[ON HOLD] One Last Chance - Phan

Chapter 8

Trigger warning: mention of self harm

Phil's POV

I stand in the bathroom, shock consuming my entire body and paralysing me. My left hand covers my mouth and my right hand is on the doorknob. All of me wants to run away, to go back to Dan and pretend I didn't see what I saw, to pretend that the blood-coated blade that sits there in the bin doesn't exist.

But I can't.

What do I do? Do I confront Dan about it? Ha, yeah right, like that would go well.

Hey so I was in the bathroom and I saw a blood-covered blade in the bin and I think you self harm. Explanation?

I can't just leave it. Dan could be in serious trouble!

My thoughts race frantically around my brain as my left hand moves from my mouth to my forehead, pushing my black emo fringe up and revealing the two solid black lines on my wrist when my yellow Jake the dog sweater sleeve pulls itself down a bit.

I decide I need to be subtle about it, but how, I have no clue what so friking ever. I can see no possible easy ways out of this, so I calm myself down and leave the bathroom, returning to Dan with a forced smile plastered on my face. Dan asks if I'm ok, to which I respond with a cheery yes, covering my concern for the boy next to me.

The time seems to fly by as I try my best to decipher all of the thoughts in my head and cover up the fact that I know something massive that he thinks I don't. Hell, now I think about it, it might not be from Dan. It could be Kai or his mum for all I know.

No. I think to myself. I've seen both of them today and there were no signs or evidence of scars. It has to be Dan.

God I was scared.

Darkness finally shows itself and I stand up from Dan's bed, saying I need to get going. I repeat my plan in my head countless times as Dan gets up to walk to the door with me. Taking deep breaths as quietly as possible, I take Dan's right wrist gently in my hand and pull him in for a hug. He winces in pain and yanks his arm away from my grasp and moves his arm around my shoulders instead. When we pull away, I take a quick look at Dan's right wrist, as his black hoodie sleeve has pulled up slightly, showing the long grey sleeve beneath it. And, sure enough, there it is. A patch of crimson on the underside of his right wrist soaked into his sleeve. Quickly, I divert my gaze to Dan's eyes, and for the first time, I see the pain and sadness trapped behind his sparkling, chocolate brown irises that I never seemed to notice before. Saying a quick goodbye and waving behind my shoulder, I break into a run as soon I'm 100% sure Dan can't see me. Looking around me, I dart into an alleyway and allow myself time to catch my breath. I rapidly pull off my yellow Jake the dog sweater and look at the back of the left shoulder, where Dan's right wrist was when we hugged. I pray I don't see what I think I'm going to see, but there it is. A small patch of blood from Dan's wrist.

Once I'm sure I won't break down into an anxiety attack if I try to communicate with anyone, I get out my phone and swipe through my contacts, calling the first person I think of when I can't call Dan.

"Hello?" Waverly's voice chirps through the phone. I sigh shakily.

"Wave, I need your help."

* * *

Wave's POV

After Phil called me that night, I rushed round to the park near his house, where I said I'd meet him. I sit on a bench, the strong wind blowing my black, curled hair into my face so I could see the pink dipped-dyed ends. Taking a deep breath, I see Phil enter through the gates and jog towards me, so I stand up and make my way over to him. I immediately wrap my arms around him, encasing him in a hug. He hugs back, but he still seems a bit shocked, so I let him go.

"What happened?" I ask, looking at Phil with concern. Instead of talking, he unties his yellow Jake the dog sweater from his waist and shows me the back of the left shoulder. "Is that..." Phil simply nods in response.

"I-I managed to hold his right wrist for a second, and he winced away in pain, and when we hugged, his jumper sleeve pulled up slightly, and there was a big patch of dark red soaked into his top sleeve." Phil's eyes fill up with tears as he finishes talking.

"Oh Phil..." I hug him tightly once again, standing on tip-toes as he cries into my shoulder. All I can do is hold him.