"Let me show you what I got you for your birthday."
It's late. Dan and I have been up talking for a while now. We started off talking about the party and my family, but then the conversation shifted and now suddenly he's remembered my birthday present and he's taking my hand and leading me downstairs to the basement where he'd evidently been hiding it behind the sofa.
He picks up a moderately sized box wrapped in red paper decorated with brightly coloured balloons and a little tag on top that says "To Phil" in a handwriting that looks as though it's trying very hard to be neat. We both take a seat on the sofa, and he places the box in my lap.
"What, no sappy birthday card about how amazing I am?" I tease, playfully punching his arm before sliding my fingers underneath the fold of the wrapping paper and beginning to tear it.
"Phil, you already know how amazing I think you are. Just open the present."
After ripping away the remainder of the paper, I pull back the flaps of the cardboard box to reveal a plethora of games. Card games, board games, video games, you name it. I let out a gasp of child-like excitement when my gaze falls upon a few of them in particular.
"A Cards Against Humanity custom pack? And how did you know what video games I've been wanting? Dan, what the hell did all of this cost you?"
"Only my first paycheck," he replies teasingly. Then, when he sees my dumbfounded expression, he playfully punches my arm. "I'm kidding."
As I continue sifting through the contents of the box, I realize that I'm so caught up in this exciting gift that I haven't even thanked him yet. I look up to see him beaming at my enthusiasm. It's not that sad smile he's shown me so often before; this one is genuine. He is giddy with the satisfaction of giving.
"Thank you so much," I tell him, setting the box down beside me and wrapping my arms around him in a warm embrace, which he doesn't hesitate to return.
"You're welcome," he says into my shoulder, his voice slightly muffled against my jumper. Although it is a bit of a selfish gift."
"How's that?"
"Well, the idea is that we can play these games together. I really like spending time with you, Phil. And I guess I was thinking that all these games would be a perfect excuse to spend even more."
"That's not selfish. That's a win for both of us."
~~~
We spend the rest of the week playing games together when I get home from work. Every chance we get, we're playing - on the sofa, in my bedroom, on the floor, at the kitchen table. It distresses me to play. Or maybe just to be with him. And I realize that, even thought Dan has only been in my life for two months, I can no longer imagine life without him.
It's like he completes me. I'm excited to come home every day because I don't have to come home to loneliness anymore. Now I truly have a family, a little family of four: Nuki, Phantom, Dan, and me. And I so desperately want it to stay this way.
We're lying in my bed that Friday night, after gaming for hours on end and then finishing off the night with a bang... literally. His head is on my chest and he's looking at me with those sparkling eyes and a smile that's no longer sad, and I'm hit with an urge so strong it makes me inhale. It confuses me. No, it's not an urge; it's an emotion. But how exactly to express it, I'm not so sure.
"You alright, Phil?" he whispers, his brow furrowing ever so slightly.
"Perfect. I'm perfect." I kiss the top of his head and lay my head back down on the pillow and pretending to fall asleep.
~~~
On Monday afternoon, I'm sitting at my desk engrossed in the most painfully mundane aspect of my job - the paperwork - when my cell phone vibrates in my pocket. When I check the caller ID and see that it's Dan, I answer it without hesitation, glad to have a bit of distraction to keep me from dying of boredom.
"Hi Dan, what's going on? You still at work?"
"Is there any way you would be able to pick me up?"
Confusion sets in as I process his question. "Why's that? Are you alright?"
"I threw up."
"What? Why? Are you sick?"
"I don't feel well and I just missed the bus and the next one won't come for an hour. It's freezing and I can't go back inside."
"Wh-... er, okay. Don't worry, I'll be there in ten minutes."
I hang up and get to my feet, knowing I'd just be wasting time asking any more questions. After I inform my boss of a sudden family emergency, I grab my coat and head out the door to my car.
It takes me just over ten minutes to get to Asda, but when I pull into the car park, I don't see Dan right away. I text him my location, asking where he is, and under a minute later, he appears from out of nowhere at my car door.
"What the hell, Dan?" I blurt, scanning his nauseous-looking face as he collapses into the passenger seat beside me. "You seemed fine last night, and even this morning."
"Just drive. Please."
With a frustrated sigh, I drive out of the lot and start heading back home. I wait a few minutes for him to say something, anything, but he remains silent.
"Dan. Please say something. What happened?"
"Nothing."
"You can't just tell me 'nothing.' Clearly it was something! Why won't you ever open up to me?!"
Stunned silence fills the car as I realize I've never fully shouted at him like this before.
"I'm sorry," I say, trying to calm my voice down. "I guess I just thought we were done with the secrets."
"Phil, sometimes secrets protect us when nothing else can."
And there he goes again, with his cryptic words. But these words concern me more than anything else, and I have an inkling about where all of this is coming from. I have to ask him. "Does this have something to do with what happened that night? The night you broke in?"
He doesn't respond.
"Dan, are you in danger?"
YOU ARE READING
Broken Windows // Phan AU
FanfictionPhil is awakened at 2 A.M. by a mysterious crash coming from his kitchen. His first thought? An intruder has come to murder him in his sleep. When he creeps downstairs to investigate, however, the man he encounters does not seem to be the malicious...
