The Greatest Showman Imagines

Just One | Phillip Carlyle

wow, 200 reads already! i had no idea y'all would want these so badly. thanks for requesting - and remember i'm not gonna write anything involving sex, self harm, or suicide, and if you request it, i'm gonna mute you bc this is causing too much drama in my life.

also, if you request, please put DETAIL. just asking for a character isn't enough to make it a request. if you don't put enough detail, then i'm not going to accept it. (reminder: send me a message with your request or comment it on my request page. wattpad is screwed up and my message board isn't useable. thanks).

this was requested by ragnarcks

//

Phillip Carlyle liked you, but you didn't like him.

He was attractive, you could admit that, but he was rich, and rich people were absolute snobs, whether they knew it or not. It wasn't his fault, you supposed. His mother and father raised him to look down at people with less and think of them as less. But you didn't want to associate yourself with someone like that.

"Come on, ___, just one date," he said, going after you on the snowy street. He took his hat off and stepped out in front of you, the coat draped over his arm brushing across your legs. He smiled a dazzling smile, one that would have taken your breath away if you weren't careful. "I'll take you somewhere nice. Anywhere. Anywhere you want."

"No," you said, voice sharp. "For the hundredth time, I don't want to go anywhere with you!" You stepped around him. He followed like a puppy.

"Okay, fine, you don't want to go to dinner," he said. "How about a play? A show? Or - I'll take you home. I'll walk you! How about that?"

You sighed and stopped, turning towards him. "Mr. Carlyle," you said through clenched teeth.

He smirked. "Oh please, call me Phillip," he said.

You wanted to scream. He was so relentless, and it was so aggravating - because wow, was he nice looking and wow, did he act like you put the stars in the sky - but he was rich, and you were not, and he was bound to realize that at some point and treat you the same way he treated everyone else.

"I don't have any money," you said.

He tilted his head. "And? I think I have more than enough for the two of us," he said.

You scoffed and rolled your eyes. His smile disappeared as you stomped off.

"What! What did I say?" he asked.

"You are so unbelievable!" you exclaimed.

"___," he said, softer now. He grabbed your arm gently and pulled you to a stop. His warm breath brushed across your cold cheeks. "You know how I feel about you."

"Phillip-"

"I don't get it," he said. "What is it about me?"

You blew. "Phillip," you repeated, softer this time. You adjusted your coat on your shoulders. "It's only a matter of time before you realize how different we are."

"Different how?" he asked. "___, I know everything about you and you know everything about me. You know that I am-"

"That's not what I mean," you said. "You have money that other people don't. That I don't. And because you have it, you don't realize how you look at people. How you might look at me."

His lips parted and his eyebrows furrowed. A glimpse of heartbreak touched his eyes. "___, I am so sorry. I had no idea - I never wanted to-"

"It's okay," you said, looking down at your mitted hands. You spoke gently. "You didn't know." You looked back at him. "But now you do."

After giving him a sad smile, you walked off, leaving him staring after you in the street.

                             ...

The next day, you walked by the theater, where Phillip was often. It was packed with people, all gathered in clusters and groups in the snow, which was odd - Phillip didn't have a show today.

He knew you walked by there, and you figured that was why he had been waiting on one of the steps. He got up when you walked by.

"___," he said.

"Phillip," you replied. You looked around at all of the people gathered around the theater. "What is going on?"

"Oh," he said. His cheeks turned a new shade of pink and he dropped his head. "I, uh, thought about what you said. About how I looked down on people. Well, I lowered the prices of my tickets and I gave at least forty away to the first families that approached me." He smiled.

"Wha- Phillip, why?" you asked.

"So you could see that I didn't know and believe it," he said. "And that I could change."

"Phillip," you said, looking around. "I wasn't trying to get you to lose your money-"

"Please," he said, smiling. "It felt good to do this for people. It felt... right. Thank you." He touched your arm. "You really change me for the better, ___. You do."

Your cheeks were aflame now, too, and it made it worse being out in the cold. You ducked your head and smiled, feeling the beginning flaps of butterfly wings inside the pit of your stomach.

"Phillip..." You looked up at him and bit your lip. With your hands shoved in the pockets of your coat, you stretched up on the balls of your feet, the butterflies enabling you to just stand still.

"Are you cold?" he asked. "Here." He started to pull his scarf off his neck. He draped it across your shoulders and brought the two ends to the base of your neck. Gently, without touching you, he folded one end over the other and made a lose knot. "Is this better?"

You smiled. You couldn't help it.

"One dinner," you said.

"Huh?" His eyes lit up with surprise.

"One dinner," you repeated. "One. And I'm serious! Only one."

"You're giving me a chance," he half gasped. "Are you... are you really giving me a chance?"

"Yes," you said. "I'm serious, Phillip. Just one!"

"Yes, yes, of course," he said. He grinned. "One dinner." His eyes darted from one of yours to the other. "I don't know what to say. This is... thank you."

You rolled your eyes. "Like you didn't think that giving away free tickets was going to change my mind!"

"No, I didn't," he said. He sounded serious. "I did it because I knew you were right. You made me want to change."

Your entire torso was overcome with butterflies. You turned so your shoulder was close to him, and you held out your arm.

"Walk me home," you said softly.

He turned, too, movements stiff and elegant - like someone who had been raised doing it his entire life. He took your arm and tucked it in the crook of his elbow.

"I would be honored to," he said.

And he walked you home, all the while you and him both thinking - there will certainly be more than just one date.

Maybe just a few more.