True Beauty lies Beneath the Skin (Phan)

I am Not Afraid to Keep On Living

I am not afraid to keep on living
I am not afraid to walk this world alone
Honey, if you stay
I'll be forgiven
Nothing you can say can stop me going home

Phil felt like he was the only one in the band that wasn't that nervous about going on tour again. If anything, he was so ready, so anxious to get back out there and play music and see his fans again. Sure, it was a little nerve wracking to get back on a tour bus after the previous one had crashed, but it was the beginning of May, so there were no longer any snow storms and Phil was sure that this would be an easy tour.

The rest of the members of Runaway Exorcist seemed rather anxious as well, and definitely not in a good way. Phil simply hoped that after they performed their first show and everyone got to see how much they missed the sensation of performing, they'd be okay again. Everyone was excited, but Phil wasn't entirely sure how mentally prepared the band was to be on the road again...

Nonetheless, the band took off a week into May and would be gone for just over a month. Phil already missed Dan and Bella, and his family too. Phil really hoped to keep things with Dan the way they were going now, and he also hoped to take things further with him. Now that Phil was no longer in casts and braces, he could afford to do things on the more...physical side of the relationship. They hadn't talked about it yet, but they'd been dating five months and had yet to do anything because of Phil's injuries, so Phil was certainly hoping that when he got back, at the very least talking about it would be on the table.

In the mean time though, Phil had fans to meet and music to play.

The first meet 'n' greet of the tour was one of the happiest days of Phil's life, as it had been so long since he'd been able to do something like this. He gave so many hugs to so many fans, signed more autographs than he could count and smiled until his face hurt. He got asked a couple times about Dan and Bella as Phil had recently taken his relationship to the point of posting a couple of cute selfies with them on Instagram, deciding it was better for fans to find out that way than to risk an awkward public encounter with a fan while with Dan and Bella.

So as Phil Lester's relationship was out in public, of course he got asked some questions, which he was expecting. Some he tried to answer was vaguely as possible, and others he had no problem with answering. A lot of the questions weren't specifically about Dan and Bella, but some of the fans were recovering addicts who were looking to Phil for advice or people who were looking to him as a role model for wanting to come out of the closet or family issues or whatever else.

When Phil had first started this band, he'd never intended to become as big a role model for some people as he had. A year ago, a role model was the last thing he would have considered himself as he was still a douche bag and an addict. However, Phil had actually been very open with his recovery to the public. His fans obviously knew what had happened with Caroline and the miscarriage and had for the most part put the puzzle pieces together themselves that that was what led Phil down the path that he went on for four and a half years before sobering up and recovering.

Because he'd recovered and figured out how to turn everything around, Phil was all of the sudden someone that people were using as someone to look up to if they were in similar situations, which Phil supposed made sense. While it was never his intention to be in that kind of position when he first started this band, now that he was in that position, he almost felt like he had a responsibility to uphold to the people that were looking to him for guidance, which was why he was for the most part very open about his recovery and everything he'd gone through. It would probably be some good material for the new album that Runaway Exorcist would begin writing in the fall.

Phil wasn't afraid to live his life or encouraging others to live theirs.

This tour was just a small tour around the UK, which everyone was happy with. It was familiar for the most part and everyone was nice. Runaway Exorcist would continue their American tour in the summer since they had to cancel all of it after the crash. In the mean time, they would use this UK tour to get back on their feet, and readjust to life on tour again.

Phil had a really good feeling about this.

x

Since Phil had been home for so long due to his injuries, Dan hadn't really taken into account how much dating a public figure could affect his life.

Phil had posted two selfies of the three of them on Instagram, each of them about three weeks apart from each other, and already Dan's follower count had gone up by 17,000. Suddenly, the phones at the tattoo shop were ringing off the hook and Dan was getting countless appointments from people all over the UK that wanted to get tattooed by him specifically. At first, Dan found this a bit off-putting, but more customers would help pay more bills, so Dan soon began to comply with almost no hesitation.

"Daaaaaaaaad, when is Phil coming back?" Bella asked Dan quite often.

Dan laughs, "In just a few more weeks, honey."

"But I miss him."

Dan gives a small smile, then brings Bella into his lap as they sit on the couch, "I miss him too, but he's coming back, honey."

"But the last time he left, he got hurt."

"I know, baby, but he's gonna be okay. I'm worried about him too, but it's a good thing that he's on tour again!"

"I know..."

"He's gonna be perfectly fine," Dan says before kissing her forehead.

Dan and Bella went about with their lives as normal for the most part with Bella in school and Dan working. However, Bella's 7th birthday landed on a Sunday, and since Dan was off that day, he was determined to make her first birthday since Dan got custody of her again a special one.

When they woke up, they made pancakes - of course - and Bella got to open her presents from Dan and Phil. What she loved the most though was that Phil Facetimed Dan that afternoon and Bella got to see him, which she was more excited about than anything. Dan could tell that Bella was relieved to see Phil okay and safe, and Dan would admit that he was relieved to see this as well.

Later on in the afternoon, Dan took Bella to his parent's house where family came over and they had a proper "party" for her. It was pretty hard for Dan to believe that Bella was already seven and it had been almost a year since he'd gotten custody of her again and moved her into the tiny apartment they lived in now. So much had changed for them in that one year...It was probably the best year of their lives.

And for once, Dan wasn't afraid of the rest of the years to come.

A/N: This was extremely short BUT that's BECAUSE next chapter...things will get interesting ;) But Phil is on tour again, so how do you think that will impact the band? What about Dan and Bella being known publicly now?

Chapter title song: "Famous Last Words" by My Chemical Romance *cries*. Video can be viewed at the beginning of the chapter or below:

Give me your thoughts!

- Jade