SUPER RICH KIDS | PHAN

thirteen.

dan

dan ran his fingers over the metallic strings slowly, glancing up at the girl across from him who was currently picking at a sandwich phil had brought her. all of their stomachs had been acting up a bit, especially earls; dan figured it was from not eating anything and suddenly eating everything.

"are you sure you wanna do this?" she asked, tearing off a piece of lettuce and popping it in her mouth. dan nodded.

"yeah," he muttered, strumming the guitar. "yeah, i'm sure."

"alright..." she made a face. "because i don't like it."

dan smiled. "i know, kat. it's fine, trust me. i won't let anything bad happen."

she was watching him with wide eyes. "you promise?"

dan figured this was about more than a concert and meeting phil's parents. he reached out, touching her knee gently. "i promise."

she smiled weakly. "good. i'm worried about nina..."

"how so?" dan strummed again, tuning it.

"well... she's old, dan. and you know she's sick..."

dan could hear the worry in her voice, as clear as day. he looked up at her. "she's been sick for a long time."

"exactly." katrina ran her hands down her jeans and back up, as if trying to wipe the sweat off of them. "she doesn't seem like she's getting better."

dan watched her unblinkingly. "lots of people are sick and live a really long time, kat." he felt like he was grasping at straws; they both knew she wouldn't live forever. none of them would. she nodded slowly, licking her lips.

"yeah... yeah. you're right. i'm sorry."

"don't apologize." dan played a chord and cringed, his fingertips stinging. phil wanted him to practice whenever he got the chance, and they hadn't even picked a song.

"are you alright?" she narrowed her eyes. he nodded.

"i'm fine. don't worry." he examined his raw fingers. "just a little sore."

"maybe you should take a break from that..."

he barked a laugh. "no, i shouldn't. i'm okay, don't worry about me, i just need to practice."

she was quiet for a minute. dan knew she was thinking when she went silent like that, and planning out her next approach.

"you're really nervous about it, huh?"

"about what?" dan pretended not to know.

"about the performance."

dan shrugged, avoiding her eyes. "i guess. i think i'm just strung up about meeting phil's parents. the thought makes me anxious."

she nodded, biting her lip. "then don't go."

"i have to." dan shook his head, tapping his fingers on the glossy wood part of his guitar. "there's no choice."

"yes, there is." she raised her eyebrows. her eyes were like needles, boring into him. "there's always a choice, dan."

dan rolled his eyes, and laughed to try to lighten the situation. "no, there's actually never a choice."

she gave up on the sandwich. "always."

dan looked up at her, his stomach squirming uncomfortably for some reason. "i have to protect you. i'm doing it to protect you."

she nodded slowly, searching his face. "and that's great, dan. but you have to think about yourself too sometimes." she pushed out the chair, tossing the rest of the sandwich in the trash on her way out, even though dan knew she knew better than to waste food like that.

maybe she was making some sort of point, but dan was too distracted to pick up on it. he sighed, letting his head fall back and his guitar slump in his lap.

he closed his eyes and tried to do something for himself.