The house was spotless.

Kitchen sparkling, beds made, bedroom carpets vacuumed and sofa cushions plumped.

Everything was perfect for the return of Dil and Tabitha. Dab had wanted to help out, too, so Dan had given him the task of cleaning out Jonathan the Minnow's fish tank, much to Phil's uncertainty.

Phil drearily unlocked his phone to gaze at the time: 10:30.

There was plenty of time before the Howlters got back at 12, so he laid his head back down on the pillow and stared up at the ceiling.

He'd decided to rest a bit before mid-day, after his frantic running about and making everything ideal. He'd only just been able to get rid of the smoky smell that had seemed to taint the air, too.

Dan was, too, unwinding, and spending some time on the Internet for a while. The Sim Internet was a slight bit different to the normal web, but it was easy enough to navigate and at least still had the basics, like YouTube. So of course, Dan opted to spend his time there.

Phil could hear the clicking of the keyboard, but apart from that, everything was silent.

He gazed up at Melapples – Dil's first painting, hanging on the wall beside the window – one last time before his eyes drifted closed and he began to drop off.

He probably would have fallen fast asleep, too, if he hadn't have been awoken by a painfully loud and sudden crash.

He sprang into consciousness, his heart feeling as if it was pounding in his throat, and swallowed, anxiously.

He'd heard the rattle of Dan probably jumping back in surprise at the noise, too, before his typing stopped.

"I'm sorry!" He heard Dab yelp, and the sound of glass crunching could be perceived, "It was an accident!"

Phil didn't hear Dan speak, so assumed he was in a sort of shock.

Standing up and walking to the other side of the room, he pressed his ear up to the door to hear Dab breathe a scared 'oh no…' and Dan whisper 'Phil's going to be mad…'

Phil frowned because he knew exactly what had happened.

"Get a glass!" Dab quivered, "We need to save Jonathan!"

And Phil heard Dan bound over to the kitchen, rattling through the cupboards and turn on a tap before hurrying over to the living room.

Phil pushed open the door, leaned on the doorframe, folded his arms and frowned at the devastation on the floor.

Shards of glass were strewn about everywhere and a pool of water had collected in the rug and was now seeping out onto the floorboards, and bits of gravel were just… absolutely everywhere.

"Great job," Phil hissed, angrily, digging his nails into his thin arms, but even that didn't relieve the irritation, "Just ACE!"

Dan stared up to him from the floor, wobbling as he crouched there, a large glass containing a minnow in his hand.

"Ok, look, I know it's a mess, but if you just stay calm-" he started, but Phil cut him off, irritably.

"I had everything perfect!" He yelled, throwing his arms down to his sides in frustration, "And just as I thought everything was sorted and I could finally stop worrying about everything, you go and do this!" And he put his head in his hands, shakily walking in a circle before looking back up, anxiously, "And we only have an hour and a half until your parents are due home, too!" He snapped at Dab, who jumped back in shock.

"Hey, calm; it'll be fine," Dan repeated, standing up and placing the glass down on the breakfast bar before attempting to console his friend, but as he reached to put a gentle hand on his shoulder, Phil angrily pushed him away.

"It's not going to be 'fine', Dan!" He retorted, "Didn't you hear what I said? Not even two hours!"

"Look, take it easy, pal," Dan hushed, "We can go and buy another one in time before twelve, don't worry-"

"And then there's the cleaning, too- we're never going to get the smell out of the carpet! The glass, the water, the gravel everywhere-"

"I just said: take it easy…"

"You really think we'll have enough time to clean up this mess?" Phil yelled, "I knew it was a bad idea to-"

"Hey, hey, shhh!" Dan butted in, digging his nails into his friend's shoulders and holding his steady, "If we head out now, we could get back in time to speed clean everything."

"No, we can't-"

"Well, we're losing time standing here arguing about it – you start cleaning and Dab and I will head out to Magnolia Promenade to find a new tank, alright?"

Phil heaved a sigh, frowned, but begrudgingly agreed to this idea, and he slumped back against the wall with his head in his hands as Dan and Dab got ready to go.

Nothing could ever work out his way, could it?