If you asked Dan after he learned about Freaky Phil whether he enjoyed Rawtenstall any more or less than Wokingham he would have told you that Rawtenstall was certainly more interesting than he first thought. He'd spent the afternoon in the town library leafing through archived newspapers looking for anything on this Phil person he could find out.
At around 3pm a front page headline of the Rossendale Free Press caught his eye.
RAWTENSTALL STUDENT FOUND DEAD IN SCHOOL BATHROOM
The article was dated 24th of January 2005. Dan read on.
Earlier today, Philip Lester (17), a student of Bacup & Rawtenstall Grammar School was found dead in the bathroom adjacent to the school library. His death is believed to be the result of suicide, although the Rossendale Police Department have not ruled out the possibility of foul play.
To the side of the article was a portrait of the student. Library boy.
Dan wasn't insane. He couldn't be. But he was seriously doubting his sanity. He'd've sworn that he wasn't seeing things but there was no other explanation to what was happening.
He skimmed through the next few pages of the archive to see if there were any other reports about Phil.
CASE CLOSED ON SCHOOL SUICIDE
SCHOOL HOLDS CEREMONY FOR PHIL LESTER
Aside from those two articles, neither of which were front page, there was nothing more about him. Dan felt his stomach rumble and decided to pack it in. He was tired and there was nothing more he could do (and, to be frank, Dan had no idea why he even cared).
He wove through the streets and made his way back up the hill to where his house resided. Slowly treading up the stairs he heard a familiar tune coming from inside his room. Must have left the stereo on he thought to himself, recognising Matt Bellamy's familiar falsetto. He pushed his door open and threw his bag to the side, reaching underneath the bed and taking out his half eaten pack of Jammie Dodgers. Turning around, mouth full of jam and biscuit he jumped back in fright after seeing the messy black haired boy wearing a wrinkled navy blazer and black trousers fiddling with the dials on his CD player.
"Um, hi?" he said at the boy. The black haired man turned slowly and Dan immediately locked eyes with him. Blue. Library boy.
"Ph-Phil?" he asked cautiously. The man's eyes widened and tears began welling up around them.
"You can see me?" he asked with a deep northern accent.
"Yeah?" Dan said cautiously. It took a few moments, but soon the boy was hugging Dan tightly and messy sobs were spilling from his mouth.
"I like what you've done with my room."
YOU ARE READING
There's a Reason I Go to the Library & It's Not Cause I Like Reading
FanfictionDan Howell always knew something was off in his life and that something was Phil Lester. (or the one where Phil didn't quite understand death and Dan was just a boy from the south who wanted to make him happy again) TW: Self harm, suicide, eating...
