Bad Boys Don't Smile / phan

chapter seventeen

// picture attached to make you laugh because this chapter probably won't //

pj

Pj starts seeing the small changes - in both the boys.

Even though he tries not to, he still sees it. He sees how they change and he sees their hurt.

He notices how Dan begins to become who he used to be - sullen and hostile. He's always alone again, be scowls at everyone, refuses to speak to anyone and never smiles.

Phil, on the other hand, has become the polar opposite of his old self. He is moody, seems sad all the time and has become cut off. Despite his denial, he's living in a cut off little bubble.

Pj would give anything to see what's going on in those two guys' heads. He's starting to think that maybe he was wrong about Dan and Phil. Maybe Dan wasn't how they originally thought.

"Joe," Pj says, jogging to catch up to Joe before fifth period, catching his arm, "I need to speak to you."

"What?" He asks impatiently, huffing, "I'm going to be late to class."

"Since when do you care about being late to class?" Pj asks with an amused laugh.

"Shut up," Joe snaps, running a hand through his hair, "look say what you wanted to say already."

Pj takes a deep breath, running a hand through his dark curls.

"Do you- do you think we did the right thing, y'know, with Dan and Phil?" He asks.

"Yes, definitely," Joe says impatiently, "Phil is nice, and I care about him. Dan is... Well, you know Dan. We're just being good friends."

"But they've both been so upset..." Pj starts.

"Dan has been himself, who everyone knows him to be. As for Phil, he'll get over it," Joe says simply, "you'll see Pj. People don't change. People like Dan deserve to be alone."

Joe walks off then, leaving Pj in the rapidly emptying corridor. Pj sighs, adjusting his backpack strap before walking to his own class.

He sees Dan up the back. Pj sits near him, two seats away. Dan scowls at Pj briefly before looking back down at his notebook, writing or drawing something.

Pj glances at Dan through the lesson, unable to focus on the lesson. As he watches Dan, he thinks about what Joe said.

People don't change. People like Dan deserve to be alone.

But do they? He and Joe don't know Dan, they don't know what kind of person he really is. People don't change, but what if Dan was never the person they thought we was to begin with? What if Dan didn't change, he was just becoming who he was all along?

Whatever it was, Pj knows he has to find out, because he doesn't want to be responsible for Dan Howell and Phil Lester's misery.

After the bell rings, Dan rips the page he was drawing on out of his book and throws it in the bin on the way out. Pj, who is behind him, picks it up. Pj stands out the front of the classroom and un-crumples the page.