! Wait, what if… What if we dated? That’s what you wanted, right? I’ll be your boyfriend and you won’t have to kill me!”

Daniel blinked. Oh. That was a new one. And he’d be a dirty liar if he said that the mere thought didn’t make his heart swell with hope. After so long of desperately craving love and affection, it was right there at his fingertips. All he had to do was say…

“No, thank you.”

Liam’s eyes went wide, then glued themself to the remote in Daniel’s hands. “Come on! Please! I promise, I won’t turn you in or anything!”

Slowly, every so slowly, Daniel turned the dial all the way up. “What’s my name?”

“Daniel!”

“Daniel…?”

“Um, Daniel! Daniel Nah… Fuck, oh god, please don’t kill—”

“Wrong.”

Zaaaaaaap!

Only after Liam’s screams finally stopped did Daniel let go of the button. All life had drained from those pretty blue eyes. And all fun. He let out a small huff. Honestly, this whole experience had been a little bit of a disappointment. At least Liam had still been somewhat enjoyable. But now it was time to shelf him.

When night fell, Daniel took Liam’s body to Moonlight Lake. And he would’ve gone right ahead to dumping the body if it hadn’t been for an unexpected sight.

A rather poorly disguised police car. No doubt on a stakeout, and they didn't even bother to hide the huge antenna. How boring.

At least Daniel had the foresight to turn his lights off as he got close to the lake. Now he could take on his own little watch until it was safe. Or just hang around and play his gameboy. He only hoped that whatever poor officer was on duty decided to fuck off before too long. If Liam began to rot in his car…

Thankfully, that didn’t happen. After about an hour— well past his usual time for this little errand, he had work tomorrow!— the cop took off.

Now free to continue his business, Daniel took Liam’s body out to the lake and gingerly placed it in the water. With one last loving smile and a touch to his cheek, he said, “Well, I had a nice time, but unfortunately, I don’t think we’re meant for each other. You’re too much of an insufferable asshole and you really have a way of pissing me off. That’s why I had to kill you. But don’t worry, the cops will take good care of your body. Goodnight, Liam, dearest.”

On that note, he pushed the body out further into the water. Seeing that cop had put him far too on edge for much more of a tearful farewell. He needed to do something to get them off his trail, and soon…

But now wasn’t the time to worry about that. A nice, warm cup of tea and his bed were calling his name.

[glitterrhowell]

Trick or Treat, Sweets for My Sweet

Title: Trick or Treat, Sweets for My Sweet

Series: Spooky week 2018

Pairing:  Daniel Howell & AmazingPhil (Phan

Word count: 3k

Warning/Genre: little space/cute/slight angst/ trick or treating/ daddy kink/sweet/fluff

Summary: Daddy Phil takes little Dan trick or treating and the night doesn't turn out as expected.

Red on A03

Read on Wattpad

This is part of a collection of eight stories I have written over the last few months for Autumn/Halloween. I am titling this series spooky week and will continue to update every day up until Halloween day!

A huge thank you to my other half Christy (Fadingcrystalvoid) for being with me since the start of the series listing to me rant and proofreading for me. Also for last minute betaing all these stories for me!

Phil sighed as he thumbed through the hangers that held all the Halloween costumes in the store. It was extremely hard to shop for costumes for Dan as most of the adult costumes were to revealing and not very appealing to a child. Of course, Dan wasn’t a child he was a very much grown man but half the time he had a child's mind.

Phil had learned about Dan’s need for being little very early on in their relationship. It wasn’t something that bothered him, in fact, they both learned pretty quickly that Phil adjusted to the daddy role very easily. And Phil loved being Dan’s daddy as well as his best friend, business partner, and boyfriend.

He sighed as moved on to the next rack of costumes. He hoped that they could find something because tomorrow was Halloween and Dan had been looking forward to trick or treating for months now. And he would feel like absolute shit if they couldn’t find something. Because he was the one who had kept putting off this shopping trip. It wasn’t that he hadn’t wanted to go they had just been really busy recently. They had just returned home from their second tour and they had been working like crazy to get videos out to make up for when they were gone. So they hadn’t had time to much of anything.

“Daddy!” he was shaken from his thoughts at the call from his little.

Dan was currently in the children's section of the store, Phil not having the heart to explain to him that he would never be able to fit in a child’s costume.

“What is it love?” he asked walking over

“I want this one!” he pointed excitedly at pink princess costume. “Look it comes with a crown!”

Phil closed his eyes for a moment only opening them when he spoke to Dan, “I’m sorry love we can’t get that one.”

Tears welled in Dan’s eyes, “Why? You said I could get anyone I want.”

“I know baby and I’m so sorry but it’s just not possible. I don’t think it will fit you. Remember how we have had the discussion about you still have to wear big people clothes sometimes?”

Tears rolling down his face he shook his head.

“Well, this is one of those times.”

Phil wiped away one of Dan’s tears, “I’m sorry love.” he added again.

But instead of calming him down like Phil thought he yanked away and throw himself on to the floor. He was having a full on tantrum now kicking and screaming. This is not how Phil wanted today to go.

“Daniel you stop that this minute!” he said using his daddy voice.

“No! i-its not f-fair I w-want it!” he continued to wail.

Looking around to make sure no one was watching he bent down, “Daniel James Howell if you don’t stop this instance then you won’t be going trick or treating at all!” of course Phil would never really take that away from him but Dan didn’t have to know that. The threat seemed to work because he stopped kicking and went silent other than the occasional sob.

“Excuse me is he alright?” a concerned looking employee asked.

He sighed, “He will be fine he’s just upset because you don’t have a costume in his size.”

“Oh no, poor dear. What is it he is looking for?”

He didn’t really want to tell this stranger his boyfriend was looking for an adult size version of a princess dress, but the concern in her eyes told him that it was ok.

“He really wanted this princess dress,” he said pointing to it.

Her face lights up instantly “Oh hold on I think I might have something in the back. I will be right back.” she sprinted away.

He turned his attention back to Dan who was now sitting quietly on the floor sucking his thumb.

Phil reached into his pocket and retrieved Dan’s dummy. He pulled his thumb out of his mouth and before Dan could protest he shove the dummy in place of his thumb.

“Come on baby let’s get up off this cold hard floor.” he reached under his armpits and lifted him to his feet. Just at that time, the store employee can running back with a pink dress in tow.

“I knew we had something close to that, look it's almost the same!”

Phil had to admit the dress was very similar to the one Dan had been looking at. The bottom skirt was a light shade of pink while the top half was a darker pink. It had pretty white sleeves that all the way down the arms. And to top it all off it had a sparkly bow tied on the back.

“What do you think love?” he asked hesitantly afraid his question may set off another tantrum.

But Dan’s eyes light up and he popped the dummy out of his mouth, “It’s so pretty! Can I have this one daddy please?”

He looked the dress over one last time making sure that it was the correct size before he shook his head. “Of course love if you are sure this is the one you want.”

“Thak thak you daddy!” he squealed with excitement.

Phil chuckled and turned his attention back to the employee. “I can’t thank you enough for this..” he squinted his eyes and looked at her name tag, “Emily. You don’t know how much I appreciate it.”

She just shook her head, ”Honestly it was no problem I’m just happy I could help you out.” Phil smiled and thanked her one more time before he took the dress.

Before they left the store and when Dan wasn’t paying attention he also grabbed the small costume so he could get the crown from it. It would be a nice surprise for him tomorrow. He paid for everything and they headed home stopping for an ice cream cone on the way.

~~~~~~~~

The next day went by really slow Dan had to be told more than once that it wasn’t time to go trick or treating yet. But finally, by five pm, Phil gave him the go-ahead to start getting ready. And since trick or treating didn't start until six that gave them plenty of time to get ready.

“Daddy, can you help me?” Dan asked as he came dragging his costume out of their bedroom.

“Of course love come here.”

Phil stripped him of his clothes Dan giggling a little when Phil brushed his fingers across his sensitive tummy. He helped him into his costume and if Phil was being honest Dan looked absolutely stunning. His creamy soft skin went really well with the shades of pink and white. And the sparkles really brought out the sparkle in his dark chocolate brown eyes.

“How do I look daddy?” he asked as he spun around giggling.

“You look so adorable. My little princess.”

Dan giggled again as he ran to the lounge.

While Dan was distracted by something in lounge Phil retrieved the crown he had bought yesterday.

He walked into the living room to find Dan on the floor playing with his stuffies.

“Hey love I have a surprise for you.”

Dan looked up from his toy excitedly. The second his eyes landed on the crown Phil was happy he had decided to buy it. His eyes lit up with excitement and pleasure.

“Is that for me daddy!” he asked crawling over to Phil.

He chuckled, ”Of course princess.” he placed the silver crown on top of his head sitting in in the middle of his soft curly waves.

“Aww so pretty. My pretty little princess.”  Phil cooed at him.

Of course, Dan spent the next ten minutes admiring himself in the bathroom mirror adjusting and re adjusting his crown until he was happy. When Phil finally announced it was time to go Dan jumped and squealed with excitement.

So far everything was going well they were about halfway down their street his bag was halfway filled with candy and Dan seemed to be enjoying himself. Several children had stopped to compliment his costume while they earned several glares from the parents but luckily Dan hadn't seemed to notice.

“Daddy I want to go to that one next!” he pointed at a rather scary looking house. It had been defiantly decorated for Halloween it was dark and creepy. In the front yard, the occupants of the house had set up a graveyard and had a fake witch sitting on the porch.

“Ok love. I’ll wait here while you go up.”

Dan stopped and looked at Phil.

“What’s wrong love?”

He looked down at his feet, ”Me scared can you go with me.”

Phil chuckled, “Of course love, let’s go.” he took a hold of Dan’s hand.

That seemed to do it there was once again a smile plastered on his face. Once he reached the door he rang the doorbell.

An older looking woman answered the door with a sweet smile on her face.

“Trick or treat!” Dan yelled holding out his bag.

The women looked at them and a glare quickly replaced the smile that had just been there. “Is this a joke?” she sneered

Phil watches the smile also drop from Dan’s face because she was now glaring at Dan with hatred in her eyes.

Phil stepped in, ”No of course not. Why would this be a joke? He just wants some candy.”

“He's an adult he shouldn’t be trick or treating.” she spat out.

Phil saw Dan’s lips start to quiver. This woman was not going to ruin their night. “Listen can he please just have his candy and then we can be out of here.”

“I’m not giving him anything. Not only his he too old to be trick or treating but he is wearing a dress! A dress!” she screamed pointing her finger in Dan’s face.

Dan was sobbing now tugging at Phil’s sleeve, “Dad-ddy I wan-nna go home.”

Phil glared at the women, “You're a hateful old woman I hope you're happy you just ruined his night.”

The women simply continued to glare as she slammed the door in their faces. Dan now burying his face into Phil was still sobbing.

“Hey love it’s ok, stop crying,” he said trying to soothe him but nothing seemed to help.

Despite Dan being a 6’2 tall man he managed to pick him up and carry him to the end of the sidewalk. He sat him down on the ground and enveloped him in a hug.

“Shh it’s ok, don’t cry.” but he continued to sob and now hiccupping. Phil just held him and let him cry, not really sure what to do.

A few minutes later a small voice behind him asked, “Excuse me sir but are you alright?” he turned around and saw a little girl standing with who he assumed was her mum.

Phil turned to the girl, “He will be alright that lady at that house was really mean to him,” he said pointing his head in the direction of the house.

The girl turned her attention to Dan, “It’s ok she was mean to me too.”

Dan blinked the tears from his eyes, “She was?”

“Yeah, she said I shouldn’t be dressed like this.” She pointed down to her superman costume.

“Why?” Dan asked tears now starting to dry on his face.

“I don’t know, she said this was a boy’s costume and I should be dressed like a girl. But I told her I liked this costume and she yelled at me. She seemed like a very mean and lonely person.”

Phil was impressed this girl seemed knowledgeable beyond her years.

The girls mum who had been quite up until now spoke up, ”She told me I was a bad mother because I allowed her to wear this costume.” she said looking disgusted.

“She told him that he was too old to be trick or treating and that he was a boy and couldn’t wear a dress,” Phil explained to her.

The girl was shocked, “But I love your dress it’s so pretty!”

“Thank you.” Dan murmured to her.

The women shook her head, “It’s horrible how some people act.”

Phil nodded his head in agreement.

“I’m Natalie by the way and this is my daughter Cassie.”

Phil stood up since he had been kneeling on the ground to comfort Dan, “I’m Phil and this is my boyfriend Dan.”

Natalie bent down, “Hi it’s nice to meet you, Dan.”

Dan didn’t take too kindly to strangers so he just gave her a little wave as he buried his head further into Phil.

She stood back up and turned back to Phil, “I know you don’t know us but Cassie and I were just getting ready to go home. We would love if you two would join us for some hot chocolate and cookies?”

Phil thought for a moment he didn’t know them but they did seem like nice people. Before he could answer Dan tugged at his sleeve, “Can we go please daddy?” he whispered.

“Oh yes can he please come over Phil? We can watch Halloween movies with our snacks!” Cassie said with pleading eyes.

He rubbed the back of his neck and chuckled, “Well I guess I have to say yes now don't I?”

Both Dan and Cassie cheered and started excitedly talking about which movies they wanted to watch.

Natalie shook her head and smiled in amusement as she watched the two of them.

“Come on let’s go,” she said smiling as she took a hold of her daughter's hand.

They all chatted on the way to their flat, and the more they chatted the less worried he becomes that they might end up murdered tonight.

“Well here we are,” she said as she opened to door and motioned for them to step inside. Cassie drug Dan straight to the kitchen to get cookies.

Phil followed behind Natalie and when he entered the kitchen he saw Dan and Cassie excitedly talking over a plate of cookies.

“And see this one’s a vampire I decorated him all by myself. “ She proudly exclaimed as she pointed at one of the cookies.

“That is so cool! Daddy look at these cookies!”

Phil chuckled at his excitement as he walked over to take a look.

They got the “kids” settled into the lounge with their cookies and hot chocolate and popped Halloween town into the DVD player since that is the movie they had decided on watching. Natalie turned to Phil, ”Would you like a cup of coffee?” she asked smiling at him.

He graciously accepted.

Once the coffee was done they both sat down at the kitchen table.

“So I don’t want to offend anyone but is Dan special? “

Phil cringed at the word but he appreciated her asking instead of assuming. And she had been nothing nice to them all night so he didn’t see any harm in explaining.

“Dan is just like you and me most of the time other than when he is in his headspace. Dan is what you would call a little. He will retreat into a headspace when he is stressed or even when he is happy and that is when he is a little. He has a mindset of a child not always the same age but usually between four and seven. And I am his caregiver or as you probably heard him call me earlier daddy.”

She nodded her head encouraging him to continue. “I mean that’s pretty much it lots of people think it’s weird which is why I appreciate you and Cassie being so nice to him tonight.”

“Oh, it was no problem, Phil. I teach Cassie to love and accept everyone no matter what. When she saw Dan crying tonight she said to me, Mummy why is that man crying? I don’t want him to be sad let's go make him happy.”

A tear escaped his eye.

“I’m so proud of my little girl it warms my heart to know I have been raising her right.” She reached across the table and took a hold of Phil’s hand. “You and Dan are welcome here anytime you want. You both seem like really nice people and Cassie has seemed to have taken quite a liking to Dan.”

He wiped the tears from his eyes, “Thank you so much, Natalie. It’s hard to find people to hang out with because of this sometimes and it’s nice to know there are people out there like you and your daughter.”

They continued to chat about their life and various things for the next hour until Natalie stood up, “It’s pretty quiet in there and I think I here the credits rolling.”

The walked into the living room and found Cassie curled up on one end of the sofa sleeping and Dan on the other.

Phil smiled, “Well I guys I better wake him up and get home.”

When Dan was little and tired he was a bit of a handful but luckily tonight he wasn’t much trouble. They said goodbye to Natalie who made sure to bend down and give Dan a big hug before they left. Making sure to tell him he was welcome to come back anytime he wanted.

It was a quiet ride home in the cab Dan drifting in and out of sleep on Phil’s shoulder. When they got home Phil helped Dan out of his costume and into his PJ’s. As he was crawling in bed next to him Dan turned around to face him.

“I had a lot of fun tonight daddy,” he whispered.

Phil pulled him closer and kissed his head, “I’m glad baby.”

Dan sighed and snuggled his head into Phil’s chest. They both drifted off to sleep with smiles on their faces. Dan because despite the turn the night had taken he made a new friend and had fun and Phil because Dan was happy.