Not-imaginary friend

Chapter 1

His parents were worried. Ever since they could remember, their son had an imaginary friend.
He said that he had brown hair and was his best friend.
Phil told them his name was Dan.
There was no Dan with brown hair in his school.
He was passed off as an imaginary friend.
But as the years went by, Dan was still there.
Dan was with Phil when he was a child.
And he was still there as a teenager.
His parents became increasingly worried as the years went by and he continually insisted that Dan was real.
And it continued that way.

"Have you found anything?"
Phil turned in his swivel chair to look at the brown haired teenager behind him.
"Not yet. I would need a last name to actually find anything. All I really know about you is that your name is Daniel, you're 15, and you have brown hair. That's not much to go on."
"Yeah... You got me there." Dan replied.
Phil leaned his head on the back of his chair and closed his eyes. Even after 19 years, his parents didn't believe him when he said Dan was real.
Of course, he didn't actually have much proof to go on. It was more of a gut feeling.
"Phil! You have an appointment today at 6! I need you to to be ready!" his mom called to him.
He sighed and opened his eyes. 4:30.
"It better not be the same guy as last time. I didn't like him." Dan said as he leaned against the wall, looking at one of Phil's CDs.
Phil hadn't liked him either. But his mother continued to make appointments with different doctors to see if they could say anything.
He had been tested for everything the doctors could think of. They couldn't come up with anything.
"I didn't like him either. But mum won't give up until she gets an answer."
Dan just nods as he put the CD back. "what about the YouTube channel you started?"
"Oh yeah! I forgot to check that!" Phil turned back around and opened a new tab before going on to YouTube.
He had posted his first video blog on the channel nearly a month ago. He had checked in from time to time since then.
"Cool! I got some views! Look!"
Dan stood up from against the wall and came up behind Phil and looked at the screen.
"Nice. You should do another soon."
Phil nodded. "Yeah." He stood up and stretched. "You're going with me, right?"
Dan nodded. "Of course. There's no reason why I wouldn't."
Phil smiled at his best friend, glad that they were together.

The alarm went off in the room.
Dan sat up groggily and looked around the room.
It was entirely white, except for a few posters they had let him put up.
His parents had checked him into a mental institution earlier this month.
This wasn't the first time.
He had been checked in several times-at least once a year since he turned 15.
He was almost 18.
"Good morning!" Phil said in a sing-song voice as Dan got out of the bed.
"Good morning, Phil." Dan replied, giving him a smile. Phil was what brought Dan the most joy in his life.
What he found strange was that he knew Phil before he made any YouTube videos.
AmazingPhil was his favorite YouTuber. What he couldn't understand was why the boy he had known all his life, was the one that was also making YouTube videos.
Phil didn't have an answer.
"I hope I don't have group time after breakfast." Dan grumbled as he grabbed his white assigned clothes to change into.
"That would suck." Phil said as he sat on the bed.
After changing he quickly let with Phil to breakfast.
To everyone else, he came in alone talking to no one.
To Dan, he came in with Phil.
His parents didn't believe him when he mentioned that the boy on the computer screen was the one he sees every day.
That's what caused them to chew him in again.
No one has ever believed him. And he was determined to prove it.

The day went as usual. Breakfast,  and he had free time so since he wasn't allowed to hang out in his room all day, he went to lounge.
He spoke to Phil freely, no one judged him since there were others there doing the same.
Except their's wasn't somewhere in England making YouTube videos.
When he was called in by his doctor for a group time, he went slowly, hating every second he would have to be there.
As usual, the doctor asked why they were here.
Dan always kept as quiet as he could, until called upon and he would say the same thing.
"Hi, my name is Dan. I'm here because nobody believes a word I say and call me crazy."
They usually don't talk to him after that.
Phil would usually sit on the floor near his feet, or a spare chair if there were any. He was the only company Dan had here.
He couldn't wait to leave.