#sick phan

The stress was starting to get to Phil.

Things between him and Dan were awkward. Conversations felt forced and Dan had taken to sleeping in his own room now. They weren’t arguing, though Phil would much prefer that over the awkwardness. He didn’t blame Dan for it, as he was sure he was doing the same thing back. It felt like they had a million eyes on them now, and in a sense, they did. Phil ignored most of them, trying not to let them effect him, while Dan was fighting back. They were both far too aware of everything now and it had pushed a gap in their relationship.

Phil sighed, checking the scene he was editing again. The scene was obviously forced and lacked Phil’s natural enthusiasm. He remembered the day he had been filming it, he hadn’t been feeling too well. It had been happening more and more often recently.

Giving up, Phil saved the video before closing the program. He leaned back in the office chair, disappointment settling in him. Phil would probably have to refilm the scene, which meant more time. The more time Phil spent on videos, the more restless the fans became. He already had them breathing down his back about phan, he didn’t want to deal with their complaints about the lack of videos as well. His head constantly hurt from the tension and he found himself unable to sleep well at night.

All the stress piled up in his stomach until it started to ache from the pressure of it all. But Phil didn’t have time to deal with a troublesome stomach; he had other things to do, like prepare for the radio show, pay the bills, film the scenes needed for his video, and many other important tasks. He also needed to try to reconcile with Dan and have him come sleep in the same bed again. Phil hated the emptiness and not being able to cuddle Dan whenever he liked.

Phil got up and headed down to the lounge, where Dan sat editing a video of his own. He glanced up when Phil walked in, then returned to his video. Phil sat down at the table where the monthly rent was laid out, waiting to be read over. His stomach turned as he stared the papers down and he felt nauseous. Money always stressed him out and now even more so with their gained attention. It needed to be done, as much as Phil would like to pretend it didn’t exist.

He had finished sorting everything out when Dan came up to him. Phil looked up at him and smiled.

“Hey,” Phil greeted.

Dan smiled back, though it was forced. “Are you going to make dinner?”

The thought of food didn’t sit well with Phil’s stomach, but he figured he’d only make enough for Dan. It’d be a nice gesture and hopefully Dan would take it as an invitation to start talking to Phil again. “Sure. What do you want?”

“Stir fry?”

Phil nodded, standing up to head to the kitchen. “One stir fry dinner coming up.”

This got Dan to roll his eyes fondly. “Don’t burn the house down. I’ll be editing in my bedroom if you need anything.”

Phil nodded and walked to the kitchen, pulling out the ingredients. While it was cooking, Phil leaned against the counter and rubbed his upset stomach. If things weren’t so tense now, Phil would have gone to Dan and whined about his stomach. Dan would have made him tea and cuddled him better.

Now, however, Phil feared that the only thing that would result from going to Dan was another argument and Dan accusing Phil of being childish.

Phil quickly finished up Dan’s dinner, not bothering to make enough for if he got hungry later. He dished the finished meal out onto a plate, grabbed a fork, and carefully made his way to Dan’s room. Inside, Dan was sitting on his laptop, scrolling through some mysterious website unknown to Phil.

“Here you go, my good sir,” Phil teased, handing the plate off to Dan.

Dan gladly took the plate, frowning when he saw that Phil didn’t have one. “Are you going to eat all by yourself?"

“U-um,” Phil stuttered, “not exactly? I mean, I’m not eating now.”

“Why not? The food won’t be warm for long.”

Phil’s stomach turned at the thought of food once again. Phil shrugged. “I have to finish up some emails, sorry.”

Dan didn’t look convinced, but he let it go. A tense silence filled the room before Phil finally left.

Phil went back into the lounge with every intent to follow through with what he said, but his stomach had different plans. Instead of scrolling through email after email about youtube and copyright, Phil ended up laying on his side on the couch, clutching his stomach helplessly as it cramped.

Phil whimpered, burying his face into the couch cushion. His stomach grumbled, telling him off for not caring for himself. He laid there for a while, feeling absolutely miserable and lonely. The nausea was slowly becoming too much and Phil feared he was going throw up when he heard Dan calling his name.

“Phil?” Dan’s voice echoed from the hallway.

Phil merely hummed in response, too sick to care about the possibility of another argument.

He heard the lounge door open. “Phil?” Dan’s voice instantly became more worried when he saw Phil curled up on the couch. “Phil, what’s wrong?”

Dan walked over and kneeled down in front of Phil, resting a hand on Phil’s cheek gently. Phil nuzzled into the hand, immediately soaking up any affection he could get.

“My stomach…” Phil muttered. He rubbed it softly, trying to soothe the nausea and prevent himself from accidentally throwing up on Dan.

Dan frowned. “Are you coming down with the flu?” He felt Phil’s forehead for a temperature, but he seemed fine.

“No.”

“Did you eat something bad?”

Phil shook his head. “I think it’s stress.”

Phil was expecting some cold retaliation or for Dan to tell him that he’s stressed too and a stomachache wasn’t an excuse.

What he didn’t expect was for Dan to coo and instantly begin fussing over Phil. He pressed a kiss to Phil’s forehead and softly pushed Phil’s hand aside so he could rub Phil’s stomach for him. His other hand began to play with Phil’s hair, instantly relaxing him.

Not that Phil was complaining.

“Baby, why didn’t you come to me?” Dan whispered.

Phil melted at the affectionate name. “I didn’t want to make you worried or angry at me.”

Dan shook his head. “I’m sorry, you shouldn’t feel that way. I’ll always want to care for you.”

“Thank you.” Phil craned his neck so he could place a kiss on Dan’s wrist, too lazy to properly reach out and kiss him.

“Anytime. Now, how does a warm bath sound? Afterwards, you can try some soup if your tummy is feeling better.”

Phil smiled shakily. “That sounds wonderful.”

After a warm bath and a little bit of soup that warmed Phil’s stomach, the two ended up cuddling on Dan’s bed. Phil was curled into Dan, his head laying on Dan’s chest and hands drawing little patterns across it. Dan had his arms wrapped tightly around Phil and his face was buried in Phil’s hair, inhaling his scent.

Phil’s stomach still had a dull ache to it, but he wasn’t paying attention to it. Instead, he was enjoying the warmth and feeling of being in Dan’s arms after being fussed over.

“You’re mine,” Dan mumbled, pressing light kisses into Phil’s hair. “My baby. My Phil.”

Phil couldn’t deny the rush of love and happiness that flooded his chest as he listened to Dan. It felt so good and relaxing and Phil was so in love with Dan.

“I feel properly fussed over,” Phil giggled.

“You deserve it. I’ve been a shitty boyfriend lately and it’s not fair to you.”

Phil hummed in agreement. “You’re making up for it. I know things are hard, but I don’t want us to end up like we were at the beginning of the year. I love you so much, Dan, I don’t want to nearly lose you again.”

Dan’s grip tightened around Phil. “I promise, we’re going to make this work. I love you too, more than you can imagine.”

Phil almost cooed at the sight of Dan. He was sniffling every ten seconds or so, his cheeks were tinted pink, his voice was scratchy, and he had taken to burying himself in piles of blankets while he watched anime. Phil had dropped by Dan’s room to see how he was doing, but now he was wandering in to coddle him. He was just so cute and Phil found himself wanting to care and cuddle him better. He wasn’t supposed to be visiting Dan as Dan didn’t want to get Phil sick as well, but Phil couldn’t help but want to check up on his boyfriend.

“What do you want?” Dan grumbled, voice croaky. He knew what Phil was planning on doing and he wasn’t looking forward to it.

Phil pouted, sitting on the bed. “Poor Danny,” he cooed, placing a hand on Dan’s forehead to check his temperature. He wasn’t too warm, but it was enough for Phil to worry about him. “Do you want some tea and medicine?”

Dan rolled his eyes. The sickness had made him grouchy and cynical. “I already took medicine and drank three cups of tea. I don’t need you to coddle me.” He let out a few dry coughs into his elbow that made Phil wince with the force of it. “And don’t call me Danny, you know I hate that.”

Phil merely laughed. “Grumpy boy,” he teased, kissing Dan’s forehead. “Let me take care of you.”

Dan tried whining, but Phil merely put a finger to his lips, making Dan pout instead.

Phil tugged Dan out of his blanket cocoon, ignoring the protests and profanity that came from him. He lead Dan downstairs to the bathroom, smiling as he turned to Dan.

“Why are you smiling like that, it’s creepy.”

Phil merely shrugged, then opened up the door. Inside, Dan’s favorite scented candles were lit, giving the room a heavenly smell. A bath had been made and had vanilla scented bubbles piled up in it. The lights were off and there was soft piano music playing.

“Wha- Did you make all this?” Dan croaked out.

Phil nodded, escorting Dan in. The room was humid, Phil having let steam from hot water fill the room. He’d heard that steam helped with a stuffy nose and sore throat. “You’ve been feeling so ill lately and it’s made you all crabby and stressed. I figured a bath would do you good.”

Dan smiled softly. “Thank you.”

He let Phil undress him, melting under the gentle touches. His sweaty clothes were discarded to be cleaned later on by Phil. Dan climbed into the bathtub and sunk into the warm water. He let out a content sigh, his eyes fluttering shut with bliss.

A few moments later, Phil climbed in as well. He reorganized their long limbs so that Dan was pressed up against Phil’s chest. Phil began running a hand through Dan’s sweaty hair.

The two stayed in silence, Phil playing with Dan’s hair as Dan rested his heavy head on Phil’s chest. Dan could feel a slight fever burning under his skin, but the bliss he felt helped keep his mind off of it.

“Are you happy I took care of you?”

Dan couldn’t complain. “Very. It was worth being dragged from my warm cocoon.”

Phil giggled, the sound rumbling in his chest underneath Dan. “Don’t worry, I’ll make you into a blanket cocoon when we get out. Complete with my thermal blanket and everything.”

Dan smiled at the thought, pressing a kiss on Phil’s chest. “Spoil me.”

Phil rolled his eyes. “As if I don’t already.”

It was a long time before they did end up getting out, Phil wrapping Dan in the fluffiest towel before helping him into the fluffiest (and non-sweaty) pajamas he could find. He took extra care in slipping on fuzzy socks, making Dan sarcastically comment that he was Cinderella.

“Well, you are my princess,” Phil had whispered in response. Dan merely blushed and quickly headed back to his room.

There, Phil covered him in his thermal blanket and duvet, keeping to his promise of making him a blanket cocoon.

“Is my princess all nice and comfy?” Phil teased.

Dan pouted. “S-shut up.”

Phil laughed and kissed Dan’s forehead. He noted the lack of heat radiating from it and smiled softly to himself.

“Cuddles?” Dan whispered timidly, giving Phil his best puppy eyes.

Phil didn’t need anymore convincing. He slipped under the blankets, joining Dan in his cocoon of blankets.

Phil wasn’t the type of person to get drunk. He didn’t like how it made him lose control and have him wake up sick the next morning. His stomach didn’t handle alcohol well either. So when he was dragged out to a club with some university friends who were in town, the last thing he planned on doing was getting drunk. He knew this was unrealistic, however, as he was with a group of friends. A man could dream, though.

He ended up being roped into a drinking game where he downed multiple shots. By the end of it, he was fairly drunk and ended up ordering more drinks. He was laughing loudly with his friends, who only encouraged him to drink more. His mind started to feel dizzy and his defenses were lowered, indicating that he was drunk.

At one point, his stomach started to feel off. He pouted childishly, rubbing it softly. He quickly forgot about it as his friend passed him another drink, throwing him back into the hazy world he had fallen in. It was confusing and exciting at the same time and Phil couldn’t get enough of it.

It was only after a few more drinks that everything went downhill. As soon as he finished another drink, his stomach growled angrily and he suddenly didn’t feel as happy and carefree anymore.

“I-I’m gonna go to the bathroom,” Phil slurred out. The world around him was blurry, making him even more nauseous. He stumbled to the bathroom, bumping into blurry faces along the way. People yelled at him, but he was too nauseous and drunk to listen. His stomach was feeling worse by the second, turning and twisting painfully with each movement.

He barely made it into a bathroom stall before he was throwing up, the shots burning his throat. When he was finished, he leaned back and clutched his stomach. It ached terribly, upset with the amount of alcohol that had been put in it. Despite being drunk, Phil knew better than to leave the toilet as it would only be a matter of time before he would be throwing up again.

His stomach rolled and he groaned, leaning against. He felt awful, the high of the alcohol gone and replaced with regret. The vomiting had sobered him up a bit, making him uncomfortably aware of everything. He shouldn’t have drank as much as he did.

He needed Dan.

Once his stomach was somewhat settled, he shakily pulled out his phone. The screen was blurry and he nearly called the wrong person, but eventually managed to get Dan’s contact to call.

“Hello?”

Phil nearly cried with relief. “Dan,” he slurred.

He could hear Dan laughing. “Phil, how drunk are you?”

Phil whimpered.

The laughing stopped. “Phil?”

“My tummy really hurts.”

“Too much to drink?”

Phil nodded, forgetting that Dan couldn’t see him. “C-can you come get me?”

Dan sighed softly. “Of course. You’re at the one down the street?”

Phil hummed in confirmation.

“Alright, love. Be there in five.”

Phil smiled shakily, then hung up. He leaned against the cubicle wall, placing a hand on his stomach. He let his eyes flutter shut, his head starting to ache. He drifted off into his own head, the outside world becoming non existent.

Someone knocked on the stall door, startling him.

“Phil, you in there?” A pause. “I hope you are or else this is going to be awkward.”

Phil giggled. “Yeah, it’s me.”

“Can you come out?”

Phil shakily got up and opened the door. Dan stood there, dressed in sweats and a pajama shirt. Phil stumbled into him, snuggling into the warm boy.

“Are you feeling well enough to walk?”

Phil shook his head. He felt dizzy and his stomach was starting to act up again. Even though he was much more coherant than before, he still had a good amount of alcohol in his system. He’d rather take a taxi, even if their flat was merely up the street. He’d rather be in the comfort of his own bathroom than in public.

Dan took him outside to wait for the taxi, leaning Phil against the wall. Phil’s eyes fluttered shut as his stomach gave a queasy rumble and he moaned.

“Hang in there, Phil,” Dan whispered, rubbing his shoulder.

By the time the taxi came, nausea was rolling in steady waves. They needed to get home fast before the nausea tipped over. Inside the taxi, Phil rested his head on Dan’s shoulder. He cradled his stomach as it rebelled against him.

Thankfully, the taxi ride was short, and soon enough they were riding the lift up to their apartment. The lift proved to make the nausea worse and Phil could feel the alcohol about to make its reappearance.

Dan was unlocking the door when Phil started to gag. He quickly covered his mouth and looked pleadingly at Dan, who sped up. Once the door was open, Dan dragged Phil to the closest bathroom. Phil collapsed over it and began to heave, regret and pain taking over his senses.

He threw up until his stomach was empty and sore. Dan rubbed his back the entire time and gathered Phil in his arms once he was finished. Dan whipped Phil’s mouth with toilet paper, then flushed the toilet.

“Feeling any better?”

Phil nodded. “Remind me not to drink so much,” Phil groaned. “My stomach is killing me.”

Dan laughed softly. He snuck his hand under Phil’s shirt and let it rest on Phil’s stomach, rubbing it softly. “How about next time I come with you and make sure you don’t overdo it?”

Phil sighed quietly at Dan’s caring touches. He smiled. He’d take any excuse to take Dan along with him. “Yeah, that sounds like a good plan.”

Dan smiled, pressing a kiss against Phil’s hair. Even though he loved taking care of Phil, he’d rather have the older man happy and healthy.

“Promise you’ll still care for me when I’m grouchy with a hangover tomorrow?” Phil pleaded.

Dan blearily opened his eyes, wincing at the light coming in. He was laying on top of his textbook at the breakfast bar. He didn’t remember falling asleep; one moment he had been studying, the next he was waking up in a blurry world of confusion. He rubbed his eyes, a dull ache behind them making it hard to properly wake up. He slowly sat back up, stretching his arms out before letting them fall to his sides.

Dan sighed, frustrated. He had once again fallen asleep while studying. He was desperate at this point; the test was in two days and he understood absolutely nothing. Dan searched the page for where he left off, but ended up having to start at the beginning.

As he read along, the words became fuzzier and fuzzier. They blended together like jumbles of ink splatters. His head felt like it was on a merry-go-round that was going too fast and he felt unusually warm. Dan stood up, deciding some water would help. Water was always the solution to unknown problems, after all. His legs felt weak and he stumbled a little on his way to the kitchen. He walked over to the cabinets, leaning heavily against the counter.

HIs hands were shaking as he reached up and grabbed a cup. Dan frowned. Why did he feel so weak? His muscles had a dull ache to them and Dan wanted nothing more than to curl up and sleep. But he needed to study, having put it off for so long. He quickly drank his water and sat down, forcing himself to focus on the page.

He still couldn’t focus, however, and began to feel significantly worse. Giving up, Dan slammed his textbook close and rested his head in his hands. The ache behind his eyes had increased, becoming a steady drum beating in his skull.

He sluggishly stood up and headed to his room to give into the want to sleep. He felt woozy, shivering despite being too warm. His bed looked very inviting by the time he reached his room. It was a stabilizer to the spinning he felt. He climbed into t and wrapped the duvet tightly around his body, trying to still the shivering.

Dan fell in between consciousness and sleep, restlessly tossing and turning. He was distantly aware of the sun setting, but wasn’t awake enough to process what it meant. He blinked blearily at the darkened sky, then fully lost consciousness.

“Dan?”

There was someone knocking at his door. Dan frowned, curling up more.

“Dan, you said you’d go out with your friends tonight.” It was Phil.

Dan groaned, rolling over to face the door. He really didn’t want to get up.

“Come on, you haven’t hung out with them all year. You need to go,” Phil sighed, opening the door. He looked down at Dan, a frown across his face. “You’ve been sleeping all afternoon, anyways.”

Dan felt his stomach drop at Phil’s disappointed he expression. Not wanting to further disappoint Phil, Dan slowly pushed back the covers and got up.

“You’ve got an hour before they’ll be here,” Phil informed, before turning around and leaving.

Dan watched him go, then groaned and placed his head in his hands. He wasn’t feeling well at all and the idea of going out with friends made his head hurt even more. He had to do it though, to make Phil happy.

He slowly went through the process of getting himself ready. He slipped on better clothes and headed to the bathroom to fix his hair and make himself look more alive than he felt. Looking at his reflection, he could see the puffiness of his eyes and his flushed cheeks. Dan was sure someone would notice his sickly complexion sometime during the night. He kind of hoped they would so that he could go home and sleep.

Once Dan had fiddled with his hair enough and inevitably given up, he walked out to go wait in the lounge. Phil was on one of the chairs, typing away at his computer. He gave a brief smile to Dan, then went back to working. Dan chose to lay down on the couch, closing his eyes. The fever raged on inside of him, head pounding from it all.

“You can’t still be tired,” Phil commented.

Dan merely hummed in response. All he wanted to do was sleep peacefully on the couch.

“Dan? You alright?”

Dan didn’t respond, prompting Phil to get up and crouch down in front of him. Dan opened his eyes, looking pitifully up at Phil.

“Hey,” Phil whispered, “what’s wrong?”

“Don’t feel good,” Dan mumbled.

Phil placed his hand on Dan’s forehead. Sure enough, heat was radiating off of the boy, indicating a fever. Phil sighed, moving his hand so it was tangled in Dan’s hair.

“You wanna go back to bed?”

Dan nodded. As comfortable as the couch was, his bed was the softest thing ever known. Dan let Phil carefully pull him up and guide him back to his bed. Before he got in, Phil had him change into some sweatpants and a hoodie to help with the shivering.

Phil was helping Dan into bed when the doorbell rang. Phil looked back, then turned to Dan.

“I’ll tell them you’re not feeling well, alright? Then I’ll be back with some water.”

Phil left, leaving Dan to snuggle into his sweatshirt. He listened to Phil’s distant voice and let it ground him as he waited. The sounds of him moving around the apartment soothed Dan until he came back into the room, a glass of water in hand.

“Drink some of this, ok?”

Phil brought the glass to Dan’s lips, letting him take slow sips until he scrunched up his face, indicating that he had enough. Phil put the glass aside. “I’ll be here for you until you feel better,” Phil promised, kissing Dan’s sweaty forehead.

Dan smiled. “Thank you.”

Phil nodded, letting his fingers find their way back to Dan’s hair. It had began to curl from the sweat, making Dan look adorable despite his sickly appearance. The two stayed in a comfortable silence, letting the noise of the city outside fill their conversations until Dan said,

For the first time in his life, Dan was glad when game period came around. He stumbled over to the coach and quickly made his excuse of not feeling well (which the coach accepted without even looking), then quickly went over to the school alleyway where everyone who didn’t want to run around in cold mud hung out at. Choosing a spot far enough from everyone else, Dan sat down and leaned against the wall.

He hadn’t been lying about not feeling well. He had a headache and his stomach had started to hurt halfway through the last period. Dan placed a hand over his stomach and closed his eyes.

“Dan? You alright?”

Dan peeked through his eyelids to see Phil standing in front of him, staring intensely at Dan. Dan merely hummed and closed his eyes again, feeling too bilious to bother to respond. He felt Phil sit down next to him and he laid his head on Phil’s shoulder, taking comfort in his friend’s presence.

“You look sick.”

Dan took a deep breath, attempting to quell the nausea. “I feel sick.”

Phil frowned, his concern growing. “How long have you been feeling sick?”

“I woke up with a headache. It only got worse as the day went on and now my tummy hurts.” He scooted further next to Phil so he could lean his entire weight on him. He pulled his knees closer, making himself look small.

Phil placed a hand on Dan’s forehead, feeling for a fever. Sure enough, Dan’s skin was abnormally warm. Phil moved his hand to Dan’s cheek, noticing a slight flush to it. “You have a fever, Dan. You need to go home.”

Dan groaned, not quite liking the idea of moving at the moment. His stomach felt like it held a million sharp rocks that were making it ache.

“You need to go to the nurse,” Phil explained, trying to shove Dan off him.

“No, I’ll end up throwing up along the way.” He rolled away from Phil, choosing to curl up against the wall.

“You’re going to throw up anyway. Would you rather do it in the nurse’s office or here in front of these kids?” Phil gestured to the teens around them, most who were either listening to music or sleeping.

Dan hated to admit that Phil was right; he would much rather vomit in the nurse’s office than here where it would cause a scene. “Do you promise to stay with me?”

Phil’s eyes softened. Dan was often quick to hide his vulnerabilities, so it always made Phil feel special whenever he let Phil take care of them. “I promise I won’t leave until I know you’re going to be okay.”

Dan left the wall, slowly standing up. He didn’t stand up fully, slouching and wrapping an arm loosely around his stomach. He slowly began to walk away from the wall and to the school doors, not bothering to tell the coach where he was going (the coach didn’t care anyway). Phil followed alongside him, making sure he was still ok.

The nurse’s office was all the way at the front of the school, while they were in the back. Phil hoped Dan could make it there. He rested a hand on Dan’s back, encouraging him to continue. Thankfully, Dan managed to avoid throwing up, only stopping every once and awhile when the nausea became too much.

Phil knocked on the door and guided Dan in. The nurse looked up from her book, frowning when she saw Dan. She stood up and sat him down on one of the cots while Phil grabbed a trash can.

“Is your stomach hurting hun?” the nurse said, placing a hand on Dan’s back. He was slouched far forward, face hidden from sight.

Dan didn’t say anything. What he did do was suddenly launch forward and grab the trash can, gagging into it. The nurse sighed sympathetically and rubbed his back as he threw up.

She turned to Phil as Dan dry heaved. “How sick is he?”

“He has a fever and was complaining of a headache along with a stomachache.”

“Sounds like the stomach flu,” the nurse said. “We’ve been having a lot of kids coming down with it this month.”

Dan sat up again, face pale and body trembling. The nurse quickly laid him back. Dan curled up on his side, eyes shut. He looked much worse than he did earlier. Phil wanted nothing more than to hold him in his arms and keep him close until he was better.

“He’ll need to go home once his stomach has settled a bit.”

Phil sat down next to Dan, letting the boy curl around him. He rested his hand in Dan’s hair, feeling the heat radiating off of him. “I could take him home; I don’t have any classes after this one.”

The nurse nodded. “Yes, that’s fine. Stay with him until his parents come home and make sure he doesn’t get any worse.”

Phil nodded, glancing down at the sickly boy. Dan looked so vulnerable with his flushed cheeks and feverish trembling. He had no plans to leave Dan’s side anytime soon.

They made it home before Dan threw up again. Phil rubbed his back as he retched into the toilet, whimpering from the nausea and the pain. Dan looked up from the toilet bowl, bloodshot eyes and general sickness tugging at Phil’s heart. He opened up his arms for Dan, who practically collapsed into him. Dan hiccuped and buried his face in Phil’s chest.

“You poor thing,” Phil cooed. “Let’s get you to bed.” He helped Dan up onto trembling legs, guiding him to bed. He tucked Dan in and propped up his head, making Dan as cozy as possible. Once Dan was settled, he left the room to grab some water and a bucket. He put some ice cubes and a straw in the cup, then grabbed the bucket from the hall closet. Peeking through Dan’s bedroom door, he cooed at the sight of Dan.

The boy had the blanket pulled up to his chin and he was shivering, cheeks flustered. His hair had started to curl and he was pouting. To Phil, he couldn’t have looked more adorable.

“I’m back,” Phil whispered, coming into the room.

Dan glanced up at Phil, then pulled the covers over his head. Phil smiled and set the stuff down on bedside table, then gently pried the covers away. He smoothed back Dan’s fringe.

“You’re going to be okay,” he reassured, kissing Dan’s forehead.

Dan closed his eyes, sighing. “As long as you stay with me. Though, don’t complain when I make you sick.”

“That doesn’t matter. You do.”