dan

phil's house was huge. like, unnecessarily big. like, the kind of big that made you think about what someone could possibly do with all of that space. dan felt like he had to calculate how to even move around properly, but phil moved fine. he hardly even acknowledged dan's shock.

phil's mum asked a lot of questions and his dad hardly said anything, sitting at the other end of the table in a stony silence. dan wasn't even quite sure what they were eating, but he still had to fight not to shovel it into his mouth. food was still one of the most precious things in his life, he imagined it always would be after going so long without it.

phil ate slowly. dan found himself watching him a lot, just so he wouldn't stare at the lace placemats or at the lack of wrinkles in his mum's blouse... he chewed rhythmically, his jaw flexing in a way that was almost attractive to watch, and he glared when he caught dan looking.

"what's your favorite food, dan?" it was the seventh seemingly irrelevant question she had asked him, but dan figured small talk was polite, which was why she was doing it. he decided he didn't mind her. he bit his lip, knowing he probably shouldn't say fast food.

"i like cupcakes," he said softly after a minute and he felt phil look up at him, his chewing halting suddenly. dan looked at him with wide eyes, wondering if he had done something wrong. it was the first thing that had come to his mind. what? he thought, annoyed. he did like cupcakes. why was phil looking at him like that?

his mother smiled, good natured. "i'll be sure to make them for you some time. how many times have you had them?"

phil choked on his food and coughed into his napkin, but dan didn't mind if the question was a bit rude. if you weren't homeless, or hadn't been, how would you understand it? he smiled at her. "i used to have them every year for my birthday when i lived with my parents."

"oh, so quite a few times!"

he nodded. "i was kicked out when i was seventeen."

"why were you kicked out?"

dan glanced at phil nervously. he wasn't sure if he should say it, he didn't know phil's parent's position...

"mum," phil muttered warningly. "that's a personal question, he might not want to talk about that." dan let out a breath of relief. his mother frowned at him.

"well, let him say it, then," she huffed. "i'm speaking to your friend, don't interrupt." she turned back to dan expectantly.

dan could feel his face going hot. everyone's eyes were on him, even phil's dads'. he glanced at phil anxiously, who nodded encouragingly. dan swallowed.

"they kicked me out," he said slowly. "because i'm gay."

dan swore the room was so quiet he would have heard a fly hitting the window pane. even phil didn't have any response to that, he just stared at him, shocked. dan realized that phil hadn't known why either. he blushed darker, staring at his hands anxiously.

"oh," phil's mum said finally, folding her napkin carefully. "i'm sorry, dan."

dan shrugged. "it's okay..."

he felt a tugging at his sleeve and was surprised to find out that phil was pulling on it, looking at him with an expression dan had never seen from him before. "i didn't know that," he muttered. dan flinched. would phil treat him differently now? like he pitied him? dan shrugged again.

"it isn't a big deal."

"that's a pretty sad story," phil's dad said suddenly, and dan realized he hadn't heard him speak yet, because his deep booming voice startled him. he blushed.

"yeah, i guess so..."

phil's father stared at him in a way that made dan's skin crawl with nerves. "maybe too sad to be real."

"dad," phil said, but his father dismissed him with a flick of his hand, still looking at dan.

"it's true, sir." dan tried to hold his eye contact despite his sweaty palms.

the man grunted. "phil didn't pay you for this, did he?"

dan shook his head, hardly daring to blink. "he didn't."

"how do i know you're really homeless?"

dan felt like his neck was splotchy and red. "i mean, how i'm dressed, for one..."

"anyone can fake homeless clothes."

homeless clothes? dan flinched. "well, i'm not faking it."

"dad," phil repeated, his voice firm. "stop. he told you he isn't lying."

phil's dad finally tore his gaze away and dan dared to breathe again. a long moment of silence passed. "fine."

"harold," phil's mum said finally, seemingly embarrassed as well. "may i talk to you in the kitchen for a moment?"

the man nodded and stood, and the two left, leaving the air stiff and the room silent again. phil was watching him like he might collapse. dan gave him a look and phil blushed.

"i didn't know you were gay."

dan glared at him. "yeah, so?"

"so nothing," he muttered. "i just didn't know."

dan sighed and crossed his arms. "you don't know very much about me."

"yeah, apparently."

more silence, dan felt like he was drowning. he just wanted to get out of here. he wanted to be with earl; he hadn't seen him much recently, now that they had real beds, the boy hadn't stopped sleeping.

he could tell phil wanted to say something else, he was pursing his lips. dan sighed.

"spit it out."

phil bit his lip. "i just... i'm sorry."

dan frowned and looked at him. "what?"

"you heard me." phil gave him a look. "i'm sorry. about what happened with your family, or whatever."

dan blinked, searching his face curiously. "you don't have to apologize."

"no, i know, i just..." he seemed uncomfortable. "i'm still sorry. that sucks."

dan shifted in his seat. "i don't need your pity."

"it's not pity, i-"

"shut up."

phil managed to keep his mouth shut for another minute before he couldn't not-speak anymore. "i-"

without thinking it through dan loaded a spoon full of what he figured had to be caviar and flicked it, right at phil's stupid face. there was a splat and dan grinned when he realized he had hit him spot on in the middle of his forehead.

phil gasped, looking disgusted, and he grabbed for his napkin, wiping it away. "what the hell, dan?"

dan giggled. "that felt really good."

phil glared at him. "oh yeah?" dan knew what he was doing before he could even see him doing it. "maybe i should try it, then."

dan didn't catch what was in the spoon before it was being flung at him and he shrieked, his arms flying up to cover his face. whatever it was still got in his hair and dan stuck out his tongue, prying it out.

"dick."

phil grinned, crossing his arms smugly. "asshole."

dan's frown melted, shifting to a smirk, and phil's grin dropped. "what?"

dan didn't answer, pushing his chair out and standing. phil watched him nervously.

"what are you doing? dan...?" he searched his face, shifting. "stop, you're freaking me out."

dan grinned, grabbing his own plate and walking to him. before phil got the chance to even stand up dan tilted it, dumping it on his head.

phil's jaw dropped at he stared at him in shock, his eyes wide in frozen surprise. "oh my god!"

dan beamed, dropping the plate on the table and putting his hands on his hips. "mm, i think you look better that way. but you have something on your face..." he swiped his thumb over phil's nose, collecting some of the gravy-esque sauce that had run there, and stuck it in his mouth. "there. i got it."

phil struggled to find words, shaking his head like a dog to get the food out of his hair. "you are so dead."

he moved like a bullet, grabbing his glass of iced tea and tossing it at him before dan could react. dan gasped, moving to protect himself too late. he felt the cold liquid dripping down his shirt and he shivered hard, but he was still grinning. "that was so uncalled for!"

phil scoffed, motioning at himself. "that was uncalled for?"

dan grinned. "you started it."

"no i didn't!" phil moved to find something else to throw at him but someone cleared their throat from the doorway.

dan's face went pink. phil's dad was standing there, looking at them in a mixture of disgust and confusion. dan slapped a hand over his mouth, but not before a giggle escaped. phil looked like a deer caught in headlights. after a moment of silent embarrassment phil stood, grabbing dan's hand, to dan's surprise.

"thanks for dinner," he muttered quickly, and dragged him out of the room.

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these chapters were stupid lmao