DEADROSES | PHAN

-ˏˋ eight ˎˊ-

pls comment bubs i need reassurance

☾ ☽

dan's eyes widened the second those words left phil's mouth.

"what?"

his voice was still shaky and broken from the cold, and also a bit from the crying, and it came out weak and quiet. he frowned.

phil met his eyes, biting his lip. he looked serious, but also a bit surprised by what he had said. dan wondered if he regretted it. he shook his head.

"n-no, i can't let you..." he trailed off, pulling the blanket as close as possible. "i can't let you do that for me. you've already done so much, and i don't... i don't even..."

dan wanted to say he didn't know him very well, that they weren't friends, but he kind of hopelessly needed them to be. he would never say it, or even believe it, but he hoped that phil saw him as a friend.

"nonsense," phil said calmly, waving off dan's excuses. "you can stay with me for a bit. until we figure something out." he smiled at dan. "if you're comfortable, of course."

dan stared at him, at a loss for words. he could feel himself blushing at the fact phil had said we. until we figure something out. "phil, i..." he paused, pushing back his damp hair. "alright."

he made himself accept before thinking any harder, mostly because he knew he needed a place to stay and he had no other options. phil's smile grew.

"good!" he turned to eliza, who looked just as shocked as dan felt. "can you open up? i can take him home and help him settle in."

now that the idea was out there and accepted, phil had transformed into an event planner. dan's cheeks went even more crimson at that take him home. like a puppy.

eliza nodded slowly.

"sure, but are you..."

"yes, eliza. it's fine, i'll take care of everything." phil's ocean eyes flickered to dan, and dan's own eyes widened. "he's my friend. i can't leave him on the street, can i?"

dan's breath caught. had phil read his mind? there was no way he saw him as a friend, surely the only thing dan had been was a burden.

dan shook himself out of it, his eyes focusing on phil's hand, outstretched in front of him. he took it cautiously, letting phil help him up. phil watched him curiously, his features highlighted in worry.

"can you walk?" he asked, his arm automatically going out for dan to grab onto. dan took it gratefully.

"kind of."

truthfully, dan's feet were killing him. they were covered in cuts and bruises, from running in those hellish shoes, and from sleeping in them in the cold and rain.

he let himself lean on phil, using his support to limp to the door.

phil's sweatshirt was soft, and he smelled like coffee and sleep. dan suddenly felt incredibly tired. he wanted to bury himself in phil's clothing, breathe in his comforting scent and sleep for years. his last 24 hours had been possibly the worst in his life.