Northern Downpour || Phan AU

Chapter 18

Phil sat down at the dinner table, whilst him mother still prepared the last of the dinner.
He quickly noticed that there was nothing to drink on the table, so he got up and poured some water into a glass, before returning back to the table.
His mum was now putting food on the plates, and Phil thought maybe he should help her bring it to the table, which he did.
”Philip could you please ask your brother to come down for dinner, I’ve asked a thousand times now.” His mum asked, her voice defeated, when she mentioned his brother.
Phil nodded and walked up the stairs and stood in front of his brothers room.
His brother almost never came out of his room when he was at home, and he didn’t go to school. Phil only knew he would go out and meet his friends most of the time, and he would rarely be home during the night. Phil knew his mum was worried about his brother, but there was nothing anyone could do about him being this isolated from his own family.
Phil used to be so close to his brother when they were little, given that the age difference between them was only two years, but it all changed when his brother entered high school, and then after six months, he dropped out of school and his mum would never tell Phil why, and he never dared to ask.
Phil swallowed quickly before turning his hand into a fist and lifting it up to knock at the door. He knocked two times.

”What the hell do you want now?!” He heard his brother shout from inside.

Phil hesitated a little before answering his brother.
”Um, dinner is ready. You should come downstairs.” Phil said, trying to keep his voice loud enough for him to hear.
Silence was the next thing Phil heard, and then some footsteps, and Phil backed up a little, before the door opened and his brother just looked at him with a soft expression on his face, with a small smile pasted on his lips, which faded almost as quickly as it appeared.
”I said I’m coming.” His brother said, his tone way more firm than you would expect, before walking past Phil and going downstairs.
Phil followed his brother down the stairs and sat down at his usual spot at the table.
His brother sat on the other side, far away from both him and their mother.

”So nice that you’re eating with us today honey.” Phils mum said, smiling at his brother who just snorted and looked down at the table.

Phil kept quiet during the whole dinner, whilst his mum tried to make small-talk with his brother who obviously wasn’t interested in talking to anybody in this house.

His mum kept asking about school, and Phil just then realized that she didn’t know that his brother skipped every single day, but he decided not to mention it. 

”How is school going for you, Phil?” His mum suddenly asked, and Phil wasn’t prepared for the question since he thought that she only wanted to talk to his brother now.
”Good…good everything’s fine.” He said quickly, flashing her a smile before returning to his food.

”How are things with Dan then?” She asked, and Phil froze for a second at the mention of Dans name. Phil stopped chewing his food but continued slowly after a while, so he could answer his mother.

”I know those letters were from him Phil, who else would they be from? And they were handwritten! That is very sweet of him.” Phils mum added before Phil had the chance to answer, and he didn’t know how to feel about the fact that his mum knew those letters were from Dan.

”Ohhh Phil is getting love-letters now is he? How fucking adorable.” Phils brother said, completely out of nowhere and Phil just wanted to sink down in the chair and then disappear forever because he was desperate to get out of this situation.

His mum shot his brother a warning look for his choice of words and then looked back at Phil who was now halfway through to the kitchen with his plate in his hand and his glass in his other one, and he put everything down in the sink because he just couldn’t bother to even put it in the dishwasher and he ran upstairs to his room, almost falling over on the stairs.