Phil was supposed to be happy. Happy little phil with his happy little smile in his happy little world. He was supposed to make others around him happy, so they could smile around him. Phil saw this as his duty. To make the others around him smile.
He didn't care if inside, he was slowly breaking into pieces, he would still work towards making others around him joyous.
"Hey Phil?" Dan asked, walking out of the bathroom of their average sized dorm that they shared.
"Yes Dan?" Phil asked.
"Why are you wearing long sleeves? It's May out."
"I'm...cold." Phil lies, giving Dan a reassuring grin. Dan raises an eyebrow but says nothing to Phil. He's suspicious, Phil isn't usually cold in May. He should know, he's been best friends and roommates with the boy for almost two years now.
"Okay," Dan says, then his voice gets serious. "You know you can talk to me, right?"
"Yes Dan," Phil playfully rolls his eyes and hugs Dan. "I know."
Dan smiles at Phil and walks out of the dorm. "I'm going to Tescos... need anything?"
"Nope." Phil says, still maintaining a toothy smile.
"Alright, you smiley bean. See you in a bit."
When Dan leaves, Phil sighs and his smile turns into one of a frown and he sits on his bed, his arms and stomach aching from where his boyfriend had punched him the other night. Everything was sore, making faking smiles even worse.
Finally, he hauled himself off of the bed and into the bathroom. He lifted up his shirt to examine the huge black and white mark on the flat middle of his stomach, near his gut. And he lifted up his sleeve as well to see a long cut and bruise near his bicep.
Out of the corner of his eyes, he sees Dan come into mirror view.
Phil's eyes widens and he drops the end of his shirt, covering his stomach again. He begins to internally scream and panic, but keeps a innocent smile.e
"You're back already?"
"Phil, what was the bruise from?" Dan says, turning into protective best friend.
"Nothing," Phil says. "I walked into a door."
"You did not walk into a door, if you did, you would've hit your eye or something, not your stomach. Who did this to you?"
Phil's lip quivered as he thought of Sam standing over him, fist raised. No, he thinks, smile for Dan. You have to smile...
"It was Sam," Phil whispers, for the first time, losing his happy grin. His eyes are downcast as Dan's are burning with anger.
"How long has this been going on?" Dan growls as he wraps Phil in a tight hug.
"A long time, months..." Phil says, squeezing his eyes shut as tears begin to form.
"How dare he?!" Dan nearly shouts, startling Phil, who jumps in Dan's arm. "I'm gonna go give him a piece of my mind." Dan storms out of the room before Phil can say anything to keep Dan inside.
***
"YOU ASSHOLE!" Dan shouts at Sam, getting threatening close to the boy. When angry, Dan can look really scary. And he was about to go full on Hulk to the guy that hurt his best friend. "I CAN REPORT YOU, I CAN SUE YOUR SORRY ASS FOR HURTING PHIL! HE HAS THE SCARS!"
Sam is visibly quivering but holding a straight face.
"And," Dan's voice is menacingly quiet and calm. "If you ever so much as go within ten feet of Phil ever again, I will hunt you down and have your head. Understand?"
Sam says nothing and looks away. Dan grabs his face so he's looking straight at Dan.
"Understand?!!"
"Understand..." Sam whimpers and squirms away.
***
When Dan gets back, Phil jumps up from the bed.
"What happened?" Phil asks.
Dan sits down next to Phil, on the floor. Two arms wrapped around Phil, Dan whispers "He will never lay a finger on you again. I promise."
Phil breaks down sobbing in Dan's arms, his head buried in Dan's chest. Dan kissed the top of Phil's head affectionally. "As long as I'm alive, no one will ever hurt you again."
And with that sentence, Phil smiles genuinely for the first time in months.
