that thing called cancer · phan

thirteen

dan woke up in the arms of the love of his life close to five in the morning. he gasped, almost instantly waking phil.

"dan?" phil asked groggily, then when he sat up and put on his glasses, "oh no, dan!"

"don't worry," dan breathed out, "it was just a nightmare."

"oh my god, dan," phil said, pulling dan closer to himself, "you scared me."

"did you think it was another... episode?"

"yeah," phil said.

"oh... sorry," dan said.

"don't be. so what was your nightmare about?"

"dying," dan said, "and losing you."

"oh, dan," phil said, kissing the top of dan's head, "i love you."

"i love you, too," dan said.

"we're gonna take care of this," phil said, "we already got rid of one of your cancers, it'll all work out, you'll see."

"we still have to worry about my leukemia, and it's getting worse," dan said.

"that's what you said about your lung cancer, and that's gone now," phil said, kissing dan's head again, "it'll be okay. trust me."

"okay, i trust you," dan said.

phil moved dan away from him so he could look him in the eyes, "you're my favourite person in the world, dan. i'll do anything to make sure you'll be okay."

"you're my favourite, too," dan said.

phil leaned forward and pecked dan's lips, "now try to get back to sleep."

"okay," dan said, "i love you."

"i love you, too."

-----

when dan woke up, phil wasn't there. he figured he was downstairs with his mum and dad.

dan got out of bed, changed into a black t-shirt and some grey joggers. he grabbed his phone and walked downstairs to see phil at the breakfast bar with dan's mum, and dan's dad watching tv.

"morning, dan," will said, smiling warmly at his son, "how'd you sleep?"

"fine, how about you?" dan said, walking toward will and sitting next to him on the sofa.

"oh, pretty good," will said, "i've been sleeping better now that we've taken more control of that cancer. i'm so happy that you're doing well."

"me, too."

"how're things going with phil?" will asked.

"good, good," dan said, "we haven't had any arguments or anything, so..."

"that's great," will smiled, patting dan on the back.

"well, i'm feeling a bit hungry so i'm going to get some breakfast," dan said.

"alright, see you later, son."

"yup."

dan stood and walked across the hall to the kitchen, greeting both his mum and his boyfriend.

"dan!" phil said in response, standing up and kissing dan's cheek, "how are you doing?"

"well, i just woke up, so i'm kinda tired, but other than that i'm great. you seem cheery this morning," dan said.

"i'm just happy to see you," phil smiled.

dan looked over at his mum and she had a sly expression, like she knew something dan didn't.