Liar - Highschool Phan au

alone together.

"No." Phil said flatly, his face mutual. He didn't turn away, however.

Dan swallowed, nodding. Fair enough. He /had/ hit Phil, amongst other hurtful things. "But- I was just-"

Phil's eyes softened. "Look, I'm sorry. I thought I could help you but I can't. I was... Naive. You're not who you say you are, I know that. But I'm not willing to get myself hurt trying to get past the facade."

The words hurt Dan more then he'd ever admit. "Phil..." He said quietly, stepping forward. He looked the other boy directly in the eyes trying to convince him.

Begging for friendship wasn't something he'd had to do for a while so it was all the more degrading. But it would be worth it if he could have his revenge.

Phil paused for a second, trying to figure out if Dan was genuine or not. Against better judgement, he nodded. "Okay, fine. What now?"

Dan smiled falsely and gave a sigh of gratitude. "We could just... Chill in the park, I guess." He shrugged. It was lame but that's all he had to offer. His other hang-out spots weren't exactly Phil-friendly.

"Yeah, okay." Phil said smiling back. He'd began to trust Dan almost completely now, and it was obvious.

Oh, Phil. How innocent he was.

The two of them walked out of the centre, and after the few first awkward lines of small talk they were having what, to Dan, was a decent conversation about one of Phil's angry customers.

"No, I'm serious!" Phil blurted, "He just threw it right at me! People are so nasty sometimes..."

"What a rude guy." Dan said, the corner of his mouth twitching at Phil's excitement. "It's not your fault, you don't stack the shelves."

"I know." Phil pouted. "Maybe he was just having a bad day. I feel sorry for him."

Dan looked at Phil in amazement. "You feel sorry for /him/?"

"Well, yeah." Phil replied as if it were obvious. "Something bad must have happened for him to walk into the pharmacy and start throwing things around."

"Maybe." Dan looked around at the passing cars and recognised where they were. Not far from the park.

"Oh that reminds me, there was this other time that a woman came in and a hamster jumped out of her bag! We spent half an hour chasing it." Phil laughed at the memory.

"Did you catch it?" Dan asked. He surprised even himself being genuinely interested in this conversation.

"I did." Phil's grin grew. "His names Striker."

Dan was confused. "Wait, you named him?"

"Of course! I still have him in a hutch at home... I bet he's missing me." Dan shook his head, still smiling. He'd never met another 17 year old as open as Phil. It made him weirdly happy.

Once they got to the park the conversation had died down. They sat side-by-side in the swings watching the only family there begin to leave.

Soon it was empty, Phil was the only person in Dans sight, so Phil is what he looked at. His face wasn't model material, but to Dan it was Perfect. Every aspect of it. The pale eyes, obvious Adam's apple and Porcelain skin dotted with so-called imperfections.

Dan was staring so intensely he was startled when Phil turned to him. "Dan?" He asked.

"What?"

"Why now? What made you change your mind about me?"

Dan paused. He hadn't thought that Phil would ask such direct questions. The real reason was revenge, but now he was rethinking his whole plan. He actually liked Phil, and was pleased to admit it. "Dunno." He said. "I guess it was Carter... I just realised what a jerk he was."

"He just acts the wrong way." Phil replied in his defence. "We all want the same thing, he just has a very... Aggressive way of getting it."

"We do? What's that?" Dan asked. Phil had appeared to be completely unaware of the way high school worked.

"Protection. It's all a stupid little game, really." Phil sighed, shrugging. "But that's high school for ya."

Dan swallowed. He was almost intimidated by Phil. It was like he was inside his head. "I guess."

They talked for a while, the conversation flowing unexpectedly easily. The sky around them got gradually darker without either of them noticing until Phil got a call from his mother.

He stood up, still laughing and answered the phone. His smile dropped when he was instructed to go back home. "Sorry." He mumbled to Dan.

"No, I've kept you long enough." Dan smiled, standing up.

"Anyway, Uh- bye." Phil began walking out of the park.

"Yeah. Bye." Dan watched him leave and realisation washed over him.

He was in love with Phil Lester.