empire ;; phan

chapt. seventeen

the sun.

"what did you do about ginny?" phil questions. the two have moved to a private corner in the diner, sipping hot coffee. the sun is rising over the horizon, glistening through the morning dew that peppers the window. chris was still sleeping on the leather sofa on the other side of the restaurant and annette was cleaning the kitchen.

"knocked him out with a brick," dan laughs gently. phil smiles, sipping his drink.

"so where do we go from here?" phil asks softly, meeting dan's gaze.

"nowhere," dan mumbles, "i go back to ginny. make up some elaborate story about what happened. you leave this town forever and forget about all of this."

phil frowns. "what?"

"you heard me-"

"you think you get to call the shots? dan, i'm not leaving you with that psycho-"

"don't call him that," dan whispers.

"i get to call him whatever i want," phil raises his voice. "i think i've earned that right, don't you?"

"it's not his fault." dan says calmly, picking up his mug of coffee.

"and who's fault is it then? mine?"

"to be fair, i told you stay away from me-"

phil jumps out, smacking the mug out of dans hands and smashing it against the wall, coffee spilling on the table. dan laughs, wiping his hands with a napkin.

"oh, honey, you're making some very bad decisions right now." dan strains, trying to keep his calm composure as he cleans up the mess.

"you're talking about bad decisions? you're a bloody junkie!" phil yells.

dan jumps up, his expression turning hard. "don't you fucking yell at me." he demands.

"why are you being like this?"

"i'm just trying to protect you-"

"i don't need some whore to protect me."

dan's expressions drops. phil's mouth parts in shock at his own words, immediately his anger dropping to sheer panic.

"dan, i-"

dan shakes his head. "oh, sweet cheeks," he laughs quietly. "i should've left you to fucking rot."