SUPER RICH KIDS | PHAN

forty eight.

phil.

"phil, i'm not dressed," dan whined from the passenger seat, and phil glanced at him nonchalantly.

"you look pretty dressed to me."

dan groaned, tossing his head back against the seat. phil grinned.

"i meant... i'm not properly dressed."

"sure you are." phil looked him over again. dan was wearing a soft looking black shirt with holes around the hem and grey jeans. he looked very cuddly, but when didn't he? "you look fine."

"i don't," dan insisted, looking away. phil raised his eyebrows, his eyes on the road.

"you should know better than anyone that i wouldn't lie about something like that."

phil saw dan blush and look at him out of the corner of his eye and he bit the inside of his cheek.

"okay," dan said reluctantly, and phil grinned.

"good." he checked the rear view mirror. "now, i know you haven't spent that much time with my parents..." he trailed off.

"what?"

phil bit his lip. "they can be a bit... pushy. they don't really get boundaries, at least my mum doesn't. and they don't really understand being offensive."

he could feel dan's eyes on him. "oh, well yeah. they're rich."

phil snorted, but tried to frown. "not all rich people are like that."

"when we met, you told me your empty coffee cup cost more than my bed."

phil went red. "shut up."

dan giggled, shaking his head and turning to look out the window. "you're so much."

they were pulling into the drive so phil didn't ask what he meant by that, but if they had had more time, he definitely would have.

➹

phil's mum answered the door, a wide smile painting her face, and she instantly went to hug dan. dan looked a bit flustered but he hugged her back immediately, and phil gave him a look. dan stuck his tongue out at him.

"dan! it's so lovely to see you, come in, both of you."

dan let her drag him inside, and phil followed, chuckling softly. his worry was dissipating. the thing was, he was far more anxious about how his parents would act than he was about dan. he knew dan would be perfect and polite to them no matter what, he prayed his parents would at least try to do the same. he really wanted dan to like his family.

phil's father was sitting at the table, a large book laid out before him, his glasses balanced on the bridge of his nose. phil's mother nearly dragged dan to the counter.

"i made lots of food, if you'd like anything to eat." sure enough, the long marble counter was lined with plates of everything from main courses to pastries and desserts. phil blushed. he knew it probably wasn't but it felt a bit like bragging to have so much food just out, hardly being eaten. but dan didn't flinch.

"thank you," he said softly, beaming at her. "it looks beautiful."

she smiled back. "thank you, dan." she turned toward phil. "you did amazingly on that concert. both of you did. your father and i were very impressed."

phil's dad made a sort of grunting noise of agreement, not looking up. she touched dan's arm.

"horrible news about that little boy," she said quietly, watching him. phil held his breath, but dan just nodded, licking his lips, his expression dropping a bit.

"it was," he replied, glancing at phil, his face a bit pale.

"mum, that's kind of a sensitive subject," phil said softly, and she frowned at him.

"i was just making a comment, phil. i'm not the bad guy here."

phil wondered who the bad guy was. his mum turned back to dan.

"i just wanted to tell you you did a wonderful job, dan. beautiful work."

dan's cheeks went a bit pink. phil really wished they were alone. "thank you, ma'am."

she glanced back at phil, and then at dan again, her expression changing a bit. phil's eyes widened. he recognized that look.

"mum, no, don't do this..."

dan frowned, confused. "do what?"

the woman smiled, patting dan's shoulder. "you know, there's this really nice restaurant i know of that isn't too far away from here..."

if dan had been pale before it was nothing compared to now.

"mum, it's okay. we can just eat here." he knew dan wouldn't be confident in a restaurant like the one his mother surely had in mind. he was hardly comfortable here.

she just brushed him off. "nonsense, you two deserve some time off. have a nice evening, go out, have fun. i'm paying. have some time alone."

phil knew what she was doing and it made his stomach squirm with conflicting emotions. it also kind of made him want to cry, good cry, but he didn't have time to think in depth about his own emotional damage in that department.

he met dan's eyes and dan shrugged weakly. "alright..."

"wonderful!" phil's mum clapped her hands happily. she looked dan over and phil watched him shift uncomfortably. "but... we'll have to do something about that outfit."

"mum," phil warned, horrified.

"what? it's the truth," she said defensively, frowning at him. dan smiled a bit nervously.

"it's fine, phil," he breathed, and phil clenched his teeth. "okay but... i didn't bring any other clothes."

"that's not an issue," she said, her eyes glinting mischievously. phil frowned in confusion. "come along with me, dan, i'd like to show you something."

dan looked at phil curiously but phil just shrugged, a bit panicked. "please go easy on him, mum," phil called after them, and she waved him off again, pulling dan around the corner. phil sighed and ran his fingers through his hair anxiously.

"good call, dating that homeless boy," his dad said suddenly, his voice gruff, making phil jump. "your mother is very impressed."

phil frowned, confused. "we aren't dating and... w-what do you mean?"

the man looked up from his book, peering at him. "she wanted to give you the car right after that concert of yours, but i stopped her. she really thinks you're the god of charity."

phil's face went red and his mouth fell open. "it's not... i... it's not charity for me to spend time with him."

his father shrugged, unbothered. "whatever you want to call it, you're on the right track. keep it up."

phil's mind whirled. what did that even mean? his parents thought he was with dan... because he felt bad for him? because he wanted a new car?

the worst thing was phil couldn't even be mad, because wasn't that the kind of person he had always been? of course they thought that, what else would they think? that he had changed overnight?

doubt made phil dizzy. what if he was doing it for that very reason without even knowing it? what if he was inherently a bad person?

phil shook off those thoughts quickly and tried not to think about his father's words.

he hoped dan came back soon.