***

A month passes with no mishaps what so ever, and Dan is starting to realise that maybe the world isn't against him after all.

In fact, the past month has been the best month ever. Quinn and his mother are happy and Dan is becoming closer with Phil - basically to the point where they are inseparable and practically live at each other's houses. Everything is going how Dan wants it to.

"Dan, school, hurry!" Phil says, appearing in Dan's doorway, dressed in jeans and a jumper, his backpack on for school, "we have to leave now!"

Dan nods, grabbing his bag on the way out before running out the door behind Phil, his mother laughing from the kitchen at the two rushing madly out the door. Dan and Phil end up having to run the whole way to school in order to make it on time. They arrive on the bell, red faced and puffing, but proud to have made it in time.

They rush to their first class - mathematics - and take the last two seats left up the back. Mr Hall marks the roll before starting to write up equations for them to solve on the board, much to Phil's dismay as he is not fond of maths.

Phil is sleeping over at his house again tonight, so the day drags on quite slowly for Dan. It's Friday and he really wants the day just to be over so he and Phil can spend more time together. It's weird, even though Phil can be annoying, weird and never stops talking, Dan never gets sick of Phil. There's something about Phil that makes Dan want to spend time with him constantly - he feels happy with Phil.

Period two drags on, and eventually it's first break, but that's over too soon. The next few hours go so slowly Dan wants to cry, but he's soon freed from that hell by lunch time, only to be put back into his last two classes all too soon. School is killing him today.

"Finally, the day is over!" Phil exclaims happily as he walks beside Dan on their route home, "I swap it was longer than average. It probably just felt like it, I mean, I wasn't having fun so time obviously wasn't flying."

Dan rolls his eyes, a wide grin on his face. He can't believe he got so lucky to get Phil as his friend - he's so glad that he ran into Phil that fateful day - he couldn't imagine his life without him now, which actually kind of scared Dan, like, what if he left?

Dan knows it's a petty, common fear, but he's had it happen to him and since then, he's been friendless, sad, bullied and so he has a legitimate reason behind the fear.

"Want to watch a movie?" Phil asks once they arrive home, Dan collapsing on his bed while Phil takes up his usual residence on Dan's desk chair.

Dan nods, watching as Phil spins around on the chair and keeps playing with the height. Dan mouths at Phil 'what movie?', which takes Phil a few moments to figure out what Dan actually means, as he doesn't really lip read that often.

"Hmm, what about... The Longest Ride?" Phil suggests, making Dan raise his eyebrows at him, amused with the boy's choice.

Dan didn't really pin Phil as a romance and drama movie type of guy, but hey, if Phil wants to watch it, that's fine with Dan. Secretly, Dan loves romantic drama, so he's happy with the choice.

To play it cool though, Dan shrugs 'whatever' while nodding. Phil grins, sitting on Dan's bed beside him and opening his laptop, opening Netflix. Phil finds the movie and starts it while Dan flicks the lights off, before joining Phil once again.

While the movie progresses, Dan notices how close they are sitting. Their shoulders are touching, their arms brushing against each other's and he glances over at Phil, to find him fully engaged in the movie, a soft smile on his face.

Half way through, Phil's head finds it's way onto Dan's shoulder, and Phil sighs happily, wriggling until he's comfortable again. Dan glances down at Phil, and he looks so content and comfortable, Dan doesn't have the heart to push Phil's head off his shoulder.

And secretly, Dan kind of likes the feeling of Phil's head on his shoulder anyway, he feels all warm and fuzzy, seeing Phil so calm, and it feels like all Dan's shoulders were made for was to be pillows for Phil to rest his head on. In other words, the feeling is hard for Dan to explain, but he kind of never wants Phil to move his head off his shoulder - like, ever.

Not that he's ever admit that to anyone.

***

When Dan wakes up the next morning, he discovers another body intertwined with his own.

The sun is shining through, right onto Dan's face annoyingly, and Dan finds himself really needing to pee. He grimaces as he realizes that getting out of bed without disturbing Phil will be a challenge.

Dan tries to gently move, wanting to get up to use the bathroom now, but Phil's arm pins him down against the mattress. Dan cringes, gently grabbing Phil's wrist and lifting it off his chest before scooting out and dropping his arm back onto the now empty space on the bed.

Once he goes to the bathroom, Dan walks back in to find Phil now starfished out on the bed, hugging Dan's pillow, so there is no way Dan will be able to fit in his bed. He rolls his eyes before just taking a seat at his desk, opening his laptop.

He starts scrolling through tumblr, seeing as he can't go back to bed (Phil in the way and looking too cute to disturb) and it's nine thirty anyway, so he's had enough sleep. After another thirty minutes pass, Phil starts mumbling, tossing over in his sleep. Dan giggles, walking over and picking up the pillow Phil was cuddling, and when he turns back, a frown forms on his face as he feels around for the pillow again.

Dan tosses it back on the bed and Phil starts cuddling the pillow again, a grin settling back on his face as he exhales happily. Dan laughs silently, amused before he turns away, sitting back on his laptop, but he's bored of tumblr for now. He sighs before deciding to just wake up Phil. He walks back to his bed, tugging the pillow out of his grip and hitting him in the face with it.

"Oi!" Phil exclaims, sitting up quickly, blinking sleepily at Dan, "what was that for?"

Dan grins, chuckling silently at Phil and the slightly startled look on his face. His hair is ruffled now and sticking out everywhere.

"Oh well, I guess it's time to get up anyway," Phil says as he glances sideways at Dan's clock.

Phil follows Dan downstairs, saying hi to Quinn, who's watching cartoons, and standing behind Dan as he gets out a box of chocolate cereal. Dan's mother is out at work, so it's just Dan, Phil and Quinn at home.

Dan and Phil sit opposite each other at the dining table, shoveling cereal in their mouths like there's no tomorrow, Phil suddenly stops chewing and swallows, looking up at Dan, who's half way through a huge spoon of cereal.

"I was thinking, the other day, why don't you learn sign language?" Phil asks curiously, "you know, so you can talk easier."

Dan holds a finger up while he finishes chewing. Once he swallows, he picks up his phone, typing out an answer to Phil.

Dan: well, I considered it, but not enough people know it these days, so there wasn't much point.

"Oh, that's a good point," Phil says, nodding, "so anyway, I was thinking, did you want to go out or stay here or go to my house or..."

Dan: you choose before you list every possible thing we could do today.

"Haha, I was about to list everything," Phil laughs, "what about we go for a walk, shop and then get lunch?"

Dan nods, finishing the last spoonful of cereal before putting his bowl in the dishwasher, Phil following suit behind him. They then both go upstairs and start to get ready to head out, however once they're ready to leave, the weather outside has changed - dark clouds are now looming over their street.

"You know, on second thoughts, how about another movie," Phil says, looking out the window, where treacherous rain has started, banging against the window and soaking the street.

Dan nods, his eyes widening at the sudden weather change. Phil gets his laptop and they sit side by side again on the bed. Dan chooses the movie this time - Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - and they lean back, the laptop resting on both their legs.

As the movie reaches halfway point, Dan wonders if Phil will rest his head on his shoulder again - not that he minds anyway - why should he care? Phil probably just got tired, friends do that, rest on each other's shoulders - right?

Suddenly, Dan feels an arm rest on his shoulders, and he tenses slightly, but soon finds himself leaning into Phil, while Phil's arm rests on Dan's shoulders. Do friends do this as well? Dan wonders.

But then Dan realizes that he really doesn't care - he just knows that in this moment, he's happy, and that's all the matters.

********

an: hey hope you enjoyed! please vote, comment and share! Thanks so much for all the support so far, you guys are amazing! Sorry it's short too, kind of a filler chapter :)

Update within the week hopefully! Thanks guys, love you all so much :D