"Phil, please don't make me do this. Why can't I just do homeschool?" Dan whined as his boyfriend dragged him to the front of the school. It was a Monday morning when Dan and Phil had gotten to school.
It was a particularly long weekend for Dan. Friday was the day that he had finally announced that he was a carrier; which meant that he was able to have children. Dan was just about two months pregnant with his boyfriend's child. They had found out Dan was pregnant a couple weeks ago when Dan had started getting sick randomly. Dan was only 17-years-old so this was difficult for him. Dan had immediately told his family and thankfully they were supportive of him and Phil. But now, Dan had to deal with finishing his junior year of high school.
Dan was friends with quite a lot of people from his school on his facebook so that's where he had announced it. He had made a very long post explaining everything about his pregnancy, how he wasn't the only carrier in the world and how it was possible for him to have children. Of course, there had been a lot of comments on it. Dan spent most of his weekend cooped up in his room reading all the comments. Not a lot were good.
That's why he had been so nervous to come to school. His parent's had told him that if he wanted to do homeschool then he could but they also said that he should at least try to finish regular school.
"Dan, we already talked about this. You can do homeschooling but you should really try to finish this school first, at least finish junior year. It won't be that bad… I promise," Phil assured him.
"You're just saying that to make me feel better," Dan mumbled as they walked up to the doors.
"Yes, because I don't want you to panic about this. Just don't worry about what other people say," Phil said as he opened the doors for Dan. Luckily, Dan was still in his first month of his pregnancy so his bump wouldn't come in for a long time now. But, he definitely wasn't looking forward to getting it.
"It's going to be really hard not to listen to what other people they say when they'll be staring at me and whispering because I'm a pregnant male," Dan said as he and Phil walked into the school.
"Yeah but it's something you should be used to by now. People already know that you're gay and dating me and they still haven't talked about that… even though they've known for months," Phil said.
Dan looked up and froze as soon as he saw that people were already staring at him.
"Fucking freak!" Dan heard one of the boys shout at him, causing a few people to laugh.
"Come on," Phil grabbed a hold of Dan and they started walking towards Dan's locker.
"It's not like I asked for this to happen to me ," Dan snapped as he opened his locker. He reached in to grab his history and math books. He sighed and slammed his door shut.
"Dan!" Dan looked over and raised his eyebrows when he saw his best friends Chris and PJ walk up to him.
"Congratulations!" PJ exclaimed as he threw his arms around Dan and hugged him.
"Whoa," Dan laughed as he immediately hugged PJ back.
Dan had been so worried that Chris and PJ were going to react just like everybody else did when Dan announced that he was pregnant. Chris and PJ were his only real friends a part from Phil. He didn't want to lose them. They had all been friends since they were little kids, as they all lived in the same neighborhood. That's how Dan and Phil knew each other. Dan and Phil had been dating each other since they were 15-years-old.
"So, I guess you were heard then?" Dan asked as they pulled away from the hug.
"Yeah, we saw the post on facebook. I can't believe you're pregnant," PJ said.
"Where's the thing gonna come out of anyways?" Chris asked curiously.
"Chris!" PJ hissed as he hit him on the chest.
"Ow," Chris whined as he rubbed the spot where PJ hit.
"Peej, it's fine. I understand why he's curious. I am too," Dan said.
"Wait, so you don't even know?" PJ asked as he looked over at Dan.
"I'm going to go to the doctors in a couple weeks to get more information so when I know… you'll know," Dan said.
"So, what are other people saying about it?" Phil asked curiously.
"I don't think you want to know what they're saying," Chris said.
Dan sighed and rolled his eyes. "Today's going to be a long day," he mumbled. He pushed passed Chris and PJ and then he started walking towards his first period class, which was history.
"Dan!" Phil quickly caught up with Dan before he could walk into the classroom.
Dan turned and looked up at Phil and blinked a few times. "What?" He asked.
"Don't get upset over this, okay? Don't listen to what others say," Phil said.
"Phil, I'll be fine. Don't worry about me, okay?" Dan said.
Phil let out a sigh and then he nodded. "Fine. Just text me if you need anything," he said. He leaned down and kissed Dan once. Phil bit his lip as he watched Dan walk into the classroom.
Unfortunately, Dan and Phil didn't have any classes together until after lunch, which was three periods from now.
About 10 minutes have passed since history had started. Dan was doing okay for now but he couldn't help but be nervous. He didn't know when people were or weren't talking about him.
It wasn't until when the door walked in and in walked another student.
"You're late Mr. Cook," The teacher said.
"I have a pass," The student said as he walked over to the desk. "I'm also switching classes."
"I'm afraid it's too late to switch classes," The teacher said.
"I've already talked to the principal about changing classes and he gave me the okay too. I have the papers for you to sign here," He said as he took out the piece of paper and placed it on the teacher's desk. "I don't feel comfortable being in any classes with Mr. Howell," Dan immediately looked up when he heard his last name and froze as soon as he saw that all eyes were suddenly on him.
"And why don't you feel comfortable? Dan's a nice lad," The teacher said.
"Didn't you hear? Everybody's talking about it," One of the students said.
"Yeah, even Dan himself posted it on facebook," Another student said.
"Well, I hate to break it to you… but I have more important things to do then go on facebook," The teacher said.
Alex sighed and rolled his eyes. "He's a pregnant male. It's wrong," he snapped.
"Dan, doesn't listen to him," Dan looked over at PJ, who was sitting a few seats away from him.
"Yeah, they're all just dickheads," Chris snapped as he glared at the students who were staring at Dan.
"I agree with Alex. It's wrong and it shouldn't be allowed. He's a male!" A boy shouted.
"I didn't ask for this to fucking happen, alright!?" Dan shouted back at him. He took a deep breath and then he quickly stood up from his seat and then he stormed out of the classroom.
"Dan!" PJ yelled. He quickly stood up from his seat and followed him.
"Leave me alone," Dan snapped as PJ followed him into the bathroom.
"Dan, don't listen to them…" PJ said. He grabbed Dan before he could go into one of the stalls.
"I know that mum and dad and Phil wanted me to finish the school year but I cannot go to school when these people are treating me like this!" Dan cried as tears poured out of his eyes.
"When did this even start? Like… I thought you and Phil wanted to wait?" PJ asked calmly.
"Well…" Dan whipped away his tear. "My parents were gone for a weekend so of course I invited Phil over to stay with me and I guess we got a little too excited to be alone for the weekend, one thing led to another," Dan said.
PJ bit his lip as he listened to Dan. "Not everybody is thinking bad about this…"
"Peej, I know what everybody in this school is thinking already. They think I'm some fucking slut that got pregnant on purpose. They probably think I'm an attention whore or something," Dan snapped.
"Dan, stop it. Come on… you're just gonna have to learn to ignore all those idiots. We know the truth and that's all that matters. You didn't want this and it was an accident," PJ said.
Dan took a deep breath as a few more tears fell out of his eyes.
"Dan?" Dan looked up and sighed in relief when he saw that it was just Phil.
"How did you know I was in here?" Dan asked nervously.
"Chris texted me a few minutes ago and then I asked the teacher to go to the bathroom, hoping you would be in here…" Phil explained. He quickly walked over to Dan and pulled him into a hug, which immediately calmed Dan down. "I'm so sorry, Dan. I didn't think that things would be this bad," he whispered as he held onto Dan. Dan buried his face in Phil's chest as he wrapped his arms around him, as more tears fell out of his eyes.
"I know this is probably the last thing you want to do but why don't you go to the principal and talk to him about making sure Dan's safety is okay in this school while he's pregnant," PJ said.
Phil blinked a few times and looked over at PJ. "You really think that'll work?" He asked.
PJ shrugged his shoulders. "The principal is the one with all the powers in this school. It's all you've got," he said.
Phil looked down at Dan and bit his lip. "What do you say Dan?" He asked.
Dan finally pulled away from Phil. Phil reached down and whipped away Dan's tears. "Do you want to?" He asked.
"I mean… I guess we could. I don't care about me, I just want to make sure the baby's okay." Dan said.
Phil smiled. "While we're together, let's go right now," Phil said.
Dan looked over at PJ. "Are you coming with us?" He asked.
"If you want me to. If not then I'll just head back to class…" PJ said.
"Of course I want you to come," Dan said. He smiled slightly.
PJ then followed Dan and Phil out of the bathroom and they all walked down to the principal's office.
"Ah, Mr. Howell… I had a feeling that I would be seeing you sometime soon," Mr. Williams said.
"So you heard then?" Phil asked as he shut the door behind them after he, Dan and PJ walked in.
"It was the first thing I heard about when I walked into the school this morning," Mr. Williams said.
"Look, people are already Dan like crap and they're acting like he's some walking disease…"
"People are switching classes because they 'don't feel comfortable' being around me!" Dan yelled.
"And what would you like me to do about this?" Mr. William asked.
"Look, I have to finish this school year. There's only a couple months left and I don't want to have to drop out and do homeschooling. I mean, I wouldn't oppose to it but I would rather be here. I promised my mum and dad that I would at least try to get through this year. But, I don't know if I'll be able to handle it with people treating me like this and all this name-calling. Things would be different but I have to look after two people now, not just me. I want to make sure my baby will be safe while I'm here at school and right now…"
"I don't allow bullying in this school and I can understand how important this must be to you. I'll chat to the other teachers and we'll figure out something for you," Mr. Williams said.
"How fast can you make this happen? You heard Dan, he doesn't feel safe…" Phil said.
"He is a pregnant male. I've heard what people are saying about Dan and they aren't saying nice things about him or the baby. This isn't something Dan can control and he shouldn't be made fun of for this. If you don't allow bullying in this school then you should make this a top priority to make sure Dan and that baby is safe," PJ said. He took a deep breath. He nervously looked over at Dan.
"And who are you again?" Mr. Williams asked as he looked over at PJ.
PJ blinked a few times as he looked back at Mr. Williams. "Are you serious? I… PJ Liguori? Dan's best friend. We hang out together around school like every single day," he said.
"I see. Look Dan, we will figure something out for you and I'll let you know as soon as possible," Mr. Williams said.
"Well, until then I'm not coming to school," Dan snapped.
"Dan," Phil said with shock as he looked over at Dan. That was not what he had expected Dan to say.
"You can't just not come to school Howell," Mr. Williams said.
"Oh yeah? Who's going to stop me?" Dan asked. His eyes began to water up. "I'll do my work at home, where I feel safe and where I know my baby will be protected. I may only be two months into this whole pregnancy thing but I do care about the baby and I don't want anything to happen to him," he said.
"Him?" PJ asked as he looked over at Dan, raising his eyebrows.
"I really want the baby to be a boy so I've been calling it a him also because I don't feel very comfortable my baby an 'it'." Dan said. He shrugged his shoulders and then he looked up at the principal.
Phil smiled as he wrapped his arms around Dan. He looked up at the principal as well.
Mr. Williams sighed. "I guess I can't force you to come to school but I can assure you that we will make sure the students know that they will not harass you. I want all of my students to feel safe at school," he said.
Dan sighed in relief and slowly nodded. "Thank you. That's all I ask for," he said calmer.
"I'm glad you came to me to ask for help. Will you be able to make it through the school day or will I have to call someone to pick you up?" Mr. Williams asked as he looked over at Dan.
"My mum is home. She might be able to pick me up. I honestly don't think I'll be able to make it… not after what happened during first period today," Dan said. He shook his head.
"Alright then. You can wait in the office. Lester and Liguori, you two can go straight back to class,"
"Can I at least stay with Dan until he gets picked up?" Phil asked, still keeping a hold of Dan.
"Can he please? I'm sure he have to wait too long," Dan said, biting his lip.
"I suppose," Mr. Williams said with a sigh. "Get going Liguori…"
"Can I have a pass so the teacher knows where I've been?" PJ asked.
Mr. Williams wrote up PJ a pass and gave it to him. PJ immediately went back to the classroom. He was slightly nervous but he knew that he shouldn't pay attention to any of the other students. PJ took a deep breath as he walked up to the classroom door. He stood there for a few seconds before he finally opened the door. He looked up and walked straight over to the teacher's desk without looking at any of the other students. PJ handed her the note from the principal and then he quickly walked back over to his seat, where Chris was sitting next to him.
"Where the hell were you? Where's Dan?" Chris asked quietly.
"Dan's going home for the day. I'll explain everything later," PJ whispered.
"Are you okay?" Chris asked as he looked up at PJ.
PJ slowly nodded. "Just a little pissed off but I'll be fine. I'm just worried about Dan," he said.
"I know," Chris said. He reached over and grabbed PJ's hand and held onto it.
Dan and Phil were now waiting in the main office for Dan's mom to come pick him up.
"I hate that I have to leave school early," Dan grumbled as he rested his head on Phil's shoulder.
Phil wrapped his arm around Dan and held onto him. "Mr. Williams understand. You don't feel safe in this school right now. I think anyone would do the same thing you are if they were in your position," he said.
Dan sighed and then he looked up at Phil. "I'm glad you are here…" He whispered.
Phil looked down at Dan and smiled. "Come on, you know I'd do anything for you," he said.
"I know that. That's why I have the best boyfriend ever," Dan reached up and kissed Phil gently.
"Daniel?" Dan immediately looked up at the lady who was sitting at the desk.
"Yes?" He asked as he nervously sat up again.
"Congratulations on the baby news," The lady said, giving Dan a friendly smile.
Dan blushed and immediately looked down at his hands, causing Phil to laugh at him.
It's been a couple days now since Dan has been at school. Phil has been bringing Dan home his school works so that he could keep up with school still. Dan didn't want to fall behind.
Dan had no idea what was happening at school and it killed him to be sitting at home doing nothing.
"Hey Dan…" It was a Friday afternoon when Phil had just gotten to Dan's house.
"Hey, aren't you home from school early?" Dan asked as he looked up from his laptop.
"We had an assembly today so they let us home early," Phil said as he walked over to Dan's bed. He crawled onto the bed and then he crawled over to Dan. He reached over and kissed Dan gently.
"Are you kidding me? The one time they have an assembly and I miss it?" Dan asked. He rolled his eyes
Phil plopped down next to Dan. "Yes, actually… you know how you wanted some safety in the school?"
"Is that finally happening? Oh my God. It's about time! Can I go back to school?" Dan asked hopefully. "Wow… I never thought I'd say those words," he said. Dan pushed Phil playfully when Phil had laughed at him. "Shut up, don't laugh at me!" He whined. Dan blinked a few times and then he looked over at Phil again. "Wait a minute… don't tell me that's what the whole assembly was about. Because if it was, then I'm glad I missed it."
"The principal had someone do research and they had a carrier come to the school today," Phil said.
"What the fuck? I could have met another carrier?! I need all the help I can get!" Dan whined.
"Don't worry… the principal let me talk to the guy after the assembly and I got his number for you so you could call him if you had any questions," Phil said as he pulled out a little piece of paper that had a number. "He said you could call him if you ever had a question. The guy already had a little boy and he's the cutest thing!"
"I wouldn't ever want to bother him though," Dan mumbled.
"Don't be scared, Dan… he helps teens like you all the time. It's why he came to our school," Phil said.
"So, what on Earth are people saying about me now?" Dan asked. Phil went to say something but he stopped as soon as Dan's phone went off. Dan blinked a few times. He pulled out his phone and was shocked when he went onto facebook and saw that a lot of people were posting on his wall, good thing. "Shit."
"Are you coming back to school on Monday then?" Phil asked.
"Hell yeah I am! If people are apologizing to me on facebook, I can't wait to see what they're going to say in person! That guy must have finally knocked some sense into their heads," Dan said.
"People weren't too thrilled about it but after he started talking and brought his son out… they were interested in it. Even Alex switched back to our class! Which I'm not sure if I'm too thrilled about," Phil said.
Dan laughed and pushed him playfully. "Things are finally how they should be… I'm so happy the principal actually did all of that just for one student. It just makes me happy to think about it." He whispered.
Phil smiled and wrapped his arms around Dan and pulled him closer, kissing Dan's forehead as well. "Can you actually believe it? In a few months we're going to have our own child!" Phil exclaimed excitedly.
Dan bit his lip nervously as he looked up at Phil. "I know. I can't believe I'm the one who's going to be giving birth it to you. Um, Phil… D-Do you really actually want this child, Phil?" He asked quietly.
Phil frowned as he looked down at Dan. "How could you ask such a thing?" He asked with shock.
"You can't blame me for being nervous. I mean… we're going to have to grow up faster than most kids. We're going to have a kid of our own to look after. I just want to make sure this is what you really want. I don't want you to be one of those guys that leaves just before the baby actually comes." Dan said.
"I could never do that to you, Dan. I had a part in this so I should help you. I'm going to be there for you every step of the way. You know that I'd do anything for you." Phil whispered.
"It makes me really happy to hear you say that," Dan said.
"I'm glad," Phil said. He reached down and kissed Dan gently. He wrapped his arms fully around Dan and rested his hands on his stomach. "I can't wait to meet this little guy… or girl! I don't really care what it is, even though I know you want it to be a boy." Phil smiled when Dan giggled. Dan rested his hands on top of Phil's and sighed happily. He leaned back against Phil's chest and just couldn't help but smile. He knew that these next couple months were going to be hard but as long as Phil would be there… then he knew that he would be okay.
Monday morning came and Dan was actually, for once, excited to go to school. Dan had talked to a lot of people on facebook throughout the weekend and they all seemed to be genuinely sorry for how they treated Dan.
"Dan, even if people still are giving you crap… don't pay attention to them," Phil told Dan as they walked up to the school. It was around 7:20 in the morning when Dan and Phil were getting to school.
"Phil, I'm not as worried as I was last week. Don't worry about me," Dan said as they walked up to the doors.
"Dan, you're pregnant. I'm always going to worry about you," Phil said as he opened the doors for Dan.
"Okay, I guess that makes sense," Dan said as they walked into the school.
Phil laughed. "Of course it makes sense," he said. He grabbed Dan's hand.
"Dan!" Dan looked over and blinked a few times when he saw a boy, Alex Day, walk up to him.
"Hi Alex," Dan said as he looked up at him, biting his lip slightly.
"Um… I just wanted to sorry for calling you a freak," Alex said.
"That was you?" Dan asked with shock. He blinked a few times. "Well, thanks. I forgive you." He said.
"I really am happy for you and Phil," Alex said as he looked at Phil once.
"Talk to you later then?" Dan asked as he held onto Phil's hand.
"Of course," Alex said before he walked away.
Dan raised his eyebrows as he looked up at Phil. "I'm shocked," he said.
"Today should be interesting. I'll be really surprised if the other Alex apologizes," Phil said.
"No chance in hell," Dan said. He and Phil stopped at their lockers, as usual, before they went up to Dan's first period classroom. "See you at lunch!" Dan said as he looked up at Phil.
"Text me in you need anything," Phil said. He leaned down and kissed Dan once.
Dan smiled as he kissed Phil back. "Love you," he said as he watched Phil walk away. Dan turned around and then he walked into the classroom. He pulled out some of his homework that he did at home. He walked over to the desk and handed them to the teacher. "Here's my work I did while I was gone…"
"Ah, thank you Mr. Howell. Nice to have you back," The teacher said.
"Thank you," Dan said. He couldn't help but smile. He turned and then he walked over to his seat, which was thankfully next to Chris and PJ. "Did I miss anything interesting last week?" Dan asked as he looked up at them.
"Nothing really. Besides the assembly, that was pretty interesting," PJ said.
"Though I'm sure Phil already told you about that," Chris said.
Dan laughed. "Yeah. He gave me all the details. I can't believe I missed seeing another carrier!" He whined.
"He was really nice. You should call him, you know…" PJ said.
"His son was fucking adorable. I want a kid," Chris pouted.
"Yeah, we're not having any kids until we're married," PJ warned as he looked over at Chris.
"That could be years from now!" Chris whined. He crossed his arms against his chest.
"Guys you better get on it then," PJ said. He smirked and then he looked over at PJ.
"Guys!" Dan shook his head as he laughed at them. Dan looked over and raised his eyebrows when he saw Alex walk into the classroom. He was so sure that Alex was actually going to switch classes. Dan looked back over at PJ.
"He switched back?" PJ asked, also raising his eyebrows.
"You mean he actually switched glasses? Damn, that assembly must have been really interesting…" Dan said.