Work Text:
things were, kind of, not great for phil lester at the moment. well, okay, that’s a lie, they were definitely not great for him.
a week ago, his boss fired him because he was late. it was only one time, but his boss was already in a shit mood from someone fucking up a client’s order. four days ago, he fell down the stairs and broke his arm like an idiot. this morning, he found out he was getting evicted because the payment didn’t go through. he has exactly one week to find somewhere else to stay.
phil just needs to take a break and talk to someone about this. he could talk to his mum, but he’d feel awkward about it. phil could also talk to his brother and sister-in-law, but that would result in looks of pity which is something that he doesn’t really want. he’d talk to his other friends, but he doesn’t wanna feel like an inconvenience or a burden for talking about said problems.
when his mum calls him on the phone to check up on him, she suggests going to a support group to talk to someone if he doesn’t want to talk to her.
phil doesn’t really wanna do it, because he kinda doesn’t really have time to do it, since he needs to find both a job and a new apartment. in the end, he gives into his mum’s requests and finds a group in his town that will fit his schedule. the group meets on mondays, and it’s only saturday right now.
his friend dan texts him the next day, with dog pictures and funny memes. phil laughs at them, and they talk to each other about how their weeks have been going.
phil met dan during their freshman year of uni, five years ago, when they were roommates together. dan eventually dropped out of uni, but they still kept in touch. they didn’t really live that far apart together, and they’ll hang out all the time, or at least whenever their schedule permits. phil’s grown quite fond of dan over the years, and he’d be lying if he said he didn’t like dan back in uni but nothing ever happened to it.
phil tells dan about the support group, without actually mentioning that it’s a support group, and dan wishes him luck there. it makes him feel better about going to it, because the whole support group thing freaks him out a little bit. phil has no idea who these people are, and they’re not even mental health professionals, but if it will make his mum feel better about him and his current life situation , then he supposes that it’s worth it.
he doesn’t expect to see dan at said support group meeting. he doesn’t really expect dan to be having problems either, but phil keeps quiet about it since it’s not really his business to know about dan’s personal life even if they do talk a lot.
they exchange pleasantries before the meeting, with both of them surprised that they were there. dan laughs at that.
“honestly, i think you’re the only one of my friends who doesn’t know how fucked up i am yet.”
phil doesn’t really like the way dan says that, but he doesn’t ask about it.
he feels kind of weird talking about his issues, but the members are nice about it and don’t make fun of him. they give phil tips for applying for jobs, and dan says he has space in his apartment, and offers phil a place to stay, since they know each other.
dan talks about his issues with himself and how sometimes it’s hard to get him out of bed because of his crippling depression and dysphoria (his insurance apparently declined his request for hormones last week). dan talks for a long time, actually. phil knows that dan likes to talk a lot, it was one of the first things he noticed about dan. phil also knew that he’s trans, because after five years of being friends and hanging out a lot, it would be weird if he didn’t know.
when the meeting ends, dan and phil talk to each other again.
“hey.”
“hi.”
phil gives dan a hug, and it’s a little bit awkward with his broken arm, but it’s still a warm signature phil lester hug.
“what was that for?” dan asks.
“you could really use a hug right now.”
dan smiles at him.
“thank you, phil. uh, do you wanna grab lunch together?”
“yeah, of course.”
they walk to the place where they normally get lunch together. and they talk about everything. phil wonders why dan didn’t talk to him about his issues, but he figures out that it must be for the same reason that phil didn’t originally talk to dan about his own.
it was a nice lunch, a good way to catch up with dan on everything. phil tells him that he’ll try his best to comfort dan as much as possible, since they agreed on living together now.
dan grabs his hand across the table and tells him that he would like that, a lot.