dirty laundry ⚣ phan

one

dan opened the door to the laundromat and was immediately hit with the scent of cheap fabric softener and musty clothes. he felt his nose itch and he sniffed, dragging the back of his hand across the underside.

he stood in the doorway and looked around, only noticing an old couple standing by a dryer and a middle-aged mother folding clothes and placing them in a wicker basket as two children ran around near the atm. it was eerily quiet in the room, but dan brushed off the odd feeling and walked off.

dan walked over to a washer and started unloading the clothes into the large metal drum. he grabbed the bottle of soap from a shelf above him and poured a few capfuls into the machine. he pressed a button and smiled as the washer hummed to life, and the clothes began to spin. the small timer on the washer read 1:07, meaning he still had a while before the clothes were done. he pulled out his phone and sent a message to his mother.

dan: be home in about 2.5 hours. start dinner whenever. don't wait for me.

mom: okay hon. love you 😘😘

dan had a good relationship with his mother. they had gotten closer ever since his father had abandoned them when he got into some trouble with the law. bank fraud. that mistake had left dan and his family broke and without a father. mrs. howell had to work around the clock to try and make up the money they had lost, and meanwhile she tried to raise two boys on her own keep them happy. since dan was the older sibling, he had to be the 'father figure'. he helped owen with his homework, took up a job himself, cooked, cleaned, ran errands, and got schoolwork done for himself. their life was amazingly hectic, but dan and his mother took care of it all.

the door opened and a cold burst of air hit dan in the face as a boy with hair the color of the midnight sky and bright cobalt eyes walked into the laundromat, carrying a paper grocery bag filled with clothes. dan watched in awe as the boy walked over to a machine across the room from him and started unloading the contents from the bag onto the dryer as he prepped the washer. dan's eyes darted over the black bomber jacket and navy ripped jeans that the boy was wearing, and then compared them to his frayed grey shirt and grimy black jeans. the boy turned around and caught dan's gaze, which might have looked a bit creepy seeing as his mouth was slightly open and his eyes were glazed over in wonder.

"hey." the boy said. dan snapped out of his trance and he felt his face grow hot. he tried to speak, but all that came out was:

"u-u-uh..."

"what's your name?" dan gulped.

"d-dan. h-howell" he choked out.

"well, i'm phil. phil lester." he reached out and shook dan's hand. the electricity sent sparks up and down dan's arm. phil leaned over and looked at the timer. "fifty-nine minutes." he smiled. you've got some time."

"s-so?"

"so?" phil smiled. "start talking."

"a-about what? am i being interrogated? is this law and order?" phil laughed at his joke, and dan cracked a nervous grin.

"no." phil flashed him a radiant smile. "you. i want to hear about you."

"why would you want to hear about me? no one has ever wanted to hear about me."

"cause you seem cool. you seem like you have an incredible story to tell, dan howell. and i'd like to be a part of it."