blurry face - phan

chapter eighteen

"Hey, uh, thanks for helping me out there," Dan says.

"No problem," Charlie says with a shrug, "you looked bloody terrified so I thought I'd help you out there."

"Thanks. I haven't seen you around much, or spoken to you really..." Dan says.

"Yeah well, I am new this year," Charlie says with a light laugh.

"But I swear I know you... Your voice..." Dan says, his eyebrows scrunched up I'm confusion, "you're so familiar."

"I went to another one of your schools. I think it was the one where you lasted three weeks. We were brief friends," He says with a laugh, "before you left cause of all the asses."

"Oh, right! Hey uh, could you please not mention my condition to anyone," Dan asks, "I'd rather keep it hidden from experience."

"Yeah sure," Charlie says, "so... Want to show me around? I didn't make any friends on my first day."

"Course," Dan says with a smile, "follow me."

***

Dan arrives home in a relatively happy mood, but of course, that is shattered when he sees that both his parents are home.

Dan walks in hesitantly, opening the door and peeking around into the dining room, where his father is sitting on a chair, his head hung in guilt as his mother yells at him.

"Cheating! How could you?! You disgust me!" She's yelling, and Dan feels his blood boil with anger.

"That's rich coming from you!" Dan yells, stepping into the room, making both his parents turn and look at him.

"You both disgust me! Sneaking around behind each other's backs, fighting all the time, you're setting such a great example for your child! Which, in case you've forgotten, is ME! THAT'S RIGHT, I STILL FUCKING EXIST!" Dan yells.

"Dan..." his mother starts.

"No, why are you still even together? Why can't you just divorce? It would make my life a lot easier and home a lot happier! I don't even have a home right now, because with you two, I can hardly stand to be inside these four walls!" Dan yells.

"Dan... I-I'm sorry. Your father and I, we need to talk. So could you please just... Give us a moment?" His mother asks quietly, and Dan sighs.

"I'll give you more than a moment, I'm going out. I'll see you later, not that you'll notice I'm gone," Dan says, turning and walking straight back out the front door and slamming it shut.

Dan walks all the way into town, selecting a cafe and slumping down at a table in the corner, ordering a coffee before pulling out his phone.

He sighs, taking a sip of the warm drink before scrolling through his tumblr feed, admiring all the photos or just laughing quietly at a funny post.

Anyway, it helps time pass for him, and his mind is distracted, which is a double win. When it hits five thirty, Dan decides he should head back home, and when he arrives back, both his parents are gone.

He sighs, walking to the kitchen and grabbing a snack before walking upstairs to his bedroom. He after he eats, he just sits cross legged on his bed.

He wants his parents to see how much they're effecting Dan and his life, but even after yelling at them twice, they still refuse to give up.

Dan himself just isn't too sure on how long he can last before his parents finally just tear him apart internally, way beyond repair.

Because Dan is already crumbling again, only this time, Phil isn't here to stop him from completely falling apart.

***

phil

Phil is worried.

What can he do? He's in America for another week before he comes back, and then he's supposed to be staying in the city to get used to things until university starts.

But he'll have to go back home, to find out who did call the cops to protect Dan.

He can't believe all this has happened so quickly and so... Without warning. Just when Phil was beginning to think that maybe he had a shot at a decent life, it had to be torn away.

Was he ever going to escape his old life, or would it be a part of him that he'd regret forever, and a part that would never stop haunting him?

Phil sighs, shaking his head and opening the curtains of his hotel room, stepping out onto the balcony and looking out at the large, brightly lit city.

He's in freaking New York now, he should enjoy himself while he's here, not worry. He can worry about it when he gets home. But as much as Phil tries to tell himself this, he keeps hearing two months in his head.

Two months isn't very long when you've got nearly 100 people to consider and they're all lying masterminds.

Phil starts to panic. He's never going to be able to find the real person! So what's going to happen to him and Dan? He'll have to get Dan away from them, unless he can somehow prove that Dan and him no longer have anything to do with each other - which they technically don't anyway.

But in order to do that, Phil would have to prove that Dan means nothing to him, and even then, Shane could just abuse Dan for the hell of it.

Phil manages to work himself up even more over this, almost becoming paranoid when his phone rings, and he's so glad to see it's Connor.

"Hey Connor!" Phil says when he answers the call.

"Hey Phil! Just checking up on how you are!" Connor says.

"Uh, not too good," Phil says with a heavy sigh.

"Why not?"

"Well, y'know how I told you Shane was gone?"

"Yeah..."

"Well, he's not. And he thinks I'm the one who ratted him in, so unless I find whoever exposed him to the cops in the next two months, Da- I mean, I'll pay," Phil says, correcting himself when he remembers Connor doesn't know about Dan and him.

"Oh fuck," Connor stammers.

"What's 'oh fuck'?" Phil asks, already scared he knows the answer.

Please no, please no, please no... Phil begs in his head, please let me be wrong, please let me be wrong, please, please...

"That was me that called the police." Connor says, confirming Phil's thoughts.

Phil inwardly groans. Now he has to choose between ruining Dan's life - by not speaking to Shane, Connor's life - by turning him in, or his own life - by pretending it was him.

And three guesses as to which one Phil was going to choose.

***********

an// hey guys! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! (it's Christmas where I am! It's like, 12:30am on Christmas morning lol) I hope you enjoyed your present of a lil' cliff hanger :)

175 votes and 100 comments for a new chapter!

Thanks so much for reading, I hope you're enjoying the book so far! So much drama... Anyway, I'll try to update before the new year!

Merry Christmas, and if you don't celebrate it, I hope you have a wonderful day anyway. ^_^