The next day was different than the last few weeks, things were back to the way they were before Dan got here. Phil woke up to his alarm clock, groaning he got up and turned it off looking at the empty side of the bed sighing to himself before getting up. He looked into his sons room to see that he wasn't in bed so he went downstairs to find him at the table eating cereal. "You're up early buddy" he said kissing his son's forehead. "I couldn't sleep so I thought I'd just wake up" he sighed stuffing his mouth with a spoonful of cereal. "You miss your dad don't you?" He asked taking a seat, Joey looked down and simply nodded. "We'll see him soon, don't worry" Phil assured him, the boy again simply just nodded not looking up. He picked his son up and sat him on his lap giving him a hug "I miss him too, but we will see him again" he whispered, the little boy hugged his father back tightly "Okay..." He whispered. "Now go get dressed you don't want to be late for school now do you?"
After dropping his son off to school and his daughter off Rachel's place it was time for Phil to head off to work. He wasn't really feeling his lesson today "Are you okay Professor?" A student asked. "Yes. I'm just really tired today" he lied. Dan leaving always made him really sad, he didn't want to do anything but he knew he couldn't just sit at home and do nothing all day like he used to before, he had responsibilities, he had kids he needed to take care of and a job he must get to. "Please leave your assignments on my desk I'll have them marked and given back to you by tomorrow hopefully" he said before his students left.
"Lester, what's wrong?" Phil was really not in the mood today to deal with Greg, him flirting made him really uncomfortable and Dan leaving had him really sad so he just didn't want to speak to anyone. "Nothing is wrong" he answered simply trying to walk past. "Is it your husband? If you ask me you could do much better you know" he shrugged, Phil stopped walking and looked at him slightly confused and irritated. "You're a well educated man, Daniel completed high school that's all, don't you think you deserve someone better?" He asked. "I don't know where you're coming from but my marriage is not your problem so mind your own business" Phil said cooly walking past him really irritated now. Everyone knew Greg had a thing for Phil, but he just wasn't interested, he loved Dan more than anything, he was the person who always looked out for Phil and protected him when they were in high school. Most of Phil's high school memories were horrible, Dan was the only good thing in his life back then.
He remembered the first time he had properly spoken to Dan. He knew Dan since the first grade but they never actually spoke that much, he would remember catching Dan staring at him a lot but he never thought Dan liked him, Phil was the shy nerdy boy while Dan was popular and the quarterback; The day they talked properly wasn't really the best day, Phil wished the situation was different. He was an easy target for bullies and was getting picked on, one of the bullies had even punched Phil making his nose bleed. Dan was one of those really kind popular guys and for some reason most people were afraid of him, he had noticed two guys picking on Phil and he stepped in pushing them and telling them to leave his "boyfriend" alone knowing they won't mess with anyone who's close to Dan even though they barely knew eachother. He grabbed Phil's hand and led him to the bathroom to help him clean up,quite honestly Phil was a little scared. "Don't be scared I won't hurt you I promise" Dan whispered dabbing a wet tissue on Phil's face, he seemed to have read Phil's mind. "Thank you.. F-for helping me.." Phil said shyly as Dan cleaned up his face "No problem, let me know if they ever give you a hard time okay? I'll make sure they stop" Dan smiled, Phil smiled back and felt his cheeks turn pink. Without thinking Dan leaned in and kissed him softly on the lips, normally Phil would freak out if someone did that but instead before Dan could pull away Phil pulled him back in and kissed him back more passionately. He's never had the courage to do that before but he felt comfortable.
They didn't start dating at that moment, it took them time to take that step but ever since that day Dan always stuck around with him. Phil smiled to himself remembering that day as he sat in the coffee shop looking through old pictures on his laptop, their relationship had so many ups and downs and it still does but he wouldn't change anything.
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Soooo maybe we should make flashbacks a thing for this fic???
