SUPER RICH KIDS | PHAN

twenty nine.

dan.

dan followed him in after a few minutes standing there, shocked into silence. out of all people to tell him his dreams could still be intact, he had never imagined it would be phil. phil was supposed to be the person who told him he was a dirty hobo, that he was dumb and ugly and what not. that was why what he had said had hit so much harder than dan could have prepared for.

he took a shaky breath, running his fingers through his curls and shaking his head. jesus.

finally he slipped through the door after him. phil was sitting at his desk with his glasses on, his face buried in papers. dan bit his lip and made his way back to where katrina was curled up on the floor and where nina was asleep on a cot. he sighed and sat beside the almost-bed, leaning back against it. the room was filled with the sound of breathing and phil's pen scribbling against some document.

after a moment dan felt nina shifting behind him and he moved so he could look at her.

"are you awake?"

after a second she nodded, opening her eyes and smiling at him. "i've been sleeping on and off the last couple nights."

dan nodded, biting his lip. "it's hard."

she nodded. "it is."

there was a moment of silence between them and dan sighed. she touched his arm gently.

"you have to do the show."

dan frowned and looked at her. "what? no. not now."

she watched him in the way that made him feel like he knew nothing like she did. "it'll be good for you. trust me."

dan chewed on his lip, playing with his fingers while he thought. "but... i won't be any good."

"do you really believe that?"

dan shrugged halfheartedly. "i don't know." it felt disrespectful to earl to do something like that right after his death. dan had been actually excited for his first real performance with an audience, but now... it felt like mocking. earl deserved an ocean of sorrow in his place, and doing something like that felt... wrong.

"it's about earl, isn't it?" her eyes watched him, her gaze knowing. dan nodded.

"yeah..."

she smiled sadly and took his hand. "he'd want you to do it, you know he would."

dan sniffed, staring at their hands. "i know... i j-just wish he was here."

she squeezed. "me too. but while we wish, we have to deal with reality, too."

dan sighed. "i guess so." he still wasn't sure. he didn't feel up for it. she reached up to pat his cheek.

"make it about him, then."

dan looked up, confused. "what do you mean?" she hummed.

"well, make the performance about him. make the event about him. make it about the dangers of living on the streets, about how it took one of our family members away from us. play a song for him. do it for him. i'm sure phil would agree, it's great attention for his shelter."

dan blinked, his mind whirring with thoughts. "do you think that could work?"

she nodded, her face softened by the lack of light. "he deserves it, love."

dan chewed on his thumbnail, pondering it. it would be a fundraiser like phil wanted so he could get his stupid money for his stupid fake-real shelter and get his stupid car. and dan could spread awareness about homelessness, about how this shit is real... about earl. he could make it about earl. his heart raced at the idea.

he stood up without another word and turned, walking carefully to phil's desk. phil looked up, raising his eyebrows. he looked tired.

dan leaned forward, his hands on his desk so he could get closer and speak quieter. "phil, we need to talk."

➹

phil was pacing, his hand held up to his mouth, the harsh light of the storage room bright against the contours of his face. dan watched him consider it, sitting against the wall. watching phil pace was tiring him out.

"it could work," he said finally, stopping dramatically. dan rolled his eyes.

"yeah, of course it could work. the question is will you do it?"

phil pointed at him. even softened by lack of sleep, his features were purposeful, as if his nose or his cheekbones had a point to make. "it'd be a lot of work to change it like that."

"how much work could it be? it's going from a fundraiser to a fundraiser with a point."

phil chuckled. dan felt pleased he had made him laugh when he was stressed. "maybe..."

dan pushed himself up, leaning against the wall. "phil, please. i don't know if i can do it otherwise, it needs to be this. it'll be even better traffic for your shelter, anyways."

phil nodded thoughtfully. "that's true... if we back up the idea with something truthful and a reason we need shelters, it'll be much more powerful."

dan smiled. "yeah, see? you're a natural at conning people."

phil flashed him a warning glare. "but... it was supposed to be in a week. can we pull that off?"

"of course we can. of course you can. money can get you anywhere."

"correct." phil laughed, rolling his eyes. he looked at dan for a second, a weird smiley look on his face. dan frowned at him.

"what?"

phil shook his head, looking away and clearing his throat. he pulled his phone out of his back pocket and tapped a few times while dan watched. he held the phone in his slender fingers, ringing on speaker. after a few rings a groggy and mildly annoyed sunny picked up.

"hello...?"

phil grinned. "oh, i'm sorry, were you sleeping?"

dan heard sunny grumble. "i'm so sorry, phil. i didn't think you'd need me at one in the morning, or else i would've stayed up for you, your highness. what do you want?"

phil's grin widened and he licked his lips, holding the phone closer to his mouth. "we're gonna need to make new fliers."