It was reaching midday; Phil was back outside the front of his house. He stood, and watched the windows intensely. He wasn't sure what would be going on inside. They wouldn't need to clean anything up; Phil was up early to clear the mess from the party. He wondered what his parents must have been thinking of him. He didn't mean to fight; it wasn't his fault it started. Now he'd split with Angelica, it was something he felt he should have done weeks ago but now things were changing.

'Changing for the better' he thought peacefully to himself although right now it didn't seem that way.

He felt guilty; he felt he'd led Angelica on but not intentionally. He thought he loved her, but it was a mistake. A mask hiding what he truly felt.

Phil's head dropped to stare at the damp grass under his feet. All morning he'd been trying to sort his life out. But do things change that easily?

As he looked at his feet on the pavement by the road he thought about the last thing on his 'to do' list that morning. It was something that he wasn't quite sure about though. He wanted to make himself move, to walk up to the house next door but he couldn't make himself.

The sudden slamming of a door woke Phil out of his daze and made his head turn towards the noise. It was Dil.

Dil saw Phil instantly, and then picked up a large bag of the floor, put it over his shoulder and ran of in the opposite direction.

Phil took a quick glimpse at the Pickles' house and wondered if his parents knew Dil had ran off again, which stopped Phil from calling out to Dil. Instead he ran quickly behind him.

Phil caught up with Dil as they reached the town centre. Dil had given up trying to run from him and Phil started to walk beside him.

"Hey, why were you running?" Phil said out of breath.

"I just need to get away again," Dil said emotionless.

"But why? You only just got back," Phil asked.

"I only came here to see you on your birthday, I didn't want to see my parents, I didn't want any fights," Dil replied.

"That wasn't my fault," Phil said.

"You still hit him," Dil said looking at Phil in the eye for the first time in the conversation. Phil looked back at him confused.

"Why do you care if he got hurt?" Phil asked.

"It's not him I care about," Dil said more peaceful and Phil smiled at him, "But whenever I'm around you get into fights."

"I never start them though, I'm just sticking up for myself," Phil began, "And I wanted them to stop kicking you, and you can't say you wanted that to carry on."

Dil just looked at Phil as they walked.

"No, but that's the point, you wouldn't have to hit him if I wasn't there," Dil said.

"Maybe, maybe not, who knows what they were doing there," Phil replied. Dil didn't have anything left to say, so the boys fell silent as they walked. Phil had noticed Dil was walking slower then when he first caught up with him, and that he also had no idea where Dil was going.

"So where are you going?" Phil finally asked.

"Train station," Dil said, "I'm getting a train and deciding where to get of later."

"Oh," Phil said a little disappointed in not knowing, "Have you got a ticket yet? I mean, do you know what time your train is?"

"No, I haven't got a ticket." Dil said. "I'll get it there."

Phil nodded and the friends continued to walk in silence. A spot of rain dropped onto Phil's head; right away he touched the spot to check it.

"It's raining," Phil said just as the droplets got more frequent.

"Damn, Umbrella, I was meant to pick one up," Dil said pulling his hood over his head.

"I ain't even got a hood!" Phil said, and after Dil's small smile they fell silent once again.

"I went to see Pete today," Phil said trying to restart a conversation. Dil's head turned immediately.

"Why? What did he have to say?" Dil asked eagerly.

"He was as sorry as I was," Phil told him, "He said he wouldn't bother me again, especially since I'm the only one how went to check on him. I mean his friends didn't even bother."

"Oh," Dil said, let down that Phil didn't know why Pete had turned up on that day.

"After that…" Phil began to talk but wasn't sure if he could talk about it.

"What happened after that?" Dil asked, speaking louder so he could be heard through the rain.

"I went to see Angelica," Phil said.

"Oh," Dil said again, looking away from him.

"I broke up with her this morning," Phil said quickly, as if it could've been one long word.

"What? Really?" Dil said almost satisfied, "I mean, why?"

"She's… just… really manipulative," Phil explained to the only person who he could've turned to.

"It's cause I'm here, isn't it?" Dil said, "She had a problem with me here,"

"No, no it's nothing like that," Phil, said defensively.

"Yes it is," Dil smiled, "She told me herself before the party, she wanted me to go."

"What? That bitch," Phil said realizing he was right about her.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to screw everything up. I should've stayed away," Dil said, hanging his head and allowing the rain to bounce of the top of his hood.

"No, no, that's not what I wanted," Phil said back quickly. "You've made me realize about her, made me realize a lot of things, plus you're still my best friend, I just wish I wasn't such a fool."

Dil looked at his friend, they stood still outside the station, which they'd just reached. He wasn't sure what Phil was saying but didn't want to risk anything.

"Okay," the only neutral word Dil could think of. Dil looked in the station and saw the closest ticket booth, "Well, I need a ticket."

Phil watched his friend walk into the station and queue up for a ticket. Dil confused him, but he wasn't going to give up everything now. Curiously Phil walked into the station behind Dil.