Wake Up

Chapter 9

Time passed, and jingle bells were all people could hear at this time of year. Things between Dan and Phil grew kind of quiet, as Phil was on his phone a lot more than usual. Dan didn't really take notice, until he heard Phil talking to someone, he assumed was on the phone, in his bedroom. Laughter echoed throughout the house, day after day, except it was only Phil's beautiful giggle. Dan thought it was strange, but wouldn't pry. After all, he wasn't in control of who Phil could and couldn't talk to. But it bothered him slightly that someone else was making Phil laugh more than he did.

Slam!
Dan bolted upright at the loud sound.
Click!
Dan rubbed his eyes, and picked up his phone to read the time. 12:20 pm.
"My alarm didn't go off," Dan said to himself.
He suddenly had an odd feeling in his gut when he remembered the loud noise.
Dan got up from his bed, threw on his robe, and heard nothing but his own footsteps.
"Phil?" He called out.
No answer.
Normally, it wouldn't bother him if Phil left the house. He could just have plans or errands to run, but usually he wasn't one to leave without saying anything. Dan quickly texted Phil, trying not to sound too needy.
Hey, where were you off to in such a hurry?
Sent. Delivered. Read.
Sorry, I'm actually meeting up with someone today, be back in an hour or so :3
Meeting up? It must be the unknown person Phil had been talking with for the last few weeks.
Ok. Have fun :)
Dan secretly wanted Phil not to have fun with this secret person, and come back home. But he decided to push his own selfish thoughts away by distracting himself with checking up on social media for the next hour until Phil came home.

Slam!
"Dan, I'm home!" Phil hollered up the stairs.

Dan's eyes fluttered open and he yawned. He looked down at his hand where he was on his phone, looking at sad edits of Phil on Tumblr. He quickly turned it off, and ran into the bathroom. He saw his reflection staring back at him with a drained face. His eyes were red and puffy, his cheeks were wet with tears, and he had an agonizing headache.
"Dan?" Phil called again, and Dan quickly turned on the faucet and splashed cold water on his face.
"I'll be out in a second!" Dan called out to him.
After a moment, Dan dried his face with a cloth and peaked out of the bathroom to see Phil standing in the lounge with another person.
"Don't worry, he will love you!" Phil said reassuringly to the person in a soft spoken tone.
Dan stared for a long time, until he felt burning in his eyes that reminded him to blink. He did, and walked up to the two.
"Hi," he said nervously, "sorry, I was just washing up."
Phil looked at Dan and smiled genuinely.
"Dan, this is Josh," Phil said in a rather formal tone that Dan almost laughed.
"Pleasure to meet you," Josh said in a strong northern accent as he held out his hand.
Dan shook his hand very awkwardly.
"I'm Dan," Dan said, "but I guess you already knew that."
Phil continued to smile kindly and looked at Josh, who nodded affirmatively. Phil looked back to Dan, biting his bottom lip nervously.
"So, Dan," Phil started, "I know it might seem fast but I've actually known Josh since before I met you, and umm...we really like each other, and I guess what I'm saying is—,"
"He's moving in with me!" Josh exclaimed excitedly.
Dan felt his heart stop for a moment before continuing to beat at a faster pace. The sudden adrenaline caused his lips to fold into a forced smile and laugh.
"That's brilliant," Dan said, beaming with joy that was disguising the inner rage he was feeling.
"You really think so?" Phil asked, genuinely surprised.
Dan continued to smile with painful gratitude.
"Of course," he said, "you can do whatever you want, don't let me hold you back."
Dan playfully slapped Phil's arm, and laughed a little. He looked at Josh and shook his hand once more with a very tight grip.
"Don't let him near your cereal," Dan teased, "he's a cereal thief."
Josh forced a laugh, and looked at Phil.
"I'll keep that in mind," he said, breaking free from Dan's hand, and sliding his hand around Phil's waist.
Dan pretended not to notice, and excused himself to his bedroom. He closed the door, and slid down to the floor, hugging his legs. He cried himself to sleep that night, on the floor, with no one there to comfort him. Dan's thoughts began to race.
How could this happen? He thought. I've been friends with him for a decade, we make collaborations together, people ship us together on social media, we've gone on two tours together plus wrote a book, and then he just leaves me for another person?
It didn't make any sense. It might've just been his jealousy or his childhood trauma that set him off, but one thing's for certain, no one would ever know or love Phil the way Dan did.