☾ ☽

phil got woken up at 6:30 am to his phone ringing.

he rolled over, groaning and reaching out to check the glowing screen. five missed calls. he cursed, picking it up and sitting up too quickly.

"hello?"

he became aware of how croaky his morning voice sounded, but the frantic words of eliza came through and he found himself not caring.

"phil, you really need to get down here." the urgency of her tone made phil frown and sit up straighter. "right now."

he would usually question a request like this at this time of morning, but she sounded so genuinely scared and unsure that phil jumped out of bed.

they may have their arguments, but eliza was phil's closest (and possibly only) friend at the moment. no matter how it may seem, if she was in trouble, phil would be the first one there.

he struggled with getting dressed in his hazy state, grabbing his glasses off the dresser.

he threw on a t-shirt and some sweatpants, not bothering to fix his messy morning hair.

it wasn't until he was actually in the taxi that he started to really take a deep breath and consider the situation.

why would eliza call him that early, on his day off, to come down to the shop? if it was some kind of emergency, she could just call frank... what in the world could it be then?

the second he stepped out of the taxi he was bombarded.

"phil," eliza said breathlessly, grabbing onto his arm. "you have to see this."

the look in her eyes gave off some kind of fear, and worry. he let her drag him inside, locking the door behind them.

phil couldn't see anything wrong at first. the shop looked normal, peaceful, nothing was out of place. but then he heard it. a soft kind of heavy shaky breathing, and then a quiet whimper.

he turned to eliza, frowning.

she shrugged, leading him behind the counter.

"um," she started, tugging at her ponytail. "i didn't know what to do, i couldn't just leave him out there..."

phil practically audibly gasped as his eyes finally landed on-

dan?

the boy was huddled in the corner, draped in a blanket, shivering so hard that phil was incredibly worried that there was a deeper cold than the blanket could fix.

"he slept outside, all night in the rain, and he was outside when i got here this morning. i couldn't just leave him." eliza repeated, biting her lip, shifting on her feet anxiously. "frank is gonna kill us."

phil was listening, but his eyes were still locked on the trembling boy. his cheeks were flushed and tear stained, and it made phil's heart ache.

'us?' he wanted to say, but he knew he was part of this now too. he would have let dan in just as quick, if not quicker.

"right," he mumbled, trying to get ahold of his thoughts. "first thing is warm him up. a blanket from the storage closet isn't gonna cut it."

despite the situation eliza stuck her tongue out at him, and he rolled his eyes.

"i'll go find more," she said, rushing off. phil took that opportunity to kneel in front of dan, getting a better look at him.

he looked like the living embodiment of hopeless. his hair was wet and tangled in his face, and he somehow looked even skinnier than he had before, but maybe that was because the rest of him was soaking wet as well.

he seemed to be avoiding phil's eyes. phil resisted the overwhelming urge to lift dan's chin up, keeping his distance.

"what happened?" he asked, his voice soft and gentle as it possibly could be.

dan glanced up, before looking away again. he didn't answer.

he was about to ask a different question, but eliza returned with her arms full of all the blankets they had around. she handed them to phil, who slowly wrapped dan in the new warmth, being careful not to startle him. he watched dan's face, willing him to look up.

"i don't know what to do, we don't know who he is or-"

"i know him," phil said, interrupting. eliza's eyes widened.

"well you could have started with that!" she exclaimed, raising her voice, and phil saw dan jump. "do you know where he lives?"

"yes..." phil trailed off, looking at dan again, who finally looked up. he met phil's eyes, pleading, and phil nodded. "but i don't think he's in any position to go home."

"well, what do we do then?" eliza asked, beginning to pace, crossing her arms over her chest. "he can't stay here, we'd get fired, and-"

"do we have any food?" phil interrupted her again. she hesitated.

"maybe, we probably have soup or something, but-"

"go get it."

she blinked at him a second before nodding curtly and rushing off again.

phil slowly put a hand on dan's knee. he flinched, but didn't pull away. he looked up, meeting phil's eyes.

"are you okay?" phil asked; a pointless question. dan clearly wasn't okay. "are you hurt? why did you sleep outside?"

"i..." dan shook his head, his voice weak. "i was waiting f-for you. i d-didn't know where you lived..."

he shook his head again, burying his face in his arms.

"i'm s-sorry, i know i don't k-know you that well, i just d-don't... i just don't have anybody else."

phil's heart ached, and he gently pushed dan's cheek to bring his face up again.

"hey," he said, his voice melting with honey. "it's okay. i'm glad you tried to find me."

"i don't wanna get you guys in trouble," he whispered, but before phil could answer, eliza was back with a mug of hot chocolate and a larger cup of soup.

she set them down next to dan, and dan tried to smile at her.

"t-thank you," he muttered, and she blinked.

"um, you're welcome." she smiled back.

phil watched as dan slowly reached for the food, holding it between his shaking hands, taking a tiny sip.

that's when phil realized he was still wearing those damn shoes.

"jesus, dan," he blurted, making dan jump and look up. "take those off."

he pointed to the boy's feet, and dan's eyes widened, his head shaking frantically.

"they must be freezing," phil muttered, placing a hand on one of them before dan pulled it away. sure enough, they were practically solid blocks of ice.

eliza and phil shared a worried look, but didn't say anything more. phil didn't want to make him uncomfortable.

they waited for dan to eat slowly, keeping the shop closed so that they could make sure he was okay. after awhile he gradually stopped shivering, and started talking more.

he told them how he had been kicked out the night before with no place to go, but he wouldn't say why. it crossed phil's mind that it might have been his fault for showing up at his doorstep, but he didn't mention it.

eliza made herself and phil some hot chocolate as well, and they all sat and talked for a bit. it seemed to be considerably calming dan down. he still looked tense, and since he was still in his wet clothes a little cold, but better overall.

"are you sure you don't have anywhere to go?" phil asked, taking a sip from his warm mug. "like, a relative or something?"

dan's face dropped a bit, and he shook his head, doing nothing to elaborate.

eliza turned to phil. "he can't stay here," she said quietly, but dan could clearly hear. "you know that."

phil licked his lips. "i know."

he looked at dan, looked at his matted hair and wrinkled clothes, the way his fingers were still shaking around the mug he was clutching to his chest. his rosy cheeks and red nose and the way he still managed to look beautiful after all this.

he must have been through a hell of a lot, phil didn't even know the half of it, just what dan would tell him. but he did know he wanted to help.

"he can stay with me," phil blurted without thinking twice.