The Soulmate Theory (Phan AU)

Chapter 6

  I started to sit with Dan and everyone else a couple times a week, and for the first time since Mum died, I was actually happy. Well, happy for a couple hours, anyways.

When I would come home, I was confronted by my family that seemed to be unraveling slowly. Dad and his drinking, which he began to do as heavily as before. And Martyn's unexpected moodiness and outbursts of anger. I found myself in my room most of the time, only venturing out to get food and go to school.

A month and a half into the start of school, I was laying on my bed listening to music when I heard a knock on the door. Dad was out, and Martyn was in his room, so I went down and answered the door to see Dan standing there.

"Hey, Dan. Uh, did you need something?"

Dan smiled. "Go put on your shoes, grab a backpack, a bathing suit, and a towel and meet me out here when you're ready."

"Um, what?"

"Trust me, and hurry."

I ran upstairs and grabbed what I had been told, and knocked on Martyn's door to let him know that I was leaving with a friend. "You have friends?" Was his response.

When I got downstairs, Dan was waiting for me. "Where are we going?" I asked him.

"We're meeting the rest of the Brit Clique at the lake, they're already there, so we gotta hurry."

I ran after him. "Did you consider that maybe I don't want to go? That maybe you should have, I don't know, asked me?"

Dan stopped and looked at me. "Phil, you've put up a wall and kept yourself locked away for far too long. If no one forces you to get out and live life, you never will. Trust us, we're helping you." 

Then he took off running again.

We went onto a little hiking path the was connected to our neighborhood and walked for ten minutes before we came to a wooded area with a lake and a dock. The sun was just beginning to set, and the sky was brilliant shades of purple, pink, and red. PJ and Chris were standing on the dock, laughing about something, and Louise was laying on the dock, staring up at the sky.

Chris spotted us first. "Hey! Nice of you guys to finally join us!"

Dan laughed. "Shut up, Chris!" He turned to me.

Dan and I quickly changed into our bathing suits and joined everyone else on the dock. PJ stood in front of me. "Since you're the newest member of the Brit Clique," he began.

"But, I'm not really a part of your friend group, PJ." I said. And I didn't feel like it, it just felt like I was a kid who sat with them sometimes because my neighbor was nice.

Louse put a hand on my shoulder. "Of course you're a part of the Brit Clique! You're our friend, and we're not going anywhere."

Dan gave me a reassuring smile. "We're here for you, Phil. We want to be your friends, but we can't force you to be our friend. It's up to you to let down your walls and let us in. We're not going to hurt you, or leave you." I looked into his eyes, and I knew. I knew he meant every word he said.

I nodded. "Okay, proceed PJ."

PJ smiled. "One condition; you have to call me Peej."

"Okay, Peej, continue."

"As the new honorary member of the Brit Clique, you must go through an initiation!"

I looked around at everyone. "An initiation?"

Chris and PJ exchanged a mischievous smile, then nodded at each other. They then proceeded to pick me up and throw me in the lake.

When I came out of the water, everyone was laughing, including me. After that, everyone jumped in, and we all laughed and yelled and joked around. After an hour, we got out and laid on the dock together, looking at the stars, and I was laying between Dan and Louise.

Dan turned and looked at me. "So, you're finally gonna let us in?"

"Yeah."

"How would you describe today?"

I closed my eyes and smiled. "As the best day I've had in a very long time."

Dan took my hand in his. "And there's many more good days to come, I promise."