[ON HOLD] One Last Chance - Phan

Chapter 14

TW - mention of self harm and suicide

Dan's POV

We're nearing the end of the week and, as the adults decided to go off to dinner or something one day, Phil and I were left on our own for the majority of the day. He suggested heading out to the park, so naturally I said yes. After spending a few hours there, Phil dragged me over to a McDonalds to get something and, after seeing the large amount of people inside, I told him I'd wait outside for him.

And that, was probably the worst decision I had made in a long time.

I'm scrolling through Twitter when all of a sudden I hear a voice I hoped I wouldn't have to hear again.

"Look! There he is! I told you!"

I make another mistake by looking up from my phone. Standing about 10 feet away from me is Hannah with who I can only assume is her parents. My old parents. The mum seems to have tears in her eyes and a large smile on her face, while the dad wears a frown. I try to look back down and pretend I didn't see them, but with no prevail. The mum runs up to me and, without warning, hugs me tight. I manage to get away, but she takes no notice of the fact that I don't want to interact with any of them.

"Oh Daniel, is it really you?"

"I told you, it's him, I spoke to him a few days ago." Hannah answers for me like she's only partially aware of my existence.

"Yeah, i-it's me." And I instantly regret speaking. God fucking dammit.

The mum starts gushing about how she never thought he'd be able to see her son again and ya di ya di ya. I block most of it out. Until the dad approaches.

"I will admit, it never crossed my mind that I'd have to face you again. Well, why'd you do it then?"

"Huh?" Is all I can say in response and the dad's frown grows.

"Why'd you leave us so suddenly? You had no reason to. What did you want from it? What gain did you get from it? Destroying your family?"

"N-No, you d-don't get it-"

"Oh I get it alright. You had a perfect life. We loved you." His voice raises and I find myself shrinking against the wall in fear. Where's Phil when I need him?

"Dad, leave him alone." Hannah speaks up but makes no move to actually step in. "If you let him explain-"

"Shut up Hannah!" He only turns to her briefly before returning to me. He looks like he's about to speak again, but he pauses and grabs my wrists. "What the hell is this?" And I realise I left my hoodie in the park by accident. Shit. "What the hell is this?!" He repeats himself, his voice raising and raising. " Answer me!" He yells, his face only inches away from mine.

"Dan?" I look over to see Phil stood by the door, bag in hand that he quickly puts on the floor to walk over next to me, anger written all over his face. "What's going on?"

"N-Nothing." I mutter, trying to get away from the whole situation.

"Oh, so this whole thing is nothing to you?" The dad keeps going.

"And who might you be?" Phil stands up straight, coming up as the same height as him.

"Who I am isn't of importance to this."

"Of course it is. You're shouting at my best friend and, if you took a second to pay attention, you'd notice Dan clearly isn't okay because of it." Phil takes a moment to look over to Hannah and comes to a correct conclusion. "Oh, you must be his dad from his second life."

"Yeah I am. And I demand answers. Dan left us for no reason and now he has self harm scars all over his arms?"

"You don't know that. You don't know that he left for no reason. Have you even stopped to consider that maybe there was a reason? That maybe he wasn't happy in that life, that he wanted an escape? And you can't lash out at him for having self harm scars. You haven't seen him at all throughout this life, you don't know what he's been through!" I didn't expect Phil to sound so aggressive and hostile. "And to think he told me that he missed you at one point."

And with that, I run. I run as fast as I can away from the whole situation. I can't do this. I don't even have an escape this time.

Phil's POV

"And to think he told me that he missed you at one point."

As soon as the words leave my mouth, Dan darts off down the street. I yell after him, but he doesn't turn around.

"I hope you're happy." I look the dad straight in the eye before go after Dan, not bothering to grab the bag I left on the floor. "Nice to see you again Hannah." Quickly, I smile and wave at her before sprinting away.

I eventually find Dan sat in an alleyway, crying. I notice he got his hoodie on the way and put it on, covering up his arms. Instantly, I drop to the floor next to him and cradle him, comforting him as her cries into my shoulder. A few minutes pass before Dan looks up at me. He goes to speak, but I shush him.

"Don't speak. It'll only make you worse. We're gonna get back to the house, take care of you, the you can tell me what happened if you want to. Okay?" Dan nods in response, knowing all too well there's no point in trying to resist. Dan's well being and mental health has always been my priority since I first met him. So we head back home, taking a different route when I see a flash of ocean coloured curls of hair round the corner.