Intriguing (phan)

13 - explanations

(dan)

dan blinked in confusion. who did pj think he was to storm in here and tell phil to get away from him.

"well?" pj said expectantly, placing a hand on his hip.

"i don't know what you're talking about."

"ok, i'm glad you'd said that, because this is a long story and i really want to tell it."

pj's tone is worrying dan a lot. he wonders what dirt pj has on him. he'd told phil everything. surely whatever pj claimed to know wouldn't be that much of a surprise to phil.

"what is it, pj?" phil asked obviously also confused. dan was suddenly wondering if phil would believe pj over him. probably. he'd known pj longer, and they'd went out together and now labelled themselves as best friends. and what were dan and phil? lonely flat mates who liked to share kisses? pj clearly had the advantage here, and clearly he knew it too.

"well, i always knew dan was a little bit dodgy," pj started before turning to dan, "no offence, mate." he laughed at himself before continuing. "so i was just waiting for something to happen that would confirm my suspicions. luckily i didn't have to wait for long. when you called me saying you'd fallen out a window, i knew it was the perfect opportunity."

"pj, where is this going?" phil asked. dan could tell that he was quite annoyed, but also curious about what pj had to say.

"just wait, i'm getting there. where was i? oh yeah, so you called me saying you fell and i was like blah blah whatever."

phil laughed and the friendly look he exchanged with pj made me feel slightly nauseous.

"so, i was like this is quite suspicious, isn't it? in all the time i've known you, you've been the clumsiest oaf around, but you've never hurt yourself that bad. so the only logical conclusion was that it was dan?"

"that was the only logical conclusion?" phil asked, voicing the words that dan couldn't speak. he was too busy trembling with fear at the prospect of losing everything that had made him happy and becoming lonely and sad once again.

"ok, so i made some assumptions, not important. anyway, the point is, i used my amazing research skills to do some digging."

dans nauseousness seemed to be gathering force and moving up through his body. he knew where this was going, but he had never pictured this happening. he thought he'd cleared his name, internet wise. he couldn't believe that pj had managed to find the one thing that would set him off, that could drive dan crazy. it was unfair, considering how hard he'd worked to make things right with phil and know, he doubted phil would ever speak to him again.

"and what did you find?" phil asked.

"well a lot of useless things, i almost gave up hope when i was struck with a brilliant idea. instead of looking up dan howell, i'd look up daniel howell. that's your full name anyway, right?"

dan couldn't do much else than give a miserable nod.

"yeah, so i typed that in and almost lost hope again, when suddenly," pj swung his arms about dramatically, "i found the needle in the haystack. on about page twelve of the google search results, i found a rather interesting article. it was from a weird village's weekly newsletter. it was quite old, so i was surprised it was online. turns out, someone had uploaded it on their website, in the hopes of warning the rest of the world. don't think they were very successful."

phil sighed, "you were right when you said this was a long story. should we sit down? should i make some tea?"

"no! it's just getting to the good bit. now if you would please stop interrupting."

dans chin was trembling and he couldn't stop shivering. his mouth remained clamped shut.

"right, so, as i was saying, it was a strange little article. i was very curious, so i decided to give it a read. it was a good decision, considering it featured a few pictures of a familiar looking chap."

again, phil interrupted. "pj, don't ever say chap. it makes you sound like a 70 year old guy with dry lips."

"phil, actually shut the fuck up. yeah, anyway, the pictures looked familiar. i didn't know your hair used to be curly, dan."

dan didn't answer, couldn't answer.

"so, the article talked about the local primary school. they'd recently faced a disaster."

"are you sure we don't need tea?"

this time pj ignored phil's interruption and continued his vivid story. "apparently, someone had set fire to one of the classrooms. luckily, the fire didn't spread. unluckily, there was--"

"that doesn't make sense," phil said with a smirk.

"a student trapped inside the classroom. now, the student survived with a few second degree burns, but that didn't matter, because he was still able to tell his story. now what was his name, again? that's right, brian ste--"

"stop!" dan suddenly blurted out. it was the first word he'd spoken in a long time, but he'd decided he'd let it get to far.

after he'd said it, a deafening silence ran through the flat for a couple of seconds before pj interrupted.

"so you do know?"

"dan?" phil asked, scrunching his eyebrows together.

"i'm not talking about it. pj is right," dan admitted regretfully.

"what? i can handle a little--"

"no, you can't."

"no, dan--"

"leave!" dan shouted, the sound resonating throughout the apartment.

"ok," phil whispered, getting up and walking away. every step he took broke dan's heart a little more. this was never supposed to happen. he wasn't supposed to give up the fight before it happened.

but pj was holding a knife and dan knew there was nothing he could do except lose.

**a/n - i actually don't know what i'm doing. in other news i posted the first chapter of illicit, please go and check it out!!! and don't forget to vote and comment.**

🔮rachel