A/N: SO. I just thought I could take the time to thank a certain Spyder-Pig for their really amazing review on Outre. Really improved my day. Thank u. Very good. Yes.

OK yes you can read the chapter now. It's an OK chapter.

-Whisker

Well.

Nothing new.

Cherry blossom trees had lost their appeal a long time ago, and emerald green grass was just the norm now. Flowers in bloom you see every day and crystal-clear water flowing down an ornate fountain was only a decoration to walk around.

Magnolia Blossom Park had once been a place of extra-ordinary beauty with its glistening lake and tall, tall, trees, but now it was just an area to sit when you were bored.

The sunsets and sunrises here were amazing, but eventually you could become numb to them when you had lost interest in admiring and appreciating the little things.

Still, the atmosphere, sights and smells gave way for a little contemplation.

The park held a lot of memories, as has probably been mentioned before, some good, some not so good, but all very vivid.

It was the first place they visited after first introducing themselves to Dil back in February, it was where they had met Eliza, it was where they'd walked to on the first day of re-visiting, but most importantly, it was where Dan had hidden away to brood after the 'thing' happened, and that was one memory he'd remember for a long time.

He wouldn't forget wandering down in the dark, still irate, wanting to punch something in his anger.

He'd skulked down the path to the river and thrown himself down on one of the benches, putting his head in his hands and moping.

He didn't even understand why he was so angry, really, or at least not at that point. He'd gritted his teeth, fuelled his annoyance by pondering all the things back home he'd supposedly never see again, and mumbled things to himself about his friend that he didn't really mean, but he thought he did.

Dan sighed as he remembered the moment his heart had dropped like a brick as his memories drained back and he'd realised what a huge mistake he'd made.

He'd wasted no time in hurrying back to Potter's Splay, but when he'd received no reply to his knock, he hadn't used his head and waited, but rather fallen into a dark mood again and gone back to his little bench in 'Memory Lane'.

He spent his time picking blades of grass from the soil, sitting alone with his thoughts until he eventually fell asleep, though by that time it was already morning.

One good thing about it was that it gave him some space to think.

But that was probably the only good thing.

He'd gone back to Potter's Splay eventually, accompanied by his best friend, of course, but he supposed he never really forgave himself until he knew for sure that Phil did.

The guilt had worn off quite easily after that, and last night they'd both had a long chat and were even able to have a little laugh about it.

If only they were able to laugh about whatever was going on now, but they were both too confused about whatever it was that they couldn't really process how to react to it at all.

It was best to live in the moment at this point in their little journey, so they both sat beside each-other on a park bench and watched Dab and Evan play around on the pirate ship opposite them.

It was tranquil in one sense, but also very tense in another.

The sun shone down bright onto them and the clouds overhead were thin and few, hardly doing anything to dim the light.

The air was warm but crisp and clear and everything was just too perfect, it was unnerving.

Dan heaved a sigh but managed a smile as he saw what a good time the children were having.

He'd done quite a good job of looking after them. He'd made the meals they liked, suggested fun things for them to do, enthusiastically talked to them about things they liked, asked them about their interests and told them stories and tales from the world 'above'.

But he supposed the one person he hadn't really been looking after was the one right beside him, who would never admit that he needed any help at all, who took too much responsibility upon his own shoulders for some reason of which he probably didn't even know himself.

"You OK there?"

Phil turned to him, almost surprised at this sudden question after a long period of silence beforehand. But he smiled nonetheless and nodded, assuredly.

"Sure?" Dan asked again, and received another nod.

He smiled, softly, his dimples showing, and flickered his eyes over his friend's pale face.

After everything that had been going on, Dan wasn't surprised to find dark rims around Phil's slightly dulled eyes and hardly any colour whatsoever to his skin, as if his blood was just too exhausted to circulate anymore.

Dan brushed a stray strand of raven-black hair out of his face and fixed his glasses before standing up.

"Where are you going?" Phil inquired, quizzically.

Dan held his forefinger up to indicate he'd be back in a second, and wandered over to Evan and Dab.

Phil watched, but couldn't hear his words, as he said something to them both, happily, and then returned to the bench.

"Coming?" He asked, standing in front of Phil and gazing down at him.

Phil nodded, even though he had no idea where they were going, and stood up, unsteadily, his thin legs shaking.

Dan took him gently by the hand and led him away, across the grass, past a tall cherry blossom tree and onto a dirt path.

Phil knew exactly where this went.

"We're going to the lake?" He asked.

"Yep," Dan affirmed as they strolled under a huge oak tree, nearing a wooden fence, further down Memory Lane.

Phil didn't bother to ask why they were heading down here and instead assumed that it was just a pleasant walk, taking the time to admire the scenery. He didn't really go down this path.

"I thought… I could show you where I went back in February," Dan explained, even though nobody had asked him to.

"Are you trying to guilt-trip me?" Phil frowned, flatly, and Dan jumped back in surprise.

"What? No!" He yelped, "It wasn't your fault; it was never your fault…"

"O- Okay," Phil swallowed, lifting his gaze to see that they were already at the river.

Its water glimmered in the shining sun and it was easy to see big, silver fish swimming about, merrily, around the surface, having the time of their lives without worry or concern.

There were tables dotted about the grass and Phil noted the one nearest the water. It sat on its own, quite removed from the others, and he found himself quite taken to it.

He slipped out of Dan's grip, and his friend watched him wander over with his hands in his pockets, studying the wood grain.

There were tiny indents all over the top of the table as if it had been stabbed with a sharp stick, and then in the middle of it, there was one word messily scratched into it.

It was a tad faint but still some letters were just about clear enough to make out.

Phil could see an S, an O, an R, what he could only guess was another R and then a very thin and spindly Y.

His heart skipped a beat – or maybe three – and he span back around, lifting his eyes to meet Dan's gaze.

"It wasn't nice," Dan stated, blankly, with a shrug.

"No kidding?" Phil scoffed, nudging the ground with the toe of his shoe.

"I wasn't even mad at you," Dan carried on, "It was more at myself…"

Phil felt like telling him that he'd said the same thing many times now, but decided to stay quiet because it sounded like Dan was about to make a point.

"And… I think that I stopped being angry with you… because I kept repeating one thing to myself," Dan smiled, moving to stand beside the table, too, "I kept telling myself… 'This isn't my life. This world… isn't real; the people in it aren't real. When we leave, none of this will matter. Issues with people here are easy to fix, and when we find out how, we can leave straight away. But one thing that will always be real…" and here he paused and laid a very gentle hand on his friend's shoulder, "…Is you."

Phil swallowed the lump forming in his throat and his dry eyes started to sting from the salty tears starting to form in them.

"I think that's the nicest thing you've said in months," he breathed.

"OK, stop it," Dan whispered, wrapping him in his arms, but he still smiled slightly, "Don't do the- the tears thing. Don't do that. Stop," and he pulled away,"Just… remember that this isn't our world, we can go home whenever we like, and if we work together, we can get through these little problems we made. Alright?"

"Alright," Phil grinned with that side-smile he always had when he was genuinely smiling.

But even if he thought to himself that he would be able to calm his temper if anything went wrong, or that he could keep himself together from now on, saying things is a whole lot easier than doing.