A/N: hey guys! i'm so sorry it took like six months to get another chapter up! i was just not interested in writing this story at all, and instead worked on my soulmate au and published a few other short stories on here (please check them out if you're interested!). i was also going through some life stuff as well as suffering writers block, but thankfully now i have time and inspiration to continue this fic. since it's been so long, here's a quick summary of the story up to this point so you don't have to go back and skim through previous chapters:
Dan and Phil are both juniors at the same high school. Phil moved there that year due to having a father in the military and joined the football team. Dan was bullied pretty heavily by the football team for coming out as gay the previous year, largely because of the quarterback, Jack (for reasons you are about to find out!). After becoming friends with Dan, Phil came out as gay, too, and called out the football team one day at lunch for the bullying. Phil dealt with being accepted by the school and team as well as denying his feelings for Dan. Once he found out Dan wrote a love song for him, the two got together and attended homecoming with Dan's friends. Some football players caught the two kissing at the dance and reported it to Jack, who began to bully Phil the following Monday. Dan intervened, beating up Jack and resolving to tell Phil about what happened between them sophomore year, which is where our story picks up.
that summary was trash but hopefully you're starting to remember the story and it will keep coming back to you. you're welcome to look back through chapters to find details, but i've written quite a few, so feel free to leave a review or send me a pm with questions. again, sorry its been so long! now this authors note has been long enough, so please enjoy this long overdue chapter:
Phil runs a hand through his hair as he paces back and forth across his front hall. Dan should be getting to his house in just a few minutes. After a couple months of knowing him and a couple weeks of dating him, finally Phil will know what happened between Dan coming out and Jack starting to bully him.
After some more pacing and sending thanks to God that Phi's mother is at an appointment, there's a knock on the door. Phil takes a deep breath. He opens the door to Dan standing on the front stoop, light rain drizzling behind him. Phil looks past his boyfriend at the gloomy day, the sun trying to shine through the light gray clouds and brighten the sky. He had been completely oblivious to the weather up until this point. "Hey, Phil," Dan greets him.
Phil's eyes return to the boy in front of him. "Hi," he says as a grin starts to split across his face. "Come on in."
Dan follows Phil inside, combing a hand through his slightly damp hair. Usually they hang out at Dan's house; Phil says it's because he likes the space and quiet they don't usually get at his own home - true, but Dan suspects it's also because Phil's embarrassed.
The beautiful house Dan lives in is simply bigger and nicer than Phil's. Phil shares his with his loud, messy older brother and flighty mom, whereas Dan has only an absent mother to share his with. Being in a military family and having moved here about 4 months prior, stray boxes seem to permanently decorate the already cluttered, small, two-story house that barely has room for the Lesters' possessions without them.
Dan loves it.
Such a nice change from his meticulously cleanly, sprawling house that suffocates him with loneliness, Phil's house is anything but. The smaller rooms envelop him with the love that flows through the household. The front hall contains only a lamp, coat rack, and staircase inviting him inside; the living room full with worn couches and knickknacks on shelves from past vacations, documented by skewed picture frames; the kitchen littered with coffee stains and cookie crumbs attesting to the incomplete family dinners shared regularly.
The stark contrast makes Dan ache every time he arrives back to his house and realizes everything he's missing. However, he drives these thoughts out of his head and enters the kitchen with Phil, determined to value the time he has with his boyfriend.
"My mom's at an appointment right now," Phil explains as he sits at the empty table, usually doubling as Mrs. Lester's workspace.
"Oh, okay. Is your brother home?" Dan asks.
"No, Martyn's at work," Phil replies absently while he turns to the backpack already on the table and pokes around in it.
Dan drops his backpack on the floor and joins Phil at the table. "So, we're home alone?" He raises an eyebrow.
Phil's eyes dart up to meet Dan's, and a faint pink hue joins Phil's cheeks. "Uh, well... well, yeah," he stammers in response to Dan's smirk.
Suddenly the smirk dissolves into an open-mouthed grin as Dan starts laughing. He playfully reaches over and punches Phil's shoulder. "You giant dork," he teases. Despite himself, Phil's blush fades and a smile overtakes his face. Dan's laughter subsides and he flutters dramatically, "I'm just here to study."
"You wish you weren't," Phil mutters coyly.
Dan feigns shock at the retort. Phil giggles again and decides to change the subject before Dan can make another sly remark: "No, but uh, you were also gonna explain things? About today?"
Dan's eyes widen slightly as he's reminded of the events of that morning. No other students had brought up the fight, and thankfully, no teachers had pulled him aside and told him the Dean wanted to see him. Dan's friends had muttered a harsh "what were you thinking?" at lunch (where Andrew had not joined them), but nothing more than that.
"Oh. Right." Dan drops the gaze and begins to take out some schoolwork.
"I mean, Andrew told me some stuff about how it all started, but he didn't really know either. What happened between you and him, Dan?" Phil prompts.
"Are you sure you want to know?"
That throws him for a loop. Why wouldn't he want to know? "Yes, Dan," Phil encourages him with a furrowed brow.
Dan starts: "Right, well.
"A few months into sophomore year, I came out to my friends. They were cool with it, whatever. Then I guess it just kind of spread around in that weird way stuff just gets around a high school until everyone knew. I was doing a lot better in school at that point than I am now, so I was one of those hundred tutors the school has on a list for people to contact if they're struggling in a class. A few weeks after I came out, Jack texted me asking for help in algebra - he got my number off the list online. So we set up a time where he would come to my house, it was fine.
"But when he came over.. things felt a little off, like he would do and say things that made me feel kinda weird, sit a little too close to me or look at me a bit too intensely."
Phil's eyes begin to bore holes into the worksheet he's staring at while listening to the story, sure it's not going where he thinks it is, but also knowing that it is.
"About an hour in, he asked to take a break from doing math. I agreed, and then he started asking me all these weird questions about me coming out, my sexuality. I pretty much assumed I knew why. I felt for the kid, so I answered his questions, but then... he kissed me."
"What?!" Phil exclaims, his head snapping up.
Dan makes a helpless gesture. "I know!"
"What did you do?!"
"Well I stopped him, obviously. Then I could tell he kind of freaked out, and he started telling me I could never tell anyone what he did, couldn't tell anyone about him - I guess he's bi or whatever - basically threatening me into silence.
"I didn't tell anyone of course, but he must've heard a rumor about him or just wanted to make sure his tracks were covered, so he started bullying me. Things just escalated and, well.." Dan just shrugs. Phil already knows what happened next.
"That's horrible. Jesus," Phil says, stlll looking at Dan in disbelief. "I can't believe he did that."
"I can cut him a little slack cause I know what he's struggled with, and I'm sure you do, too, but otherwise I'm right there with you," Dan grumbles.
"So-? Wh-? Why-?" Phil's mind struggles to piece together a coherent thought. Dan makes another gesture with his palms up. Phil takes a breath and lets his frustration go. His hand comes to rest over Dan's. "I'm sorry you had to deal with that," he states genuinely. Dan smiles sadly, barely registering the words as his heart begins to flutter.
Phil slides his hand up Dan's arm to rest on his shoulder, electrifying Dan's arm everywhere it brushes. "I promise it'll never happen again," Phil assures him as he looks deep into Dan's eyes. Gratitude and affection flood Dan's heart, and he leans across the corner of the table where Phil meets him. They softly lock lips, Phil gripping Dan's shoulders as Dan's hand come up to twist in Phil's hair. After a moment, Dan releases him and they pull apart.
Phil bites his lip and looks down, hair flopping in his face and trying not to grin. "So much for just studying, hm?"
A/N: alright guys, hope you enjoyed this chapter! hopefully youre still invested in the story, i'm planning to start uploading again every month or so. please check out the other hs au im writing right now and other stories of mine! as always, fav, follow and review xX ~l