The Greatest Showman One Shots

Ablaze - Anne x Phillip

This one shot was requested by TrashiestBwayTrash. Thank you!

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He can hear their voices distantly calling his name as he sprints towards the burning building. It doesn't stop him though. He can't loose her. The instant he steps into the building the ash, smoke and the flames consume him. Covering his mouth and nose with his sleeve, he pushes farther and farther, searching desperately. Black spots start to flood his vision as he inhales more and more of the toxic air. He stops and bends over, panting. The second he stops moving, his knees buckle. Black clouds his vision and he falls unconscious.

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Phillip sits up quickly and frantically looks around the room. Everything was fine. There was no cackling fire, no extreme heat, no danger. Phillip lies back into the mattress, taking in deep breaths. Ever since that terrifying night, he has had constant nightmares and wild hallucinations.  Phillip touches his face to feel it wet with a combination of tears and sweat. The sun was rising just above the horizon, shinning through the windows of his downtown New York apartment.

Groaning, Phillip decides to get up and prepare for the day. He quickly showers, dresses and tidies himself up by running a comb through his tousled light brown hair. Setting the comb on the vanity, Phillip leans over and places his hands on the side of the desk-like table. Looking at his reflection he notices deep-purple rings outlining his eyes. He also notices how his blue eyes seem to of lost their trademark twinkle.

Phillip sighs in exasperation. These dreams waking him up during the night were slowly killing him and there was nothing he do about it. A knock at his front door draws his attention away from his thoughts. Phillip opens the door to be greeted by an extremely happy Anne. Her excitement causes Phillip to break out into a wide smile and laugh as she bounds into the room with a skip in her step.

Anne plants a quick kiss on Phillip's chapped lips before she starts to speak. "Mr. Barnum and Charity invited us over for breakfast with the girls. W.D said -" She starts to continue on with her sentence until she takes a closer look at Phillip's face. "My God Phillip. You look terrible." A worried look is plastered onto her face as she rests her cool hand onto his warm cheek. She tilts her head to the left as she carefully inspects him. Phillip chuckles and responds with, "I know."

"Why do you look like this Phillip? Please tell me and let me help you." Anne begs, staring him in the eyes. Her beautiful brown eyes bore into his as breathes deeply and nods a simple 'yes'.  Phillip grabs her hand and leads her to the burgundy loveseat centered in the room. Phillip sits down and turns to face the young woman sitting next to him, who is sitting 'Indian' style. She looks at him expectantly, his hand still in hers.

"I've been having a hard time sleeping lately. I've had really bad nightmares. I've also had very vivid hallucinations." Phillip explains slowly. He pauses and Anne starts to draw small circles on the back of his hand to urge him on. "They are about the f- fire." Phillip stutters as he shivers involuntarily. A blanket of sympathy covers Anne's face. "I didn't know how much they were affecting me until this morning." Phillip continues.

"Then it is settled then. I've got to tell Mr. Barnum that we can't attend breakfast." Anne firmly states as she stand up suddenly, dropping Phillip's hand into his lap. With a surprised look on his face, Phillip stands up quickly. "We can't do that! They were gracious enough to invite us over and I am not going to allow this minor setback to stop us from going!" Phillip persists, tugging Anne's arm as she tries to head towards the door.