24 Hours - Phan

7:00pm

The door of Dan's bedroom is suddenly flung open and Phil, oblivious to Dan's sleeping form, walks into the room. "Dan! Where were you? I thought you were going to come over for part of the live show?" he says playfully.

Dan, still stretched out on his bed jolts awake. His eyes fly open and with a startled gasp, he fumbles for his computer and instinctively snaps it shut.

"Dan? That is the second time you've done that today. What are you looking at?"

He sits up quickly and throws his legs over the far side of the bed facing the wall. Disoriented, he sees the time on his phone and realizes he fell asleep. A paralyzing fear races through his body, his pulse throbs in his ears. He ducks his head to hide the flush creeping up his neck.

Silence fills the room. The curtains soundlessly flutter from a soft breeze coming in through the open window. Phil stands in the doorway with a confused look on his face. He walks over to the nightstand and clicks on a small light, illuminating Dan's back, hunched over and facing away from him

"Dan?" Phil questions again, his cheerfulness diminishing. "Something is wrong. Tell me what is going on so I can help."

The silence is finally broken by a soft strangled sob. Dan's body trembles as he holds the closed laptop firmly against his chest. He has never wanted to disappear more than he does at this very moment. His mind races as he tries to figure out what to do and say. He knows he can make up an excuse about why he was looking at photos on the off chance Phil saw what he was doing, but he can't lie away how he feels anymore. His head feels like it is slowly unraveling.

"Dan," he says a third time when he still doesn't answer. "You're starting to scare me," Phil adds softly as he cautiously walks further into the dimly lit room. He slowly sits down on the edge of the bed next to Dan, who looks away from him. A narrow stream of moonlight filters in and lights a small square on the floor between them.

Concerned about Dan's refusal to talk, or even look at him for that matter, he keeps trying to coax some information out of him.

"Are you hurt? Or sick?"

"No," Dan says dismissively.

"Is your family OK?"

"Yes, of course," he answers quickly. "You know I'd tell you if something happened at home."

"Well, what won't you tell me then? Clearly, there's something you can't talk about all of a sudden," Phil pleads.

All of a sudden. If he only knew, thinks Dan.

A thought abruptly occurs to Phil and it makes him feel physically ill, but it makes sense. Dan keeps hiding his computer and sometimes even his phone. He distances himself and has even started being secretive, randomly closing himself up in his room. Is he dating someone and keeping it from him? The speculation feels like a knife in the heart. Even if he can't be with Dan the way he wants, at least he's never had to experience seeing him with someone else. He tries to stomp down the sickening images running through his head. There's no way he's going to be able to walk out of this room without finding out what's going on. Not now. He takes a deep breath and tries again.

"Whatever has happened, I can help," Phil insists. He scoots closer to him and reaches up his hand and gently lays it on Dan's still shaking shoulder. He flinches as a reaction to the touch, but Phil tightens his fingers so Dan can't pull away.

"I...I can't," Dan stammers softly.

"It can't be as bad as you're making it out to be," Phil says reassuringly, hoping he's correct and that it's not nearly as bad as what's going through his own head right now. As an afterthought, he tries to reach past Dan and gently tug the laptop out of his grasp.

Dan tightens his grip. He lifts his head and looks into Phil's clear blue eyes, now filled with a strange combination of concern and fear. His heart tightens and tears threaten to spill past his thick lashes. "I'm so sorry. I never meant for any of this to happen. If maybe we could...could just forget about all of this...."

Confusion clouds Phil's face. "Forget about what? I don't understand!"

"You're going to hate me."

"I could never hate you, Dan. I just want to help....I'm worried."

Dan feels like he is backed into a corner. He wracks his brain again trying to figure out a plausible explanation for his behavior, but as true panic sets in, he comes up with nothing. He can feel Phil's expectant eyes on him, waiting for him to say or do something. His heart is pounding and his head is spinning. Is this it? Is this how he loses his best friend?

He takes a deep breath. He loosens his grip on the computer and holds it out to Phil without looking at him.

With a perplexed look on his face and his eyes still on Dan, he wordlessly takes it