the quiet ° phan

viii. cradle

When sunlight finally streamed through the windows, Dan felt no better than he did with the moon high above him.

Phil felt even worse than Dan did, if that was possible. He was suffering a crisis, a moral dilemma. He was meant to protect Dan from harm, yet here he was sitting next to his injured friend. Every time Dan felt pain, Phil felt twice as much pain.

Phil occupied his mind by cooking breakfast, which took up all of his energy since he was very bad at it and wanted to do a decent job.

Once his somewhat burned pancakes were made, he set them on two plates and put them on the dining table. He set the rest of the table accordingly.

Then, he went to check on Dan. Dan stirred when Phil approached him. Phil heard a soft groan as Dan opened his eyes and tried to sit up without using his hands.

"Here, let me help you," Phil said. He grabbed Dan's right hand and wrapped his other arm around Dan's torso. He pulled him up into a sitting position. As soon as he became aware of how close they were, Phil pulled away and stood at the foot of the bed.

"I'll be in the kitchen. I, uh, made pancakes, so..." Phil said awkwardly.

Dan just nodded his head and looked away. He stood up and went about his business. Phil took this as a sign to leave.

A few minutes later, Dan appeared in the kitchen.

"Here are your meds," Phil said. He placed some pills on a napkin next to Dan's plate. Phil had opened the bottle for Dan because he knew Dan couldn't. He got out the small pills because he knew Dan couldn't. It was a small gesture, but Dan appreciated it. Phil made his hard life easier.

Dan grabbed the syrup and drizzled it all over his pancakes. He noticed Phil had also cut Dan's pancakes into pieces. Phil seemed to be full of thoughtful gestures today.

Breakfast wasn't too eventful. Both boys were famished from the whirlwind of events yesterday, so they devoured their food before speaking a word to each other. Once they finished, Phil took up the dishes and rinsed them off.

"Wanna have a movie marathon?" Phil asked. He looked over at Dan for confirmation and saw him nod his head.

"You can pick the first movie. I just need to finish up with the dishes."

Dan sat on the sofa with the remote. He flipped through movies on Netflix until he found the one he wanted.

Phil sat on the couch next to him and grabbed the blanket that was there. He offered it to Dan and Dan gladly took it.

Phil stretched his arms and placed them on the head of the sofa. The movie started. The movie was an action movie so both boys were entranced by it. They were so wrapped up in all the movies they played that Dan didn't notice Phil's arm draping over his shoulder and Phil didn't notice Dan's body pressing against him. In fact, they did not become aware of this lack of personal space until the end of the third movie.

In the movie, a man was about to shoot a dog.

"Oh my god. I can't look," Phil said.

So he didn't look. He wrapped his other arm around Dan's neck and buried his face in his chest. He whimpered at the sound of the gunshot that killed the poor canine.

Dan rubbed Phil's back and comforted Phil when he felt the wetness of Phil's tears.

Somehow, it was like when Dan went with the girls to the cinema, yet now, that was a good thing.

Dan grabbed the remote and stopped the movie. When Phil heard the movie shut off, he slowly lifted his head from Dan's chest. His arms were still wrapped around Phil and his face was incredibly close to him.

"Sorry I ruined your shirt, Dan. It's just...oh, that poor dog!!"

Dan put a finger to his lips to signify "shh". He looked into Phil's eyes which were glossy from tears. A moment passed where they didn't break eye contact. Then another. And another.

Phil's eyelashes fluttered and Dan felt him breathing on his neck. Phil's eyes seemed to close just a millimeter as one piece of his fringe fell from his forehead as he tilted his head slightly.

Ding dong.

"Uh, I-I'll get it..." Phil said hurriedly as he tore himself from Dan. Dan felt himself pout just a bit and cursed himself for doing so even though he had no idea why he did it.

Phil opened the door and immediately started speaking before he saw the figure outside.

"I swear to god, Zoe, if you think—LOUISE?!"