It was occurring to Phil Lester that if you wanted to make friends with somebody, you should probably prepare what you were going to do and say beforehand.

All that he had done so far was make awkward conversation, give mostly accurate replies to questions about his week, and at one point excuse himself to get coffee, seeing as that was what he was there for.

Mostly depending on Eliza to talk to Summer and let him think wasn't really working out as well as he had hoped, seeing as Summer didn't seem at all interested in Eliza.

Of course she wasn't.

Phil supposed he should have expected it, really. After all, it was his idea that he bring Eliza along, but at least she was good company and seemed to pick up on his uneasiness at times. Perhaps it was a motherly thing – Tabitha did it, too.

Talk of Liberty and Travis had ended swiftly enough, though, thankfully, and they quickly moved onto another subject… only, it wasn't much improvement.

"How are you at dancing?"

This unexpected enquiry was enough to almost make Phil choke on the coffee in his mouth, but he managed to keep it down and instead calmly put his cup back down on the table and slowly raised his eyebrows.

"…Dancing?" He repeated, sceptically.

"Yeah; remember back in February at that house party that Dil threw to see you back home?" Summer grinned.

"How could I forget?"

"We all saw the end. You know, during the swin-"

"Yes, I remember," Phil sighed with a slight frown, "What about the dance?" He asked.

"Well, I was wondering if you could teach me," Summer smirked, tapping her long fingernails on the sticky tabletop and watching Phil look gradually more unnerved.

He went to ask Eliza for help on how to politely say 'no – you're slightly scaring me – I'm not dancing with you', but as he turned to his right, he remembered that Eliza had gone to the bathroom a few seconds ago, leaving him to deal with the situation himself.

Dan wouldn't do this if he was here.

"I don't think… I'm very qualified… as a dance teacher," he stuttered, and he seemed happy with his excuse for a minute.

"You seemed pretty good at the party," Summer replied.

"Dan and I work together quite well. That's what you get when you're best friends with someone for eight years… but anyway, it wasn't my idea – it was Dan's – and it wasn't really a proper dance. We made it up as we went along, I don't think I could do it again, never mind teach anyone," Phil laughed, gingerly, "But if you really wanted to learn, I'm sure there are other people who'd be willing to show you."

"Oh, it doesn't matter," Summer said, shaking her head, but she still smiled, "Just thought it'd be a good chance for us to spend some good, friendly time together…" she offered, and Phil could feel himself go red.

Friendly, platonic time together. Right.

"Maybe not this time," Phil answered with an anxious chuckle, "Dancing's not really my forte."

When he'd thought 'a touch of Swing never hurt anybody', he hadn't quite had this in mind. He took his phone out of his pocket to check the time.

9:30.

He'd have to be getting back home soon, he'd promised to be back for 10:15 and the walk back to Willow Creek would take a good amount of time. He wasn't like Dan, he didn't like to leave everything to the last minute, so he decided that as soon as Eliza re-appeared, they should probably make to leave.

"Oh, c'mon, I bet you're great, really!" Summer chirped, snapping him back to reality.

"I-"

"Look, there's a jukebox over there-"

"You know, I really ought to be going soon; the Howlters will be wondering why I'm taking so long if I'm not back by-" Phil started, wringing his hands out, knowing what was coming next, but Summer swiftly cut him off.

"Just a little bop won't kill you," she scoffed, and the song on the jukebox changed to the next record, "Listen, it's jazz! That's close enough to swing, right?"

"Well…"

"Of course it is! Now come on!" And she got to her feet, practically dragging Phil out of the chair and almost knocking over his coffee cup in the process.

"I said I really should-"

"Stop being such a killjoy, Philly. What are you so scared of?"

It wasn't quite the dancing itself that Phil was worried about. Even if he ended up tripping over his own feet, at least Summer would get the point. But it was more the embarrassment of everyone else in the bar seeing him.

But, of course, being who he was, he wasn't about to assert himself, nor politely refuse, even if Summer did just call him 'Philly'.

As the music picked up pace, he started getting little flashbacks to last time, at the house party, and he remembered the awkwardness he'd felt back then, too, when Dan had pulled him away from the rest of the crowd and where he thought that nobody could see them.

This time, though, he felt that he probably wouldn't become more comfortable as they went along. In fact, as Summer took his hands, he determined that it would probably get worse.

Good job the bar wasn't that full today. Though, if it was, nobody would probably really notice him. He couldn't decide which was worse.

At least nobody was sat on the couch that faced the jukebox because they'd get the best view.

There wasn't even that much room, and, being as clumsy as he was, Phil could envision himself tripping over anything in the immediate vicinity, be that a table, his shoelaces or just the floor.

A 'bop', to Summer, was clearly not a dash of a hop, but rather she obviously had some sort of tap dance in mind. Only, Phil didn't quite know how to do any fancy tap dances.

If somebody gave him a mask, a three-point hat and a fancy jacket, however, he probably would have been fine. Somehow anonymity was a great source of confidence.

"You do realise the bartender can see us?" Phil frowned, but Summer looked ecstatic as ever, swinging her arms in time to the beat. She noticed Phil not doing anything, so she took his hand and tried a twirl that half worked but only because she moved on his behalf.

"Look… Summer…" Phil began with a sigh, "I'm not really… in the mood-" and he would have gone on, but right then he saw Eliza emerge from the bathroom doorway and a ray of hope filled his heart.

Good excuse to leave, he thought, so he gave Eliza a look of terrified humiliation and she seemed to pick up on the fact that he wasn't keen on the idea of staying much longer.

"We ought to be going now, I have to be back for 10:15," Phil coughed, addressing both Summer and Eliza, "So sorry, Summer, but I have to leave…"

"Ah, what a shame…" Summer mused, and seemed a tiny bit sad, "Well, have a safe journey home, we'll have to do this again sometime."

Phil gave a shy laugh and put his hand on Eliza's back as she walked past her.

"Yeah…" he nodded, "We will… Maybe we could go to Chez Llama or something. I could bring Dan."

Summer agreed, enthusiastically, but then her face fell.

"Oh, but not Dan," she said, bluntly, "I don't like Dan."

And putting it that straight with no hint of guilt and probably every intention of offending, really wasn't the best thing Summer could have done just then, so Phil gave her only an upfront frown and a very short wave before he and Eliza swiftly left the bar, just in time to hear Summer murmur to herself,

"I thought his name was Don…"