Prompt: “With Schools AUs it’s always Badboy!Phil with Nerd!Dan or Badboy!Dan with Nerd!Phil. That about a fic where both are bad, and meet behind the bike shed for a smoke, or both are nerds, and meet in the library.” (I went with both are bad)
Summary: Dan Howell is one of the most popular kids in school, with a badboy reputation to uphold. On the day that he meets the new boy, Phil Lester, who seems just as bad as himself, they become friends almost immediately. But as one thing leads to another, Dan isn't so sure if he and Phil are just friends, or more?
Overall warnings: swearing, mentions of drugs, smoking, drinking, strong homophobic slur, domestic abuse, mild smut, violence, emotional manipulation
Dan is that kid. The popular boy that every girl swoons over, that everyone wants to be friends with, the boy that's a complete jerk to anyone lower on the totem pole. But deep down, he's just trying to hide and ignore his own secret- that he's gay.
Phil is Dan's usual target. Openly gay, awkward, and nerdy, he seems to be easily bullied. He's always too afraid to say anything and would rather stay in the background and get through high school and go to university.
When Dan's grades slip 🔚 he needs to bring them up or else repeat his senior year, Phil is assigned to tutor Dan. It seems to be a terrible coincidence that the two are brought together, but it's so much more.
Thank you @tissuesfortheissues for this amazing cover
Highest ranking: 450 in fanfiction
Mentions of self harm and suicide