Playing With Fire || d.h

28. Blackout

TRIGGER WARNING: Anorexia, bulimia, binge eating

Your POV

Dan sits on the edge of the bathtub as I dab at his lip with a wet washcloth. Luckily, PJ hadn't actually hit him that hard, but it had caused Dan to bite almost completely through his lip from the impact. A large, swollen bruise has farmed on his cheekbone and snakes pretty close to his eye, but his jaw isn't broken or out of place, and he says he's been through worse.

However, he might just be saying that for my own sanity.

"The bleeding's gone down probably as much as it's going to," I say, discarding the bloody towel into the trash. I then take a bag of frozen vegetables wrapped in another washcloth, and press it gently to his cheekbone, still causing him to wince.

"Here, hold this here to help with the swelling, and it should help numb it. The pain meds should be kicking in soon." I say this all robotically, as showing any emotion will most likely just cause me to cry more, and I really, really don't want to cry anymore.

Phil comes into the bathroom, sitting on the toilet seat next to me. "I tried calling PJ, but it keeps going to voicemail. He did leave a lot of his clothes and stuff here, though, so he'll probably come back for those."

"When he does, make sure I'm not here," mutters Dan through gritted teeth.

"Oh, stop," I say. "Besides, you probably hurt him a lot worse than he hurt you."

"I don't give a flying fuck about how much he hurt me," Dan replies. "The way he treated you is good enough for me to give him a solid ass-whooping."

I just roll my eyes. Part of me wants to believe Dan is too much of a teddy bear to harm anyone, even PJ, that much. However, another part of me is scared he will. The side of him I just saw has actually scared the shit out of me. I've never seen someone as mellow as him get that angry, and violent.

Not only for PJ's sake, but mine as well, I really hope PJ doesn't come back for his stuff anytime soon.

"Um, (Y/n)?" I look up and see Phil looking at me, his expression bubbling with anxiety.

"Hm?" I reply, turning my body so I can look at him without craning my neck.

"Um... why was PJ so upset in the first place?" He asks nervously.

"Oh, um..." I trail off, trying to think of the best way to explain the situation. "I, uh, broke up with him."

"Why?" He asks immediately, then adds immediately, "I mean, you don't need to answer if you don't want to."

"No, it's fine," I chuckle nervously. "I guess I just... didn't feel the connection anymore." I can feel Dan's eyes on me, and try not to look at him. I'm not gonna give Phil any reason to be suspicious.

"Oh..." he trails off, dazing off into thought. "Well, I'm just sorry you had to deal with him reacting that way."

"Don't be sorry," I reply. "Obviously, it's not like there's any way you could've done anything."

"Right..." He says in response.

Dan's POV

(Y/n) delicately dabs at the corner of my split lip, and I try my best not to wince.

"The bleeding's gone down probably as much as it's going to." She sighs, then discards the bloody towel into the trash can. She picks up the frozen vegetables, and cautiously places it on my cheekbone. The sudden chill causes me to wince.

"Here, hold this here to help with the swelling," she instructs, and I fill the place of her hand, holding the bag delicately to my face. "It should also help numb it. The pain meds should be kicking in soon." Her tone is monotonous, but at the end of her sentence, her voice cracks. It only causes my heart to ache.