I Want It, I Got It

Chapter 23

"I don't know if I can do this."

Phil rubs the inside of his eyes with his fingers and lets out a long, drawn out sigh.

"It'll be okay, Phil." Dan says, his voice gentle on the other end of the line. "I've talked with Marianne and she's working on getting all stories surrounding us pulled from news sites and TV news. I also am working closely with my publicist who is telling me that you shouldn't post our videos we filmed together on YouTube right now until this all moves on."

Phil groans and rubs his hand over his face, tugging at the skin. "Is this going to be a mess?"

Dan sighs, his voice crackling a bit through the receiver. "Probably a bit but...we'll get it sorted."

"I hope so."

"I know that it's hard right now but just...please don't go on social media. My publicist wants me to issue a statement so I'm going to but I won't say anything about us. I promise."

Phil's heart picks up its beating and he feels like he's going to sick all over the floor. Spike takes note of his sudden tension and climbs onto the couch, fitting into his lap and curling into a ball on his thighs. He reaches down and runs his fingers through his fur, comforting himself.

"What are you going to say?" Phil asks, feeling his voice crack a bit.

"I'm just going to ask for privacy and I'm going to ask for the media to basically stop."

"Is that going to work?" Phil asks. He can't help but have doubts.

"Hopefully." Dan says. "I know what you feel though...I'm pretty upset by all of this too."

"We should have expected it." Phil says and he's not sure who he's even saying it to: Dan or himself.

"Of course but that doesn't make it easier."

"I know."

Dan sighs. "I'm gonna be honest, Phil. I'm not sure what to do."

"Me either."

"I've spoken to every possible person on my side and the only thing we can do at this point is release some statements or try and keep quiet."

"I know."

"Fuck." Dan exclaimed, followed by the sound of something heavy falling in the background. "Oh my god!"

"Dan?" Phil asked, his voice suddenly rising. Spike whimpered on his lap and he ran his hands through his fur to calm him down. "What's going on?"

"This is actually unbelievable!"

"What is?"

"Phil, I just got word that I've been casted as Christopher Robin in a new live-action adaptation of Winnie the Pooh!"

Phil felt his stomach fall to the ground. He doesn't know why, but the news of that causes his stomach to knot even more. "That's amazing!"

"Phil, I literally―Oh my fucking god, this could not have come at a better timing! I needed something like this today. You have no idea. I auditioned for this role like four months ago and they gave me a call back and I went and I thought I totally fucked my chances but oh my God."

"I'm really glad that everything worked out." Phil says. "I hope it all works out for us too..."

"We'll figure this out, Phil." Dan says, his voice wavering a bit over the speaker. "Together."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

"I'm going to draft my statement and then have it be approved by Marianne. I'll text you when I'm about to post it but if I were you, I'd delete social media for the foreseeable future."