drop dead ; phan

xxi

"how many tattoos do you have?" dan inquired quietly, keeping his voice down to avoid awaking phil. "eh," chris paused in thought, "i have no idea."

"what are they of?" the brunette continued as a soft yawn escaped his chapped lips. chris paused again. "flowers." dan furrowed his eyebrows, before repositioning to where he could see the brunette's arms. "oh."

"i'm tired," chris muttered through his half-closed mouth, slumping his face against his pillow. dan sighed hesitantly, before speaking up again quietly. "phil told me what you did to him," he remarked, earning the slight shiftings of chris as he scoffed. "oh, is that right?" he snarled, his eyes still firmly shut. dan inhaled deeply, "he said that you're an alcoholic and that you abused him." dan could've sworn he saw the brunette's jaw clench as he spoke grimly.

"i am, and i did."

dan chewed on the inside of his cheek, feeling traces of anger replace the fragile threads of fear in his mind. "how are you so nonchalant about this?"

"i'm not."

dan scoffed shakily as frustration swelled his emotions upon looking at the half-asleep brunette. "could've fooled me," he spat, causing chris's head to shoot up, his glowing green eyes burning holes in the brunette's skin. "let's get this straight, howell. you don't know me, and you never will."

dan opened his mouth to speak, but quickly closed it, reluctantly pondering what to say next. "why did you hurt him?" he questioned, in an even quieter voicing than before. chris groaned, "because i'm a fucking asshole, happy?"

"that's not a reason, you're the one who brought him into this crime lord bullshit, you're the one who made him want to kill himself."

"that's on phil, i offered him lunch without putting a gun in his hand and pushing him off a bridge," chris said, frustrating dan more. "but you-"

"oh, piss off, howell. no one forced him to do shit. he wanted drugs, he wanted the adrenaline rush and self-awakening power stance that only comes from murder. he craved it all."

"what about you, then?" dan shouted, before lowering his voice upon phil's body shifting under his blankets. "damien said that you don't get paid, you just kill for fun." chris scoffed, "that's what he told you? like i said, howell, you don't know me, and i don't kill for fun."

"then why? i deserve to know," dan stated resentfully, narrowing his eyes on the unrelenting asshole still slumped against his makeshift bed. "i don't owe you shit, and besides, i'm very aware of what i do and what i've done," he growled, clenching his fists at his sides. dan gulped, before encompassing himself under the tangled sheets reluctantly. "were you there when phil killed jai?"

he heard chris exhale into his pillow before resentfully resting his head against his first. "yeah, i was." dan swallowed the lump of anxiety lying in his hesitating throat, before slowly nodding to himself. "what did he say?" chris sighed again, stifling a throaty groan before meeting dan's fear-infused gaze. "do you really want to know?"

dan pulled his lip between his teeth in jumbled thought. "no," he hoarsely whispered, blinking away the tears that threatened to spill from his fatigued eyes. "can i sleep now?" chris mumbled half-heartedly as he rubbed his weighed, bloodshot eyes. "why haven't you killed phil already?" dan spoke abruptly, earning a resenting look of slight confusion and a hazy sense of reality powered by sleep deprivation.

"we're business partners, not friends. this is a murderous industry, of course people are going to die. we can't afford to cry about it," chris remarked, tones of infused recitation and resentment lacing his slightly slurred words. 

"you make it seem so easy," dan muttered quietly under his breath, but not quiet enough as chris let out a breathy scoff at his words. "what? are you holding grudges, howell?" he taunted, a smirk playing across his split, tainted lips. "wait," he paused, "don't answer that. can i sleep now?"

dan rolled his eyes before exhaling a breath he wasn't aware he was holding, liquid misery freckling his shadowed under eyes.

* * *

ring ring !!

dan's head shot up from his pillow as he could've sworn he heard his phone, waiting silently to ensure his mind's accuracy.

ring ring !!

he quickly grasped onto his phone, the brightness blurring his vision temporarily. "hello?" he mumbled sleepily, rubbing his eyes as he moved away from the warmth of his bed. "dan, it's me," he heard pj say from the phone, hints of worry and panic tracing his every word. "pj? what's wrong?" he questioned, stepping over chris's sleeping body towards the kitchen. "it's logan, i think he's following me," pj stammered, his voice hushed through the speaker. dan's eyes widened as he leaned against the counter, running his tremulous fingers through his tangled hair. "what? h-have you talked to him?"

"no, but i keep seeing him wherever i go, why.. why did you say he was dangerous? what did you do, what's going on?" pj spluttered, shaky footsteps sounding from the background showing that he was pacing. dan remained silent for a moment, shaking his head in frustration.

"dan, talk to me! what did you do?" he shouted in a hushed tone, dan's uneven breathing being the only sound receiving on pj's end. "i didn't know," dan mumbled in a voice falling short of a whisper, before snapping out of his wrecked train of thought. "stay inside, yeah? if you see him, stay far away. be careful, o-okay?" he stuttered, chewing on the inside of his cheek as the growing pit of anxiety and paranoia seemed to swallow his intestines and cause a dizzying feeling of overwhelming nausea to blur his vision and numb his trembling fingers.

"okay, dan. bye," pj said frustratedly after a moment, hanging up instantaneously. sounds of faint shifting from chris voiced from the living room, where dan hesitantly skulked back. paranoia seemed to cover his vision like a lens as he laid down, any sound giving him a start. eventually his eyelids drooped shut despite his body remaining awake, his fatigued mind pumping spiraling worry and anxiety throughout every inch of his thought range. logan's haunting voice seemed to taint the echoing room in his half-asleep thoughts, drowning out any snore that escaped phil's lips or any heavy breath that chris exhaled. the image of logan's smirking, murderous lips and glinting eyes kept the brunette acutely awake until he eventually passed out from sleep deprivation and over thinking, his eyes completely closing as sleep encompassed the room.

1) aYye you guys there's only one chapter until drop dead is finished and the sequel (psychosis) is published wowow rip

2) so i had this list of things to add to this chapter and i put "chris n dan cheeky chat" iM LAUGHING WHY AM I MYSELF

3) this hit 11k what the fUck guys ?? thank you so diddly darn much im ??