Intriguing (phan)

8 - trust

(phil)

phil sits on the couch, watching the door. dan should be home any minute now.

phil's eyes flicker back to the tv, but it can't seem to hold his attention. his mind is swirling too fast. before his thoughts can drive him crazy, the doorknob finally clicks and turns, and dan enters almost sheepishly.

"hey," he says with a smile and phil can't help but feel even angrier. but he takes a deep breath and holds onto his calm.

"hi," phil answers, squinting at the tv.

"how was your day?" dan asks, seemingly in a very talkative mood.

"alright, how was yours?" phil asks, coolly glancing over at dan who is still tinkering around in the kitchen.

"yeah, good."

"did you meet your friend? addie, was it?" phil asks, easily feigning interest.

dan opens the fridge. "yeah. we went to the park 'cause she brought her dog."

well, that definitely settled it. pj wasn't making it up. dan was lying.

"why?" phil asks, feeling anger building up again.

"well, her dog's a golden retriever and she needs ex--"

"not that," phil hisses, standing up and moving to the kitchen. "why did you lie?"

realisation flashes in dan's eyes, along with a mix of panic and shame. "pj told you," dan mumbles, looking at the ground, defeated.

"why?"

"i don't know."

dan puts down the juice and turns to phil so that they're both staring at each other in the middle of the kitchen. "you must've done it for a reason."

"n-no."

phil rolls his eyes, "did you just want to get away from me?"

"no, no," dan assures quickly.

"do you really have no friends?"

"no, i do."

"then what?" phil asks harshly. he is beyond exasperated and dan is getting on his nerves.

"why does it matter so much?"

"because you lied and how am i supposed to know you won't do it again?" phil finally reasons, again trying to remain calm. "i'm just trying to understand why."

"it's not a big deal."

"exactly, so just tell me."

dan's resolve is beginning to fade. he squeezes his eyes shut and sighs before saying, "i heard you and pj."

so dan's a liar and an eavesdropper? phil doesn't say his thoughts out loud and just gestures for dan to continue.

"i thought if i had a friend you wouldn't think i was weird and want to move out."

the confession shatters phil's heart a little bit and he wants to squeeze dan in a hug and smother him with kisses. it's weird how a second ago he was so angry, but dan managed to change his mind in just a few words. he shakes his head slightly. "are you?"

dan laughs bitterly, "well, lying was what made you mad in the first place, so i'll be completely honest. i don't talk to many people and i don't exactly have friends."

this was just too complex for phil's brain to process. dan was funny, sweet, kind and slightly awkward, which made him so lovable. not to mention extremely good-looking. how did he not have friends? "why?"