PHAN -Save me, please.

Chapter 28

„Are you ready?" Phil asked, laying his hand over the door knob to his apartment.

It took another 2 weeks until Phil could bring himself to ask Dan if he wanted to visit Phil's apartment. Phil had never been this anxious about a simple question, which was totally unreasonable as it turned out. Dan was totally over-eager about this idea and even told Phil, that he thought Phil would never ask. Dan concerned that new surroundings were still uncomfortable for him, but he really wanted to see ‚his new home'.

It had opened Phil's heart to hear that Dan was already referring to Phil's apartment as "home". Phil's biggest concern was that someday Dan would get homesick or wouldn't want to live with him anymore. But Dan seemed so happy to be there, it was hard to believe that he would ever want something else.

Dan nodded enthusiastically. He was happy that for one day, he didn't have to sit inside his stinky tiny room in MIR and got to see something different. Although he tried to play it off, the whole day he felt anxious about this visit. Of course he trusted Phil, but it was still kind of uncomfortable not having a security guard around.

Also, Dan didn't know that Phil doesn't have a car. He told him once that he had a driving license, but apparently he never used it. So they had to take the bus and a crowded tube to get to Phil's apartment. Unfortunately, Phil's apartment and MIR were the farthest away from each other as it could be in London. Dan had been shaking this whole trip; he squinted whenever some came even slightly close to him. But Phil always tried to comfort him by holding his hand or pulling him closer whenever he saw that someone wanted to squeeze past in the crowded bus, as if he was trying to say 'calm down, I'm here!'.

London had been so noisy and crowded that Dan secretly wanted to go back to his safe room in MIR, which was almost completely remote and you couldn't hear any of the traffic noises from outside. The few meters they had to walk from MIR to the bus station and from the bus station to Phil's apartment was as stressful as sometimes a month for Dan was.

Phil gripped Dan's hand as he opened the front door to his apartment. As they slowly took a step inside, Dan was invited by a wave of warmth and the smell of Phil mixed with hot chocolate. It had something really homely to it, Dan already felt welcome.

He followed Phil a few steps into the hallway where they both stripped off their shoes and jackets. Phil closed the door behind them, which send a shiver of anxiety down Dan's spine.

"Shall I give you a room tour?" Phil asked softly, as he approached Dan again. "Afterwards we could watch a movie or drink some coffee or so, whatever you want. Okay?"

"Sure." Dan answered briefly, already way to excited to get to know what was behind these doors.

Phil smiled as he enlaced their fingers and guided Dan towards the door that was opposite of the entrance.

He opened the door and revealed a huge kitchen that looked quite noble and expensive. The furniture as also the kitchenware was kept in a metallic white. The front of the fridge was scattered with sticky notes and magnets, reminding Phil of appointments and such. A calendar hung right next to the door filled with some birthdays of people Dan couldn't recognize. As he walked further into the kitchen, he noticed that his shoes made a satisfying sound on the concrete floor that looked almost marble.

Even in the kitchen, that was not highly decorated, you could still recognize that Phil lived in this place. A t-shirt was thrown lazily over a single chair in the corner of the room, making Dan think where Phil and his guests would eat. Maybe he had like an extra dining room or so.

On the counter balanced numerous cartons of different cereals. Dan couldn't believe that Phil would eat all of this himself. Finally, on the windowsill, 3 single cacti were but into individual white pots, giving the room just that little extra.