ART DECO | PHAN

nineteen.

1/24/17

"oh my god," phil breathed, his fingers scrambling for purchase on dan's waist, his eyes blown out wide. "holy shit holy shit..." he looked around. had anyone seen? surely they would get help if they had... people were starting to turn, notice them, possibly from phil's hissed curses. it came to him that if dan was conscious, he probably wouldn't want all these people looking at him. "someone... get help!"

every nerve in phil's body felt shot, strained. this couldn't be happening...

he sat back in the seat, fumbling to pull dan into his lap, chewing on his lip. he placed two fingers on his pulse point, just to make sure he still had one. he did, but it seemed almost... weaker. god, it wasn't supposed to feel like that...

phil saw some students coming up the bleachers, followed by a chubby man with a first aid kit. he stood up as they approached, holding dan in his arms as if he were a small child.

"what happened?" the man asked when he got up to them, examining dan, who was still unconscious.

"h-he just collapsed," phil breathed. "he l-looked really pale and i tried to get him to sit down and..." students were crowding around them, trying to get a look. phil glared at them. dan wouldn't want this.

"alright." the man checked his pulse the way phil just had. "follow me."

phil nodded, stepping carefully down the bleachers. he watched his feet, both to make sure he didn't trip and to avoid the eyes of anyone staring. poor dan...

he followed the man into the building, down a few halls to a small office room with odd cots on one side.

"set him down," the man muttered, not looking at him. phil bit his lip. he didn't want to set him down, he wanted to keep him safe in his arms. finally he forced himself to lay the boy down carefully, pulling up a chair so he could sit as close to him as possible.

he grabbed his hand. it was cold, but phil didn't mind, he intertwined their fingers carefully.

"will he be okay?" he whispered. the man glanced at him.

"yes," he said, leaning against the counter. "i'm sure he will. did he hit his head or anything like that?"

phil shook his head. "i caught him."

the man nodded. "okay. i think it may be a case of malnutrition."

"oh." phil bit his lip, frowning. he looked back at dan, squeezing his hand. oh.

his head snapped up when the door opened rather loudly and katie burst in, her hair flying everywhere.

"miss-"

she ignored the nurse, staring phil down. "what happened?"

"h-he passed out..."

katie took a deep breath, moving closer. she looked extremely stressed. finally she glanced at the man before leaning in and cupping her hands over phil's ear like a child telling a secret.

"he hasn't been eating," she whispered. "and i think it's gotten worse because of the notebook thing."

phil nodded stiffly, but everything in him was flipping out. what kind of friend was he? he hadn't even noticed that dan had been starving himself, even with all the signs and offhand comments from others. he had pushed them off as rumors... but how could he push off the actual proof? he had been so stupid.