True Beauty lies Beneath the Skin (Phan)

Eternally Yours (Epilogue)

I'm ready to bury all of my bones
I'm ready to lie but say I won't
So tell me your secrets
And join me in pieces
To rot in this garden made of stones
I'm ready to bleed to make ammends
And sleep in this dirt we call our bed
So tell me your secrets
And join me in pieces
To fall and rewrite the bitter end
Eternally yours...

Christmas Day.

The sound of little footsteps running rapidly down the halls of Phil's house awakes Dan and Phil Christmas morning. The footsteps trail off as they travel down the stairs, which brings a smile to Phil's face - the first time a in a long time that a Christmas morning had done so. Phil turns over to Dan, who was in the process of blinking himself awake, and the smile on Phil's face grows as he leans in and kisses Dan's cheek.

"Good morning!"

Dan sighs, "Why does it have to be Christmas morning? Why not Christmas afternoon?"

Phil chuckles, "C'mon! Bella's probably ready to explode with excitement right now - let's go downstairs."

"Five more minutes..." Dan trails, doing to lay back down.

"Nooooo, come on, Dan! It's Christmas! Let's go, let's go, let's gooooo!"

Phil stands and grabs Dan's hand before yanking him to a stand. Dan huffs, then finally gives in and laughs. He squeezes Phil's hand and they go to walk out, but Dan stops and pulls him back.

"Wait," Dan says before pulling Phil to him and pecking his lips, "I love you."

Phil smiles, "I love you too."

Dan and Phil walk downstairs hand in hand to find Bella sitting on the couch in the living room, looking like she was trying her absolute hardest to scream in excitement. The three of them had decorated Phil's house with several festive decorations and a large Christmas tree stood in the corner, decorated to the max. This Christmas season had been an extremely good one for Dan and Bella seeing as Dan wasn't nearly as stressed this year as he had been the previous year, and it was a great one for Phil because he knew he'd actually get to spend the day with family and the people he loved and not drinking alone, thinking about past demons.

"You guys, look! Santa came!"

Phil laughs, "We see that. Here, let me get a fire going; Dan, you grab the camera. We gotta make sure we have lots of pictures of our first Christmas together!"

Dan smiles and his heart melts, then he grabs his phone and makes sure he has the camera ready.

x

After a day of festivities, food, gifts and seeing several different family members, Dan, Phil and Bella made their way back to Phil's house with arms full of gifts that they all just set on the couch to put away later. Bella had played pretty hard that day, so she fell asleep pretty quickly upon returning to Phil's house. Dan put her in bed, then walked into Phil's bedroom to find him standing out on the balcony, watching the snow fall. Dan smiles, then walks over to Phil, who appeared to be lost in thought.

"You okay?"

Phil turns to Dan, then smiles, "Of course," He says, "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, I just know that you have a history of Christmas being a little bit difficult for you."

Phil shrugs, "Yeah, I know..."

They pause a moment and Phil thinks a bit more.

"Do I wish it hadn't happened?" Phil starts, "Do I wish the baby would have survived? Do I wish I hadn't gone down the path that I had?...Of course I do."