SUPER RICH KIDS | PHAN

fifteen.

dan

phil's house was huge. like, unnecessarily big. like, the kind of big that made you think about what someone could possibly do with all of that space. dan felt like he had to calculate how to even move around properly, but phil moved fine. he hardly even acknowledged dan's shock.

phil's mum asked a lot of questions and his dad hardly said anything, sitting at the other end of the table in a stony silence. dan wasn't even quite sure what they were eating, but he still had to fight not to shovel it into his mouth. food was still one of the most precious things in his life, he imagined it always would be after going so long without it.

phil ate slowly. dan found himself watching him a lot, just so he wouldn't stare at the lace placemats or at the lack of wrinkles in his mum's blouse... he chewed rhythmically, his jaw flexing in a way that was almost attractive to watch, and he glared when he caught dan looking.

"what's your favorite food, dan?" it was the seventh seemingly irrelevant question she had asked him, but dan figured small talk was polite, which was why she was doing it. he decided he didn't mind her. he bit his lip, knowing he probably shouldn't say fast food.

"i like cupcakes," he said softly after a minute and he felt phil look up at him, his chewing halting suddenly. dan looked at him with wide eyes, wondering if he had done something wrong. it was the first thing that had come to his mind. what? he thought, annoyed. he did like cupcakes. why was phil looking at him like that?

his mother smiled, good natured. "i'll be sure to make them for you some time. how many times have you had them?"

phil choked on his food and coughed into his napkin, but dan didn't mind if the question was a bit rude. if you weren't homeless, or hadn't been, how would you understand it? he smiled at her. "i used to have them every year for my birthday when i lived with my parents."

"oh, so quite a few times!"

he nodded. "i was kicked out when i was seventeen."

"why were you kicked out?"

dan glanced at phil nervously. he wasn't sure if he should say it, he didn't know phil's parent's position...

"mum," phil muttered warningly. "that's a personal question, he might not want to talk about that." dan let out a breath of relief. his mother frowned at him.

"well, let him say it, then," she huffed. "i'm speaking to your friend, don't interrupt." she turned back to dan expectantly.

dan could feel his face going hot. everyone's eyes were on him, even phil's dads'. he glanced at phil anxiously, who nodded encouragingly. dan swallowed.

"they kicked me out," he said slowly. "because i'm gay."

dan swore the room was so quiet he would have heard a fly hitting the window pane. even phil didn't have any response to that, he just stared at him, shocked. dan realized that phil hadn't known why either. he blushed darker, staring at his hands anxiously.

"oh," phil's mum said finally, folding her napkin carefully. "i'm sorry, dan."

dan shrugged. "it's okay..."

he felt a tugging at his sleeve and was surprised to find out that phil was pulling on it, looking at him with an expression dan had never seen from him before. "i didn't know that," he muttered. dan flinched. would phil treat him differently now? like he pitied him? dan shrugged again.

"it isn't a big deal."

"that's a pretty sad story," phil's dad said suddenly, and dan realized he hadn't heard him speak yet, because his deep booming voice startled him. he blushed.