This fic was written both for phanfic's weekly challenge, and for my friend Capturethefinnick (who writes amazing fics and who I love a lot)

Dan hugged Lia tightly to his chest, pulling her onto his lap and keeping her there. "I'm never going to let you go! You can never escape the big bear's hugs!" He put on his best growling bear voice as Lia shrieked in delight.

"No, no, Pa- um, big bear!" she laughed, tried to struggle away. "Don't gobble me up! Wouldn't you rather watch the television and drink some lemonade?" She finally wormed out of the hug, running across the room and grabbing two cups from her tea set. She handed one to Dan, grinning. "There you go!"

Dan took the cup, pretending to consider. "Why, this is the finest lemonade I've ever had! Thank you very much, Lia!"

"You're welcome, Papa!" She hopped onto the sofa. "Can we watch a DVD?"

"Of course we can! We need a show while we drink our lemonade." He scanned the list of cartoons. Thanks to their movie marathons, Lia had seen almost every cartoon they owned, apart from some pretty obscure Japanese anime. Lia bounded up next to him, pointing at one of the cases.

"Papa, can we watch the one with the pretty cartoon girl?" Dan looked to where she was pointing- the word Coraline was sprawled across the front in curling yellow letters. Dan hesitated- it had been a little scary when he'd watched it, but surely Lia was old enough for it now?

"Alright, then. It's a little bit scary though, so you'll have to be brave." Lia nodded happily and jumped back onto the sofa, watching as Dan set the opening credits rolling.

"Ooh, what are we watching?" Phil padded downstairs and into the lounge, dropping a kiss on Lia's head and resting his chin on Dan's shoulder.

Lia turned round and smiled. "It's about a girl called Caroline and it's a cartoon and she has really pretty blue hair."

Phil froze, staring first at Lia, then at Dan. "You don't mean- Dan!"

"What?" he said innocently. "She's old enough now, yeah? It's the middle of the day and it's not that scary."

Phil glared at him, but refused to raise his voice in front of Lia. "Buttercup, I need to talk to Papa about something important." He grabbed the remote, violently pausing the film. "Can you go and play in your room for a while please?"

Lia stuck out her bottom lip, sulking. "But Daddy-"

"Now, Lia." Phil's hands were trembling with barely contained anger. His voice left no room for argument, and as soon as Lia had left the room, Phil stared at Dan, eyes burning.

"What the hell were you thinking of, showing her that?" he said in a furious whisper. "That film is horrifying. Have you actually lost your mind?"

Dan stood up, facing him. "Come on, Phil, it's not that scary. I remember watching it-"

"When you were eighteen, Dan. Lia is five." He shook his head in disbelief. "God, if she'd watched that, think of the nightmares she'd have got! I honestly cannot think why you would agree to putting that on."

Dan scratched the back of his neck. "Jesus, Phil, I'm sorry. I thought it would be okay, but we can watch something else. There's no need to act like a…" he trailed off, but Phil wouldn't let it slide.

"Like a what, Dan? Like a parent? Because that's what we are. I just choose to act like it." He stormed out, shoving his feet into shoes and grabbing some keys. "I don't want to be angry with Lia in the house, I'm going out. Don't call me." He almost spat the words. "Christ, I spent the whole day editing because I thought I could trust you…" Dan opened his mouth to reply, but before he could speak, Phil had already slammed the door behind him.

Dan stretched out his legs and closed his laptop. It had been a while since he'd done a live show, and even though he was older, he still enjoyed it- not all the fans were happy about the earlier schedule, but then again, you can't please everyone. It's not like he could stay up talking into the night while Lia was trying to sleep. He glanced at the clock and started; the red letters spelled out 20:15, way past Lia's bedtime. He wondered why Phil hadn't come to get him, hoping it was because he was working, not because of their little domestic.

He padded barefoot down the stairs, confused when he heard laughing from the lounge, and poked his head round the door. Phil and Lia were sat in the middle of the carpet, half the dressing up box on top of them. Phil looked up, then at the clock. "Oh, my God, is that the time? Lia, Buttercup, we need to get you to bed!" He jumped to his feet. "Thanks, Dan." He kissed Dan on the forehead, but Dan just smiled smugly.

"Go and brush your teeth, love," Dan said, then in an aside to Phil "Great example of responsible parenting."

Phil's eyes widened, hands clenching. "What? What did you just say to me?" His voice was low and threatening.

Dan hadn't meant it seriously, but bristled at the conflict. "I mean that you had a go at me before, and then you let her stay up late. Can you say 'hypocrite'?"

"Dan, I- I'm tired, God, I'm sorry. I didn't think it was such a massive mistake. It's not a school day tomorrow…" He turned away, angrily throwing pink chiffon back into the dressing up box. "You know what, just stop it."

"Stop what?"

"Stop acting like you have to be right all the time." Phil had to stop himself from slamming the lid of the box. "I don't want to have this conversation. I'm going to kiss Lia goodnight, and you're welcome if you can find your way out of your own arse." He brushed past Dan, wiping the heel of his hand across his eyes when he thought Dan couldn't see.

Dan followed, and they put on smiles for their daughter, but didn't get more than a one word response from Phil for the rest of the night. The clock ticked into double figures then back to single again; Dan stared at the ceiling and wondered what to do.

Dan woke up from a restless sleep to a faint knocking on the door. He rolled over, sure he'd dreamed it, but the knocking continued until he sat up, concerned. He shook Phil's leg to wake him up. "Phil. I think there's something wrong."

Phil blinked a couple of times, switching from bleary to alert in half a second. "Hello?" he called. "Lia?"

The door swung open slowly, the faint light from the hallway casting shadows on the walls. Lia stood in the doorway, clutching one of her stuffed animals tightly. "Daddy? Papa?" she called, and her fathers instantly sprung out of the bed towards her.

"Buttercup? What's wrong, baby?" Phil crouched down beside her as Dan smoothed the hair back from her forehead.

Lia looked down. "I don't feel very well." Her voice wobbled with the threat of tears, and Dan scooped her up in his arms, carrying her to the bed.

"Hey, there, it's alright," He kissed the top of her head. "We've got you. We've got you." Phil turned on the lamp and felt her forehead.

"Oh, you've got a temperature, haven't you, Buttercup?" he desperately tried to make his voice sound reassuring rather than terrified. "Where does it hurt, sweetie?"

Lia rubbed her stomach, pouting. "I've got a hurty tummy and I feel all sick and poorly. Am I going to die?"

"Of course not, Buttercup. We're here to protect you." Phil leaned over the side of the bed, taking some medicine from the cupboard. "Papa's going to give you this while I get you some water, is that okay?" She nodded, and Phil passed the bottle to his husband, laying a hand on his shoulder.

Dan poured some of the liquid into the spoon, the syrupy sweet smell making his eyes water. "Okay, open wide, little bear." Lia obliged, then hugged her knees to her chest.

"James in my class had to keep going to the bathroom and the teacher got cross with him, and then we found out he had a tummy ache. Papa, promise you won't get cross with me." Her eyes were wide, nervous.

"I promise. Nothing you can do will get me angry." Dan kissed her nose.

"Even if I was sick all over your bed?"

"Even then."

"Even if I said your face looked like a tomato?"

"Even- ooh! Someone's feeling a bit better, aren't they?" Dan poked her in the side, and she giggled. "Yes, darling, even if you said my face looked like a tomato."

"Are we talking about how Daddy's face looks like a tomato?" Phil came round the door, laying a glass of water on the cabinet and feeling Lia's forehead again. "Ah, you're a lot cooler. Do you think you can try to sleep?"

Lia nodded, lying down on her side. "I love you, Daddy. I love you, Papa."

"We love you too, little bear." Dan brushed the hair from her eyes, smiling as his daughter fell into a deep sleep. He looked up, catching a wistful expression in Phil's eyes. "What?"

Phil shrugged, lips curled into a smile. "You're so good with her."

"Not really," Dan crossed his legs, running a hand through his hair. Phil twisted his hands together nervously.

"No, you are. You understand her. I'm so- ugh." He rested his head in his hands. "I'm sorry I shouted at you before, Dan. I'm really messing this all up, aren't I?"

"Hey, Phil, what's wrong?" Dan stretched out his hand, and Phil grasped it tightly.

"I'm so… terrified. I'm always so, so scared of messing this up. I've been given the best husband and a perfect daughter and a job I love and I'm just waiting for the day I do something and all of this disappears. I'm scared that if I don't edit enough videos, the fans will start to hate me, and then we'll have no money to look after Lia- or I'll do something to upset her, and she'll grow up with all these fears and it'll be my fault- or I'll do something wrong and you'll hate me and leave me and take her- or-" Phil's breathing started to quicken, and Dan laid a palm on the side of his husband's face.

"Shh, my love. I would never, ever leave you. Not if you were the worst person in the whole world. I get stuff wrong constantly, I would have let Lia watch that film, I was mean to you when you were so tired. You're not going to go through this alone, okay, my love? You've got me, just like I've got you."

Phil smiled, covering Dan's hand on his face with his own. "Yeah, you've got me." He laughed. "It's not easy, this parenting business."

"Amazing, though, isn't it?"

Phil stared down at Lia, who was snoring gently. "Yeah. Yeah, it is." He turned back to Dan, kissing him quickly on the lips. "I love you."

"I love you, too. We should try and get some sleep." He gave Phil one last smile, then lay down next to Lia. Phi switched the lamps off with a soft click.

Somehow, though, the darkness didn't seem quite as huge and frightening as before.

A pretty happy ending, true?

Thank you for reading xxx For the rest of my fics (I have one other involving Lia and some others not set in this universe) and some background information, why not follow my tumblr (also called uhnonniemiss) c:

Please review in exchange for majestic golden wombats!