Illusive (phan)

Chapter XXIV - Radiant

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Chapter XXIV - Radiant

[Phil's Family Home, Lancashire, 8:42 am, SU 08/01/17]

CATH: (yelling from downstairs) "Time to get up boys!"

DAN: "Ugh, it's so early."

PHIL: "We need time to pack."

DAN: "I refuse to pack."

PHIL: "Why?"

DAN: "Because that means it's really over. That means we have to go back."

PHIL: (whispers) "We were always going to have to go back."

DAN: "Yeah, but cognitive dissonance is useful in situations like this."

PHIL: (can barely speak) "Just because we ignore it, that doesn't change anything."

DAN: (notices phil's voice shaking) "Are you okay?"

PHIL: (voice breaking) "Yeah."

DAN: "No, you're not." (sighs, pulling phil into his chest, running a hand through his hair) "It'll be okay, Phil. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything."

PHIL: (aggressively shakes his head, painfully speaks through sobs) "No, it's all my fault, I shouldn't have--"

DAN: (kisses phil's cheek) "Sh, don't speak. It's not your fault. Let me talk. I'll tell you a story."

PHIL: "I'm not a child."

DAN: "Stories aren't just for children. Come on, people have told me it's a good story."

PHIL: (sighs before leaning against dan's chest) "Ok."

DAN: "There was once a very sad boy. People didn't understand why he was sad, they thought it was just a part of him. He liked it that way. Then a very happy boy came along. He was like the sun, he brightened everyone's day, he made people smile. At first the sad boy was annoyed. He was scared that the happy boy would rip up the sad exterior he'd put up. He was scared that the happy boy would make him smile."

PHIL: (sarcastically through sniffles) "I wonder what's going to happen next."

DAN: (still running his fingers through phil's hair) "So the sad boy was horrible to the happy boy, he tried to tear the happy boy down and make him sad like he was. But to do this, he had to spend time with the happy boy. He tried to attack the happy boy, he threw his sharpest words at him. But the boy was like the sun, and that made him much stronger than the sad boy had expected."

PHIL: (scoffs) "Ha."

DAN: (ignores Phil and continues) "In fact, the happy boy was stronger than anyone the sad boy had met. He stayed near the happy boy because he realised how much he enjoyed it; he started slowly becoming like him. The sad boy couldn't help it, he was slowly shedding his sad exterior to reveal the happy one inside. And in the end, the sad boy realised how foolish he was, and there were eventually two happy boys."