Our Hideaway (A Phanfic)

Finding Dan (Chapter Two)

Phil had a pair of beat up old sneakers on and was out the door before he even had time to think about where he was going.
He made it down the street before his brain caught up with his panic ridden body and he decided wandering around London wasn't the best course of action.
He plopped down on a bench, next to a pissed off looking teenage girl with blue hair, and texted Dan.
He waited four agonizing minutes for a response before deciding to just call him.
He held the phone to his ear, listening to it ring as he watch the teenager absently pick at the lose ends on her black sweater while she grumbled to herself.
After the sixth ring Phil decided to just hang up. The bus pulled up just as Phil was standing to leave.
He considered taking it for a moment, but decided he'd just call an Uber instead.
The man picked him up at a nearby corner store five minutes later. Phil had used what little money he'd found stuffed into his jeans to buy a bottle of water and a big pack of Haribo.

"You like hiking? I've always been an outdoors man myself, but you don't get much nature in a big city like this. I've walked the twenty mile trail down where your going at least a dozen times. Haven't been out that way in a while though. Not after what happened to that poor girl, god rest her soul."
The man that came to pick Phil up was huge, as tall as Dan but much broader and heavier set. The berth of his shoulders made him look like he could knock a tree over and not even feel it. His page said his name was Luther.
Phil had been sitting in the back, tapping his foot and looking anxiously out the window, praying to any god that might listen that Dan was save and not planning anything stupid, but Luther's last sentence caught his attention.
"What girl? What happened to her?"
The man with the shock of blond hair that didn't really cover his entire head turned his big browns eyes up to the mirror, and he and Phil made eye contact.
"You didn't hear? She was a lovely lady according to the papers, but her husband was shot coming out of some seedy liquor store, and her mother died of lung cancer not three weeks later. To make matters worse her little tyke, four months if I remember correctly, caught pneumonia and passed too. So she took herself up to those mountains, and, well.." Luther paused and cleared his throat,"She didn't come back the way she came up if ya get what I'm saying."
Phils heart stopped but he managed a reply," That- thats awful. Really awful."
Luther didn't say anything, instead he picked up his phone and changed the song that was blasting through the bluetooth speakers. His taste in music didn't really match his appearance, and a sad song that Phil had never heard before came on.
The atmosphere in the car had gotten tense and slightly awkward, and Phil really needed a distraction from the images of Dan in his nightmares that were resurfacing, so he said," What's this called?"
"Hole in the ground," Luther replied, and that was the end of whatever conversation Phil was trying to build.
The houses and buildings crawled by. People walked on either side of their car, and for a second, Phil was enchanted by just how odd humanity could be.
He saw two elderly women both walking disgruntled looking cats that had obviously been overfed, two kids taking turns carrying a third on their backs, and teenage boy with a pigeon on his shoulder.
He watched the shops go by with a heavy heart, trying not to imagine the times he'd spent with Dan in these places, trying not to think about the way Dan looked whenever he tried on a good pair of jeans, or laughed, or sipped bubble tea, or did anything really.
After a few minutes of staring out the slightly grimy window his thoughts drifted to what exactly he would say to Dan when he found him.
"If you find him," his doubt whispered.
"If you find him alive," another voice replied.
Phil had made zero progress in coming up with something to say to help Dan when they arrived at the entrance to the park and Luther spoke again,"Why you coming here lad?"
"I'm just... Just looking for a friend."
Phil had been more then prepared to lie if the question came up, but he figured he had no reason to.
"Is your friend alright?"
"I don't know, that's what I'm trying to find out."
"Well, if you need a ride back make sure you call ol' Luther."
Phil smiled as he straightened his clothes stepping out.
"Thanks!"
Luther just noded, his brow creased in a way that would've made Phil laugh had he been in any state of mind to do so.
As the car drove away Phil turned his attention to the scene in front of him. Small children ran around, swinging on swings and whooping as they slide down twisty slides. Parents milled about too, some standing browsing on their phones, others helping their kids across the monkey bars. One old man was passed out on a bench with a book covering his face.
There was a bath house and a rangers station and a little gift shops, and multiple different paths, some trails and some roads, leading in different directions.
Phil made his way across the park to the sign that read "Red Diamond Cliffs", the trail they'd taken yesterday.
His heartbeat picked up the minute he stepped into the forest, still clutching his water and his bag of gummy bears.
The farther he trekked into the woods the worse his anxiety and doubt got.
How did I not see him sneaking out of the house this morning? Did he really come here? Has he had anything to eat or drink since he left? I should've brought something other than gummy bears. How can I help him? What if I can't help him? What if him jumps? What if he's already jumped? What if he isn't even here? Maybe he's gone somewhere else and...
This internal monologue of unanswerable questions continued for the duration of his walk.
He was suprised when he saw the alcove. Some part of him was really starting to believe that he's be lost in these woods forever, unable to help of find Dan.
When he saw the love of his life sitting right next to the edge of the cliff, head buried in his knees, shaking of sobs, his heart skipped a beat.
Maybe I'm lost in these woods, but Dans trapped here.
With that one depressing thought he began walking toward Dan, and called softly to him,"Hey!"
Dan's shaking stilled, and he removed his head from his knees, but he didn't turn around or say anything.
"I- I brought Haribo.."
Dan did turn around when Phil said that, and Phil felt his chest tighten at the way Dan's face was red and puffy. Streaks of tears were visible on his cheeks.
Dan smiled, it wasn't a real smile, not even close, but it was an attempt,"Good."