DEADROSES | PHAN

-ˏˋ eleven ˎˊ-

☾ ☽

phil was a little bit stressed.

he had a few reasons to be, including the fact that eliza was giving him the silent treatment at work, and he had artists block. and then there was dan.

it was nice to have him around, at first. and phil would never go as far as to say he was a burden, because he wasn't, but he had done nothing but mope around since phil had found him crying.

they had gone out to buy him new clothes, considering his had been thrown out, and he hadn't changed out of a certain red sweatshirt in a few days. phil was also almost positive he hadn't moved from the couch.

luna seemed to love it though, using dan's immobility to receive as much attention as she could. at least someone was happy.

and then there was what phil was currently staring at.

his recent art piece that sat in the middle of his room had been tampered with. well, not exactly. but phil found it rather odd that a random rose was growing from the canvas as if a part of the painting itself.

phil knew dan must have something to do with it, somewhere in the back of his mind. but it wasn't like he could just go up to him and demand answers.

hey, so dan, what's going on? because my life was so incredibly boring before you came along, and now some weird shit is going on and why do you wear those shoes because i'm still really hung up on that and-

yeah, right.

no matter how much these questions bothered him, he was going to keep quiet. he wasn't going to scare his first ever roommate away. no matter how weird he was.

phil leaned closer, squinting at the rose. it was beautiful, truly. it was the kind of thing phil used to grow next to his window.

he bit his lip. he just couldn't bring himself to kill it.

he decided to leave it. maybe it was just what his art needed. a little realism.

he rambled into the living room to see, to his surprise, dan was up and standing in front of phil's hallway mirror.

phil watched him mess with his hair for a second in silence, his waves falling around his face. he frowned, chewing on his bottom lip and shaking his head slightly at his reflection.

"you know you're beautiful, right...?" phil blurted, his voice a little too loud and a little too serious and a little too accusing, and dan jumped in surprise.

phil cursed himself in his head. he didn't know why he had said that, it just seemed so obvious. it also seemed obvious that dan didn't, in fact, know.

"um." dan squeaked, his cheeks dark crimson and his gaze glued to phil's white carpet. "n-no?"

"oh." phil could feel his face increasing in heat as well. "well. you are, i g-guess."

fuck, now he had made it weird.

dan laughed nervously, but phil could see a tiny smile on his lips.

"where are you off to?" phil asked, mostly to break the tension. dan smiled gratefully.

"well, you know how i said i wanted to get a job?"

phil nodded, moving to plop down on the couch. luna immediately took ownership of his lap, curling up into her little ball.

"i have an interview today." dan beamed. phil's eyes widened.

"shit, really?" his fingers pinched luna's ear gently, scratching behind it.

he must not have been paying as much attention to dan as he thought he was.

"that's awesome, dan."

dan nodded, running his fingers through his hair, making it messier but considerably more attractive. phil found himself staring at dan's dimples, and the golden brown freckles dusting his face. christ, why didn't more people strive to made him happy?

"so," dan began again, shoving his hands in the pocket of his new (this time a soft shade of pink) sweatshirt. it had a heart on the front. it should look childish, but somehow, it didn't. "i hate to cut this lovely conversation short, but i should get going."

phil laughed, shaking his head.

"don't get cocky, now," he mumbled, teasing. "we're both adults. we both have jobs."

dan shrugged, winking. phil was kind of surprised, he hadn't seen him this cheerful before.

he must have gotten himself a good job. phil hoped so, anyways. he didn't care much about the rent, as long as dan smiled like that.

"wait, dan," he blurted.

dan whirled around to face him. phil paused.

"are you ever gonna tell me about those shoes of yours?"

dan glanced down, as if he had forgotten he was wearing huge pieces of metal on his feet. he smiled.

"you have your secrets, i have mine," he muttered before disappearing out the door.

"yeah," phil whispered to the empty room after the door was shut. "but mine aren't nearly as cool as yours."

he let himself fall backwards on the couch, watching luna walk over his chest.

and dan seemed to have a lot more secrets than phil did.