paper thin (phan)

t e n

"You what?"

"I told Jason I'd leave him," Phil murmured, gaze locked on Louise's eyes.

"You're an idiot, I knew you weren't a good person, I knew you hadn't suddenly changed, we all knew you would destroy him but you had us sit back and watch you play this little game on him. You think this is funny, tricking a guy just so you can save your reputation? That's low, Phil, even for you."

"I was trying to protect him. I didn't want to see him get hurt."

"No, if you didn't want to see him get hurt, you wouldn't have agreed to do the bet in the first place. All you're focused on is your popularity. Well, Phil, forget you and your stupid games. Don't ever go near my best friend again, you've hurt him one time too many. One day you're going to rip him apart when he's already run out of repair glue."

Phil opened his mouth to argue but shut it. She was right, this was all Phil's fault, and now he was going to sit here and feel sorry for himself? Dan was hurting, mentally and physically- both because of Phil.

Phil had to do something. He had to say something.

  ❦  

Dan was in his bed. He was still limping around and flinched at any noise or mention of Jason's name, but he pushed through the week, and now it was Friday and he hadn't spoken to Phil. It's not like he'd done it intentionally, he understood that Phil couldn't really socialize with him in school and supposed he had a busy week so he didn't bother trying to text him either.

He missed Phil, but he couldn't do that- not when Phil had already left before. He had to learn to be okay without Phil always by his side.

He was half asleep when he heard a knock on the door.

"Come in," Dan grumbled, wiping his tired face.

"It's seven in the afternoon, why are you sleeping?"

"Why are you in my room?" Dan mocked in a childish voice. Chris rolled his eyes, chuckling.

"Dude came by and left a note, told me to give it to you."

Dan sat up, furrowing his eyebrows. "W-what does it say?"

Chris shrugged. "For all I know, that could be a script of Fifty Shades of Gay. I'm not risking that."

"It's Fifty Shades of Grey," Dan corrected.

"Not on your part."

Dan rolled his eyes, giggling and chucking a pillow at his brother. "Get out!"

Chris skipped out and shut the door behind him, leaving Dan with the closed letter in his hand. He blinked, hesitating to open it. Why wouldn't Phil just text him? Was he grounded again, or did he just feel like acting as if it were the 1700s and wanted to royally invite him to a Shakespeare play in the castle?

Dan huffed and opened the letter, eyes scanning the words.

Grounded but I really have to tell you something. Meet in the treehouse at 8?
- Phil.

Dan found himself smiling and instantly wiped it off, tossing the letter somewhere and checking the time. It was already pretty close to that time, he realized, forcing himself to get out of bed and get dressed. He wobbled downstairs and quickly ate some dinner, checking himself in the mirror and flashing a small grin at how fast his bruises have been fading.

Dan had brought paper to the table, crumpling it from how nervous he was about meeting Phil. It wasn't like he was afraid of him, he just didn't know what was so important that he was going to risk getting caught just to talk to Dan. He used his free hand to crumple while the other picked at his food, unknowing of the way his father was glaring at him.

"Dan, could you not crumple paper at the table?"

Dan froze, looking up at his dad. "I always crumple p-paper. . ."

"Not at the table please, it's distracting."

"Yeah well my anxiety is distracting, so I'm going to crumple paper. Would you like me to leave the table, since my mental illness is just so irritating?"

His father froze. Again, no stutter left Dan's mouth while he scolded his dad for saying something so stupid.

Dan rose from the dinner table, his father giving him a look.

"Sit back down and finish your dinner."

"I've lost m-my appetite," Dan snapped, snatching his crumpled paper and taking his jacket off the coat rack before slipping it on.

"Where are you going?" Mrs. Howell piped in. "It's dark out."

"Phil wanted t-to meet, I'll be back in an hour or so," Dan explained, noticing the way his dad's grip on his fork tightened. "I'll be fine, dad, quit worrying. If it's Phil then he won't hurt me, h-he was only trying to help me-"

"Help you? He started the fight."

"No, Phil told him to back off so Jason shoved him, then he started throwing punches! He was threatening to h-hurt me! Maybe if you listened to me f-for once and stopped going behind my back to try and get incorrect information, you'd u-understand what happened! Jason was trying to hurt me so Phil stood up for me, sorry it didn't go well, but I'm alright a-and so is he! Jason's suspended, isn't that good enough?"

His dad went silent, along with the whole table.

"Just be safe, alright?" Chris piped in, his voice soft to try and ease the mood. Dan opened the door and shot a small smile to his brother who only nodded, heading out the house.

He instantly went around the house and went through the garage, opening the fridge and finding a full beer bottle. Dan took it and popped off the lid, taking a big gulp.

He no longer cared if his parents caught him for drinking, he was tired of them not doing anything about his mental health, and if alcoholism was what it took, then so be it. Dan then shut the garage door and walked to the treehouse, hiding the beer bottle in his pocket.

His nose burned from the cold as every exhale appeared in a sheer cloud in front of him, only to disappear seconds later. He spotted the treehouse but without any lights on, blinking in confusion. He made his way to the ladder, gazing at the door.

"Phil? Are you u-up there?" Dan called out. The brunette waited for a response that didn't come. "Come on, Phil, I've had a bad n-night and I just want to go back home. Make it quick."

Again no reply followed. Dan rolled his eyes before giving up, climbing up the ladder and moving into the room. He fumbled for the lantern and felt it, holding it up and switching it on. The treehouse was empty. He paused when he heard shuffling, indicating someone was coming up, immediately beginning to back away as his breathing got faster.

"P-Phil? That b-better be you. . ." Dan choked out, gulping and holding the lantern out in front of him. The figure appeared, and Dan regretted ever leaving the house.

"Miss me?"

Dan inched away, his back touching the wall as the figure came closer until their bodies were practically pressed against each other. Dan spoke up, throat burning as he spoke the name that felt like venom from a snake bite every time it crossed his tongue.

"Jason."