Illuminated // Phan (boyxboy)

Chapter 6

AN// Thank you guys for your reaction to this phanfiction, it makes me so happy! Big thank you to everyone who votes and comments on all of the chapters, there's a hell of a lot more to come! :3 just to clarify; Phil is almost twelve, Dan is fourteen.

He'd only just tip-toed down the stairs when he'd started to regret his decision to find Phil's file. The whole care home was so dark that even the moon outside offered no comfort to Dan who crept through the shadows silently. He tried to keep as quiet as possible, taking care not to step on the loose floorboard or the creaky stair on the left. All around him was emptiness, or at least it felt that way as the darkness of the winter night masked everything in Dan's sight. Normally Dan would never so much as step out of his room after the sun had set unless every light was on leading to the room he needed to be in. But this was different. This was for Phil and it was important and he had to do this.

He was well aware that he could get in a ton of shit for this. Files were confidential, they had a care kids deepest information in them, why they were in care, how fast they settled, problems they had and were having and just down to things they didn't like. They had everything. The risk of a ton of trouble didn't matter to him though, he needed to understand Phil's past better to be able to help him as best as he possibly could.

He made his way to the office where he knew that Scott would keep their files, never once pausing to regret his decision. He had to do this; for Phil. What if he said something or did something that could unknowingly hurt Phil? No, this was what had to be done, there was no other way.

He already knew where the files were hidden, he'd sneaked into Scott's office during the day and found the spare key so he could get back in later.  He crept over to the filing cabinet as quietly as he could, not sure if there were any lose floorboards in Scott's office before inserting the key into the lock and pulling Phil's file out as soon as he spotted it.

Full name: Philip Micheal Lester

Preferred name: Phil

Reason for being taken in to care: Severe physical, emotional and mental abuse and neglect (Dan felt his hands curl into fists at this)

Social service involvement: Child Protection services were involved when teachers first started noticing that Phil was struggling to get through the day in school without severe panic and that more importantly, Phil was turning up to school with frequent injuries. Within a short period of time this condition deteriorated drastically and Phil stopped turning up for school, concerns were raised of his mental health and his teachers were asked for reports of how Phil was in school. After being told of the bruises that Phil would turn up at school with, Child Services when they investigated the matter further found Phil unconscious in his fathers bedroom with the door locked. He was thereby taken to hospital and after a lengthy stay at a protective unit at the national hospital, Phil was taken into care as a matter of urgency.

Settling in:
When Phil first arrived at our home he struggled to settle. Incredibly shy and withdrawn it was decided that he would be given his own room after he suffered panic attacks at the prospect of being with someone in such close proximity. He struggled with being around the other children in our home and refused to come down to the dining room to eat, choosing instead to stay in his room and opting not to eat. As standard procedure Phil was asked to see a professional psychiatrist at our home for his therapy where it was disclosed to us and his social worker that Philip suffered with a severe anxiety disorder, PTSD and eating problems. His portions were reduced to accommodate his eating problems, however if it is seen that he struggles to eat at least two meals a day for more than one day then his social worker must be informed and a visitation to the doctor booked. Phil struggled with coming to terms with what happened to him and refuses to tell social services what has happened to him fully in the past; unfortunately as a result we cannot build a strong case against his parents. Phil suffered nightmares when he was settling in and to this day still does.