A/N: ...I never thought I would open this document again.
But here I go
Screw it
April 18th
Dan stepped into the shop cheerily, twirling the set of small silver keys around his index finger. He truly felt that nothing could ruin his blissful mood at the moment.
Unfortunately, he was wrong.
It only took Dan a few minutes to find the mail, which had been messily shoved through the mail slot in the window.
Humming contently, Dan picked up the stack of papers. He began to lazily thumb through them, glancing briefly at the titles. Everything was fine until he got to a certain letter. This letter was what cause Dan's wonderful mood to shatter around him.
A bill.
No, a fine.
With tremoring hands, Dan picked the letter up, nervously tearing the top off.
Mr. Howell,
This is your final notice regarding your rent. You have failed to pay your rent for the past three months. If you are unable to pay your rent of 1,500 pounds plus the additional 400 pound fine ( 2476 dollars total for us Americans) by May 29th, you will be evicted.
If there are any problems, you may contact me:
Phone- 123-456-7890
Email: mandybarns
Have a nice day,
Miranda Barns
Dan stared in shock at the letter. 1,900 pounds?! There was no way he could pay off all that in seven weeks!
Letting out a heavy sigh, Dan slumped back into his chair, running a hand through his hair.
This is not good.
This is in fact, terrible. Dan thought, re-reading the letter in his hand.
I'm going to lose the shop.
I'm going to lose my home...
The young writer's mind was flooded with panic as he stared blankly at the letter.
"Dammit!" Dan crushed the paper, flinging it at the desk and standing up quick enough for his chair to fall over.
As Dan paced around the small bookstore, he began to feel a sense of panic he hadn't felt in quite a while. He kicked over a small table with a few books on top, the contents went scattering across the floor.
Maybe if you weren't such a bad writer you could have made a living off of that.
Dan's heart was like a drum in his ears, its beats coursing through him in waves.
You're going to be homeless.
You're going to be broke.
Dan stumbled back against the wall, needing something for support. The familiar feeling of the slightly warped walls gave Dan a nice sense of reassurance.
"Okay Dan, breath..." He forced himself to take in deep breaths. He hadn't any anxiety issues since he was fifteen.
It took him several minutes, but he finally managed to calm down, and his heavy, panicked breaths turned into sobs as he slid down the wall and buried his head in his hands.
...
"Phil!" Katy stuck her head in the kitchen, where Phil was washing dishes.
"Yeah?" The raven-haired man dried off the shot glass he was washing, setting it on the counter.
"Anna left early, we're one short out on the bar."
Phil pulled off his wet apron and got a new, dry one. "Coming!"
"Here," Katy handed Phil a notepad. "You get the poor lad over there his drink." She motioned to a man sitting at the end of the bar, who had his face in his hands and appeared to be crying.
Phil nodded and hurriedly walked over to where the man was sitting. "Hi, can I get you something to drink?" He asked cautiously.
The young adult sat up, a surprised look on his face. "Phil... I forgot you worked here..." he sniffed.
"Oh my gosh... Dan, what's wrong?" Phil asked with concern, staring at the man he had seen happily eating lunch with him only hours earlier.
"I'll tell you in a minute." Dan sniffed, "Just get me something strong, please."
Phil turned around and grabbed few bottles, mixing the contents together in a small cup and giving it to Dan.
The brunet grabbed the cup and downed it in one go, wincing as the potent liquid stung his throat.
"Now, tell me what happened," Phil demanded, refilling Dan's glass.
Dan pulled a crumpled piece of paper out of his pocket and slid it towards Phil. "I've gotten myself into such a mess, Phil."
Phil picked the paper up, smoothing down the edges down and quickly reading over it.
A sense of shame washed over Dan as he looked at the shock on his new friend's face. He couldn't think of anything more humiliating than having to tell Phil he might lose his house and job because he was too broke to pay for it.
"Oh, Dan..." Phil handed him back the document. "I can help you know, I could lend you some money or a place to stay if you need—"
"Oh no, I couldn't," Dan quickly cut Phil off. "I couldn't ask you that...I got myself into this mess, I'll find some way to get out of it."
"Please, Dan," Phil set his hand down so that their fingers were overlapping. "I don't want to come off as some stuck up snob, but money is really not an issue for me and it is no trouble for me to give you anything you need," Phil bit his lip. He hated talking about his financial circumstances, but he needed to let Dan know that he was there to help.
"Phil, really, I couldn't," Dan's gaze flickered between their hands and Phil's eyes.
The ebony haired man sighed, realizing his attempt right now would be fruitless, but he would find some way to help Dan. "Okay, but if you ever need anything," Phil gently curled his fingers around Dan's. "please, tell me."
Dan nodded, sniffing slightly. "Okay..."
"Oh, and your drinks are on the house tonight." Phil gave his friend a warm-hearted wink.
Dan looked like he was about to protest but hesitated before smiling. "Thank you."
A/N: I would have written more but I have to sleep, sorry.
Hope you liked it ^.^