"Phil! Hey, hey Phil!"
Phil's head swivelled around and he locked eyes with Dan, who was pushing through the small queue to greet him. "Hi! Enjoying the summer holiday?"
"I was, but then I saw you." Phil teased.
Dan was unsure whether Phil was being friendly or not and changed the subject. "So, what are you here to see?"
"The new Harry Potter film, same as all of the people you just pushed in front of. I mean, there's not that many of them, you could have waited." Phil was definitely joking here, and Dan laughed along with a shrug. "Come on, it won't affect you if I cut in here. If anything, you'll have company."
"That's mean though. All of these people have to wait longer if you push in." Phil looked behind him then back at Dan, his blue eyes gleaming. "But I'll let it slide this once."
Dan grinned his thanks as he evaluated Phil's new demeanour. The last real conversation the two had, he was an emotional wreck, and all conversations leading up to that, he had been bitter and resentful towards Dan, which of course, he had mirrored in his responses. Recalling the trauma Phil had experienced maybe about six months ago, it was amazing how his personality had morphed. Almost too amazing. But if it meant they stopped hating each other for no reason, both of them were better off.
"So..."
"You say 'so' a lot." Phil stated.
"You're correct." Dan smirked. "It's easier than knowing exactly what to say every time you open your mouth."
Phil smiled, and Dan smiled too. Smiles were fun. Phil had a sweet smile, while Dan's was cheekier, but although their smiles were different, they were both boys who had a particular taste for popcorn, so they split the price and ordered a large tub to share, since they were going to end up with seats next to each other anyway. The man at the counter seemed to be dubious about whether two skinny 13-year-olds could finish the whole giant tub of popcorn, but Dan and Phil knew they wouldn't have any trouble at all.
When the film was over, both of them had red eyes.
Phil had cried during the film, and Dan had remembered how he was crying behind the school. The tears he'd just shed were good tears, passionate tears, the tears that happen when you're so enthusiastic about something important to you that you go sort of numb and the tears just come. Those tears are much better than the tears that happen when you go numb because you're upset, deeply, truly upset, the kind of upset that causes your brain to go dark. That's the worst kind of tears, and hopefully, Dan would never have to see Phil cry those tears again.