Those Who Trust (Phan)

Part 15

Dan woke up disoriented. His eyes were still closed but he could tell that he wasn't in his bed, and every muscle in his body tensed. What had happened last night? For seconds, or maybe it was minutes, he didn't dare open his eyes, and the unfamiliar smell of the pillow his head rested on and the blanket wrapped around his body didn't calm his nerves either. So he took a deep breath, after making sure that he couldn't hear the presence of another person in the room, counted to ten and opened his eyes to be surrounded by the familiar setting of the lounge.

It was light outside, but the clouds in the sky were grey and locking out the sunshine. He could hear a car passing by in the street. He looked down, realized that the duvet he was currently covered by was not his own, but the blue and green one from Phil's room, from Phil's bed. He shot up immediately, and he realized that the clothes on his body didn't fit quite right. Those weren't his pyjama pants. That t-shirt he was wearing he had seen on Phil before. Dan swallowed harshly, not sure what to make of this situation. He hated to admit it, but he felt slightly panicked. Should he get up? Should he scream? Something was terribly wrong.

He spotted the two bodies out of the corner of his eyes, and reflex had him scramble backwards, pull the blanket up to shield his upper body and part of his face, but the bodies didn't move, and he dared look at them for longer now. Phil and PJ, they were on two of the chairs around the dining table. PJ was sitting upright, his head tipped back, mouth open, and Phil's arms were on the dining table, his head resting on them like a pillow. They were both asleep. What was going on?

Dan scratched the back of his head and noticed that his fingers slightly hurt. He looked at his knuckles and saw that they were slightly bruised. He frowned. Something was obviously missing from last night, a puzzle piece that he should remember. He didn't fall asleep on the couch, he would know about that, and there was no explanation for why he had woken up with Phil's bedding either. He pinched himself on the back of his right hand, because maybe this all was some weird dream, but the pain was too real for it not to be reality. Did he drink alcohol last night? No, he didn't feel hungover, no headache, no sick feeling in his stomach.

Although the situation did freak him out a bit, especially that he was wearing Phil's clothes- how did that happen?- PJ was here, and if PJ was here there surely was a logical explanation for all of this. Dan tried to remember, but the memories somehow didn't return. He did crave waffles though this morning, he should make some for breakfast or maybe brunch, as a look at the clock told him that it was already past 10 a.m..

Shedding the blanket from his body, Dan slightly shivered at the cold air in the room, but he had no idea how to work the oven. Phil always took care of that, but he didn't want to wake up the other man. So he trudged into his room, changed into his own clothes and put on a hoodie. He folded up Phil's clothes neatly and placed them in front of Phil's room, before making his way to the kitchen. Cooking was much easier since the first time he had eaten Phil's food. He wasn't entirely comfortable with it yet, took longer than necessary until he finished off a meal, still way too conscious about any reactions his body might have to the food, but he could use the same ingredients now that Phil used, didn't have too many second thoughts when sharing his flour with the other man.

The second Dan took a step into the kitchen, a sharp pain pierced through his entire left leg. He gasped, sank to the floor in surprise. That's when the memories came back.
___

When Phil woke up, he felt like he hadn't slept a wink. He had called PJ desperately once his thoughts had started to slow down again last night, and was lucky to have the other man come right over from the club. When Dan's friend had arrived, he had explained what had happened, had apologized in tears about fucking up, but PJ had just put a hand on his shoulder and shaken his head.