Summary: In which Dan gets into a fight and has to serve two weeks of detention, where he meets Phil, his usually quiet and kind of nerdy classmate

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Dan hadn't planned on punching the guy in the face. He knew it was a lame excuse, but it was true.

He'd really just been minding his own business, getting his books from his locker, when the guy, a total stranger, walked by and started instigating.

Dan wasn't self conscious about his sexuality. He'd come out as openly bisexual a couple years ago, and while most of the other kids were indifferent about it, there were some assholes who just liked pushing their luck. Most of the time, he just let it slide.

And so when the guy had started calling him 'fairy' and 'homo', Dan had just ignored it. But apparently, him not responding to the taunts had been enough.

Dan lost his temper at 'cocksucker'. He didn't have the consequences in his mind, he'd just lashed out and punched the guy in the nose and then walked down to the front office to turn himself in before someone else did.

And now he was sitting here, had been for the last twenty minutes, waiting for the principal to finish some meeting and receive his punishment.

"Mr. Howell." The principal said, giving him a wary look which Dan returned with a sarcastic smile. He'd been in here a few times, and he definitely wasn't much appreciated.

"I understand that you've gotten into an, er... altercation with another student." The principal continued, sitting down at his desk while Dan took a seat in one of the chairs.

"It wasn't much of a fight." Dan said casually. "It was only one hit. That I threw. Pretty hard, you could say."

The older man rubbed his face, obviously not in the mood for Dan's sarcasm. "May I ask, what exactly happened?"

"Well, it all started when I was at my locker earlier. Minding my own business, you see, not attracting any attention to myself at all." Dan started. "And this guy I don't even know starts messing with me, calling me names. I tried to
ignore it, really sir, but the names just got worse. I'd tell you what he said, but I don't want another lecture from my mum. I think I was totally justified in my actions."

Dan finished, leaning back on his chair and staring at the headmaster with controlled smugness.

"Two weeks detention." The headmaster said, picking up a pen from his desk and scribbling on a sheet of paper. Dan's face immediately dropped, and he sat up again.

"What?! That's not fair!" He exclaimed. "I didn't do anything wrong, I only-"

"You got into a physical altercation with another student. That ensures punishment."

"And what about the other guy?" Dan questioned angrily. "He's not gonna have any repercussions for discriminating against me?"

"Mr. Howell, we do not get on to students for calling people names, this isn't secondary school." The headmaster continued, obviously trying to keep calm.

"And what about emotional damage." Dan argued. "That kind of stuff doesn't weigh easily on the mind."

"After school today, Daniel."

Dan stared at him in disbelief for almost a full minute, before scowling and deciding to just leave. He knew there was no point in arguing.

The halls were empty when he walked out of the office. There was only about another fifteen minutes left of the day, so he thought there was no point in going to class. He pulled out his phone, sending a quick text to his mum letting we know he'd be home late. She'd most likely know why.

When the bell did ring, Dan pressed up against the wall, watching in disdain as the other hundreds of students rushed out of the doors to the glorious freedom of outside. A few minutes later, the building was practically empty, except for the usual club kids and a few other teachers. Dan grudgingly made his way to the classroom where detention was held.

He wasn't a bad kid. Sure, he had his fair share of compromising situations, and he wasn't always on his best behavior. He's been in detention a few times as well. But he wasn't one of those kids who got into a fight every other week or anything. He didn't even skip class anymore.

The classroom where detention was held was mostly empty, only a few other students inside. There were two girls sitting together up front, talking and giggling. An older guy sitting near the windows morbidly, and another kid about his age in the back, reading a book. Dan thought he'd be better off next to book guy.

The teacher didn't even glance up from his papers as Dan took a seat. There were no phones allowed, no music, no homework could be done, an you couldn't go to sleep. This was going to be the worst two hours of his life.

The guy next to him flipped a page in his book, and Dan glanced over once. And did a double take.

This wasn't just any old rebellious teenager. This was Phil Lester. In detention.

Everybody knew Lester. He was the smartest kid in the year, possibly the whole school. Rumor had it that he was going to be graduating early, and had all kinds of scholarships lined up. He had straight A's and was good friends with all the teachers. It must have taken a lot to get him in trouble.

Dan leaned over with a smirk. "And what is Mr. Goody Two-Shoes doing in detention?" He said snidely, grinning as Phil glanced up at him and started turning red. "Never thought I'd see you here. What'd you do, get a B on your Trig test?"

"That's not a very solid reason to get detention." Phil answered, and Dan raised an eyebrow. So the kid wasn't completely up himself.

"Nice to meet you, too." Dan said. "I'm Dan."

"I'm-"

"Phil, I know."

Phil seemed sort of surprised that Dan knew who he was but, smiled crookedly and nodded his head.

"But seriously, what are you doing here?" Dan asked, leaning back in his seat. He honestly was curious.

"Teacher got mad cause I kept correcting her in class." Phil said, and Dan rolled his eyes.

"Are you serious?" He said. "I'd sue everyone in this building if I got in trouble for that."

Phil laughed, shutting his book and facing Dan. "And what did you do to land in here?"

"Punched a guy in the face." Dan replied. He held up his hand, which was bruised a bit from the other guy's nose, as if to prove he wasn't lying.

"What, for no reason?" Phil asked.

Dan scoffed. "That would be totally uncalled for." He said. "He was calling me names."

Phil gave him a disbelieving look. "What are you, twelve?"

"Stop judging me." Dan said. "It wasn't your usual secondary school banter, alright. He called me a cocksucker."

Phil didn't say anything to that, and Dan was actually happy that he wasn't making any snappy comebacks now.

"I- I didn't think... sorry." Phil said, twisting his hands in his lap.

"Nothing I haven't dealt with before." Dan said, crossing his arms on top of his desk.

They sat like that for a while, not saying anything to each other, and Dan could tell that it was getting awkward. For Phil, at least. He himself didn't have any problem with this kind of stuff.

After another ten minutes or so, Dan reached out and grabbed the book that Phil had been reading.

"Who's David Levithan?" He read from the cover. He wasn't big on reading, but it want hard to get him interested in a good story line.

"An author, obviously." Phil replied. He really wasn't holding back on the shade. Dan rolled his eyes.

"What's he write, then?" Dan asked, smiling when he saw Phil was actually getting excited about this.

"Lots of things, really." He answered. "He mostly focused on the LGBT community and all that, and does it in his own personal way. It's really interesting, he does a lot of different things with his writing, and I think it's amazing. My favorite of his was 'Everyday', and like, it focused on this one character, A, who wakes up in a different body everyday, and has to live like that person for a day. I think it's awesome, cause it suggests he doesn't identify as a certain anything, race, gender, or sexuality, and he doesn't live by any of societies judgements, and-" Phil stopped, smiling shyly and looking down. "I sound like a nerd."

"You are a nerd." Dan said. "But it's cool. Makes you a lot more fun than these other airheads."

"Thanks." Phil said, and Dan didn't miss the small blush in his cheeks. It seemed like he didn't get compliments like that too often.

They talked a bit longer, mostly abut other books that Phil liked, and music that Dan loved. They probably didn't seem like they had much in common, with Phil's teachers pet personality, and Dan's leather jacket and ripped jeans, but there was a lot they agreed on. It was nice having someone who had opinions and knew how to express them without being a douche bag.

When the teacher announced that they could all leave now, Dan waited for Phil to pack up his things and they left together.

"You need a ride or something?" Dan asked as they left the building.

"No, thank you." Phil said with a grin. "I prefer taking the bus. More time to read and less motivation to talk to people."

Dan nodded at his logic. "Right. I'll see you tomorrow then?"

Phil paused, actually wondering what Dan wanted with him. It wasn't like people usually insinuated that they wanted to hang out with him. "I- I guess. Yeah." He glanced down at his shoes and started to walk away. "Tomorrow, then."

"Don't get into anymore trouble with teachers." Dan said, laughing as Phil glared at him over his shoulder.

He climbed into his car, starting it and turning up the radio, blasting his preferred alternative rock station.