Strange (Phan AU)

Prologue

Just some minor edits. Nothing pressing.

Phil Lester wasn't exactly excited for his first day of school. After five years of life, he'd grown pretty attached to his mom. As far back as his little memory went, it had always been the two of them. Without his dad around, he and his mom developed an inseperable bond. In fact, they were so close, Phil could always tell when she was happy or sad just by looking at her. If she tried to pretend she was happy and she wasn't, he knew in a heartbeat. Luckily, little Phil had a talent for making his mom feel better. Sometimes, all he had to do was tell her he didn't want her to be sad. Then, as if by command, she would brighten up, tousle his hair, and call him her little ray of sunshine. They made a perfect team.

Now he would have to spend several hours a day away from his mom. What if the teacher didn't like him because he'd missed the first day? Would they tell him it was more important to be in class than to get his vaccines? What if he wasn't as close to the other kids as he was with his mom? What if the kids thought he was weird for being so close to her? His tiny mind whirring with several terrifying 'what ifs', Phil began to panic. Pretty soon he was crying, and all he wanted was for his mom to comfort him. The problem was, his mom started crying too. This wasn't anything new, he knew that she hated to see him cry. In a desperate attempt to make her feel better, he gave a little sniffle, wiped away his tears, and flashed a wobbly smile. As always, it worked, because pretty soon his mom was smiling back, with Phil hugging her.

"Bye mom," he mumbled into her shirt, "I love you so much" By the time he pulled away, his mom looked as if she hadn't been sad in the first place, and everything seemed okay.

"I love you too," she confirmed, pulling him in for one last hug, then standing up. "Good luck today, sunshine." With that, she nudged him into the classroom, and Phil was alone.

For most children, their first experience without constant parental supervision is a key moment in their lives. It means freedom, the chance to discover who they are, and the chance to try new things. For Phil Lester, it was pure terror. This, apparently, meant bad news for everyone he tried to befriend. Every time the nervous boy tried to approach another kid, they seemed to share his nerves and avoid him. Disappointed, he gave up on trying to make friends, instead choosing to cry in the corner of the classroom, and hope the teacher would just leave him alone. Once the sobs came to a stop and he began watching the other kids through his remaining tears, one girl caught his eye.

Shouting to the other kids that "playing school when we're at school is dumb," Louise Pentland was clearly not bothered by anything. The outspoken blonde was not afraid to tell the other kids what they were doing wrong, which was, apparently, a lot. Surprisingly, though, they listened to her without hesitation, as if they were afraid of what would happen if the five-year-old unleashed her wrath.

At this thought, Phil began to giggle, imagining the small girl literally exploding in a fit of anger, with lasers and everything. However, his sudden laughter seemed to have blown his cover, ruining his hopes of being ignored for the rest of the day. Everyone, including the adults chatting near the door of the room, stopped what they were doing to watch the boy that laughed at the thought of angry lasers. Realizing exactly how many people were watching him, Phil's laughter faded, and he began to look at the ground, wishing everyone would just ignore him again.

After another short moment of staring, Phil got that wish. The children resumed playing, and the remaining parents gave their children farewell hugs before heading off. Once the only people remaining were the teacher and students, a bell chimed, and the other kids seemed to understand that this signified the start of class. Everyone began to sit at the nearest table, so Phil followed suit.

He was finally starting to settle in and color a page with a lion when he was prodded in the cheek by the person next to him. "Hi, I'm Louise. Can I borrow that crayon?" Looking up, he noticed it was the bossy girl from before. Awestruck, he nodded, and wordlessly passed over said crayon. "Thanks," the small girl said, and with the nonchalance of any child their age, she asked: "Do you wanna be best friends?"

At this, Phil paused his coloring. This was a big step for him, and he had only been here for a few minutes. If he did this right, he would have his first friend, no, best friend. After a few moments of silence, Louise began to backpedal. "It's okay, we don't have to be best friends or anything, I'm sorry." She began to pout, and went back to her own work of art.

In an attempt to fix the situation, Phil smiled, and poked her cheek, just as she had not too long ago: "Of course I want to be your best friend." Why not? She seemed nice enough, and she had asked for the crayon instead of just taking it. In Phil's mind, that made her pretty cool. Besides, he didn't want to see her get mad, just in case it really did make her explode into lasers. Almost instantly, Louise brightened up, and threw her arms around him.

"Yaaaaaay!" She yelled, clearly not caring about drawing others' attention, "We're gonna be bestest friends forever!" Laughing, Phil nodded, and hugged the young girl back.

After two more years, Phil's mom pieced together out her son's effect on others' emotions. Unfortunately, this drove her to near insanity. Every time Phil was upset, his mother felt the effect and became angry. "Smile for mommy, Philly!" She would say, a terrifying fake smile plastered on her face. "Don't you want mommy to be happy? If you're upset, mommy gets upset, too! So you can never cry, Philly. Never."

Of course, this would terrify any seven-year-old, and Phil was no different. His mother's "comforting" words did nothing but scare him, which, of course, agitated her more. The once close relationship Phil had with his mother was replaced by one of distance and fear. Even when he was happy, he was scared of his mother, who would then fall into a fit of obsessive joy never let him leave her side. It seemed as if it was impossible to truly restore their bond.

Over the next few years, he began spending more and more time with Louise. Eventually, it got to the point where her parents were concerned when he didn't show up. He learned to control his abilities to never upset the Pentlands like he did his mother, but he was never able to fix his relationship with her. She knew what he could do, and nothing he did could change that.

He eventually told Louise about what he could do and she became his safe place. She accepted this without hesitation, and they were inseparable through middle school. Even when their pre-pubescent classmates started teasing the two and making "cootie" accusations, they remained close friends. Even the teachers knew better than to try making them sit apart.

However, Phil's happiness was only temporary. Halfway through eighth grade, it was announced at an assembly that the district lines were being adjusted, meaning the students would be separated into two different high schools. Phil realized he would be required to attend a different school from his best friend, and immediately started crying, running out before he started to affect the other students. Louise, of course, ran after him, doing her best to resist his powers and not start crying with him.

Running through the halls in a desperate search, she finally found Phil crouching in the small gap between two sets of lockers, tears streaming down his face. Clearly terrified of facing a new world alone again, Phil was falling apart. Who was going to get people to leave him alone when all their developing emotions overwhelmed him? More importantly, who was going to help him survive his mom? He was going to be alone. He had only ever been alone for that short time in kindergarten. How could he survive?

Louise sat right in front of him, reassuring him everything would be okay over and over. Even when class resumed, they continued to sit together while she comforted him, nobody daring to disturb the two. An hour later, with promises that he would still always be welcome at the Pentland residence, Phil Lester started to smile again. Sure, going to a new school would be hard, but with a friend like Louise, he was sure there was nothing he couldn't handle.

big author's note will be in the update. stay tuned. give me, like, 8ish hours.