a book of parent!phan

14. she was theirs and they were hers.

Dan blinked.

He didn't know how much time had passed, but he knew he was staring at the ceiling for quite a while. The room was dead silent, except for Phil's timed breathing, but Dan didn't notice. The thoughts that flooded his mind caused a ruckus, and his ears were tinged red and ringing in frustration.

Dan took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. He rolled onto his side to lay his warm cheek on Phil's arm. His heart sped up when he heard Phil heave a sigh and shift over.

"Dan?" he rasped, blinking groggily. "You still awake, bear?"

"I'm sorry," whispered Dan, his voice suddenly wavering. "I'm sorry I woke you up."

And then, all of a sudden, he was crying.

Dan was angry. And this was the stage of Dan's angry phase where he cracked, where the heavy feeling of fury would wear him down. He would surrender to being mad, and that's when the tears would come. Phil had been there for Dan through these times, and he would always be. Even at 5 am.

"Oh, babe," whispered Phil, and Dan sobbed as Phil pulled him into a tight embrace. And Phil held him silently, rubbing his back and pressing kisses everywhere he could.

Of course Phil knew what Dan was angry about. He didn't even have to ask.

The Previous Week

Phil bounded down the stairs silently. He was in his and Dan's room when he heard Dan on the phone. Curious to see who it was, he stepped into the kitchen where Dan was leaning against the counter, his phone in his hand. Phil smiled and crept over to kiss his cheek, but his face dropped when he saw Dan's.

Dan's eyes were wide, his eyebrows furrowed. He brought a hand up to his mouth nervously. Phil frowned, watching him bite his nail. He had a look of some sort of alarming concern, and Phil searched Dan's face, feeling nervous himself.

"What?" said Dan suddenly, his voice cracking. Phil's eyes widened. By now, his heart was pounding, He knew Dan, he knew something was wrong.

Dan mumbled words like yes, alright, and broken okay's and Phil started to notice Dan's voice thicken and his eyes go glossy. "Thank you, Ms. Freligh," said Dan weakly and finally, and clicked off of the call. Shit, he thought, his heart quickening again.

Ms. Freligh was their agent in adopting. She had them interested in eleven year old Cassandra, or Cassie, as they called her. Usually, there weren't any older children up for adoption, because babies were taken right away. But Cassie was disabled, and it broke their hearts to find out that no one took her because she was paralyzed from the waist down. She could not stay in foster homes for the same reason, and it was hard for her.

Dan and Phil wanted her. They looked past her disability, and fell in love with her personality. They were ready to take on anything, because if they did it together, they could do it. They had been working to get her all year, and by this point they were a few forms away from having her home. They truly loved her, and Dan and Phil could tell she did, too, and it made them incredibly excited.

Phil would be oh-so lying if he said he wasn't concerned about the news from the call. Cassie had become his life. She made him so happy, even if she wasn't even theirs yet. So when Dan turned to him, his eyes growing red, he looked at him warily.

"It was Ms. Freligh," breathed Dan. "Um, Olivia has, uh, last minute changes she's considering, apparently." Dan was at the verge of crying. "About Cassie."

Phil could feel tears building up in his eyes. Olivia was the director of the Adoption Law Center, and she was horribly sour towards the two. The sight of Dan so heartbroken about what had happened, and he didn't even know what had happened, it made his stomach drop.