phils pov

The next morning passes by like it does every day; I get dressed and gather my things, have a quick breakfast, and drive to school. When I get there, I park in my usual space, and then I glance over to the empty spot next to mine - Dan parked there yesterday, and I can't help but wonder if he will again today.

I like having time in the mornings to talk to friends in the hallways and make sure I'm not late to class, so I get to school earlier than most of the other seniors. I wait for a few minutes until the rush of cars starts, around 15 minutes before class begins. Dan still hasn't arrived yet, so I reluctantly get out of my car and wrench open the door to the backseat. Then suddenly, I spot it. His black minivan. Turning into the parking lot. I rummage around in my backpack until Dan pulls into the space, and I zip up my bag and slip it onto my shoulders as I stand. I look up through the windows of our cars, much like yesterday afternoon, and again, our eyes meet.

This time, Dan offers a small smile through the glass, and I return the little grin as butterflies flitter around happily in my stomach, wanting to burble up out of me. My eyes fall shyly, and I shut the door and begin to walk to the school. Then I hear my name. "Hey, Phil!" Someone calls. I turn and see Dan bustling up to me. He stops in front of me and seems unsure of what to do now. "Er, it is Phil, right?" He asks.

I repress a grin. "Yeah." I turn halfway toward the school, also unsure of what to say. He follows my lead and we start walking together.

"We, uh, had Bio together last year," he starts again.

"Yeah. " I'm kicking myself; this is my soulmate, and I'm barely able to push out a single syllable answer?! At least, I'm fairly certain it's my soulmate. "Dan, right?"

That silly little smile spreads across his face again. "Yeah," he confirms.

"Mr. Shay really was the worst, wasn't he?" I try to ask a question that won't warrant a one-word reply.

"Oh, God, yes!" Dan laughs. "Jesus, he really should not be a teacher."

The sidewalk suddenly drops off as we begin walking around the side of the school, so I step down off the curb and onto the side of the empty road. Dan steps down next to me, but in doing so, his hand swings down and accidentally brushes against mine. Tingles explode across the back of my hand. My breath catches; not noticeably, I hope.

I realize it's been a few seconds since I've spoken. "So, what do you have for science this year?" He replies with something about chemistry, and it turns out we have the same teacher but are in different classes. We discuss the lab we did in class a few days ago and our other classes for a few minutes until we get to the front. I lead the way through the doors, into the stream of students also coming in.

"Well it was nice talking to you. See ya, Phil," he says with the tiniest wave as he turns down the main hallway toward the cafeteria.

"See ya," I reply, and I go upstairs towards my first class. Normally my friends hang out down the hall from it. There are only a few of them in the usual spot, Dillon, Matt, and Tyler.

"Hey, guys," I say as I approach them.

"Oh, hey!" Dillon turns to me. "Where were you?"

"Just talking to a classmate," I dismiss him. The reminder of Dan now prompts me to ask him what I had been wondering all day yesterday after my, uh, investigating. "Er, can I ask you something?" I say to Dillon as Matt and Tyler resume their conversation about some sports game this weekend.

"Sure, what's up?" He asks with a furrowed brow. I'm about to ask about his connection when Tyler elbows Dillon.

"Dillon." Tyler's head jerks to the side.

Dillon and I follow his gaze down the hall, and I see Isabel walking with her friend Kelsey toward us. A second later, Isabel sees our group and her face immediately brightens, throwing a smile Dillon's way. "Sorry, can we talk later?" Dillon says distractedly to me.

"Sure, go be with your girlfriend," I roll my eyes. "Want to hang out tonight?"

Dillon nods, already leaving. He turns, walking backward and almost running over a few bewildered freshmen, and yells something about dropping by my place. I nod and roll my eyes again. He treats my house as a second home most times, and his is mine as well, although I would never just drop by unannounced (which he has done on several occasions). But tonight, I won't mind. He's the only person I know well who's gotten connected - maybe I can get some more answers.

Later, that afternoon, I'm anxiously waiting for Dillon to get here at my house. He sent me a text after school saying he'd drop by in about a half hour, and it's already been nearly 45 minutes. I've known Dillon since middle school, so I know this isn't unusual behavior. But it's quite annoying when I'm planning to ask him some serious questions.

Finally, I hear car tires squeal in my driveway. My phone buzzes again as Dillon texts me - here. I cross through the kitchen and open the front door to see him standing there on his phone, his backpack slung over his shoulder. "Hey!" He looks up and smiles, slipping his phone into his back pocket; I step back and he follows me in, shutting the door behind him.

"Your parents home?" Dillon asks as I lead him upstairs to my room, where we usually do our studying.

"Nope, both still at work," I reply. "They should be home soon though, why, how long are you planning on staying?"

"Not long, I actually don't have too much homework today," he says happily. We get to my room and assume our usual places, me on my bed and him sitting on the floor by my desk. "Unless, it depends on what you wanted to talk about?" He raises an eyebrow at me expectantly.

"Right," I begin while he rummages in his backpack, taking out a wrinkled sheet of paper. He snatches a textbook off my floor, places the paper on it, and starts to scrawl across it with a pencil that seemingly appeared from nowhere. After a few seconds, he looks up at me again.

"Go on," he muses.

"Jesus." I sigh in exasperation but also start taking out some worksheets due tomorrow as I start again. "Well, I just wanted to ask a few things about your connection."

"Oh. Okay, sure." He sounds a little surprised, but I continue:

"Did you ever get a, a feeling, almost, that you were meant to be with Isabel?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like, after you got connected. When I told you, or when you saw her, or, or touched her for the first time after you knew - did it feel, I don't know, right?"

He looks up at me curiously. "Yeah, I guess so," he considers. "Yeah, actually. When I saw her a few days ago, across the cafeteria, after you told me? I definitely got this, like, gut feeling in my stomach that told me you were right. Oh, and when Matt made me go talk to her? I never really told you guys what happened then." I shake my head. "Basically, I showed her my arm with her drawings on it. She touched them, and I got this weird, like, tingly feeling." I think of when Dan brushed my hand this morning. "It must be that weird skin thing the connection is, like when the two connected bodies meet, that tie just like, I don't know, freaks out." He laughs. I'm hanging onto his every word. I never realized how deep Dillon's connection went after just a few days with Isabel.

Then he looks at me with a funny look in his face, and I practically hear the puzzle pieces click together in his mind. "Wait, why are you asking?" Dillon asks, and he gasps. "Did you get connected?!"

My mouth falls open, and I do my best acting. "What?! No," I protest.

Dillon jumps up from the floor. "Oh, you totally did!" He exclaims. "Come on, who is he?!"

I still. I swing my legs over the side of my bed and look straight up into his face. "Wait... what did you just say?"

"Who is he?!" Dillon doesn't notice my surprise at the correct pronoun.

"You... you know?"

"Know what? Oh..." He finally realizes what I'm getting at. He sits on my desk chair and faces me. "Right. You mean, how do I know you're gay?" He says gently.

"Yes," I say, probably looking like a drag queen with how high my eyebrows are.

"Well, I'm sorry, Phil, I know you never really told me, but, I mean, it's pretty obvious." He bites his lip to stop a smile. "At least to me. I've known you for years, and to put it simply, I've never seen you show any interest in a girl our entire friendship."

"Okay, I get that." I do that not-quite-laugh exhale. "Do the others know?"

Dillon gives me a look. "Are you kidding?"

"Okay, so that's a no. And... you're, you're okay with it?"

I immediately regret saying it. Dillon's eyes go comically wide, a deep cavern leading me to the hurt buried beneath the surprise. "Phil... of course I am. Come on, we're best friends! Nothing you could tell me would ever bother me. Unless you tell me you're like a murderer or something. But maybe if it was just like a one-time thing, then I might help you hide-"

"Dillon!"

"Right, not important. Unless it is."

"I did not murder someone!"

"Okay, okay. Good. What were we talking about?"

"...You're joking, right?"

"God, Phil, yes! But yeah, of course, I'm fine with it. And I'm sure our friends will be, too, if you want to tell them. Maybe not some other people you don't really know, but fuck them, eh?"

I smile despite it all.

"Thanks for telling me, by the way."

"You already knew!"

"Yeah, but still."

"Thank you, too." He pulls me into a good old-fashioned Joey-and-Chandler hug. A few seconds later I sit back on my bed and he takes his spot back on the floor until he jumps up again.

"Wait! You never told me who your soulmate is!"

I raise my eyebrows and he sheepishly sits back down. "Okay, about that," I begin. "Dillon, you have to keep this a secret, okay? He's not, you know, out yet, so he hasn't told me who he is yet. Alright?"

"Okay... but you have to have some idea of who he is, right? Otherwise you wouldn't have asked me about all that stuff!"

I shake my head. "You're right, I do think I know who he is, but I'm sorry, Dil, I'm not gonna tell you. He deserves that privacy until he's ready."

"Alright," Dillon gripes good-naturedly. "But you promise, the second he tells you, you'll tell me?"

"Yes, fine." I roll my eyes.

"Sweet!" He gets himself situated in his circle of homework. "Now, do you understand anyhing we're doing in Calc right now?"

A/N: hey guys! thanks so much for reading, i know the last chapter was total crap (hopefully this makes up for it) but i really like how this one turned out! i hope you enjoyed this chapter and are enjoying this story. as always, please fav, follow, and review! ~l