I Believe in Magic - Phan [#Wattys2017]

Chapter 16 - Consolation

He sat in the hospital room with him. In that bed lay his father, dying from a cardiac arrest that they do not expect him to recover from. Dan silently stared at his father's still body.

He would be dead in the morning.

Dan stayed by his side in silence until the last breath.

Horribly tired, Dan took a taxi back home. It was early in the day. He laid on his bed and slept.

By the time he woke up, it was five in the evening. He had several missed calls from the staff at WFM. Many were from Phil.

Dan didn't return to WFM for another seven days. Once he did, the entire crew had already learned of the news. No one dared to talk about it. No one could. What could they possibly say?

Dan sulked around the building as he attempted to do his job. As the day went on, his attitude had perked up and everything was okay again. He loved his job, after all, and it made him feel better. And the people were discretely consoling, which he both noticed and appreciated.

It was a simple work day of practice and preparation for the next upcoming show, and once it was over, Phil stepped into his office.

"Dan?"

"Come in, Phil."

"Are you okay?" he asked quickly.

"Yes."

Phil's eyes squinted at him. Just tell him you're fine. It's okay. He doesn't need to know. Don't let him see you like this, he thought.

"Don't do that," Phil snapped. "Don't just tell me you're fine."

Dan had gotten used to Phil's ability to seemingly read a mind. Of course, he couldn't actually see into Dan's thoughts, but he was surely good at interpreting people. "Phil, I –"

"No." He approached his desk and walked around to see him. Dan stood. "Don't do that to me. Don't lie to me. I couldn't imagine losing my father. Yours came to every single one of your shows, didn't he? He was the one who brought you into the world of magic, didn't he? You can't look at me and tell me that's fine."

He's right, he thought. Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry....

"You can cry, Dan."

He broke down in tears. Phil quickly hugged him. He put one arm over the back of Dan's head as he draped himself over his shoulder. Deep sobs escaped Dan's throat. Phil felt tiny wet spots on his shirt where Dan left his tears. It took another moment before Dan wrapped his arms around Phil. Once Dan had settled down, Phil began to hush him into breathing normally. He hugged him a bit tighter.

"Thank you, Phil," he sighed.

"Would you maybe want to come home with me tonight? So you don't have to be alone, I mean."

Dan almost forgot to answer. He closed his eyes, simply breathing in Phil's scent and relaxing by being held by him. Phil calmingly stroked Dan's soft hair. "Yes, please," he finally answered.

Phil brought him along on the walk to his apartment as WFM closed for the night.

"Sorry if it's a bit messy," he apologized. "I moved in around a month ago."

"It's fine," he assured.

"Can I get you something to eat?" Phil offered.

"No, thank you. I'm really not hungry."

Phil had him sit on the sofa and sat beside him. "If you want to talk about it, you can."

Dan sighed. "He raised me by himself. My mother died when I was a baby because she grew ill without warning, so it was just him and me. He took me to magic shows all the time and I fell in love with the place. He was always supportive of my business with WFM."

Phil moved himself closer to him. He put an arm over him. "I'm so sorry, Dan. I can do a lot of things, but I can't bring back the dead."

He nodded slowly. "I still don't get how you do those tricks in the first place."

"Let's not think about it now. Just relax, please."

I would just really like to sleep, Dan thought.

"Want to go to bed?" Phil offered, knowing Dan well enough.

He nodded. Phil took him to his room.

"Get comfortable. Do you need sleepwear?"

Dan was partially surprised that this was only about getting sleep. Phil was genuinely concerned and honestly trying to just help him, with nothing sexual about it. Dan felt comfortable enough, so he asked if his boxers would be okay for him. He agreed.

Both of them got comfortable in Phil's bed. By instinct, Phil pushed over to give Dan some room, but Dan moved into Phil to be closer.

"Thank you again Phil," he said in the darkness of the room, "for all your consolation."

"Don't mention it. You'd do it for anyone."

Dan faced away from Phil. Put your arm around me... Just hold me....

Phil did as Dan wished. Dan couldn't understand how he knew. He just did.