Misfit (Phan AU)

Chapter Five

*Phil's POV*

Never had I felt a more overwhelming feeling of dread than the second Dan turned away and started to leave my room, muttering some pathetic message for me to pass on to my parents. It's not like I could really blame him, if I were in his shoes I'd probably want to retreat away from everything as well. However, the difference is I wouldn't actually do it, and definitely not when I knew someone was counting on me to be there.

The past week has been rough for me, getting my stuff packed and ready to go all while continuing all my store responsibilities at the same time. I was insanely busy as it was. Still, I'd worked extra hard and struggled through many late nights in order to have the extra time each day to invite Dan out. Of course, after the first couple days it became pretty clear what his answer would be each time, but I never stopped asking, just in case.

Most times I was lucky to even get a rejection out of him, apparently too unimportant to even bother replying to. As disappointing as it was to go home each day and spend the spare time I'd worked so hard to achieve all alone, it's not like I had a right to feel sour toward him. After all, he had made it very clear from the start that he didn't want to be friends and that it simply wouldn't happen. That's not the way I wanted to take it though. It wasn't impossible, it was just a challenge. If there's one thing I've learned in my lifetime, it's that the harder you work for something the more you appreciate the end result. If I have to work this hard to befriend Dan, it'll probably be really worth it in the end. At least, that's what I'm hoping.

Whether it'd be worth it in the end or not, it was pretty difficult to keep that in mind when I was left to face my parents again all on my own, Dan no where in sight. That's another reason this past week had been so difficult on me. If I thought my mother had been stubborn that first day I went to meet Dan, I was sorely mistaken. She got progressively worse with each passing day. It started with not so subtle hinting about other possible apartments and locations, moving on to a flat-out intervention last night where she got our entire immediate family to try and convince me that this was the wrong decision.

Of course I brushed off all of their concerns the best I could, insisting that it was my life and my mistake to make, but there was no denying they'd managed to worm the tiniest bit of doubt into my mind. What if he really is an asshole, not just someone that doesn't trust easily? What if there really is no chance for me to get on his good side? I tried not to dwell on these negative thoughts, I really did, but it was difficult when Dan kept insisting on acting like that was the case and my parents were always there to call him out on it. It was too soon to tell yet though, I'd barely had a few minutes remotely alone with the guy. Only time and dedication will tell, and I like to believe I have a lot of both of those things. 

Even if I told myself that, I was still dragging my feet behind me as started to leave my room, casting a final glance around the desolate area. The only thing in it was the bed, mattress, and the messy pile of bedding Dan had just donated to the situation. It definitely looked rather poor right now, but it'd probably start looking up just after I managed to lug some boxes in. In a way it was nice to have such a blank canvas, completely mine to personalize. For a moment, I let that idea excite me, thinking of all the possibilities I had. I didn't get very far into that thought, however, until a voice was calling me in a tone that had my momentary good mood shattering yet again.

"Phil? Are you coming back or not?" I rolled my eyes at the statement, the way she used the innocent tone making it sound like she actually was worried I wouldn't be returning. As nice as that sounded right now, it's not like I really had a choice. Even if it was just to ask her to leave or see her to the door, I would have to go and see her again eventually. I just really didn't want to. I didn't want to see that knowing look on her face when she saw me alone, I didn't want to hear what stupid conclusions she'd jump to, I just didn't want to suffer through any more of her negativity toward the situation. I'm a positive person, but anyone would have trouble looking at the bright side when someone is constantly blocking it out.