DEADROSES | PHAN

-ˏˋ thirty nine ˎˊ-

;)

☾ ☽

life was boring. everything was boring.

dan felt hopeless.

he spent his days pacing, and sleeping, and telling eliza he wasn't hungry. he really wasn't though - it was like he felt nothing anymore. nothing but the pain in his chest.

oh, and crying. he cried far too much.

he just felt like there was no way in hell he was ever going to find someone like phil. there was no way he would find love again, at all, and he didn't really want to. as much as he hated it, he wanted phil.

eliza was nervous at first to leave him home alone, but eventually dan convinced her he was safe, and he wouldn't do anything she wouldn't do. she finally left him alone to go to work, and then dan had the house all to himself for most of almost every day.

every day when she came home she would tell him phil missed him, and he loved him, and he hoped he was safe. every day, dan didn't answer her. but he soaked up the words like an affection sponge, keeping them near his heart, even though it hurt even more.

god, he felt so pathetic.

it was a lazy rainy tuesday when everything went to hell.

dan was wandering her house, looking for something to occupy his time. anything, really. anything that felt less like utter shit.

he found it.

he opened the door to a spare room, and saw it there, right in the middle. a piano.

dan understood why eliza hadn't told him about it; it looked very, very old. frankly, it looked unsafe. the wood was ragged and splintered, and some of the keys were missing.

he couldn't help himself though. he moved over to it with almost practiced caution, sitting at the dusty bench. he knew it probably wasn't tuned, but he didn't care. he placed his fingers on the keys delicately.

it took a second to get back into the rhythm, but soon he was playing with practiced precision, his heart beating in time with the music. and everything was rushing back to him and, god, it hurt. it tore him open from the inside, but he couldn't stop.

even though the melody he was playing was particularly happy, it came out sad, or maybe that was just how his ears picked it up. painful, a broken symphony on a broken piano. what an ugly metaphor. dan closed his eyes.

he had no idea how long it had been since he had started playing, but some time later, dan was interrupted by a rather loud knock on the door. he opened his eyes again, turning towards the noise.

he considered just ignoring it; it wasn't his business anyways. it was eliza's house- the person at the door was surely for her. no one knew who dan was, anyways, let alone where he was.

he sighed, standing up. he would feel guilty all day if he didn't answer. he would just tell them phil wasn't here, and they would go away. easy.

he heard the knock again as he made his way through the living room, getting impatient. he ran his fingers through his hair, pulling the door open.

he froze as a man he didn't recognize turned towards him. he was wearing a black suit, his hair slick, and his face less than kind. his eyes were hidden with dark menacing glasses. dan's heart skipped a beat as the man jeered at him.

"hello, daniel."

➸

phil was already at home, long after his shift had ended, when he heard a frantic knock. he groaned, getting up and going to answer it.

eliza nearly collapsed as soon as the door opened. she was panting, and suddenly phil was much less tired.

"phil," she breathed, her eyes wide with fright and shiny with... was she crying? "i'm so sorry, oh f-fuck, this is all my fault..."

phil frowned, helping her inside right away. "what? what's wrong?"

she whimpered. "it's dan."

phil instantly froze up at the name, his heart racing. he grabbed her shoulders. "what about him?"

she met his eyes, biting her lip, and did phil see guilt in her features?

"i'm so sorry, phil, i really fucked up... i didn't know, i swear i didn't..."

phil stared her down, searching her face for answers. "eliza, what did you do?"

she whimpered again, tugging at her messy hair. "i didn't know who he was... it was a lot of money, phil, you don't understand-! i didn't know they'd take him!"

"take him?!" he shook her gently. "eliza, who?"

she sobbed. "jarvis, his step father. he... he isn't who he said he is, he was asking me all these questions and i didn't think they mattered, i thought he was just trying to help him and-" she choked on her own words, and phil watched her anxiously. his breath caught at the very thought that dan might be in danger.

she met his eyes, solemn.

"they've got dan. and i think they're going to hurt him."