The Darkest Of Days

Chapter 13 - Dan

Dan ran outside and punched the brick outer wall of the building as hard as he could. How could he be so stupid? This was all his fault. Of course, Phil wouldn't be handling this well. No matter what he tried, he couldn't get the sight of the bloody knife out of his head. 'How could Phil do this to himself? Didn't he know that he was loved? That there were literally millions of people that care about him?'

Dan started shaking as huge sobs escaped his throat and echoed through the silent night air. He continued to punch the wall until his whole hand was flaming with pain and blood was running down his arm. It wasn't enough pain. He deserved so much more pain than this. He did this to Phil. He deserved all of it.

He leant against the wall and slid down it to the ground. Sobs tore through his body as he focused on the feeling of fire rushing through his tightened, bloody fists.

"Dan? What have you done to yourself?"

Dan looked up to see Phil standing there, staring at him in horror. 'No! He can't be here! Not now!' Dan's mind shut down and he went into a panic. "No, no, no, no, no." He kept muttering as he rocked his body back and forth.

Then, Dan felt warmth cut through the cold, dark terror of his mind. He slowly lifted his head and could see the top of Phil's head, resting on his shoulder. Dan leant into his hug and relished in the warmth coming from Phil. They sat there for several minutes before Phil lifted his head.

"Let's go in and get you cleaned up and get the video done, ok?" Phil's soft voice felt like a life ring saving Dan from being pulled under the raging waters of panic.

"Ok," Dan responded and started to get up, grabbing Phil's out reached hand as he did so. Phil wrapped his arm around Dan's waist to help keep him steady as Dan wrapped his over Phil's shoulders to help keep his balance. Together they walked back to the flat.

They went to the washroom and, gently, Phil washed off the blood and the dirt. Every time Dan flinched, Phil went even gentler and would look at him apologetically. It felt as though nothing had changed between them. When Phil was done, they could tell that a few bones were sprained or cracked but nothing too bad.

“Now it’s my turn, Phil.” Dan said, turning to him.

“What do you mean?”

“Let me see them. They need cleaned and sterilized before too much more time passes.” Dan watched Phil’s face pale. “Come on, Phil. Let me help.”

A/N: sorry about the late update, I'm still packing. Updates should be more frequent come August.