Page 177 of Inbetweeners
Gabriel put his hands on Phoenix’s shoulders, then wrapped his arms around him.
“Hey,” Emmett stamped across the room.
“Careful, fledgling.” Gabriel let Phoenix go and caught hold of Emmett’s chin. “Hmm. You will fly first.”
“Define fly,” Emmett said. “A couple of inches off the ground counts, right?”
“No. You found Heaven dull. You have a lesson to learn.” Gabriel released Emmett and walked towards the door. “Meals will be delivered to you while you wait.”
When he’d gone, Emmett slumped. “I was just rude to archangel Gabriel. What was I thinking?”
“He had his hands on me. You didn’t like it.”
Emmett slapped his hands on his cheeks. “I’ve gone all caveman?”
Phoenix wrapped his arms around him. “It’s okay to be scared.”
“Are you?”
“No.”
“Arsehole!”
Emmett tried to get free but Phoenix wouldn’t let go of him and a tussle became a struggle, became something more heated. Phoenix yanked at Emmett’s shirt.
“Don’t rip my shirt.”
Buttons pinged across the room.
“Fine, rip my shirt.”
Phoenix tossed the shirt aside. “Let’s lie down and think about what we can do when we have no books or TV.”
He pulled Emmett down onto the bed.
“I spy with my little eye…” Emmett said.
Phoenix thumped him.
Emmett woke up twice in the night and began to freak out until he felt Phoenix lying next to him. Why was he on the edge of the bed? Probably because Emmett couldn’t seem to rid himself of the habit of taking upallthe room. It was still dark, so he closed his eyes and drifted back to sleep.
When he next stirred, daylight had seeped in through the thin blinds, though it was still gloomy in the room. Though thank fuck for those blinds because Emmett felt queasy even thinking about how high up they were. He nudged Phoenix and jumped as something clattered to the floor on the other side of the bed.
“Nix!” he hissed.
“What?”
“There’s someone in here with us.”
Phoenix sat up, turned round and something whacked Emmett in the eye.
“Ouch! What the…?”
Phoenix turned the other way and Emmett flinched as a lamp and a glass of water sailed off a bedside table.
“You’ve got wings,” Emmett blurted. “Keep still.”
“What?” Nix almost fell out of the bed. Emmett switched on the light and gasped.
