dnt hate me for this pls omg
Dan walked onto campus with a strange sense of serenity. It was his final day in Phil's class. Over the previous week he met with counselors to set up his schedule for the next unit.
He hadn't spoken with Phil since before he broke up with John. He was unsure of how he should approach Phil. He thought that maybe simply texting Phil, saying that he broke up with John, would suffice but he thought it would be best to speak to him about it in person.
He was somewhat excited for the prospect of seeing Phil and possibly spending time with him again. When he walked down the last hall to Phil's classroom, he saw that the door was already open and half the class was seated. Phil was at his computer desk, waiting for everyone to arrive.
Dan found his usual seat and settled in. Slowly the rest of class arrived. Phil looked up when it seemed everyone had found a seat.
"Okay, so as it's the last day of class," Phil said as he stood, taking a stack of papers with him. "I'm just going to have you guys fill out a short questionnaire."
"It's just mainly about the semester," Phil explained as he passed papers to each row of students and had the student at the front row pass their stack back.
"It should only take a few minutes. For the rest of the hour I'll be adding them to your final grade and later today you guys can see your final grade. So as soon as your done," Phil continued. "Just bring them up here to my desk and you're free to go for the day," he finished with a smile.
Dan's heart grew warm at the sight of Phil's smile. He blinked when the person sitting in front of him passed a sheet of paper to him and took it. He got out a pencil from the small pocket of his messenger bag and then looked over the questionnaire.
The questions were fairly generic, but he found difficulty with one.
What did you learn this semester?
Dan sighed and looked around the room. Other students had already completed their questionnaire and were leaving the classroom.
As he continued to hesitate on the question, more students stood up from their desks.
He panicked slightly.
Then decided to write whatever came to mind.
I've matured a bit, I think, but I don't want to boast about that. I've learned to accept help and advice. I've learned patience and about taking chances. I've learned a lot of things.
Dan re-read his response three times. There weren't any directions on word limit, so he hoped that what he had would suffice. When he looked up, he found that he was the last student in the classroom.
He looked over his answers one last time, then stood, grabbing his bag as he went. Phil looked up and leaned back in his chair as Dan approached his desk.
Dan placed his questionnaire on the stack the other students left as he looked at Phil. Phil had an odd smile on his face.
It occurred to Dan that maybe Phil was reverting back to being completely professional around Dan.
"Have a good break," Phil said to him.
"Uh, yeah. You too," Dan said with a frown. He walked passed the desk and hesitated under the threshold to the classroom.
He whirled about and blurted, "I broke up with John!"
Phil turned around in his chair to look at Dan with a strange look.
"Okay," was all he said.
Dan hesitated, broke eye contact, then walked out of the room.
He cursed himself for being so awkward and felt as he if was reverting back to the way he was at the beginning of the semester.
He walked down the hall in a numb blur. He slowly came to the realization that he could have very well just had his very last interaction with Phil.
He suddenly felt sick. In the cafeteria with Pj and Chris, he didn't eat or speak to the other two.
"Are you okay?" Chris asked him as Dan sat with chin resting on his face.
Dan grunted, then said, "Yeah. Fine."
He didn't have work that day, so he trailed after PJ and Chris to the bus stop. He had enough sense to get on the right bus to his and Chris' flat while Chris went to PJ's.
When he arrived at home he walked in, slipped off his shoes, and turned on the heater. He dropped his bag on the couch before going into his room. He took off his coat and discarded that on his desk chair before collapsing into bed.
He fell asleep.
When he awoke he felt much better, much clearer. He pushed himself up onto his elbows and reached for his phone which was in his jeans pocket. He checked the time and saw that it was early afternoon. He hadn't slept too long.
When he emerged from the bedroom on a mission for something hot to drink, he saw that Chris and PJ were on the couch watching Netflix.
"Hey, he's alive," Chris said.
Dan let out half a laugh. He went into the kitchen to make hot cocoa. Fortunately, there was hot water on the stove from when Chris made tea for himself and PJ. With his hot cocoa he went into the living room and sat in the side chair. He pulled his phone from his pocket, took a sip of his drink, then placed his mug on the end table.
He leaned forward and lit up his phone. He checked his notifications, which were not many, then went to his previous messages. He tapped his last conversation with Phil. He scrolled up, then back down. He typed into the chat, hey. His thumb hovered over the send button.
To Dan's surprise, before he could send the message, a new message appeared in the thread.
Phil said, hey.
So Dan hit send on his own message with a small, hopeful smile.
pls dnt hate me omg
i did say this would be one of my shorter stories
i just felt it right to end it right there bc dan says it could be the last time they see each other but then phil reaches out to him by text and then its kind of fade to black with the tone of happily ever after
but i will do an epilogue! and maybe a couple one shots so have no fear its not really over