It was the next day that Dan decided to call up Chris and PJ. They decided to meet each other at the park. The park wasn't usually that busy and thankfully, it wasn't where a lot of kids from school went. Chris and PJ obviously would have preferred something that wasn't so public but Dan made it clearly to them that meeting them at the park was the only way he would meet up with them so they finally agreed to it. Even though Dan was still upset with Chris and PJ, he kind of missed them.

Dan was already at the park by 12 o' clock in the afternoon. He was sitting on a park bench, waiting for Chris and PJ.

"Dan?" Dan looked up and immediately stood up when he saw Chris and PJ. "Hey." PJ said. Dan crossed his arms against his chest. "Okay, you have every right to be mad at us, even hate us." Chris nodded in agreement.

"But, we're really sorry for how we treated you the past month. We shouldn't have ignored you like that. We should have been there for you when you needed someone and clearly you needed someone." Chris said. He let out a sigh. PJ bit his lip nervously as he looked at Dan and Chris back and forth. "Please forgive us?" Chris begged. 'We'll never do anything stupid like that again. Promise!" Dan stared at them for a few seconds. He sighed in defeat.

"Fine." Dan said. PJ walked over to him and hugged him. Dan laughed and hugged him back. PJ pulled away a few seconds later.

"So, where were you yesterday? You didn't show up for school." Chris said as he walked over to Dan.

"Oh, well, um…" Dan sat back down on the bench. "I had been planning on going to school but then Adam stopped me on the way to school and he…He almost beat me up and…" Dan began to say. Chris's eyes went wide.

"He actually beat you up?!" Chris yelled. Dan rolled his eyes.

"I said almost! He only punched me once but thankfully Phil came to the rescue and saved me." Dan said, smiling.

"Phil?" Dan nodded. "Wait a minute, that guy who babysat you?" PJ asked. Dan glared at him. PJ blinked a few times. He sighed and then he sat down next to Dan. Dan looked down at his hands. "I don't think it's a good idea if you hang out with that guy. People will start to get suspicious. Besides, didn't you say he was older than you? It wouldn't be right and it would be just plain weird." Dan blinked a few times and looked over at him. "What?" PJ asked.

"It's not like we're dating or anything." Although it killed Dan to say that. Dan already had feelings for Phil and it was kind of obvious that he wanted to be with him. "We're just friends. People are allowed to be just friends." Dan snapped.

"Oh, okay then." PJ said. He shrugged his shoulders.

"Sorry for snapping." Dan mumbled. "I know what I'm doing, trust me. Phil's only four years older than me. It's not a big deal."

"Really? He's four years older than you?" PJ asked. Dan nodded. "What's he doing babysitting teenagers then?"

"Peej!" Dan hissed. PJ threw his hands. "He wasn't expecting me to be a teenager. He's trying to make a little extra money so he can move out of his parents' house. Okay! No more questions. You guys already know more than you should."

"Just one more question…" PJ started to ask. Dan rolled his eyes as he looked over at Phil. "Do you like Phil?"

"Yeah. Of course I like him. He's an amazing friend." Dan said.

"I meant…Do you like him as more than a friend?" PJ asked. Dan frowned.

"Why would you think that?" Dan asked. PJ shrugged his shoulders. "No. I don't like him like that." Dan lied. He knew that he couldn't tell Chris and PJ that he was kind of in love with Phil. He didn't need any more rumors spreading around school. Dan already got enough from kids at school, making fun of him and beating him up because he had a babysitter. He already had plenty of bruises on his body and he didn't need or want anymore. "Can we talk about something else please?"

"Oh, yeah, of course." PJ said. He looked over at Chris. Chris shrugged his shoulders.

It's been about an hour now since Dan had met up with Chris and PJ at the park, and they were still there. Dan had missed hanging out with Chris and PJ. He missed talking to them about everything and nothing and just generally goofing around with them. He was glad that he decided to meet up with them. He was thankful Phil convinced him to do this.

Dan and PJ were still sitting on the bench while Chris was sitting on the bench. Chris and PJ were currently in the middle of a random conversation. Dan immediately pulled out his phone when he felt it vibrate. PJ immediately stopped talking and looked over at him. Chris raised his eyebrows as he watched them. Dan smiled as he read the text he had gotten from Phil.

To: Dan

From: Phil

Hey! How's everything going? Did you talk to Chris and PJ? Xx

To: Phil

From: Dan

Everything's great! We're just hanging out at the park now. I'll talk to you later. Xx

"Who was that from?" PJ asked curiously. Dan jumped slightly.

"Oh, um…" Dan started to say. "No one important." He mumbled. He put his phone back into his pocket. He looked back over at PJ. "So…" Dan rolled his eyes as soon as he saw the look on PJ's face. "Okay, do not look at me like that." Dan warned. PJ crossed his arms against his chest as he stared at PJ. "Okay, so…Maybe it was Phil. Big deal? We've texted each other before. It's not a crime to text your friends." Dan snapped. PJ sighed.

"Dan, I really don't think you should hang around that guy." PJ said.

"What the hell is he going to do PJ? I spent a whole weekend with him and I'm still alive!" Dan yelled. He stood up from the bench. PJ blinked a few times as he looked up at Dan.

"Where are you going?" PJ asked. Chris immediately stood up from the ground.

"I know how to take care of myself. I'm sick of people treating me like a child." Dan hissed. He started to walk away.

"Dan!" PJ yelled. He quickly stood up from the bench. He sighed as he watched Dan walk away. PJ looked over at Chris. "What the hell's going on with him lately?" PJ asked. "Ever since he met that Phil guy, he's totally changed."

"I think that he's in love." Chris said. PJ raised his eyebrows. "Clearly something happened that weekend Dan spent with Phil but Dan obviously doesn't want to admit it. It's so obvious." PJ chuckled.

"Clearly not that obvious since I couldn't tell." PJ said. Chris laughed.

Dan had immediately went home after he walked away from Chris and PJ. Dan was upset. He was tired of people treating him like a child. He wasn't a child. Dan was 15 years old. He knew how to do things and take care of himself.

Dan sighed as he walked into the house. He shut the door behind him. He started to walk up the stairs.

"Daniel!" Dan immediately stopped as soon as he heard his mom yelling for him. Dan groaned and walked back down the stairs.

"This can't be good. I wonder what I got in trouble for this time." He mumbled. He walked down the hallway and made his way into the kitchen. He looked up and blinked a few times when he saw his mom and dad sitting at the kitchen table and they didn't look very happy either. This worried Dan. "I didn't do anything wrong." Dan said before they could say anything.

"But, I think you did." Diane said. Dan stared at her.

"You didn't go to school yesterday." John said. Dan groaned. "We warned you about skipping school."

"It's funny how you only ever bother to talk to me when I get in trouble." Dan snapped.

"Dan." Diane warned. "You have to go to school. You've just missed three days of school because you said you were sick which apparently you lied to us about to." She said. Dan crossed his arms against his chest.

"Why should I go to school? School is hell for me." Dan said.

"I'm sure it's not that bad." John said. Dan scoffed.

"Oh yeah? How would you know if it's bad or not?" He asked. "You don't know what goes on at school because you don't even pay attention to me, and you don't care about me." He snapped.

"Dan, we do care about you." Diane said. Dan shook his head.

"No, you don't. Don't even act like you do. You only care about you precious little angel, Adrian." Dan snapped. "I hate being in this house. I hate this family. I hate school. I hate being treated like a child!" Dan yelled. He took a deep breath as his eyes began to water up. "I don't even want to be here anymore." Dan mumbled. He turned around and stormed out of the kitchen without saying another word. He bumped into Adrian on his way out. Dan glared at him as soon as he saw him. Adrian raised his eyebrows when he looked up at Dan and saw the expression on his face. Dan hadn't properly spoken to Adrian in weeks but that didn't stop Adrian from talking to him and being the annoying little brother that he was.

"What's going on with you?" Adrian asked. Dan pushed him aside and stormed up the stairs. Dan immediately ran to his bedroom. He slammed the door shut and locked it. He sat down on his bed. He pulled out his phone and called Phil.

"Hello?" Phil asked when he finally answered his hone. Dan bit his lip as a few tears fell out of his eyes.

"Ph-Phil?" Dan asked. He took a deep breath. "Can you come pick me up?"

"Of course I can. Is everything okay?" Phil asked. Dan shook his head.

"No." Dan mumbled. "I just don't want to be here anymore." He mumbled. "Please?" Dan begged.

"Yes, of course. Don't worry about anything. I'll come and get you as soon as I can. Give me at least 15 minutes and I'll be there." Phil said calmly. Dan hung up on him. Phil was most definitely the only person he wanted to see. He didn't care about his supposed-to-be friends or his family. He just cared about Phil.