Chapter 7: A Night On The Town
~Phil's POV~
I unlocked our apartment door and walked in. "Dan, I'm home!" I called, putting Dan's coat away. I really should get a new coat... I thought. The apartment remained quiet. "Dan?" I called again.
I walked into the living room and saw Dan curled into a ball on the couch, sleeping. I walked over and looked at him. He was snoring quietly, and shivering a little. I shook my head and went to fetch a blanket. I returned and put the blanket over him, making sure he was completely covered.
Just then, something caught my eye. Dan's eyes were a little puffy and his face looked tear-streaked. Was Dan crying? I thought, a wave of guilt washing over me. Is it because didn't come home on time? Did I upset him?
I frowned. I felt really bad that I was out having fun while Dan was home crying, all alone.
Suddenly, Dan stirred and opened his eyes. He looked up at me. "Phil? You're finally home?" he said, sounding happy.
I nodded and smiled. "Yup. I'm all yours now." I said.
He paused, looking a little uncomfortable. Did I say something wrong?
"I'm glad you're home. What time is it?" he asked, sitting up and stretching.
"About 5:30. Do you want something to eat?" I offered.
He shook his head. "I'm not really that hungry right now..." he said.
We landed in silence for a moment. I knew I had to say something. "Dan, can I talk to you?"
Dan looked surprised. "Yeah, sure. Sit down."
I sat down next to him. I took a deep breath and sighed. "Dan, I know something is bothering you, and it makes me sad to see you like this." I said.
Dan sat there for a few seconds, not saying anything. "... What do you mean?" he asked, not looking me in the eye.
"Dan, you look like you've been crying." I said.
"I haven't been crying!" Dan said, getting defensive.
"I'm just saying, you look really upset. Why won't you talk to me about it?" I asked.
"Because Phil... I can't talk to you about it, okay? I just can't!" Dan said, getting up and storming to his room.
I wasn't giving up this easily. "Dan, I'm not letting this go until you tell me what's wrong!" I said, storming after him.
He slammed his door and locked it. I stood outside his door, waiting. "Go away, Phil. I'm not talking about it, because there's nothing to talk about!"
"Dan, something is seriously wrong and I want to help!"
"... You can't help me, Phil. This is my problem, and you can't fix it." he said quietly. He sounded like he was starting to cry again.
"Dan, please, let me help you! We're best friends, we're supposed to help each other!" More silence. I sighed. "Dan, I'm here if you want to talk. If you don't, that's fine. But I'll be here if you need me." I said quietly, walking away.
I spent the rest of the night alone, with Dan locked up in his room. Something's not right here... He was so happy just the other day, then all of a sudden, he's completely depressed!
It was getting late, so I decided just to get some sleep. I only had tomorrow to work, then I had the whole weekend off.
I stood at the counter the next morning, barely awake. I hadn't gotten much sleep the previous night. It seemed like when I listened real closely, I could almost here Dan crying again.
"This is my problem, and you can't fix it."
But I wanted to fix it... I wanted to make him feel better. I thought. I hadn't seen Dan cry in a very long time, and seeing him that upset brought back the sadness from his previous break downs.
"You okay, man?" Kenny asked, putting a hand on my shoulder.
"Hmm? …Oh, yeah, just not feeling all that well today. Why?"
"Well, you look a little pale..." Kenny said quietly.
I just nodded, not bothering to stand straight up anymore. Instead I leaned on the counter, resting my chin on my hand. "I'm fine, really..."
"Phil, if you're not feeling well you can go home."
I considered it for a moment, but decided against it. "Nah, I've only been here a week, I don't want to go home sick on my first week. Besides, I have this weekend off, I can rest then." I said.
"If you're sure..." Kenny said slowly.
I nodded again. It was going to be a long day, and I needed to be on my best.
~Dan's POV~
I layed in my bed, exhausted. I hadn't really slept all night, but here I was, 10:00 a.m. and I was finally getting some sleep.
Just as I started to doze off, our house phone rang. My eyes snapped open, rage running through my veins. Who is called this early in the day? Not to mention on our house phone... I thought grumpily, getting out of bed and running to the phone. "Hello?" I answered, trying to sound atleast half way decent to the person who had interrupted my sleep.
"Hi, is Phil there?" a female voice asked.
Oh great, it's the girl... I rolled my eyes. "No, Phil is at work. Why?" I continued, making the irritation in my voice very clear.
"Oh, uh... I was just wondering because he wasn't answering his cell phone, so I just thought that maybe-"
"He probably didn't answer his phone because he's working." I pinched the bridge of my nose, closing my eyes.
"Well, yeah, I guess that would make sense... um, if you could tell him I called, that would be great."
Is this girl stupid? I thought, a bit too harshly. "Yes, I'll tell him you called. But if you don't mind me asking, Beth," I emphasized her name. "Why are you calling? Why don't you go see your boyfriend at work?" Sourness dripping from my voice.
"... Are you upset with me Dan?" she finally asked after a moment.
I sighed. "No, I'm not upset. You just woke me up, that's all..."
"Oh, I'm sorry! I guess I should have realized you'd be sleeping at this hour, hehe..." she said awkwardly.
"Yeah," I tried to lighten my tone a bit. "I'll tell him you called, okay?"
"Thanks Dan. Have a good day." she said sweetly, then the line went dead.
"Have a good day." I mimicked her, hang up the phone.
I walked back to bed, laying back down. Now can I get some sleep?
I woke up to the ringing of the phone once again. I sighed, getting very irritated. Can't she just accept that she has to wait until Phil gets home? I walked back out to our home phone. I picked it up. "Beth, you're going to have to wait until Phil gets home." I said.
"What?" Phil's voice answered, sounding confused.
"Oh, sorry Phil, I thought you were Beth." I said, a little embarrassed.
"Why? Did she call?" he asked, sounding excited.
"Yeah, she called a couple hours ago asking if you were home." I said, still upset that she woke me up.
"Why would she do that? She knew I had to work today..." Phil said, trailing off.
"Well, she called anyway... So what did you need?" I asked, trying to change the subject.
"Oh yeah, I just wanted to check in on how you were doing. Are you feeling better today?"
I took a moment before answering. "... Yeah, I'm doing fine." I said quietly.
"Good," I could almost hear the smile in his voice. "I was really worried about you last night..."
"Yeah, I've just been going through a lot of stuff I guess..." I said, which wasn't entirely un-true.
"Well I'll tell you what, as soon as I get home, you and I are going out for a fun night on the town, just you and me!"
"Really?!" My voice let out more excitement than I'd meant to.
"Yeah! Just be ready by 3:30 and we'll go out." he said. Then another voice came into the background. "Phil, your break is over in 2 minutes."
"Well, I should probably let you go." I said, feeling way better than I did this morning.
"Okay. Remember, be ready by 3:30. Bye, Dan."
"Bye, Phil." I smiled, hanging up the phone.
I felt so happy that he was taking the time to go out with me tonight. I rushed to my room to find something to wear, since I was still in my pajamas.
It's kinda like your first date, huh Dan? my conscience said.
I'm going to let that slide since I'm in such a good mood... I thought back, still searching through my wardrobe for something to wear. I knew I didn't have to dress up or anything, but I wanted to look nice for Phil.
Of course you do...
3:30 finally rolled around and I was wearing my favorite skinny jeans and sweatshirt. I was sitting on our couch, too excited to sit still, so I finally got up and went to find a snack.
As I rummaged through our fridge, I heard the door open. "Dan, I'm home!" I heard Phil call.
"In the kitchen!" I called back. He walked into the kitchen, snow covering his black hair and his clothes. "Was it really snowing that bad?" I asked, getting nervous that he would cancel our plans.
"It was snowing when I got out of work, but it's stopped now. Are you ready to have fun?" he grinned.
"Definitely!" I said, grinning back.
"Great! Just let me call Bethany and we'll be on our way." he said, walking to our house phone.
My smile fell. Of course he had to call her... I thought.
I heard Phil in the other room. "Hi Beth! What did you need? … Oh, um, I kind of have plans tonight..." I ginned. "But Beth, I really can't tonight... Okay, I'm sorry. You're not mad are you? … Hello?" There was silence for a few seconds, then I heard Phil hang up the phone. He walked into the kitchen, a frown on his face. "I think she's mad at me."
"What did she want?" I asked.
"She wanted me to come over to her party tonight that she was having, but I told her I was going out tonight, and she just hung up." he said, his shoulders slumped.
I took a deep breath and sighed. "Phil, if you want to go to her party, I understand..." I said, my voice shaking a little.
"No, she's going to have to accept that I'm spending time with my best friend!" he said.
I grinned again. "Thanks, Phil."
"No problem," he smiled back. "Now, shall we?" he gestured to the door.
"We shall." I nodded.
We walked around London, for what seemed like hours. "What do you want to do now?" Phil asked.
"Hmm... Well, you definitely need a new coat. C'mon, I'll buy you one." I said, pulling him down the street to the clothing store.
"Dan, you don't have to do that! I can buy it..." he said as we walked in the sliding doors.
"Phil, I'm going to buy you a coat." I said plainly.
"Okay."
We walked all through the store until we got to the winter section. "Okay, go pick out a coat." I said.
"Any coat?"
"Any coat you'd like." I said. It was a good thing I had brought some money.
"I like this one!" he said, standing at a clothes rack a little ways away.
"Okay." Let's get it." I smiled, not bothering to look at the price, although I probably should've.
I bought the coat for Phil, thankfully for a low price. He gave me back my coat, which smelled good after being worn by him all week.
"Thanks, Dan." Phil said, putting on his new coat as we stepped outside. "What now?"
"How about we just walk around for a while?" I said. I was just happy to be spending time with him. All these thoughts about him had me going crazy.
"Okay, sounds good."
We walked and walked and walked until our legs finally got tired. "I have to sit down." I said, seeing a small park bench near a now frozen-over fountain.
"Dan, everything's covered in snow. Where are you going to sit?"
"Over there." I said, pointing to the bench. It wasn't covered in snow thanks to the little roof-thing it had over it. "Come sit with me." I said, pulling him over to the bench. We walked over to the bench, which, upon further inspection, was almost fully covered in a layer of ice. "Well... so much for that idea..." I said. I turned to walk away from the bench when I slipped on some ice. "Whoa!" I said, falling.
Phil grabbed my arm and pulled me back to my feet. As I stood up properly, I noticed my face was way too close to his, as I look at his eyes. He looked back into mine. We stood there, staring at each other for what felt like forever, but was only minutes. My eyes trailed down to his lips, where small puffs of white escaped his mouth as he breathed.
I could kiss him if I only leaned forward an inch... I thought.
"Ahem," I cleared my throat, breaking the moment. "Uh, thanks for catching me." I said quietly, although I didn't want to break the closeness.
"Y-yeah. Of course." Phil said, equally as quiet.
"It's getting late. You wanna go home?"
"Yeah, that sounds good." he said.
We walked in silence as we headed back to our apartment. Why we didn't take a taxi, I don't know.
We finally got home, where Phil was almost begging me to open the door. When we were inside, we stripped our coats off. "It's f-freezing outside." Phil said, shivering.
I thought for a moment. "Why don't you go take a shower and warm up while I make us some hot chocolate."
"O-okay. Thanks." Phil said, walking off to the bathroom. We were both soaked to the bone and freezing, but he seemed more cold than I was.
I walked to the kitchen, trailing water from my wet socks along the floor, and got out the stuff to make some hot chocolate.
