Psycho

Unit 14

Dan rolled his eyes.

"Right, what did I do again?" Dan asked.

"Nothing." Phil said.

"Then why are you being so harsh?"

"I'm trying to show you that it's not because you're depressed and don't want help that you need to be an ass to your best friend." 

Dan closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. He rubbed his forehead longingly, processing what Phil had just said.

"I thought we agreed not to talk about that anymore?" Dan reminded Phil.

"We did, but it doesn't erase the fact that I still believe that you're depressed and that I care about you."

Dan's breath cut. A silence settled, in which they stared into each other's eyes longingly.

"I just want you to be happy, Dan." He finished off, his harsh look wearing off.

Dan was speechless. He stood in the hallway, inert.

"I'm going out with a friend." Phil finally admitted. "I'll probably be back late."

Dan nodded slowly, still processing what had just been said. Phil fondly placed his hand on Dan's shoulder and shyly grinned at him. He whispered a quiet "bye" before exiting the flat.

When he heard the door close, he placed his own hand on his shoulder, where Phil's had been resting.

"You make me happy..." Dan softly replied, staring at the end of the hallway where Phil had disappeared from.

A laugh arose in the depth of himself. It grew bigger, stronger. It erupted from his lips, and echoed throughout the whole apartment. A laugh so cold, so full of malice. It was so loud that he was convinced that the whole building, the whole street, the whole city could hear him.

"Just watching you dance under my nose makes me so, so happy, Phil!" He exclaimed. "I'll do some art tonight, thanks to you for giving me the opportunity!"

He joined his hands together and inclined his body forward.

"Seriously, thank you, Phil." Dan thanked, smiling from ear to ear. "This couldn't have been better. I really thought at first you were going to be a burden, trying to keep you away from the pattern and stuff, but you seem to be a big part of it. Yes, yes indeed. You don't realize it yet, but you're helping me. You're helping me a lot. This is great."

He stopped for a few seconds. From this point on, Dan was imagining a conversation with Phil just like he was in the room with him. Talking to himself wasn't too weird coming from him anyway.

"So you're using me to get what you want?" Imaginary Phil exclaimed.

"I wouldn't say I'm 'using' you." Dan said. "You're helping me without realizing it."

"That's what using people is, Dan." Imaginary Phil said angrily.

"Well, a good euphemism is never badly placed."

"I can't believe I cared about you and appreciated you all this time for you to thank me like this! You didn't care about me at all, did you?"

"Oh, of course, I did." Dan replied immediately. "Damn, I do care about you. The things I would do to you..."

He coughed. His Imaginary Phil automatically vanished. He looked at his feet, a very slight feeling of shame rumbling in his stomach at the last words he had pronounced.

~

The door of the cinema pushed opened and let Quest and Wade enter. They walked up to the ticket counter on the right and were lucky enough to find Sasha Hoover on the other side. They waited behind the two clients that were in line and when they finally left, they showed Sasha their badges.