***

Dan blinks his eyes open, his head throbbing and vision still slightly blurry.

"Dan! Dan's awake!" Quinn's voice calls out excitedly, making Dan's headache worse, but his heart rises when he hears that his brother is okay, "Dan! Hi!"

Dan smiles softly, his eyes focusing on the face of his you her brother. He frowns slightly at the dark bruise on his forehead, but Quinn looks so happy he decides to worry about that later.

"Dan oh Dan, are you okay?" his mother asks, rushing over and pulling her eldest son into a tight hug, "I'm so, so sorry Dan, I-I didn't realise."

Dan smiles, closing his eyes and enjoying his mother's embrace, before looking around the room, pushing his headache aside. He is surprised and happy to find that he's in his own room.

"Well, you've been out for three days - we took you to hospital but they said you should just stay at home and that you weren't in critical condition - you're just healing still," his mother explains, "as for your father, he's in jail but only temporarily as he got busted for drink driving."

Dan nods slowly, barely processing what he is hearing. He wants to cry, smile and hug his mum and brother tightly all at the same time. His father is out of the picture - for now.

"Things will be better now Dan, I promise, that man is out of our lives," his mother says, hugging onto Dan again, "I'm so, so, so sorry."

Dan smiles, the sweet scent of his mother's rose scented perfume surrounding him. An extra pair of arms wraps around them, and Dan looks down to see Quinn has joined their hug. This is all the family Dan ever needs in his life - he doesn't need his father to be happy and to feel loved.

"Dan?" A soft voice asks, and Dan looks up to see Phil standing at the doorway, his blue eyes lit up with excitement and happiness at finally seeing Dan awake.

Dan grins at Phil, pulling away from the Howell Hug and turning to Phil. Phil rushes forward, attacking Dan in a hug, squeezing him tightly. Dan's eyes tear up slightly - he can't believe Phil is here - and he's glad he is too.

"Phil has been checking up on you every day, wanting you to wake up," Dan's mum laughs, smiling fondly at the two, "we've had some very nice chats."

"That we have," Phil says, pulling away from Dan and laughing, "everyone had missed you heaps Dan! They'll be happy to hear you're awake. They've been asking me every day! I know you'll move on from this Dan, you're really brave and I'm rambling again aren't I?"

Dan nods at Phil, grinning and making Phil laugh himself. Quinn looks happy and amused as well, while Dan's mum has her arm around Quinn, glad that her two sons are safe and that Dan is finally happy.

"Next time though Dan, speak about this," Phil says, "all of us, Joe, Caspar, Alfie, Louise, me, we're here for you. Remember that next time Dan. Don't you trust us?"

Dan nods, looking down somewhat guiltily at his hands. He does trust Phil but struggles with speaking - he always has. But maybe he can work on that, maybe this can be a fresh start for him.

"You're never alone Dan," Phil says, smiling genuinely at Dan, his grin so bright it would light up the world, "not while I'm here."

And Dan believes Phil's words, every one of them - he just wishes he could say them back to Phil.

***

After a day of rest and Phil chatting to him, Dan is back out of bed, walking around and feeling free of his troubles.

The Sunday morning light shines in through Dan's blinds, filling his room with a bright glow. His father gone seems to leave Dan feeling light and free. For once, nothing is troubling Dan, and he likes that feeling.

Dan's phone vibrates, the screen lighting up with a text from Phil.

Phil: Wanna hang out today?

Dan: sure, what do you wanna do?

Phil: um... idk?

Dan: do you wanna come over?

Phil: okay see you in ten!

Dan: okay :)

Dan smiles, throwing his phone onto his duvet. His hair is already neat and styled, he has his black jeans on and a printed, white t shirt on. He walks downstairs, waiting on the sofa next to Quinn, watching Pokemon. He doesn't notice when his mother lets Phil in and suddenly hears a cough behind him.

Dan jumps and turns around, his cheeks tinting pink when he realizes Phil has walked in on Dan watching a show meant for kids. Dan doesn't care though - he loves the show, but what would Phil think?

"Oh my god Pokemon! I love that show, well, the show and the game," Phil exclaims, jumping onto the couch next to Dan, making Dan smile at the boy beside him.

Later, when Dan and Phil sit in Dan's room, they start texting - about anything and everything they can think of and soon, it's nearly dark.

"I'd better head off Dan, wow, time went so quickly!" Phil comments, looking out the window and laughing, "time passes so quickly with you!"

Dan grins at his friend, staying on his bed as Phil stands up, stretching out, his face scrunching up cutely as he yawns. He blinks at Dan, pulling his shirt back down and smiling.

"Well I'll see you tomorrow for that amazing thing called school tomorrow!" Phil says, grinning at Dan and waving.

Dan walks with him to the door, waving at Phil as he rides his bike down the road. The sun is sill up, but is on the verge of setting. Dan turns back inside, a grin still on his face. He never realized how much he liked spending time with Phil.

"Dan come and help me with dinner please!" His mum calls from the kitchen.

Dan shuts the front door, locking it and joining his mother in the kitchen. She pushes a wooden board and a knife towards Dan, followed by two carrots.

"Chop them into sticks please," she instructs him, "Quinn! Come and help with dinner as well!"

"Okay!" he yells back, his footsteps soon thudding down the stairs and he appears in the kitchen, a grin on his face, "what do you want me to do?"

"I want you to wash those potatoes," His mum says, nodding towards the bag of potatoes next to the sink, "then give them to Dan so he can chop them."

An hour and a bit later, it's almost dark and dinner is finally ready. Dan doesn't mind cooking, but he'd prefer to just eat rather than cook and then eat the food. Dan stabs his fork into a piece of potato, shoving it in his mouth, savoring the delicious taste.

"Hey! Let me in!" a familiar voice yells, followed by banging on the front door, making the whole house shake, "I'm back home!"

Dan scowls and winces at the sound of his drunken father at the door; his tone angry and his brain obviously not functioning properly. Dan stands from the table, pulling out his phone and typing a note on it, handing it to Quinn.

'Call the police'

Quinn nods as Dan pushes his brother and mother up the stairs, leaving his father locked out, banging and yelling at the front door, and Dan is so glad that he locked it after Phil left.

"Hey! Let me in you assholes! I wanna see my kids!" Dan's father's slurred voice yells, the sound echoing around the house, "don't be like this! Fucking let me in!"

Quinn calls the police, calling them to the house. Dan, Quinn and their mother all wait upstairs, looking out the window to see the police putting their drunk, angry father into the back of a police car.

"You guys okay?" A policeman asks a few minutes later when thy greet them downstairs, "you know him at all?"

"Yes, he's my ex husband and their father," Dan's mother replies, giving the policeman a small smile, "he's, well, he told me he'd stopped but I he hasn't, he's still an alcoholic."

"I see," the policeman says, writing a few notes down, "and you said he was your ex?"

"Yes, um, we divorced because of his alcohol addiction years ago, but he came back promising he'd changed and that he wanted to know his kids," Dan's mother explains, "so I agreed and he soon moved in, because he needed a place to stay."

"So, anything in particular that provoke the divorce?" the policeman asks, writing more notes before looking up at Dan's mother.

"Well, he-he was an aggressive alcoholic. He became abusive and when Dan was six, it was particularly bad. He hit him with a beer bottle and now Dan is mute," His mother says, making Dan bite his lip and look away shamefully.

"Do you want to press charges?" The policeman asks, "I think you should, but also consider it would take a long while to do so, and a lot of money."

"I just want him out of my life," Dan's mother sighs, puttering her arms around Dan and Quinn, "I just want my sons to he safe."

"We'll make sure of that," The policeman says, smiling warmly at the family, "we'll be in touch tomorrow about this Ms Howell."

"Okay," she replies, nodding and smiling, "thank you."

She shuts the door, locking it behind her and turns to Dan and Quinn. She pulls them into a hug and when she pulls back, looks at them both.

"I will do everything I can to keep you safe from him," she says, smiling softly at the pair, "I promise."

Dan smiles. He believes his mother, he really does, he just isn't sure of he'll ever feel completely safe from his father, after all, he is a part of him as well.

**************

AN: hey hope you enjoyed! Please vote, comment and share! Thanks for reading! AND THANKS SO MUCH FOR 1K READS OH MY GOD!!!

Oh and what's some good phan books to read??

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