N3RV3 Phan AU

FAIL OR BAIL

P H I L ' S P O V:

     "W-What?" I replied, taken aback by his response. I sat up, propping myself up on my elbows so that I can look at him properly. I had to ask him again to make sure I heard him right.

     "I don't love you," he said flatly, not looking directly into Phil's eyes. "At least I don't think I do. It's an emotion created by humans so they could cope with the harsh reality of life. An idea created to help populate the Earth."

     He opened his mouth as to say something but quickly shut it. I bit my lip to keep from saying something that might upset him. I didn't notice at the time but I must have looked like I was upset.

     "Phil? What's wrong?" Dan said, looking at me intently.

     "You may not love me," I muttered, "but I sure as hell love you. I would trade my life for yours. No matter what happens to us, I will be here right by your side; watching over you. Making sure you're in good hands."

     I watched as Dan took in what I just said. I could tell he was thinking long and hard about what to say back. It wasn't until five minutes later that he mumbled something.

"Thank you."

***

     They were walking around the city when they heard dings coming from our phone. They reached in their pockets and pulled out their phones to read the dare.

GET TATTOOS.
£3.000

      The two glanced at each other, as if knowing exactly the tattoo they wanted. Dan's excitement to get payed for a tattoo faded into fear.

"Dan? What's wrong? Oh I see. You're scared of getting a tattoo aren't you?" Phil said, smirking and nudging Dan in he arm with his elbow.

"N-No! It's not like that! I-I mean I am really only doing this to pay for college, what is my mum going to think of me? She'll go insane!" Dan said frantically, pacing around the pavement.

"Dan are you serious right now? You've done so much worse than getting a tattoo. We fucking murdered some-"

"Phil! Keep your voice down! I'm not trying to get arrested-"

"I'm just saying. You should trust me on this. Besides, it'll only be a small tattoo. It shouldn't hurt much," he said, laying a hand on Dan's shoulder.

"How would you know? You don't even have any tattoos," Dan said, brushing Phil's hand off.

     In response to Dan's assumption, Phil rolled up his shirt sleeve. On his left shoulder, were three star tattoos. They were only slightly faded, which meant they were old but still relatively new.

"Oh," Dan said, gently touching his tattoo with his fingertips almost as if pressing too hard would hurt Phil. Melancholy, Phil rolled his shirt sleeve back down and tapped "ACCEPT" on both of their phones and called a cab to the tattoo parlor.

***

"Phil?"

"Yeah?"

"What does it mean? Your tattoo that is," Dan looked over at Phil, whose face seemed to have sunken. "Y-You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

"No it's okay. It's a sensitive topic, but I don't mind letting you know. After all, we are close friends now," Phil shot a fake comforting smile at Dan.

      The word "friend" shot through Dan's chest like a bullet erupting from a rifle. Why did it hurt? He did this to himself. He fake giggled softly in response.