A/N: Sorry this chapter's been so long in the making; I've had a touch of writer's block. Got good news and bad news: bad news is all my pets are dead and it was sad, but the good news is that I'm getting a cat next year! *insert children cheering sound effect* Hopefully it will be a girl cat like my old one and maybe I can call her Susan but let's see.

ALSO REMINDER that I have a FictionPress account called Brandy Cream, and I have a story there that I'm very proud of called SpaceCraft Galaxy and it's almost finished and you should totally read it - it'd make me feel a whole lot better seeing as I'm very lonely without my animals now. Shameless self-promo. Have a nice day.

-Whisker

s/3306592/1/Spacecraft-Galaxy

"How was your day, guys?"

Dan's eyes quickly flashed up from the page in front of him and to the front door, as Dil and Tabitha wiped their feet on the doormat. Was it 5:30 already? It didn't feel to Dan like the day had gone on long enough yet, but then again, he'd been absorbed in the book. It was a very long book and he and Phil had almost finished it by now, in-between breaks of assuring that the children were alright, taking turns to read with every chapter. Dan supposed he'd just been so captivated by the novel that he'd completely forgotten about the time.

"It was…" he started, but trailed off as he struggled to think of an appropriate description of the day.

"Interesting," Phil finished for him, and Dan gave a nod of agreement. 'Interesting' was probably the way to go.

"Anything you want to talk to us about?" Dil asked, being his usual nosy self, and for a moment, Phil's mind raced with suspicion.

Had Dab called them after the thing happened? Texted them? Why did Dil have to ask that? Why would he wonder if there was anything that was of such importance that it had to be admitted as soon as he entered the house? How suspicious was he? Perhaps it was just a co-incidence, but Phil would never put it past Dab; not with what he'd told Evan earlier in the week, and for a second, Phil wondered whether he should actually tell his Sim about the thing.

"Not… particularly," he replied at last, but his facial expression said something else (it wasn't clear what exactly this something else was, but it wasn't what he'd just said). Dil didn't seem phased, though, and nodded, thoughtfully. He may have been nosy, but he wasn't very observant.

Phil swallowed, unsure of himself, wondering whether he'd said the wrong thing, and replaced the bookmark in the book, closing its hardback cover with that satisfying 'thwop' sound that books make when you close them. Then he opened it and did it again because it was just that satisfying. He was going to do it a third time but Dan looked at him weirdly so he stopped.

"I hope that the kids haven't been too much trouble for you," Tabitha said as she hugged them both. Her sentence only added to Phil's suspicion, but he said nothing.

"Well, they're kids," Dan shrugged, saying neither 'yes' nor 'no'. He wasn't sure whether it was too soon to talk about the thing, either, but he'd discuss it with his friend later – who was looking a bit paler than usual but mostly OK – and hopefully it wouldn't turn out like explaining the Thing That Shall Not be Named did, because that was very awkward.

The thought had occurred to Dan that maybe calling it 'The Thing That Shall Not be Named' was maybe making it a bit worse and even more awkward to talk about and they should probably change it to something less ominous.

Dan flashed a glance to Phil, and they both felt like they both agreed that now was not the time to talk about it. Tomorrow, maybe, but not today, or at least not right now.

The sound of small feet hurrying into the room was the next sound that they heard, and a happy exclamation of 'Mum! Dad!', which was obviously Dab, followed by a 'look what I drew!'.

"Woah, that's so good!" Dil smiled, sounding very proud of the picture of a dog that he was presented with.

Dab had showed the drawing to Phil and Dan earlier, too, and Phil had almost said 'nice cat' as a joke, but felt that that was a bit mean, and instead nodded and said something nicer.

Apart from the question of when the Howlter parents should know about the 'thing', Dan had decided that the rest of the day and their journey would probably be alright. Then again, that's what he had thought this morning. Things seemed to be coming together, though, and Phil seemed to be generally back to his normal, cheerful self.

It was odd thinking that they'd been here almost two weeks now, but back home, it had probably only been a day or two. Like Narnia, but… not quite. Actually not like Narnia at all, forget that analogy. Bad.

The only thing really left to do is sort out something with Summer, and that hopefully wouldn't take too long with a little thought and planning. In the meantime, they could relax and spend time with their virtual family like they came here to do, before eventually going home again. It would be nice to get back and finally resume their normal lives; filming and suchlike. Even though this world was idealistic, nothing could beat being back in London and seeing their real friends; and even though their 'Phandom' was a little problemat- actually very problematic- and excessive, they were missing it. Mostly.

As long as nothing huge happened before they finished off and headed home, everything should be fine. Maybe it wasn't as bad as February had been… or maybe it was worse; depends how you look at it, really. Sometimes Dan would forget that they'd ever been gone. He'd look around the house and be brought back to 4 months ago and be filled with that returning sense of fault. He'd get it sometimes when he looked at Phil, too, and remembered the state he'd been in back in February; what he'd looked like and how he'd been so shattered and crushed. Dan would give him hugs then – even if they were out-of-the-blue and Phil was a bit surprised – out of guilt, and try to forget about it. Now was one of those times: he snuggled into his friend, who wasn't really very cuddly and was a bit pointy and thin but tried his best, and breathed a heavy sigh into his shoulder.

"Do you reckon everything will stay pretty calm from now on?" He asked, as quietly as he could so that the Howlters wouldn't hear, though he knew the answer quite well.

"Hopefully," Phil replied, which was exactly what Dan had expected, "But all we can do is take it as it comes, right?"

Dan nodded in agreement. Good to stay positive, but not to expect greatness – that only ever leads to disappointment. Everything felt very still right this moment, though. As soon as Dil and Tabitha came home, everything always seemed to calm down, as mostly all responsibility was shifted onto the parents. Dan almost felt like he could fall asleep, resting cosily against his best friend, feeling his breath and hearing his heartbeat through his chest. Placid, Dan thought, and he didn't really want to move.

That was until a melodic enquiry of 'Uncle Phiiiiiiil?' piped up, and Dab's face appeared in front of them.

"Hmm?" Phil hummed, lifting his gaze and drumming his spidery fingers against the book cover. The soft 'dum-dum-dum-dum' patter of the tapping and the tangy smell of the pages only made the ambience all the more placid.

"Can Evan stay one more night?" Dab asked, very kindly, "Please?"

Phil was quiet as he thought for a bit. He'd said yes to letting Evan stay in the first place, and just look how that turned out.. Then again, would he be lapsing back into the bleak, humdrum guardian that he had been?

"Um… sure, I suppose," he nodded eventually, and saw the kid's face light up.

"Thank you, Uncle Phil!" He grinned, hurrying back off into his bedroom.

"You don't have to call me uncle!" Phil called after him, but he was already gone.

Dan smiled, contently, but said nothing. He closed his eyes and yawned, laying his head on his friend's collar and slowly drifting off to sleep with a tender hand on his back.

Unruffled, definitely. But that was more than could be said for their trip so far.