(phil)

phil sits on the couch, watching the door. dan should be home any minute now.

phil's eyes flicker back to the tv, but it can't seem to hold his attention. his mind is swirling too fast. before his thoughts can drive him crazy, the doorknob finally clicks and turns, and dan enters almost sheepishly.

"hey," he says with a smile and phil can't help but feel even angrier. but he takes a deep breath and holds onto his calm.

"hi," phil answers, squinting at the tv.

"how was your day?" dan asks, seemingly in a very talkative mood.

"alright, how was yours?" phil asks, coolly glancing over at dan who is still tinkering around in the kitchen.

"yeah, good."

"did you meet your friend? addie, was it?" phil asks, easily feigning interest.

dan opens the fridge. "yeah. we went to the park 'cause she brought her dog."

well, that definitely settled it. pj wasn't making it up. dan was lying.

"why?" phil asks, feeling anger building up again.

"well, her dog's a golden retriever and she needs ex--"

"not that," phil hisses, standing up and moving to the kitchen. "why did you lie?"

realisation flashes in dan's eyes, along with a mix of panic and shame. "pj told you," dan mumbles, looking at the ground, defeated.

"why?"

"i don't know."

dan puts down the juice and turns to phil so that they're both staring at each other in the middle of the kitchen. "you must've done it for a reason."

"n-no."

phil rolls his eyes, "did you just want to get away from me?"

"no, no," dan assures quickly.

"do you really have no friends?"

"no, i do."

"then what?" phil asks harshly. he is beyond exasperated and dan is getting on his nerves.

"why does it matter so much?"

"because you lied and how am i supposed to know you won't do it again?" phil finally reasons, again trying to remain calm. "i'm just trying to understand why."

"it's not a big deal."

"exactly, so just tell me."

dan's resolve is beginning to fade. he squeezes his eyes shut and sighs before saying, "i heard you and pj."

so dan's a liar and an eavesdropper? phil doesn't say his thoughts out loud and just gestures for dan to continue.

"i thought if i had a friend you wouldn't think i was weird and want to move out."

the confession shatters phil's heart a little bit and he wants to squeeze dan in a hug and smother him with kisses. it's weird how a second ago he was so angry, but dan managed to change his mind in just a few words. he shakes his head slightly. "are you?"

dan laughs bitterly, "well, lying was what made you mad in the first place, so i'll be completely honest. i don't talk to many people and i don't exactly have friends."

this was just too complex for phil's brain to process. dan was funny, sweet, kind and slightly awkward, which made him so lovable. not to mention extremely good-looking. how did he not have friends? "why?"

"i've always been an introvert," dan bites his lip, and phil mentally urges him to continue. "i'm not like other people."

phil gives dan a doubtful look.

"i'm - i can do things that normal people can't and some bad stuff happened to me because of it, and i guess i've sort of closed myself off."

phil's mind began jumping to strange conclusions. could dan fly or something? "things like what?"

dan scoffs, intently studying the floor, "you wouldn't believe me."

"try me," phil says almost immediately, his curiosity getting the best of him.

"i don't think i can, phil. i haven't told anyone, except my family, and even that didn't end too well. they kicked me out. even now, they ignore me. it just... really sucks."

"i'll stay." phil says before he can stop himself. he just wants to be there for this fragile boy who looks like he needs love. "i don't care if it's crazy, i don't care if you're an alien, i'll stay with you and i won't be like your family and i won't tell a soul."

dan bites his lips, pulling off a tiny piece of skin that phil somehow notices. "you promise you'll stay?"

"i promise," phil assures.

"i'm - i can move things," dan pauses, "with my brain."

phil almost chokes on his breath. there's no way. it's just not possible. science could never prove that. "how?"

the corner of dan's mouth quirks up in a grin. "i don't know. i'm just telekinetic. it started developing when i hit puberty."

"show me," phil says, his voice barely above a whisper.

"ok," dan answers and phil's heart leaps. he watches intently as dan turns around, grabbing a pen from the counter and setting it on the floor.

"is that it?" phil asks jokingly as dan stands up straight and rolls his eyes.

"now i just need to focus, so shut up."

"ok," phil whispers. he watches the blue biro intensely and dan does the same. phil can't help but feel that the moment has an oddly intimate feel.

he patiently waits for the pen to spin, fly or even twitch, but it doesn't move a millimetre.

"dan?" phil asks hesitantly. a horrible feeling settles over him. if dan's been tricking him this whole time...

"wait, i think you're making me feel a bit pressured. can you, like, turn around, just for a few seconds."

phil obliges, slowly turning in the small kitchen and continuing the excruciating wait. he can't help but impatiently tap his right foot against the white kitchen floor tiles.

it's taking too long and phil can't contain himself any longer, he turns around to peek but sees the opposite of what he was expecting.

dan has his hand stuffed against his mouth as if to stop any laughter slipping out and his eyes are squinting as he laughs to himself, body shaking with tiny giggles.

phil knew he should've trusted his gut instinct.

he whips around and storms away to his room to get his house keys and his phone. as he is shoving his shoes on, dan runs into the room.

"phil? phil, what's wrong? i'm sorry i can't do it."

phil angrily laces up the first shoe, before shoving his foot in the second one. "what's wrong?" he asks harshly. "what's wrong is that i fell for your stupid sob story and i believed you and i told you i would be there for you, but you were tricking me all along!"

"no, phil, listen--" dan tries feebly, but phil cuts him off.

"i promised you i would stick with you. do you know how much that means to me? how dare you trick me like that?"

"no, phil, i'm trying--"

"well, stop."

"so you're leaving? after you promised you wouldn't."

"don't act like promises mean anything to you," phil says, standing up and heading towards the door of his room.

"at least tie your shoelaces, you'll fall," dan mumbles, helplessly following phil.

"thanks for your fake concern."

"phil, listen, i swear, i'm not--"

"more lies, pinocchio?" phil asks with a cold voice, now angrily stomping out of the apartment.

"can you listen to me?" dan pleads.

phil whips away from the open door that was his escape from this ridiculous situation and glares into dan's eyes.

"tell me you weren't laughing at me."

"yeah, i was, but--"

"i've heard enough, leave me the fuck alone." phil continues his angry storming out of the apartment.

and perhaps he should've listened when dan warned him to tie his shoelaces because before he can tell what's happening, he's falling. his body crumples into a ball and he tumbles down two staircases and through a glass window.

he doesn't feel anything when he's falling, except fear so consuming that gnaws at his whole brain and paralyses his entire body.

he hears dan's voice, but can't quite make out what he's saying. nonetheless, the thought of dan relaxes him for a millisecond before he blacks out.

**a/n my attempt to make a shitty day (trumps inauguration) a little better. please leave me a vote and a nice comment to motivate me to update :))**

🔮rachel