The Phan in Our Stars

Part One

"What's wrong, Phil?" Dan questioned his best friend from across the table.

"Hm?" Phil looked up from his cereal bowl, "Oh nothing. I was just thinking."

"Were you?" Dan shot him an uncertain glance, "C'mon, fess up. What's been eating you recently?"

"What do you mean?" Phil asked, pushing his dark fringe out of his eyes and propping himself up on one elbow.

"I think you know what I mean," Dan accused, raising an eyebrow, "I come in here and... nothing: no good morning', no 'Friends' on TV. What's wrong with you?"

"Just really tired, I guess," Phil replied, scooting away from the table. He picked up his bowl and carried to the sink, Dan following closely behind him.

"Tired, hm? I can make coffee," Dan offered, but Phil just shook his head.

"No, I think I'm gonna go lie down actually," Phil said.

"Lie down?" Dan asked, surprised, "But you just got up!"

"I know," Phil answered, "I just haven't been sleeping well the past few nights."

"Something bothering you?" Dan inquired, a bit concerned.

"No, I'm fine really, I just need a nap that's all," Phil reassured him.

"Okay then, have your nap," Dan said, still not completely convinced, "But you;d better be up and running by tonight, okay?"

"What's tonight?" Phil joked.

"Don't even joke about that! Okay? You are going!"

"I'm joking!" Phil laughed, "I'll see you in a couple of hours."

"Nighty night, Phil," Dan called after him, jokingly, which brought a small smile to Phil's face. He retreated to his room and lied down on the bed. His side was hurting, so he rolled over onto his stomach and, after pulling the duvet over himself, grabbed his iPhone off the charger. After scrolling through Twitter for about five minutes, Phil felt his eyes getting heavy. His side still hurt, but he felt himself slowly drifting off.

"Phil? Phil!" He slowly opened his eyes to see Dan standing over him, gently shaking him awake.

"What time is it?" Phil mumbled , rubbing his tired eyes.

"Nearly 2 pm," Dan said, plopping down on the bed next to Phil, "You wanna play some Mario Kart?"

"Erm, sure," Phil said, rolling over onto his side, sending a sharp pain from his hip to his foot, "Ah!" he shrieked, clenching his leg.

"Woah, you okay?" Dan asked, jumping up from the bed.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Phil moaned, "just a weird cramp or something." Phil pushed himself up as the pain slowly subsided. He looked up at Dan who still looked mildly concerned and managed a smile, "So, Mario Kart?" he asked as reasurringly as possible.

"Yeah, Mario Kart." Dan smiled back.

* * *

"Oh my God, I can't do this one more second!" Phil said, exasperated, tossing his controller of the floor.

"You're just upset because you're losing." Dan said, laughing.

"No, I'm just doing terribly! Honestly, can we do a course that's not Rainbow Road? Please?!" Phil asked, a little annoyed.

"But it's fun watching you flip shit!" Dan teased, poking Phil in the ribs, "Not a sight I get to see very often!"

"Fun for you maybe!" Phil snapped back, but he was laughing now too. He couldn't stay annoyed at Dan for very long, especially over a silly game of Mario Kart.

"Jesus, Phil, it's 5:00 already!" Dan exclaimed after consulting his phone.

"No way, is it really?" Phil asked, "I'm still in my pajama bottoms! I haven't even showered yet!"

"Well you'd better get to it!" Dan replied as Phil frantically jumped up, heading for the bathroom, "we should probably leave in, like, an hour and a half or something."

"Okay," Phil called back from the hallway.

After Phil's exit to the bathroom, Dan remained on the sofa in the lounge, willing himself to get up, but not quite overcoming his laziness enough to actually do so. After a few minutes, he heard the shower come on in the bathroom and a few minutes after that, he finally mustered the willpower to drag himself out of his sofa crease and into his room to get ready. He rummaged through his wardrobe trying to find something to wear. It should not have been this difficult to make an outfit from a wardrobe that contained mostly black, Dan thought to himself as he passed off shirt after shirt. He finally picked a black one (shocker) with a little detailing down the front. It wasn't his favorite shirt, but he knew Phil liked it so he put it on anyway. He really did want to make Phil happy, especially today, since he was dragging him to a movie he didn't really want to see.

Dan found Phil's disinterest in The Fault in Our Stars very strange. Usually, he and Phil had the same taste in, well, everything (other than clothes). They liked the same movies, TV programs, anime, and, for the most part, books. A year ago, when Dan had read TFIOS for the first time, Phil had seemed interested, but now, when it came down to it, he was completely refusing! It was both aggravating and confusing to Dan that his love for this existentiallist romance wasn't shared by his friend. Dan knew he was being stupid, but, he thought, maybe it was just because he wasn't used to having a differing opinion than Phil. They agreed on basically everything, so now that they didn't, it seemed almost earth-shattering to him, like there was no one in the world with whom he could share this passion. This, Dan realized, was an even sillier thought, as the book had become so popular it seemed like everyone in the world had read and loved it: everyone excpet the one who mattered most.

Phil stayed in the shower for twice as long as usual: the hot water soothed his leg which was still cramping. After about 20 minutes, which seemed like ages to Phil, he got out of the shower and, after drying off, retreated to his room. He put on his teal button-up that he knew was Dan's favorite. He was feeling bad about his lack of enthusiasm about this movie for that past few weeks. He knew it meant a lot to Dan, so he decided that he was going to make it up to him by making it the best night ever. Besides, Phil needed this night to be good.

Once he was ready, there was still nearly 45 minutes before they needed to leave, so Phil retreated to the kitchen where he found his best friend sat at the table wearing one of his favorite shirts. Phil couldn't help but smiling realizing that Dan was thinking of him right now as much as he was thinking of Dan.

"Oh hey, Phil," Dan said, looking up from his phone, "I was thinking about making something before we left, you hungry?"

"No thanks," Phil replied, sitting down in the chair next to Dan's.

"Well in that case," Dan replied, "I'll just have some cereal!" he exclaimed, jumping out of his chair and grabbing a bowl from the cabinet.

"Are you really that excited for this movie? I haven't seen you this worked up in a while!" Phil laughed, watching Dan make his cereal.

"I am really excited," Dan said, pouring the milk over his cereal, "but, also, I'm trying to stay in a really good mood, because for some reason in my mind that will minimize the amount I cry tonight."

"I'm sure that'll work out wonderfully, Dan," Phil said, sarcastically, "Afterall, you are an expert on the human psyche."

"I know, I'm brilliant," Dan joked, causing Phil to laugh as Dan returned to his chair next to him.

It was good to see Phil laugh, especially today. He'd been so down the past few days, he'd hardly cracked a smile, but now he was laughing like the Phil Dan knew and loved.

"Why're you looking at me like that?" Phil inquired, waking Dan from the momental trance Phil's laugh had caused.

"Oh, it's nothing," Dan said, shaking it off, "Just zoned out there for a moment."