"Mom." The cry from the other room sent Anne running from the kitchen to the conservatory "Mom. Please come back." Phillip was still asleep on the sofa, curled up on his side. His face was creased in a deep frown, tears streaming down his face.

"Phillip." She shook him gently, kneeling down beside him. "Phillip, wake up. It's me. Anne." She shook him a couple of times before his eyes opened. He looked at her confused and groggy.

"Anne? What are you doing here?" He wiped at his face with his sleeve, trying to work out why it was wet.

"You're in my apartment Phillip. Of course I'm here." She answered. He looked around and realized she was right. He hadn't got a clue how he'd ended up there.

"Oh. Right." He mumbled. Had he been that drunk? He could remember being in his father's study and then... the realization of what had led him to Anne's door hit him like a tonne of bricks. Mom.

"Phillip. You need to breathe." Anne reminded him. She could practically see his mind racing, trying to work out what to do.

He sucked in a shaky breath. "My Mom, Anne. I have to go back." He started to stand, looking around for his shoes and jacket but she gently pushed him back down.

"Phillip. What happened? You were drunk last night and you weren't really making any sense." Anne asked, sitting down beside him.

Phillip looked down at his hands, pulling at a loose thread on his sleeve. What was he supposed to say to her? He should never have come to her, the last thing he wanted was to drag her into his mess. That had been his reason for leaving the circus in the first place. How had he ended up in her apartment? His foggy memory struggled to put together what had happened. "It's fine. I should go." He said when he realized she was still looking at him waiting for an answer.

"Phillip, you're not fine." She sighed, her hand still gripping his wrist as though she were afraid he would run away the second she left go. "You don't have to keep pretending it's okay, you're allowed not to be. She's your Mom."

"How much did I tell you last night?" He asked hesitantly. This was the problem, he never had a filter when it was drunk. He'd lost count of the amount of times he'd said things he shouldn't have done after a couple of drinks. He'd got drunk and joined the circus for god's sake. That one had turned out to be the best thing he'd ever done but he really should've learned his lesson by now.

"You were drunk and upset. You didn't make much sense." Anne told him quietly. "You said you Mom was sick and that was about it. I'm so sorry Phillip."

"Why are you sorry?" He asked, running his fingers through his head. The hangover was starting to kick in and he felt awful. "It's not like it's your fault."

"No." She whispered. "But I hate seeing you like this. When are you going to realize that I love you and I'm not going anywhere?"

"I..." He stared at her blankly for a moment. A few weeks ago he would've been so happy to hear her say that- but now? He'd only proven he didn't deserve her. "I don't know how to do this." He admitted, his voice barely a whisper.

"Do what?" She frowned struggling to follow his train of thought.

"This." He gestured to her. "I don't know how to let someone in. I don't do this, I never had. I drink Anne, I drink and it frightens me because some days I need that whiskey like I need oxygen. It scares me but I can't make myself stop it. I'm not good enough for you."

"Stop it." Anne interjected, shaking her head. "You've made some mistakes, we all have. I'm screwed up too Phillip. Everyone is. You don't have to be perfect all the time."

"I don't know what to do Anne." He whispered, a tear rolling down his cheek. "What am I supposed to do?"

"I don't know Phillip." She squeezed his hand. "But we can figure it out together, I'm here. I'm not going anywhere."

He looked at her for a long moment, his eyes searching her face for something but she wasn't quite sure what. "I can't let you get involved in this Anne. My father, he's not a good man."

"I'm quite capable of looking after myself Phillip. You should know that by now." He pulled a face but didn't say anything else. "Why don't you go and have a shower and I'll make us some breakfast?" She suggested.

"I should go home and do that. I need to change." He sighed.

Anne shook her head. "P.T. said he'd go get you some clothes and bring them over. You're staying here for a while." It wasn't an offer, he wasn't having a choice in the matter. There was no way she was letting him go anywhere on his own. There was no telling quite what he'd do in his current state.

"Oh." Was all Phillip could manage in response. He still felt like he was in some kind of bizarre dream he couldn't wake up from as Anne pushed him towards the bathroom.

P.T. turned up a couple of minutes after Phillip had gone in the shower. She didn't think she'd ever been so pleased to see the ring master. She was in way over her head with this, she hadn't got a clue what to do for the best.

"Oh thank god, you're here." She breathed a sigh of relief as she let him in to her apartment. P.T. held out a bag of Phillip's clothes to her. "I'll just put these in the bedroom so he can change when he's out of the shower." She said, disappearing for a second.

"His father was at his apartment." P.T. told her when she came back into the living room. His expression was grim and told Anne everything she needed to know.

"Sorry, I had no idea." She cringed.

P.T. waved his hand dismissively. "It's not your fault, you weren't to know. How is he?"

Anne shrugged. "I don't know. He's not said much. Just keeps saying that he doesn't want me to get dragged into the middle of it all. His Mom is sick, but that's all I know."

"Yeah. I figured that bit out from what his father said." Barnum sighed unhappily.

"What did he say to you?" Anne asked curiously.

"A lot of threats, I'm pretty sure he wouldn't actually follow through on them." Barnum tried to smile so Anne wouldn't see how worried he actually was.

"Oh he would, trust me." They both turned around to find Phillip standing in the doorway of the bedroom in jeans and a shirt, his hair dripping. "You two don't have any idea what he's like. This is why I didn't want you getting involved."

"Come and sit down, I think we need to talk about this." P.T. suggested. Anne nodded in agreement and sat down on the sofa gesturing to Phillip to come and sit with her. P.T. sat in the armchair opposite them both as Phillip sat down reluctantly.

"There's nothing to talk about." Phillip sighed.

"We care about you Phillip, we're worried about you. You might not like it but that's how it works. You're a part of my family now and I'm not about to watch you fall apart." P.T. interjected before he could get any further.

"You don't need to worry about me. I'm f-"

"Phillip I swear to God if you try and tell me you're find again I'm going to lose it." P.T. shot back. "Look at yourself, you're not fine. Burying your head in the sand, or should I say whiskey, isn't going to work."

Anne glared at Barnum. She hadn't been expecting him to be quite so harsh. Phillip seemed more than a little taken aback as he sat there staring at his friend. "Well.. don't hold back." He cringed.

"Well, someone's gotta tell you the truth at some point Phillip." Barnum shrugged. "You carry on like this you're going to end up exactly like him. Is that really what you want?" He hadn't meant it to sound quite as harsh as it had done and he saw the hurt flicker across Phillip's face.

"I don't know what to do." Phillip breathed, his hand sliding into Anne's and gripping onto her for dear life. "I don't know how to do this."

"I know." Barnum said gently, his face softening. Anne squeezed Phillip's hand reassuringly. "But you've gotta lay off the drink Phillip, we'll help you- you know we will. But you can't even begin to deal with any of this in the state you're in."

Phillip knew somewhere deep down that he was right. That feeling didn't help with the fact that all he really wanted was to drink himself into the comforting sleep that whiskey brought him. But he had to try, the way Anne was looking at him as enough to convince him that he had to try for her at least.