ART DECO | PHAN

twenty two.

1/29/17

phil lester was surprised when his phone started ringing.

he had gone back to his room after dan had left, a bit put out. clearly he didn't know how to take care of someone. he kept worrying that he was somehow making dan worse...

it was making him anxious beyond belief.

he picked up the phone; the call was from a number he recognized as katie's.

"hey...?"

"hey." she sounded a bit breathless. "can you... come over?"

phil frowned. "why? what's wrong?"

she only had to say two words to get phil jumping up, abandoning whatever homework he had been working on. and she said them.

"it's dan."

he bit his lip, and suddenly his chest felt contracted, like it was crushing itself under its own weight.

"what's wrong?" he asked breathlessly, starting for the door. fuck, had he made it worse? had dan passed out again?

"he's... hurt. i'll explain when you get here."

"explain now!" phil was semi panicked, walking down the hall in a swift pace, chewing on the inside of his cheek.

katie let out a sigh.

"from what i can understand, your girlfriend beat him until he bled, phil."

phil's breath caught and he stopped in his tracks, absorbing that new information. fuck... oh fuck.

"i'm on my way," he mumbled finally, hanging up.

when he got to her room he didn't bother knocking, just opened the door, pushing his hair back anxiously.

dan was sitting on the edge of her bed, his eyes downcast and his arms wrapped around his own waist. katie stood next to him, and looked up when he came in.

"phil..."

phil didn't turn to her, just looked at dan. his cheek was inflamed and his lip was split, and he was shaking in a way that implied there were a few other injuries as well. he didn't look up.

"dan," phil breathed. he still didn't look up.

finally he kneeled in front of the bed, so he was beneath him. dan avoided his eyes.

"hey," he whispered, searching his face. he faintly heard katie leave, the door shutting softly behind her. he reminded himself to thank her later. "hey, dan. look at me."

dan let out a shaky little sigh that had phil's heart aching painfully, and he looked at him finally. phil smiled at him, just for encouragement.

"tell me what happened."

dan flinched ever so slightly. he licked his broken lips. "you won't like it."

"i wouldn't like it no matter what it was."

dan paused. "i-i was running and... and i heard e-eva and some of her friends in the p-parking lot and i caught them keying your c-car..." there were tears in his eyes and phil reached up to brush them away with his thumb. "and t-they beat me up."

phil cringed. his dad would kill him that his truck's paint had been fucked up, but he was more concerned with dan right then.

he searched dan's shiny eyes, biting his lip. "i'm so sorry..."

dan shook his head. "it's okay..." he paused. "s-she broke up with you."

phil hesitated. "i figured."

dan looked almost scared. "i'm sorry, phil."

phil took his hands, surprised by how much they were shaking. he kissed each of his fingers before he could stop himself.

"did they hit you anywhere else?"

dan nodded after a second, shivering. "my stomach."

phil bit his lip. "can i see?"

dan's eyes were wide and he shook his head right away, pulling his hands away. phil searched his face.

"it's okay if you don't want to," he said, his voice soft and slow. "but it would really help me make it hurt less."

dan was quiet, watching him, as if scoping him out to determine if he was trustful or not.

"okay," he whispered finally, his voice breaking. "j-just don't make fun of me."

phil swore his heart cracked a bit.

"never."

phil carefully touched the hem of dan's sweatshirt, and dan flinched, but went pliant as phil slowly pulled it off over his head. then he took the black t-shirt he wore beneath it off as well. he looked him over slowly, his eyes traveling over the plains of skin in front of him.

there were several red marks around his ribs, and a small already forming bruise between them. phil let out a breath in a soft huff.

he reached out, brushing his fingertips over the bruise. dan flinched under his touch, letting out a soft breathless noise. it look a moment for him to relax, and phil waited patiently.

"is it bad?" dan whispered. phil realized he wasn't looking down, but straight ahead, his eyes squeezed shut.

"no," he whispered back. "you h-have a few bruises. they'll go away soon enough."

he paused before flattening his palm over the spot between his chest and stomach. he could feel where his ribs ended, and his stomach dropped into his body. he shivered.

"i'm sorry," dan said, so softly that phil hardly noticed he had spoken for a moment.

"for what?" he asked softly, running his fingers along his bones.

"for being so ugly."

phil looked up, his heart skipping a beat painfully when he saw that dan was looking back at him.

"you aren't ugly, dan."

"but-"

"shush." phil moved his hand slowly upwards until it rested over where his heart was. he could feel it racing beneath his fingertips. "you shouldn't apologize for something that isn't true."

dan fell silent, but phil swore he saw a smile tugging at the corners of his lips.