Some days were easier than others and on the days that weren't as easy that was where the alcohol came in. A ghost didn't tend to be the best drinking partner but Dan figured if Phil's memory was going to haunt him anyway he may as well make the whole ordeal a little more bearable.
Dan didn't think it was necessarily his fault. Sometimes you just love someone so much that if they decide to leave you there's not much else you can do. It wasn't Phil's fault either; having a boyfriend with an incurable alcohol addiction would never be easy, but giving up on Dan maybe hadn't been the smartest move Phil had ever made either.
Not that it mattered too much to Phil now anyway. He'd moved on, he'd made himself happy in another relationship. But for Dan on the other side of it all, Phil had stuck around, or at least the harsh memory he'd left behind had; his ghost, and Dan never got a moment of peace. The alcohol made sure of that, the constant hazy state of Dan's mind was never going to be conducive for rational thought, or for acceptance that he'd fucked up one too many times and the love of his life had given up on him as a result. It wasn't like Dan was going to get over that any time soon.
None of it really mattered in the end, not as long as there was another bottle of booze. As long as that was the case Dan would spend each and every night alone, drinking with Phil's ghost.