Chapter 2
The evaluations have finally ended, but Dan’s constant anxiety and lashing out hasn’t. He hasn’t been himself in weeks and it’s starting to get to Phil and Persephone. He’s become cold and closed off, almost completely ignoring Phil. Phil, growing tired of Dan’s behavior, came to the castle to confront Dan.
“Dan? You in there?” Phil asks as he knocks on the door.
“Come in,” Dan mumbles, hardly loud enough for Phil to hear, not even bothering to look up from his work. Phil walks into the room and sighs when he see Dan working.
“Can you take a break for a bit so we can talk? It’s important,” Phil says as he walks over to Dan, running a hand through his hair.
“Can’t it wait? I’m busy,” Dan mutters, continuing to work at a frantic pace.
“No, it can’t. Something’s wrong and I need to know what it is so I can help you, Dan. I’m tired of you ignoring me like this.” Phil sits on the edge of Dan’s desk, crossing his arms.
Dan just rolls his eyes and shakes his head. “First off, nothing is wrong. Second, what makes you think you can just come in here and demand I talk to you about something that isn’t even a problem?” He asks, glancing over at Phil for the first time since he’s been in the room.
“I’m your mate, Dan, stop acting like I can’t tell when you’re not okay. You acting like this is hurting me. Something is wrong and I’m going to find out what it is before I leave this room.” That seems to set something off in Dan, making him stand up and start walking towards the door.
“If something is actually wrong, I’ll tell you, and there isn’t. I’m leaving before I do something stupid,” Dan says, opening the door. Phil is in front of him in barely a second, stopping him from leaving.
“Don’t you even think about leaving this room until you tell me what’s going on,” Phil growls, towering over Dan. Dan clenches his teeth and glares at Phil.
“Don’t start a fight you won’t be able to win, Phil. Just let me leave.”
Phil shakes his head, stepping forward and chuckling darkly. “Do you honestly think that I’m scared of a demon that dresses like a flower?” He knows it’s a low blow, but he’s so tired and angry that he can’t find it in himself to feel guilty at the moment.
Dan’s reaction isn’t immediate, the words not really hitting him until a moment of dead silence passes. He stares at Phil with wide eyes that quickly fill with tears, but he blinks them away and shakes his head.
“You asked for this, ashole,” Dan says as he pushes Phil with all the strength he has, watching him hit the wall across from them so hard he leaves a dent in the bricks. He uses the chance to escape, hoping Phil won’t try to catch up to him. Phil just stares as Dan runs down the halls of the castle, at a loss. How the fuck was he going to fix this? He sighs and slowly stands up, making his way back to his castle to fix himself up and calm down.
Meanwhile, Dan is back in the forest, sitting in a clearing and crying his eyes out. He couldn’t help but feel pathetic as his father’s words rang through his head. “Crying makes you weak, son. Grow up.” “Crying is for the women and the weak. Real men stay powerful and suck it up.” Dan sobs harder, curling up in a ball and pulling his hair. He’s so overwhelmed and he can’t help but take it out on everyone else. He completely shut out the few people that cared and hurt Phil in so many ways. How can he even begin to ask for forgiveness?
Eventually, Dan falls asleep in the clearing, Persephone and Cerberus finding him and bringing him home. Persephone tucks him into bed, knowing Dan will have to figure this out on his own.
Phil is making his way back home, all of the creatures that favour Dan attacking him as he leaves the castle. With the pain he’s feeling, he doesn’t even bother to try to fight them off; he’d heal eventually. He sighs and finally gets home, ignoring his mothers’ worried looks as he goes to his part of the castle. He should probably eat or at least drink something to help get his energy up, but he can’t bring himself to. With all of the thoughts racing in his mind he can hardly do anything but stare at the wall. That was the first physical fight they had had in thirty years. Sure, in perspective thirty years wasn’t a long time for them, it had been something. Phil sighs, rubbing his eyes and hoping this won’t affect their bond. The only hope he has is the fact that in the brief moment that Dan had touched his chest, he felt his heart start to beat, but that wasn’t enough proof that they’d be okay. At any given moment their bond could break because of Dan’s anger and behavior, which will leave Phil in agony for weeks. All Phil could do was try to fix things and hope that this won’t end terribly.
Dan wakes up the next day not ready for the day ahead of him. He has another meeting scheduled to discuss who he will pick to rule with him. He still wants to choose Phil, but he’s even more hesitant to after the fight they just had. He takes a deep breath and gets up, getting dressed to go to the training room to blow off some steam.
Once he gets to the training room, he doesn’t see Phil, making him breathe a sigh of relief. There are many people he knows in the room. Old friends and partners that stopped talking to him after the people created an uproar about him taking the throne. It pisses him off more, but he tries not to let it get to him, walking to the track to run for a while and calm down. His plans to calm down however when he sees Phil is outside working out. He quietly watches him, seeing the scars from past battles and the new ones he assumes he got from the gargoyles that guard Dan’s room. There’s a massive bruise across his back from hitting the wall, making Dan’s breath hitch. It looked worse than he thought it would. He tears his gaze away from Phil, walking over to the track and starting to run as fast as he can.
Phil notices Dan and quickly gets on the track as well, easily catching up to Dan who’s already slightly out of breath.
“What do you need, Phil?” Dan asks, seeming irritated and exhausted.
“I just wanted to apologize. What I said the other day about how you look was terrible and I shouldn’t have said it. I was just upset because you’ve been avoiding me lately and I’m worried about you. The way you’re acting is sort of scaring me,” Phil confesses, glancing over at Dan.
Dan is at a loss for words, completely unsure of how to approach this. How can he tell Phil the reason he’s avoiding him is because he wants to ask him to be king of the Underworld with him? “I swear it isn’t anything you should worry about. I just have a lot going on right now and there’s a lot riding on my shoulders. I’m just really overwhelmed and I just need the time to figure everything out. I promise I love you still and you won’t lose me or our bond or anything for that matter.”
Phil nods, relaxing slightly. “Okay. Just know I’ll be right here if you need me, yeah?” He stops running before Dan can answer, watching him continue to run.
Dan thinks hard as he runs. How should he do this? Should it be formal and perfectly planned? Should they get married first? He leaves the track and runs to find his mother. She’s the only person he can think of asking for advice about this. She always knows what to do.
Phil heads home as well, going to his room and finding the ring box he’s had hidden in his dresser for years now. He decides that no matter how risky it may be, he’s finally going to put his plan into action and propose to Dan. He just hopes this doesn’t completely backfire on him and destroy the best thing he’s ever had.