SUPER RICH KIDS | PHAN

forty seven.

dan.

dan chewed on his thumbnail, watching kat read, flipping the pages of whatever book she had gotten the day before. her legs were folded under her and her hair was tied back in a loose ponytail. dan searched her features as he thought, but when she looked up he quickly turned away. he wasn't so good at being subtle.

she narrowed her eyes at him. "dan..."

dan blushed. he still couldn't look her in the eyes. "yes?"

she smiled a bit. "what's wrong?"

dan flushed an even deeper shade of magenta and fidgeted nervously. "nothing."

okay, so he usually wasn't subtle, but he wasn't this unsubtle. he didn't know what his problem was today. she watched him for another second.

"tell me when you're ready, i guess," she mumbled reluctantly, and looked back at her book. dan exhaled slowly.

he felt someone touch his shoulder and he whirled around to see nina, smiling at him weakly. she beckoned to him with her hand.

"let's talk."

he got up and followed her curiously, to the other side of the room near a little table where a couple men were playing some card game. one of them smiled at dan before going back to his hand.

nina watched his face, leaning against the wall for support. dan held out his arm to help her stand but she shook her head and he let it drop to his side.

dan suddenly felt increasingly guilty. how much attention had he payed her in the last month? he knew she had kat and kat was just as able to take care of her as he was, but he still felt bad. he had gone from watching over her every second of the day to barely watching her at all. he looked down at his feet.

"how are you doing, nina?"

he could feel her smile. "i'm doing fine, dan. no new concerns. in fact, i believe my state is getting better by the day."

dan looked up, smiling. "really? that's amazing."

she nodded. there was something in her eye that dan wasn't sure he liked.

"yes, it is. this shelter has made all the difference. your friend is truly a miracle worker." dan blushed at the mention of him, nodding mutely. but she wasn't done. "speaking of him," she continued slowly. dan bit his lip. "is there something you want to talk about?"

"not really," dan muttered, hugging himself. nina raised her eyebrows.

"are you sure?"

dan nodded, scratching the back of his neck nervously. she laughed at him.

"you know, i wasn't always old," she said, taking his arm like he had wanted. dan looked at her, bringing it back up for her convenience. "i was a girl once. a while ago, i admit, but i remember what it's like to be lovesick like it was yesterday."

dan watched her. she didn't talk about these things often, she mostly kept to herself. dan just figured she didn't like talking about her past much. she smiled broadly.

"i know what that looks like, dan." she tutted. "plenty of boys gave me that look."

dan laughed, nudging her very gently with his elbow. "i'm sure they did."

she nodded, still smiling at him brightly. she had never lost that brightness, even when she was far sicker than she was today. he made a mental note to tell her he was proud of her more often.

nina touched dan's forearm, squeezing, looking at him with big eyes. "it's alright to like him, dan. i know katrina has made it out to be a horrible mistake," she rolled her eyes fondly, "but i trust your judgement, love. maybe we don't see phil's good side all the time, but you might. you're smarter than she thinks."

dan laughed softly, shaking his head. "thank you," he whispered after a second. she nodded.

"of course. now what in the world is on your mind?"

dan sighed, reaching up to chew on his nails again. nina gently grabbed his hand and pulled it away. he smiled gratefully. "phil asked me if i wanted to live with him. in his apartment."

she ran her thumb along his arm soothingly. "and do you want to?"

he met her eyes. "i really think i do." he swallowed. "am i awful?"

she shook her head, frowning. "of course not. that's an amazing offer, dan."

"yeah, but..." dan shifted uncomfortably. "i can't leave you guys here while i sleep in phil's fancy guest bed. that's wrong."

"it's not wrong," she said softly. "and you won't be leaving us. i have a feeling you'll be around just as much, just sleeping in a different place. we know you love us, dan, you've made it quite clear. you deserve something nice, honey."

dan bit his lip. "you think so?"

she nodded. "as long as you visit us, i have no problem with it. i want you to be happy, and so does kat."

dan glanced subconsciously in kat's direction and nina sighed.

"she'll be mad, let's be honest. but she'll come to her senses, you know she will. she's just as selfless as you are, she just conceals it better. you have to tell her."

dan nodded, taking a deep breath. "i know... okay. i'll tell her." he really didn't want her to be mad again, but what choice did he have? he decided if she was that upset, he wouldn't go. he couldn't. he already felt like he had betrayed them enough.

the bell on the glass door jangled almost aggressively and dan's head whipped around. phil stood in the doorway, dark sunglasses resting on his nose that probably cost more than all of dan's clothes combined, his expensive looking white shirt nicely loose on his torso. dan smiled without thinking.

phil searched the room before his gaze landed on dan. he grinned. "dan. come on, let's go."

dan frowned but he was already approaching him. "where are we going?"

phil grabbed his wrist and tugged him out the door with him. he seemed uncharacteristically nervous.

"my parents want to see you."