Lacking [Phan]

olmadan [edited!]

"Phil!" Dan squeaked, pulling back gently, willing him to stop. The two blonde boys then stood up, all laughter gone, but Phil didn't stop pulling. Heavy footsteps followed the boys, cueing Phil to dodge into the staircase, his grip shifting from Dan's elbow to his hand as they scaled the first flight. They paused at the first enclosed break, Phil dropping Dan's hand and leaning against the wall.

"Shouldn't we keep going?" Dan asked, his voice obviously shaky. Phil smiled gently as he painted an unreadable expression over his face.

"Don't worry. They don't know how to go up or down the stairs."

---

Dan skipped his last class once again, only this time he was intentionally accompanied by Phil. No words were exchanged until they completely exited school grounds, disappearing into the thick forest. The guilt from days ago had settled in Dan's chest once more. He walked two steps behind Phil, even though he was positive he knew the forest floor better.

"Do you know where we're going?" Dan asked carefully, not sure if Phil was upset with him or not.

Phil nodded, beams of sunlight passing over his face. "Yeah, my house. If that's okay, I mean."

Dan's stomach dropped. Phil's house? Phil's house probably didn't have any system to help him to conquer the height. And even despite this point, Dan hadn't exactly ever been to friend's home before.

Phil turned to face Dan when he got no response, seeing the worried expression on his face. It took him a moment to realize the suggested problem, an immense apologetic feeling casting over him.

"I... I probably won't be able to get up." Dan finally answered, adjusting the strap on his bag nonchalantly. Phil smiled gently, stopping to walk beside Dan instead of in front of him.

"Don't worry," He said, reaching out his arm to brush against a layer of bushes. "We have stairs."

---

Dan knew they had arrived as soon as a large meadow came into view. He didn't' know what he was originally expecting, but the sight before him probably wasn't it. Phil's house wasn't huge; it might've even been smaller than Dan's. His home  was perched in a humble tree that was obviously old. A spiral of stairs wrapped around the base of the trunk, leading up to a small wooden door only about thirty feet off of the ground. Thirty feet was not high at all, and this confused Dan. His home was almost sixty feet in the air.

     "Why is your house so low?" Dan wondered aloud, his eyes trained on the stairs. Phil looked back at him briefly.

     "You'll see."

            The boys crossed the meadow and climbed the stairs together. Dan was sure Phil would've flown if Dan weren't there. When they reached the top, Phil held the door open for Dan, pointing out the fact that Dan's knee was bleeding.

     "I'm fine," Dan insisted, giving a small smile.

     "I'll get you a wrap for that. Make yourself at home." Phil smiled kindly, closing the door behind them and walking through one of the two doors that branched off from the main room; his overall mood seemed to become better as the warmth of the home welcomed them.

     Dan's eyes swept around the front area. Beautiful paintings hung on each wall of the boxy, four sided room. Directly across from the front door laid a ladder, tightly bolted to the wall as it rocketed straight upwards. Dan had been wrong about the size of Phil's house. It was indeed huge, just taller and leaner than most. The doors that occupied the other two walls weren't actually doors at all, more like huge archways leading around the base of the tree and gradually leading up. This intrigued Dan, and he decided to follow the path Phil hadn't chosen.