*Phils pov*
The scariest part was when I thought I'd lost you.
I knew this would be hard for Dan, not because he was telling me, but because he'd have to talk about it in general...I guess I'd have to as well at some point, we really did need to figure out what exactly had happened and we really needed to process the information without the cloud of emotion over our heads. I hoped making the omelette would take some of the load off the conversation, but I guess it hardly helped, nothing really would. We both just needed to suck it up and talk it through, or we wouldn't get anywhere.
I pulled a seat over from the other side of the bench, deciding that cracking eggs would prove difficult if I was holding onto the kitchen bench the entire time. Dan stood still a painful expression on his face.
'Dan...' I sighed, pulling the chair up next to him and sitting down. 'C'mon now' I began cracking eggs into the plastic bowl and waited for him to talk, I had really done all I could do to help him through, and now it was all really up to him.
'I'm sorry' He croaked. 'I just zoned out for a second there...um...I'll start again' He nodded, taking an egg in his hand and cracking it into the bowl. 'I guess I came back from the hospital a few minutes after you had gone, in fact, I must have just missed them leave...'
He shivered at the memory of it all, I reached a hand over and rubbed the small of his back, so he would feel more comfortable.
'What did it look like? Did they leave anything?' I asked, cracking the last of the 6 eggs into the bowl. 'Dan, do you own a whisk?'
Dan pulled open a drawer behind him, got out a whisk and handed it to me. He then squinted his eyes, thinking back. 'Well...'
He looked like his was going to be sick, and I wasn't really helping. 'Dan, it's alright if you can't talk about it right now okay' I murmured while whisking the eggs.
Dan shook his head. 'No, it's not, Phil you talk to me about basically everything and I can't even tell you about one simple event...You're so much braver than me, I'm sorry it's just really hard for me to do things like this when the memory makes me feel physically ill'
He sighed looking down at the bench, I felt so bad for him I wish I was the one who had to talk. I knew what would've really helped in this situation, the bravery lion. It helped every other time. But we didn't have the bravery lion, it was still in the car at the hospital.
'I'd give you the bravery lion if I had it with me' I huffed, placing the bowl and whisk down. 'Unless there's something else that could help?'
Dan looked up from the bench a small smile peaked up on his lips.
'I could hold your hand' He blushed, you wouldn't have guessed the stuff Dan had been through when he acted like this, he seemed so innocent, I guess you could say the same for me. We were both hiding from what our past could make of us.
I smiled shyly and held out one of my hands. 'Wait could you pass me a frying pan?' I asked.
Dan released his grip on my hand and opened up a different cupboard to the last, pulling out a large black frying pan with a metallic handle. and putting it on top of the stove behind me. He then grabbed the oil on the bench and poured a spoonful into the pan, before turning the gas on.
'Bring your chair over here' He smiled, and I got up off my chair, pulling it over next to the stove and sitting down.
Dan walked back over to the bench to get the eggs.
'What do I do now?' He asked, cluelessly holding the bowl of eggs in one hand.
I laughed.
'Just pour them into the pan, and make sure its on low heat' I giggled.
Dan nodded, before taking the whisk out of the bowl and pouring the mixture into the pan.
'Just let that cook for a bit' I assured. 'And we can talk'
I held out my hand and he took it in his.
'Okay...' He breathed. 'There was a note'
'What did it say?' I asked, shocked, not recalling them ever writing note while taking me. Do you have it still?'
'N...No, I think they have it back at the station, didn't you see them write it?' Dan asked.
'I don't ever remember seeing James or any of the others write a note...then again, I was blacked out for most of the time...I didn't see much at all'
Dan bit his lip and stared off to the side.
'It said it was from James...' Dan murmured, while he reached into the drawer behind him with his other hand and got out a spatula.
'What I still don't understand is....how did James know we were at the hospital?' I asked, taking the spatula out of Dan's hand before flipping the omelette. 'Did you tell him in that phone call?'
'I...I don't remember' Dan sighed, covering his face with his hand.
I shouldn't have put that on Dan, I already knew what an unstable position he was in, If there was anything I had learned from that entire experience it was that me and Dan only had each other, and no-one could really place the blame on anyone else because none of it was really our fault.
I pressed the spatula down on the omelette and let out a sigh, squeezing Dan's hand in the process.
'I wouldn't do that...I wouldn'tt put us in danger like that' He paused. 'Although I know I've done it before'
'No Dan it wasn't you, it couldn't have been...James was basically just trying to talk you down in that phone call, I don't think you would've had time to tell him where you were... I don't think you'd even try...You're not stupid Dan, I shouldn't have put that on you' I assured. 'Can I get a plate?' I asked.
'Sure' Dan nodded, while he walked over to the same set of drawers where he got the spatula from, and pulled out two large ceramic white plates, placing them on the table behind me.
'Who else could have told James?' I asked, hobbling over to the two plates while holding the extremely heavy frying pan with both hands
'Careful Phil, careful' Dan stuttered, quickly swinging one arm around my hip.
'I'm fine, don't worry' I giggled, kissing him on the cheek.
I poured the two omelettes onto the plates and smiled. Before realizing we had forgotten to put the cheese in.
'We forgot to put the cheese in' I grumbled. 'This is the worst thing that could've possibly happened'
Dan laughed.
'It's not the end of the world' He smiled.
'I just wanted to make it good so you would...want to eat it' I sighed.
It was true, I didn't really like cheese. To be honest I just wanted them to be really nice for Dan. I didn't know when he had eaten something actually sustainable last, and I wanted him to feel full again. I couldn't imagine what it was like to not eat, or to feel like you can't eat. the idea of it all drove me insane.
'I'm going to eat it, Phil...don't worry' Dan sighed, biting his lip. 'Can you pass me a knife and for-
Dan's face went white, it looked like he'd seen a ghost.
'Wait here!' He said urgently, before running up the stairs.
Wait what.
Dan ran back down before I could even think about what he was doing, the note he was reading earlier clutched in his right palm.
'It's the same hand writing as the note I found in the hotel room!' He yelled.
'Well...what does that one say?' I asked, taking some cutlery out of the drawer in front of me.
'It says' Dan paused, his facial features caving in. 'It says that Matt's alive'
I stopped in my tracks, looking up at him from across the room.
'Why wouldn't he be?'
'Becuase he committed suicide the moment I went looking for you'
Silence fell across the room as the reality of our situation finally set in. Suicide, Murder, Missing People, what the fuck were we dealing with? I saw Dan shake his head, and punch the wall next to him out of anger, He was so broken, I didn't know what to do.
'Dan' I said just loud enough for him to hear me. 'It's not the end of the world'
I tossed the block of cheese I had gotten out earlier at him.
'Now come eat'