Turned Table (phan)

Chapter Five

Phil began driving and Dan was deep in thought, conflicted on what to tell Phil. "I was just going for a walk."
"Right. Where were you going?"
"Nowhere in particular."
"Mhm. Where were you coming from?"
"Uh, home." It felt strange to call it that. Dan didn't think he would be allowed back there. "My brother's home, actually," he corrected, although that didn't feel right either.
"Why'd you leave? It's Christmas."
"I know." Dan didn't elaborate and Phil didn't push it.
"Does your leg hurt?"
"I have painkillers from the hospital; it's not bad." Dan looked out his window, uncomfortable. Phil pulled into a parking lot of an apartment building. "Erm, where are we?"
"Well, you won't let me take you to your place, so welcome to mine. I hope you don't mind." Phil helped Dan out of the car, and they walked into the building, taking the lift to Phil's floor.
"Welcome," Phil repeated, and he motioned to his apartment after he opened the door. "Go sit on the sofa there. Do you want something to drink? Are you hungry?"
"I'm fine," Dan answered, sitting carefully on Phil's couch.
Phil walked into the kitchen, and Dan took this opportunity to take in his surroundings. The couch he was sitting on was worn but comfortable and there was a matching brown armchair across the glass coffee table. Phil had several video games in a pile next to his television, and several stuffed toys were placed at random around the room. Dan admired the small Gengar plushie on the wood table next to him.
Phil soon returned with two cola bottles in hand, handing one to Dan, despite him saying he wasn't thirsty. Dan took it gratefully, and Phil perched on the edge of the armchair across from Dan. "So," Phil said in an attempt to start conversation, and he looked at Dan awkwardly.
Dan laughed a little, recognizing the strangeness of the situation. Here he was, sitting in the apartment of a man who hit him with a car, drinking cola, with nowhere to go to once he leaves. At that last thought, his lingering smile faded.
Phil observed this reaction, also noticing Dan's t-shirt, which was the same one he'd been wearing at the hospital and quite clearly hadn't been washed, as it was smudged with dirt.
Dan blushed uncomfortably under Phil's gaze, just realizing the state he was in. His clothes, his hair, and his life were a mess.
"This might be, like, completely weird for you, but you can shower and stuff if you'd like," Phil offered, moving his hand slightly to wave towards the general direction of the bathroom.
"Yeah, uh, that'd be really great actually."
Phil led Dan to the bathroom and handed him a towel to use, before going into his bedroom. He took out his phone and immediately texted his friend PJ, briefly explaining the situation. Phil felt obligated to protect Dan until he told him where he lived or called his parents.
PJ didn't answer immediately, so Phil slipped his phone into his pocket and went through to the kitchen. He prepared a coffee and went to the living room, turning on his television. Phil couldn't be bothered to pay attention as he put his head in his hands, confused and overwhelmed by the events of the past twenty four hours.
Merry Christmas, he thought bitterly.
His phone buzzed then with a text. PJ had replied, "Would you like me or Chris over?"
"It's alright," Phil texted back, "I think we have to talk a bit first."
Phil heard the shower turn off and tried to pay attention to his show as he waited for Dan to return. All he could gather was that some women were at some bar somewhere.
When Phil saw Dan, he smiled at him, not knowing what to say. "Hey, would you like to borrow one of my shirts?" Phil offered kindly.
"If it wouldn't be any trouble," Dan said, still speaking rather quietly.
Dan followed Phil to his room, and Phil allowed Dan to select any shirt. He chose a dark purple shirt, attracted to the dark in contrast to the other brightly colored clothes in the wardrobe. Dan awkwardly and quickly changed, glad to have a clean shirt on. He noticed then that the shirt was a Gengar shirt, and Dan laughed, diverting Phil's attention from his phone.
"Sorry, did you say something?" Phil asked, looking up at Dan.
"Oh, uh, it's just that you have a Gengar plushie and a Gengar t-shirt," Dan rushed to explain the humor.
Phil shrugged and gave a small laugh, unsure what to do next. He sat on his bed. "You wanna sit?" Dan sat at the foot of the bed and crossed his legs, looking down at the green and blue duvet.
"I guess you want to know what happened, right?"
"I mean, if you don't mind. It's Christmas Day. You ought to be with your family, not with me." Phil glanced at his phone, all of his social instinct urging him to hide and play apps.
"Well, I haven't exactly got any family." Phil looked at Dan, confused. He opened his mouth to wonder aloud, but Dan spoke up first. "Okay, that's not completely true. I have a brother," Dan paused. "I don't think he'll be wanting to see me anymore."
"What about your parents?" Phil asked, immediately wondering if it was too personal.
"They left us at an orphanage when Adrian was born."
Phil assumed Adrian was Dan's brother, searching for comforting words. "I'm sorry for your loss," he offered up weakly.
"Oh, they're not dead. Not that I know of, anyway."
Silence took over the room as Phil processed the new information, and he didn't dare speak as Dan seemed to be deep in thought.
"You want to hear something?" Dan finally shattered the wordless wall that had been building up, but he seemed to be speaking not to Phil but rather to himself, or maybe no one. "Sometimes I think I could've been just fine if Adrian hadn't have been born. That's why my parents left, you know. They didn't want another kid."
Phil felt an astounding and inexplicable amount of compassion towards Dan in this moment, and he thought to himself that he should hug Dan or offer consoling words, but Phil could not think of any words to say, so they sat in silence.
"I- I'm sorry," Dan said, finally looking Phil in the face. "I should not have said all that. Oh, God. I'm really sorry. I've already ruined your Christmas Day and now I've just, ugh, sorry."
Phil leaned over and touched Dan's knee lightly. "Hey, don't worry about it. You've got enough to worry about. Listen, it's just past lunch time, so how about we order some pizza or something?"
"Alright." Dan agreed, ignoring the guilty feeling in his gut.