I Support It By Watching It /Phan/

Scene 12: Right Here

Dan cut through the yard to get to his front door. He fumbled with his keys for a while until he got it in the keyhole, twisting and opening the door, making his way inside.

Joey wasn't home yet, since Dan got out of school earlier than he did due to finals days being shorter. He walked to the kitchen and grabbed a packet of Ramen and a pot. He filled it with water and waited for it to boil.

Dan perched himself up on the counter as he scrolled through his Instagram, liking photos and videos as he went. He heard a sizzle and jumped down when he saw some of the water splashing over, turning the heat down and adding the noodle block.

Once he finished, he put it all in a bowl and walked to the living room, sitting down slowly so he doesn't spill his food. The rest of his alone time was spent watching reruns of old Nickelodeon cartoons and snacking on a few things.

Dan heard the front door open, Joey walking in, throwing his bag on the ground.

"What's your problem?" Dan asks.

Dan's question was ignored as Joey walked to the kitchen. The younger angrily opened the fridge, the slamming it shut.

"Joseph! What the fuck dude?" Dan asks when he heard all the bottles inside clank together.

"What?" He shouts, turning to his brother.

Dan was taken aback at Joey's outburst. He's always so calm, and sweetly spoken, never angry.

"What's wrong, Joey? What happened?" Dan asks.

"It's nothing, Dan. Just leave me alone," Joey says, passing by Dan and walking upstairs to his room.

Dan signs and goes up to his own room. He dropped down quickly on to the bed, a groan leaving him as he felt something under his back. He got up and looked at what it was.

It was a green rubber snail with one of those balls in it that you had to hit to make it light up.

"What's this?" Dan asks, laughing as he went through Phil's backpack.

"Nothing!" He says, reaching out for it.

Dan pulled some of the rubber strings on it and snapped them back. He then hit it against the wall, Phil gasping as red, blue, and green lights flashed from inside the snail.

"I saw this before. Wasn't it on Jason's Snapchat?" Dan asks, handing it back to Phil.

"Yeah. Mr. Baker gave it to me and I took it to theater. Jason kept stealing it and calling him Burbach. I called him Alistair." Phil laughs.

"So what's his name?" Dan questions, throwing the snail toy in the air.

"Alistair Burbach Lambsauce. Jason did the middle and last name, as you can tell." Phil laughed.

Dan sighed before throwing the toy into his closet, faint green, red, and blue lights shinning through.

He closed his eyes, curling up on his side and before he knew it, he fell asleep.

***

"What do you mean you haven't talked to him in a week? What happened?" Mia asked.

Phil shrugged, looking down at the table. Him, Matt, Mia, and Dodie were all out at Dino's Pizza. Since it was a short day, they all decided to hang out and just goof off.

"I... I don't know. I was at his house and we were just messing around. He, we almost kissed, but his little brother walked in before we did. Then he flipped his shit!" Phil explained frustratedly.

"Wait a minute, backtrack a bit; you guys almost kissed?" Dodie asked, shaking her head.

Phil nodded, placing his head in his hands. He signed loudly and continued speaking.

"He told me it wasn't supposed to happen. That we weren't going to actually do anything. Can you believe him?!" Phil says.

"Have you tried talking to him?" Matt asks, Phil looking up.

"Yeah. Well, kind of. I almost texted him a few times and, well, the other day I waited for him outside of Mr. Baker's classroom and he walked right past me. He looked at me and kept walking, like I wasn't even there," Phil says sadly, Mia reaching across the table to grab his hand.

The pizza came out and everyone thanked the employee before digging in. Phil tried to be a little happier, smiling with his friends and laughing at Matt's stupid jokes.

The bell rang, signaling someone just walked in. Phil wasn't paying any mind to it, since he was talking to Dodie, but he looked over at the counter and saw a familiar head of hair.

It felt like his heart stopped for a second, Dan clearly not knowing who was behind him. Joey turned around, making eye contact with Phil.

"Hey, Phil!" Joey says, waving at the boy.

Dan physically stiffens, but doesn't turn around.

"Hey Joey. How are you?" Phil smiles, trying his hardest not to freak out.

"I'm good. I haven't seen you around in a while," he says, frowning a bit.

"Oh, ha. I've um, I've been really busy with school and the club, right now. I'm sorry about that buddy," Phil smiles sadly.

Dan overheard the conversation as he waited for his order.

"Buddy? Since when has he called Joey 'buddy'?" Dan thought.

"Alright, well, I'll see you later, Phil!" Joey says.

He makes his way back over to Dan, who had gotten their order and was ready to head out.

For a brief second, the two made eye contact. Dan saw the sadness that Phil blue eyes held, and Phil saw the regret Dan's held.

"Why didn't you say 'Hi', to Phil?" Joey asks as the two left.

"I don't know what you mean," Dan says, Joey's mouth falling open a bit.

"Phil? Are you okay?" Dodie asks, reaching out to Phil.

Phil shook his head, a tear slipping down his cheek.

"I don't know what you mean."

Both boys were hurting, but neither did a thing.

Remember when I said I'd update more? Yeah, me too.

Anyways, I'm so sorry for my absences. My life, and I don't mean this to be "cool" or "trendy" or whatever, has actually gone down the gutter. I feel like now, the only way to get it all out is by writing. Sadly, I lost all of my notes and plans for all my current and future stories in said "gutter" but I'll make it back.

Again, I'm so sorry guys. I love you all :)