"Okay. You can teach me,"

Phil's whole face lights up at Dan's words, but Dan holds a hand up, indicating that he isn't finished.

"But, you have to be patient with me, I'm not always a fast learner - and I can get ... frustrated, at times. And, we need Chris to be around so there's no miscommunication between us." He adds, and Phil nods furiously.

Dan has barely a second to notice as Phil basically tackles him into a firm hug, and when Phil's long arms reach around him, Dan's breath hitches and sticks in his throat. He tenses up a little, not because he's uncomfortable but because he wasn't expecting Phil to hug him. Phil is warm, and the hug is kind of nice when Dan starts to think past "okay, okay, Phil's hugging me, okay", but he's a little bewildered to find himself disappointed when Phil pulls away.

He looks sheepish, his right hand reaching up to rub his upper arm, just above his elbow, and he's looking at the ground instead of at Dan. Dan's not sure what to do, or what to say, and Phil's not looking at him so he can't just offer Phil a comforting smile to reassure him that everything is okay.

Thankfully, the bell rings, and Phil looks up at the sound. He gestures to his locker, only a metre or so away from where they're standing. Dan nods, and Phil smiles before walking off. Dan spins his lock, clicking on the numbers he needs, all the while trying not to think too much about what had just happened, and more importantly, how nice it had felt.

He can't afford to crush on Phil.

Dan has English up first, a class he has with Chris but without Phil, so he says goodbye to Phil - receiving a smile and a wave in response - and makes his way to his classroom. He spends the walk trying to remember where his classroom is, and hoping that he won't get lost along the way because he has no idea what he'll do then.

He makes it barely a second before the bell for class rings, and he's quite proud of himself, having only made one wrong turn instead of five this time.

Chris grins at him when he walks in, and Dan smiles shyly as he takes the seat next to him. Neither of them speak, because their English teacher, Mr. Prav, is a scary man with beady eyes who doesn't give out warnings before detentions like most teachers would.

They work diligently for half of the lesson, grateful when Mr. Prav has to go to his office, leaving the class alone with a girl who could care less what they did as long as the room didn't burn down.

"So, have you made a decision about Phil's proposition yet?" Chris asks, and Dan sighs at his straightforwardness. It seems there is indeed a lot that Dan has yet to learn about his new friends.

"I have." He answers. "But I'm curious as to why you want to know so badly."

"Because Phil is my best friend." Chris says honestly, adding quickly. "So is PJ, obviously, but Phil's different. I knew him first, met him when we were both at pretty dark places in our lives and we helped each other through them. If you're going to be in our friend group, if you're serious about being his friend, I think it's important that you learn how to communicate with him like we did."

"I am serious." Dan says, soaking Chris' words in. He's a little curious about the 'dark places' part, but he knows better than to push - he's been through dark times too, he knows as well as anyone how it feels to be stuck in a storm cloud, and it's much fairer to find out when the person or people are ready.

"Wait a second." He soon adds, because another part of what Chris said has suddenly clicked.

"You said, 'like we did'."

Chris nods, and he's looking at Dan like he's taken the alter-ego of 'Captain Obvious'.

"Yeah. PJ and I."

"How does ... I mean I'm not trying to be rude, or anything, but-"

"How can PJ do it? Because he's blind?" Chris asks, and Dan would be worried but Chris looks amused instead of angry so Dan breathes out a low sigh of relief that he hopes goes unnoticed.

"I taught him. With Phil's help of course, but-"

Just then, Mr. Prav walks back in, so Dan and Chris duck their heads and pretend to be working. They wait until their teacher's dark eagle eyes have returned to the papers on his desk before turning to face each other.

"Phil taught me," Chris whispers, and Dan strains a little to hear him.

"And then I helped PJ learn. It took him a bit longer and he usually sticks to the basic ones like saying hello or thank you and the such, phrases that don't require an answer."

Chris smiles wistfully, and Dan feels slightly envious, though he doesn't mention it.

"I know it may seem pointless," He whispers, "Especially because he can talk, which he does most of the time, but it means that PJ doesn't feel left out or like a bad friend because he can't talk to Phil the way Phil talks to him and me - and now, of course, you."

"So, do you translate for the two of them?" Dan asks quietly, curious as to how the dynamic between them works.

"Most of the time. I'm sort of the go-between."

Chris grins, and at first Dan feels a little scared - Chris looks like an mad scientist, like Victor Frakenstein.

"Of course, once you've learnt you can be the messenger pigeon as well."

Dan smiles, the idea curiously enticing.

"That sounds like fun." He says, and Chris grins.

"Most of the time, it is."

"So, I was thinking we should start this SL session this weekend?" Chris suggests when they're at lunch.

PJ raises his eyebrows, and Chris whispers something into his ear that seems to be an explanation.

"SL?" Dan asks, and he feels pretty dumb when he realises a second later what it means.

"Oh, right. Sign language, I get it."

PJ smiles and Chris scoffs out a laugh, and Dan feels like groaning when he sees Phil laughing soundlessly out of the corner of his eye.

Good job, Dan. Nice one.

"Sounds good to me." PJ says, and Phil nods in agreement. Dan ponders the idea - he can't find any fault in it, but things are all happening in quicker succesion then he'd been ready for.

"Can't wait." Dan says, and he makes a mental note to ask Charlotte, although he's not quite sure how he's going to get around asking her without letting slip of the real reason behind his request.

Phil makes eye contact with Chris, before pointing to himself and then steeping his fingers so they made a bottomless triangle.

"Everyone okay with Phil's house?" Chris translates, and Dan furrows his eyebrows.

"We also use shortcuts - a sign language all of our own." Chris explains, and Dan purses his lips.

"I see. This is indeed going to be interesting." He says, and he wonders if the others can hear the double-edged meaning in his words, or if it's really just him.

Charlotte's lounging on the creamy-brown couch in the sitting room when Dan gets home. At first he doesn't see her, and he would have walked past if she hadn't of spotted him first.

"Hey, squirt, how was school?" She asks, and her voice is soft and a little strained.

Dan drops his bag behind the couch before flopping onto it. Charlotte, anticipating the move, folds her legs as he sits down, before stretching them back out, her feet pushing against the arm of the couch, her shins resting on Dan's thighs.

"You know that calling me squirt is redundant seeing as I'm not half your height anymore." Dan says, looking down at her.

There's the faint remnance of dark bags under her eyes, and her golden hair is messy and knotted. She's wearing her glasses, thin-rimmed and purple, and Dan can tell that she's had an interesting and possibly rough day.

"I don't care. You're still younger and that is enough for me." She replies, and Dan squeezes her knee, humour dropping away.

"How was work?" He asks. He doesn't inquire as to why she's at home when she's supposed to be at the bakery down the road, he figures she'll tell him at some point.

"Tiring, as always - I blame the annoyingly impatient clientèle. I mean today wasn't too bad, so I'm pretty lucky, but-" Charlotte sighs wearily.

"I shouldn't be complaining." She mumbles, running a hand through her untidy tangles.

She turns to him with a bright smile, and even though he can see the tightness to her mouth and the lines near her eyes, he doesn't say anything, because he knows that she would just dismiss his worries anyway.

"How was your day?" She continues, reaching a hand out to grip his own with a reassuring squeeze.

"Pretty good. I, uh, I told Phil about my decision."

"You made a choice?" Charlotte asks, and Dan nods, a mix of excitement and shyness.

"Yeah, I said that he could teach me, but I made sure that Chris could be there too, to translate."

And so that I'm not all alone with Phil. He thinks, but he doesn't mention it, because he isn't quite sure that he wants to admit it out loud.

Charlotte nods, her movements slow but fluid.

"Makes sense to me. I'm proud of you Dan, this is a good step."

"Yeah," Dan breathes out shakily, and he smiles as Charlotte squeezes his hand again. Some days, most days, he isn't sure what he would do without his big sister.

"Chris suggested we start this weekend." Dan continues, speaking slowly. "And Phil offered for us to meet at his house."

Charlotte's eyeing him curiously, and he can tell that she's trying to read him - she's probably succeeding - but he doesn't dwell on that, because if he stops talking now he knows he won't bring it up again.

"I thought I should probably ask you first, though, before I confirmed definitively." He adds, letting out a sigh when he finishes.

He doesn't know why it felt like such a big deal to ask Charlotte - he doesn't expect her to say no. She'd been encouraging him to try to make new friends ever since she'd found out what had happened with those who had claimed to be comrades but had done nothing to prove it, and she had been nothing but excited since he'd told her about his three new friends. Regardless, there was a tiny knot of anxiety in his gut, and it wasn't easing up.

"I don't mind." Charlotte says, her head tilted a bit to the side like a curious bird.

"Do you know his address?"

"No, I'll have to ask him tomorrow."

Charlotte nods, and covers her mouth as a yawn threatens to escape.

"I can drive you there, if you want." She says, mid-yawn.

"I could always walk." Dan insists, not wanting to burden her in any way, not after what she had done for him already.

Charlotte simply stares at him, and there's an air of guardianship in her look.

"Not if it's any further than from here to the school, you're not." She says, and she smiles at him kindly before adding. "Besides, I want to meet your new friends."

Dan groans and buries his face in his hands, and he can hear Charlotte laughing softly at his embarrassment.

"You know I love you, Danny boy." She says, and Dan resists the urge to slide of the couch and bury his face into the ground.

"I love you too." He mumbles, because despite her annoying teasing, he knows that there will never be a day where he doesn't love Charlotte, because he knows that she'll never do anything to cause him to hate her.

She'd already accepted him as who he was, helped him escape to a better place and was more than willing to do anything to help him. He couldn't possibly wish for a better sister than the one he had, nor would he.

Dan is barely at Phil's door, had just hurriedly waved goodbye to Charlotte and knocked on the wooden entrance, before it was flung open revealing Chris on the other side.

"Hey, dude." Chris greets, with a small smile. There's something in his eyes that Dan can't quite define, but he's curious about it.

"The other guys are in the den. Follow me."

Dan walks after Chris, making sure he's no more than a few steps behind because getting lost in Phil's house - which is nice and traditional and clean and two whole storeys - doesn't sound too appealing to him.

"We're going to start this thing the easy way." Chris explains as he leads. "The alphabet, how to say hello, thank you, how to introduce yourself."

Dan knows that what Chris is describing probably isn't as hard as it sounds, but to someone like Dan who has no clue what he's gotten himself into, it sounds a little difficult and he's kind of nervous about it.

"Sounds like fun." He says anyway, because he doesn't want to admit that he's terrified about messing this up and offending any of them, mainly Phil, but still -

"Hey guys, Dan's here."

Dan follows Chris into the den, which resembles his old family room - there's a TV on one wall, and a set of comfy looking armchairs with a matching couch. The walls are decorated with beautiful paintings and pictures of what looked like Phil and his family. Phil and PJ are sitting on the ground in front of the wooden coffee table, which confuses Dan at first but he dismisses it. They obviously have a reason.

"Hi." PJ greets, smiling warmly. Phil waves, and his face is lit up like a Christmas tree.

"Uh, hey." Dan replies, waving awkwardly.

Chris sits down on the ground next to the other two, and Dan quickly follows suit. His confusion must be evident on his face, because Chris grins at him.

"Couches are awkward. Besides, being in close proximity makes it easier for us to help you." He explains. "With things like the way your fingers are shaped, etc."

Dan nods. Phil offers a thumbs up and a smile in his direction, and Dan smiles in response. Phil looks at Chris for confirmation, and Chris rubs his hands together like an evil genius with a master plan.

"Okay, let's go."

Phil waves his hand in a wide arch, like he's miming a rainbow.

"So that's hello. It's also the same for goodbye - kudos to context." Chris translates, and Dan copies Phil. It's a simple move, and the meaning makes perfect sense.

"Of course you can just wave normally for either." PJ adds.

"Well, yeah, obviously. Thanks for the comment, peanut gallery." Chris says sarcastically, and PJ's grin widens.

"Anway, moving on."

Phil nods, and touches his fingertips to his chin, just below his bottom lip, and then he extends them outwards, like he's blowing Dan a kiss.

"And that means, thank you."

Dan copies, and he doesn't realise he's facing Phil when he does it, until he sees the dusting of a blush on Phil's cheeks. Dan can feel his own face warming up, and he bites the inside of his mouth whilst trying to force it down.

"If you want to mention yourself or something that is yours, you just need to point to yourself." Chris adds.

"That makes sense."

"A lot of sign language does." Chris says.

Phil nudges Chris' knee with his toes, and Chris looks over at him.

Phil taps his palm twice, and Chris sighs.

"Someone's impatient." He tells Phil, who only smirks in response.

"He wants to start explaining the alphabet to you." Chris says to Dan, so he's not sitting there, awkwardly confused.

"Sounds fun." Dan replies, and it does. He's genuinely interested in learning, and starting with the vowels and consonants seems like the best option.

Phil's smile grows impossibly wider, and if Dan thought there was something else happening with Chris, he can't find it anymore.

There's an overwhelming feeling of niceness in Dan, and fondness for these people he can call friends without choking on the words.

He likes it, new although it is.