This was honestly the most horrendous day that Dan had ever had to live through. Including the day him and PJ had both gotten poison ivy and pink eye from swimming in some disease infested lake.

  Dan was nauseous all through English lesson, and he didn't pay attention to a single word the teacher said. He kept glancing over at Phil, who's eyes were practically glued to the desk. He wanted so badly to just turn and apologize to Phil, to explain to him what was going on and why he was doing this. But that would ruin everything, so Dan just kept quiet and doodled aimlessly in his open notebook. When the bell rang at the end of the lesson, Dan jumped out of his seat, hurriedly stuffing his things onto his bag so he didn't have to face Phil. But just as he was about to leave, Phil grabbed his arm and turned him around so that they were facing each other.

  "What's your problem today?" he asked, his blue eyes full of confusion and hurt.

  "What do you mean?" Dan asked. He really didn't want to have to deal with it right now, he just wanted to get through the day without any drama.

  "You're acting really weird. I mean, yesterday you were flirting with me and stuff, and then today, you don't even look at me. What's up?"

  "I don't have time for this, Phil, I don't want to be late for class." he pulled away and started walking down the hall, but Phil caught up to him.

  "You mean the class that we share? And sit next to each other in? Like all our classes?" Phil questioned. Dan remained silent.

  They reached the door of their classroom, and Phil gave up on trying to talk to Dan, instead pushing past him and heading to the back seat. Dan silently followed, taking his seat next to Phil.

  That lesson was the same as English, Dan not paying attention and drawing. It's not like he was going to be there much longer anyway, he didn't care about failing or getting in trouble. It'd probably help with trying to avoid Phil, actually.

  In his head, Dan had thought that maybe Phil would actually understand  and just go along with his behavior. Of course, that was stupid. Who the hell would just go along with this? Phil was right, yesterday, Dan had been a friend, talking and laughing, even flirting. And then the next day, he just goes and ignores him, not even looking at him? He had every right to be mad, sad, hurt. And he probably was, but he was also concerned about Dan, if something was wrong. And Dan was being an ass hole, ignoring that too.

  And no matter how much he tried to play it off, saying that it was for the job, he knew that he didn't have to be so extreme about it. And it wasn't even working. Because no matter if he'd decided to continue this or go back to being normal, how he felt about the blue eyed boy wasn't going to change. Not in the slightest.

  Dan looked over at Phil. His head was bent over his book, reading along to whatever the teacher was going on about. His eyes squinted in concentration and his tongue poked slightly out of his mouth, and Dan continued staring at him. He seriously was attractive, it always struck Dan at random moments, this fact. It was a surprise that he didn't already have a girlfriend or boyfriend, but maybe it was because Dan had a huge crush on him and was the only one who could see how beautiful he really was.

  Just then, Phil looked up and met Dan's gaze, and they stared at one another. Dan didn't want to look away, he wanted them to stay like that all day. But he finally relented and looked back at his notebook, blushing slightly. He heard Phil sigh and do the same.

  His thoughts were all over the place, his mind filled with Phil, the Highers, his Reaper status. He tried to quiet his brain, writing in his notebook randomly.

  Phil Lester. Phil Howell. Dan Lester. Daniel James Lester.....

  He needed help.

                                             ***************

  It was after lunch that everything went to hell.

  Dan had decided to hang out in the hallway, by his locker, instead of going to the library or the cafeteria. He didn't want to run into Phil, but he also didn't want to have to deal with the crowded, sweaty, and loud groups of teenagers all running and yelling at each other across the room. He'd probably murder somebody.

  Dan was just sitting there, trying not to let his mind go astray (and failing miserably), and the bell rang, thankfully interrupting his thoughts and signaling the end of the break.

  He was heading to his next class, gym, when he ran straight into another person. Phil, to be exact. He looked irritated, his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes glaring into Dan's.

  "Excuse me." Dan said, trying to move around him, but Phil grabbed him and pushed him back. Dan stared at him, shocked that he'd been so physical.

  "No, you're not going anywhere until you tell what the hell is going on and why you're ignoring me like this." Phil said, his voice soft as always but also firm.

  "I don't know what you're talking about." Dan replied, trying again to leave but again being pushed back.

"You know what I'm talking about, Dan, stop playing the idiot. Yesterday, we were friends. You talked to me, and I talked to you back, we laughed and joked. God, you told me I was cute, adorable, and I thought that maybe...... now I don't know what we are. Do you hate me? Did I do something, say something? Just, please tell me, I hate not knowing." His voice grew softer as he continued talking, and to Dan's horror, tears formed in his eyes and started slowly falling down his cheeks. The halls were empty by then, and they were alone.

  "I...... I can't, tell you, Phil. I can't tell you why I'm doing this, I wish I could, god. But I can't, and I'm sorry." Dan pleaded desperately, trying to make Phil understand.

  "You can't tell me? That's your excuse? You've got to be kidding me!" Phil's voice got louder, and he moved closer to Dan till they were practically face to face. "These last few days, I've told you almost everything about me, things that I would never open up to anyone about. I let you into my world, a practical stranger! I fricking carried you to the infirmary on the first day of school! I did all of that, because I cared about you, hell I still care about you, and then blow me off, like some stupid idiot! And you can't tell me why?! You're pathetic! I don't know why know ever liked you, I thought you might be different."

  "You liked me?" Dan asked. Even though they had shared those few moments together, and Dan had somewhat suspected it, he was still surprise at these words.

  "Yes, Dan! I liked you, I like you! But you don't seem to care, do you? My feelings don't matter, do they?" He was full on crying now, tears streaming down his face, and Dan felt horrible, that he had caused that.

  "Phil, that's not-"

  "Then what, Daniel? What is the reason for this! Cut the crap, and just tell me.... "

"I..... " he wanted to tell him, he did. He was about to, the words were about to leave his lips. But the words must have gotten tangled up with the thoughts in his head, telling him he shouldn't say anything, because what he said was, "I just don't want to be seen with you, Phil." And he couldn't take those words back, no matter how much he wanted to.

  "W-what?" Phil said. His face was a mixture of disbelief and hurt, and it didn't help that he was still crying.

  "You heard me. Now if you don't mind, I would like to get to class before the teacher gets angry."  And he pushed past Phil, heading to the gym and leaving the boy alone in the halls.

  Dan could hear him, his sobs echoing down the hallway and cutting into Dan's ears. It made him want to vomit, but he couldn't because it was his fault, everything was his fault.

  He didn't want to run today, for many reasons, so when Dan entered the gym, he told the teacher some vague lie about his limbs hurting, and went to sit on the sidelines. Phil didn't show up that period, and Dan assumed that he didn't want to have to face the monster who had ripped his heart to shreds in the hallway.

                                        *******************

  Phil also didn't show up for the rest of their lessons, and Dan was forced to sit alone in the back. He didn't mind, because he really didn't think he could stand being around anybody else today, not without snapping and punching them in the face.

  He had no idea what to do in art, because Phil was supposed to bring his sculpture so that Dan could start on the painting. So he just sat there, staring off into space and trying not to let his emotions get the better of him. He was sad, depressed, he was guilty and stupid, and be really just wanted to kick something.... in the face. At that moment, Mr Gray walked over to him, carrying a medium sized object covered by a white sheet.

  "Hello there, Mr Howell." he said amiably, setting the sheet covered object on the desk, in front of Dan. "Phil gave this to me earlier, and told me to give to you, because he wasn't going to be here. It's his half of the project."

  "Oh...." Well that saved him the trouble. "Thanks."

  "No problem. But I wanted to ask you, do you know what's wrong with him? He came to me in tears, and I asked what's the matter, but he just shook his head and left."

  It made Dan's chest hurt, hearing that Phil had still been crying over him. He was such an idiot for saying those things.

  "I've no idea. He's been pretty off all day, really." Dan said, looking at the table and wringing his hands. He wanted to shout out, tell this man that it was his fault that Phil was a mess, that's he was the one who had hurt him, but he held it all back, with great difficulty.

  "Well, make sure he's okay for me. I've never seen him like that, and I'm very concerned." And he left, smiling at Dan and walking back to his desk.

  Dan stared at the thing in front of him, the thing that Phil had built with his own two hands. He'd probably spent a lot of time on it. He grabbed the top of the sheet and slowly pulled it off, and gasped. Because damn, it was beautiful.

  It was made entirely out of metal, and bits of wood. Usually, that would be a bad combination, but here, it was amazing. Steel and bronze rose up and twined together to make makeshift towers, and there were thin pieces of silver that twisted around the top, like train rails. Spots of color were dotted around the whole thing, making it seem almost real. The whole thing was delicate and looked as if it would topple at the slightest touch.

  "Bloody hell, Phil." Dan muttered. It must have taken him a lot of time and effort to pull this off. Dan knew that be himself would never have the patience to do this. And an idea came to him, an idea for the painting. Dan stood up from his table, grabbed a canvas and some paints, and sat down again. He sat for a minute, thinking about how he would go about this, then smiled and started to carefully apply strokes of paint to the blank surface. He worked for the whole period, and when the bell finally rang, he'd come to decision.

                                            ******************

  After the bell had rung, Dan hurried through the halls trying to find Phil. The halls were crowded, as always, with students slamming their lockers and shouting out to their friends. It was loud and suffocatingly claustrophobic.

  He headed down the hall where he knew Phil's locker was, and finally saw him, walking with his head down, being shoved out of the way again and again. Dan pushed past the crowds of people, until he was standing directly in front of Phil, who almost ran into him.

  "Phil, I know you hate me, but we need to talk." Dan asked, his voice pleading. Phil glared at him.

  "I don't think so, Dan. I'm done trying to talk to you." he brushed past Dan, to his locker, but Dan followed him.

  "I'm sorry Phil, but I promise, just please come to my house and I'll explain everything."

  Phil paused in taking some books out of his locker, thinking.

  "Everything?" he asked softly.

  "Yes, everything. Please."

  Phil sighed heavily, stuffing his things into his bag and turning to face Dan. "Alright." he said. "But I want a real explanation, not some stupid excuse."

  "Of course." And he was telling the truth, he was going to tell Phil everything, no matter the consequences. Hopefully, he'd believe him and not call him crazy or laugh in his face.