I hope this isn't too bad...

Barnum huffed. He wasn't stupid. He could tell something was bothering Phillip. He wouldn't admit it, but it was definitely there.

The little twitches whenever someone yelled his name. The winces when someone clasped a hand on his shoulder. The shivers when someone got too close. Barnum noticed it all. Speaking of...

"Phillip!" he shouted from across the tent while searching for the boy (yes, boy. He was old enough he could call Phillip a boy dammit!).

"Y-yeah?" Phillip replied a few moments later.

"Can you come here for a moment? I need to ask you something."

"Do I have a choice?"

"No."

"Well. Could you gimme a tick?"

Barnum chuckled, but he did as asked. Seconds turned into minutes. Minutes turned into half an hour. He sighed before walking up the stairs. Barnum knocked on the door.

"Phillip? Are you in there?" he asked.

"P. T.! Shit, I forget about you, didn't I?" Phillip replied.

"You aren't in trouble if that's what you're asking."

"What did you need?"

"I just wanted to talk to you is all. And not as co-workers, but as friends. Is that so bad?"

"N-no! I'll be out in a tick. For real this time."

This time, Barnum outright laughed. As promised, Phillip finally came out of the little corner office.

"Okay, now I'm ready to go out," Phillip said, his cheeks pink and face pale.

"Are you feeling alright?" Barnum asked. "You don't look so good."

"I'm fine. Just was deep in thought is all."

"If you say so."

A few minutes later, they were in the pub across the way. They got a table in the crowded bar and ordered their drinks.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Phillip asked.

"I just wanted to know how you were doing," Barnum replied.

"That's all?"

"No, but I figured it's a good place to start."

"You're right. Uh, I guess I'm doing alright. How about you?"

"I'm doing better now that I'm home. Caroline and Helen have been asking for you for a while now. After this, you wanna come with me to my home and see them?"

"What about Charity?"

"She wouldn't mind. We've all been worried about you."

Phillip smiled softly.

"You've been quiet since you last saw your parents with Ann. Did something happen?"

Phillip looked away before looking back.

"It's okay if you don't want to talk about it," Barnum started to say before Phillip interrupted him.

"No no, it's okay. You can ask me about it, but I might not tell you everything is all."

"Well, why did you go see them?"

"I didn't. They came to me."

"At your apartment?"

"Yes. Ann had just so happened to be visiting."

"I see. What did they say to her? She didn't look pleased when she walked into the circus afterward."

"They didn't even say anything to her. They acted like she wasn't there."

"That's odd."

"Eh. That's why I sent her to the circus so I could be alone with my parents."

"Why did you not want her to be there?"

"I didn't want to subject her to them."

"What did you not want her to see?"

Phillip's face went white and looked down.

"Phillip, I need to know," Barnum said gently. He wouldn't lie and say he wasn't worried.

"I can't say," Phillip replied softly.

"And why is that?"

Phillip looked up into Barnum's honey brown eyes. To Barnum, it felt like Phillip's baby blues were staring deep into his soul.

"We all have skeletons in our closets."

Barnum nodded and opened his arms as Phillip collapsed to the older man's chest and sobbed. Barnum simply held him close. He was like a son to him, and he'd be damned if he let him go so soon.

Later on, he brought him to the home and let Charity, Helen, and Caroline cheer him up. But he made sure he stayed close. Because that was what fathers did. They made sure to help ease the skeletons back into the closet where they belonged.

Ugh, the ending sucks. I'll fix it nevermaybe.

~*MegaMon2580*~