A/N: This is my formal apology for the ending of the last chapter.
I'm so sorry for this...
~
There were roses clutched in Phil's hands, black ones. Phil had spent all day looking for a bouquet of black roses, the final piece of his surprise for Dan. Phil had spent all day planning the perfect evening for his boyfriend.
Phil was going to ask Dan to meet his family, they have been dating for around 4 months, they moved in together, and they were starting a branch of their careers together. Phil took his relationships very seriously and only continued in a relationship if he thought they would last. Since he was a teenager, he has never introduced a boyfriend or girlfriend to his family, no one has been serious enough.
Phil's family isn't exactly religious, but they take marriage and relationships very seriously. Martyn and Cornelia have been married for a few years now, and have been dating even longer. Martyn hadn't brought Cornelia around for the entire first year of their relationship, not until he knew they were endgame.
Phil knew. He didn't know exactly what made him know, especially this early, but he knew that Dan was his one and only. Dan was the person Phil would marry, become a parent with, and grow old with. Dan was his perfect match, and Phil really hoped that Dan agreed.
Phil had a plan. He was going to show up at the flat, roses in hand, walk over to his tall boyfriend and give him a kiss. He was going to take Dan to Clos Maggiore, they were going to have a fancy Italian meal, drink a high priced bottle of wine, and Phil was going to invite Dan to his families house in Manchester for the weekend.
He was going to look into Dan's beautiful brown eyes and tell him how much he means to him. Tell him how much he loves him, and how he wants to spend the rest of his life by his side, as long as Dan will have him. He isn't going to propose, not yet. But he wants Dan to know that Phil wants them to have a future.
Phil had reservations made, and the restaurant has been informed of the twos status on the internet. Phil was wearing his best button up shirt, white with birds on it, and black skinny jeans, some things don't ever change. He picked up the roses, which were extremely hard to find, since most people only want black flowers for funerals, and headed back to the flat.
Their reservation was in an hour, so he had enough time to go home, tell Dan to change into something fancy, and for them to get into the car, that Phil has already booked, and leave. Phil was practically giddy. He was nervous for Dan's reaction to his declaration for the night, but he was also extremely excited. They haven't gone on a formal fancy dinner yet, and this would be their first one.
Phil exited the car, paid his driver and made sure to leave a generous tip. A different driver would be sitting in this spot in an hour, waiting to take him and Dan to their romantic dinner. Phil couldn't help but imagine this dinner as the first step toward his happily ever after.
Sure, he and Dan were already together, living with each other, and working together, but there was something different about this dinner. After this dinner, Phil would know if Dan wanted the same thing as he did, a future together. Phil would know if Dan wanted to stay with him for the rest of his life, will know if Dan wants to get married to him someday, will know if Dan wants to adopt children someday, he will have all these answers after this dinner. Dan may not know the answers right now, and Phil is prepared for him to need more time, but best case scenario, Dan will want all the same things.
Phil climbed the 47 steps into their flat, he unlocks and opens the door. He is greeted by a large house plant and an eerie silence. "Dan! I'm home!" Silence was the only response. He climbed up the first flight of stairs and sees and empty kitchen and a closed bathroom door. The light on the other side of the closed door was flipped off.
"Dan?" More silence. He heads up the next flight of stairs where the empty lounge is waiting. The hallway leads to two empty bedrooms, the one they use and the one that Dan uses to film his danisnotonfire videos. Lights are off all around the house, no sign of life anywhere in the house. He climbs the final flight of stairs that lead to the office.
The office is also empty, the camera still set up from the most recent gaming video. The emptiness of the flat is something Phil wasn't expecting, and he has no idea where Dan could be. He pulls out his phone and opens his phone app, while walking back down the stairs and rechecking the rooms on the middle floor. He goes back down the final flight of stairs as he places his call to his boyfriend who is still missing.
The phone starts ringing in his ear. He can hear it ring, as he waits to hear Dan's voice fill his ears. He hasn't heard Dan's voice today yet, and he is starting to get anxious. He has a feeling in his stomach that something is wrong. He isn't sure what, but if he could just hear Dan's voice. If he could hear Dan's voice everything would be okay.
"Hello." Dan's voice rings in his ear, and Phil can feel the pit in his stomach get smaller. "You've reached Dan. Sorry I couldn't answer the phone right now. I'll probably call you back, maybe. We'll see." The beep resounded in his ears, and unsettled him even more. He could feel the pit in his stomach settle so hard, that he became nauseous.
"Dan!" Phil's voice rang through the quiet of the flat. Phil dialed again, being met with the same resound ringing. Behind the loud ring in his ear, he could hear a different sound. He pulled the phone away from his ear, the ringing still sounding, and he could hear the sound of Welcome to the Black Parade by My Chemical Romance.
Phil recognized it as Dan's ringtone. The pit in his stomach grows and he located where the sound was originating from, the bathroom. He hangs up his end of the phone, causing the eerie piano to cease. Phil places his hand on the doorknob, looking at the white of the door.
Roses in his left hand, doorknob in his right. Phil takes a deep breath and opens the door. The roses fall from his grip.
~
Phil didn't know what he was expecting to see, but he was not even slightly prepared to see the sight that he saw.
Dan was lying on the floor, sitting in a pool of red liquid. It takes a moment for Phil's mind to process that it is, in fact blood that is surrounding Dan. It takes a few more seconds for Phil to realize that it is Dan's blood that is covering the floor. Phil heard someone shout Dan's name, and some part of his brain knew that it was him.
Before he knew what was happening, Phil was on the floor with Dan in his arms. Tears were streaming from his cerulean eyes as he gazed at the boy in his arms. His hair was sticking to his forehead with sweat. He was so pale, so incredibly pale. Phil looked around for his phone, noticing it on the floor in the hallway, he must have dropped it when he lunged to Dan. Phil refused to leave Dan right now, nothing would tear him away.
He feels in Dan's pockets, finding his iPhone located in his front pocket. Blood coating Dan's clothes, Phil manages to get Dan's phone out of his pocket. He dials +999, and waits for the operator to pick up. "999, what is your emergency?" He couldn't understand how the woman was so clam, when Phil's whole world was crashing down.
"I need an ambulance. Please hurry." Phil's words were quieter than he was meaning for them. His tears streaming from his eyes so violently he could hardly make out the scene he was looking at. "My boyfriend... I just got home... He is in the bathroom surrounded by blood... His own blood... Please. He needs help." The woman asked for his address and Phil gave it to her. She told him to stay on the line, she asked if the door was unlocked, she asked if he was conscious. Phil answered every question to the best of his ability, but he was struggling to make sense of anything.
"He's so pale... He's too pale..." He repeated the same thing over and over. "Please, Dan. Please wake up." He was rocking Dan's still body in his arms. Tears streaming freely, and Phil knew that there was nothing that could stop them. "I don't know why you did this. You can't have done this. I love you so much, and I need you to wake up." Phil brushed the hair from Dan's forehead, kissing the sticky skin there. "We were supposed to go to dinner, I was supposed to tell you how much I loved you, and how much I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you."
"Sir? I know this is hard for you, but can you see if your friend has a pulse?" Phil shook his head, too scared to check. He was terrified that Dan wouldn't have a pulse. He couldn't do it.
"I can't..." The operator was quiet on the other end of the phone. "Dan, I love you. I love you so much. You can't do this to me. I need you. You're my whole world, you're all I have. If you..." Phil felt his throat contract at the thought. "If you... died... I wouldn't be able to live. I couldn't live in a world without Dan Howell. So, I need you to hold on. I need you to keep breathing and I need you to live. Because if you don't live, I don't live."
The door flung open and the EMS workers were there in moments. Their boots stomped on the roses that have been sitting in the doorway. The black from the roses seeming to take a whole different turn sitting in a puddle of deep red. One man pulled Dan out of Phil's arms, pressing his fingers to Dan's neck. Phil was not hearing a word that the men were saying and before he knew it, they were placing Dan on a stretcher and carrying him out of the flat.
Phil scrambled to his feet and followed the men down the stairs, grabbing his and Dan's phones on the way. One of the men held up a hand when Phil tried to follow into the ambulance, stopping him from getting on. "I'm not leaving him, he needs me."
The man looked at Phil, "What he needs, sir, is a hospital and medical care." The man climbed into the tall vehicle.
"Please..." His voice cracked. "I need him..." As tears slipped from Phil's eyes, he could see the mans features softening. He twists his head to look at the other man in the ambulance.
The man held out his hand for Phil to grab, Phil took it and stepped into the white van. "Sit there, and hold his hand. Don't touch anything else, and please do as we say, okay?" Phil gives a sullen nod and grabs Dan's hand.
"Please, Dan. Please survive." Sirens blared and the ambulance jolted into motion, bringing Dan closer to his chance at survival.