Phan Oneshots

When They Try to Take Us Down

Summary: Phil doesn't like when hate preachers come to campus. They make him nervous and uncomfortable. But this time, Dan is there to help him through it in an unexpected, yet pleasant way.
Word Count: 2,201
Warnings: homophobic slurs, hate speech, anxiety
Title creds: Let the Flames Begin - Paramore

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There is an angry aura surrounding campus in the form of ignorant slurs and angry responses. This only happens on the occasion, but it makes Phil nervous each time, a pit in his stomach and his throat closing up as he tries to walk as fast as possible past the angry crowd.

There was a man, dressed in preacher's clothes and holding a sign with a list of the types of people who were going to "go to hell". Phil didn't have to look to know that homosexuals and masturbators and adulterers were on the list. He swallowed and ducked his head, trying to move as fast as he could. Dan was ahead of him, probably shaking his head and scoffing as he does every time they passed by a preacher like this. Sometimes Phil thinks he's more upset about this kind of thing than Phil is, despite being the heterosexual one in their friendship, just by the way he wasn't afraid to shout his opinions right back.

The preacher (who apparently was named Brother Jeb, according to the crowd), started screaming at two girls who walked past wearing shorts. He was saying they were sluts and yelling godawful things that nobody should have to hear just by wearing what they wanted to wear. Phil felt nauseous and he froze in place, his stomach doing a weird lurch.

He didn't want to walk in front of him. He didn't want to hear what the preacher would say about him, a gay male who most likely looked so soft and therefore 'gay'. He'd thought he'd gotten away from those taunts when he left high school, but there he was, awaiting the familiar slurs from someone much older than him.

"Phil?" A voice said from in front of him. Phil focused back onto the presence of his best friend, Dan, who was staring at him with slightly furrowed brows and concern in his gaze. "You alright there?"

Phil shrugged and cast a weary glance back towards Brother Jeb. "I'm good," he mumbled, fidgeting with the straps of his backpack. "I'm just gay and uncomfortable."

Dan huffed out a laugh and shook his head fondly. "You have nothing to worry about, Brother Jeb is all talk and no action." He reached out and grabbed Phil's hand, squeezing it gently. "Let's go, yeah? We're not going to accomplish anything today if we can't even get past an ignorant douchebag." His hand then shifted from Phil's hand and to his wrist instead so he could start pulling him along, tugging him away from the spot he was glued to and into direct sight of Brother Jeb.

Phil could tell the exact moment that Brother Jeb saw him. Their eyes met and Brother Jeb's own darkened, and Phil could feel the familiar anxiety bubbling in his chest. "Oh no," he whispered, to which Dan tightened his hand around his wrist and tugged that little bit harder.

Just like that, all hell broke loose. "Homos like you two deserve to be tortured by Satan for eternity!" Brother Jeb yelled at them, his face turning red as he tried to raise his voice enough for them both to hear. He continued to yell awful things at them, until Dan was letting out an annoyed sigh and stopping.

"What are you doing?" Phil begged. "Let's leave. Please."

"Now wait a minute," Dan started, turning to Brother Jeb with a glint in his eye. Phil didn't know what he was planning to do and he was slightly fearful. He just wanted to get out of there. He didn't want to be in the general vicinity for very much longer. "If you send all the gays to Hell, wouldn't that just make us all have filthy gay sex everywhere? If that's the case, I can't say I'd have any opposition to it."

"Dan," Phil gasped, horrified. He could hardly believe that Dan had said something like that. Wasn't he straight? Why would he want to have anything to do with gay sex in the first place? And why were they still standing there?