***

Phil seems slightly distracted recently.

Every time that he is with Dan, he is looking around, as if he is trying to find someone around them. Dan ignores it, but he still is worried about it. But he doesn't want to bring it up with Phil, so he stays silent - like he always does.

Dan glances sideways at Phil, who is chatting enthusiastically to Louise. Dan feels slightly lonely, but then his phone vibrates in his pocket, so he focuses on pulling his phone out of his pocket, which is quite the struggle.

Troye: hey Dan, how are you going?

Dan smiles softly, seeing Troye's name there. He quickly types out a reply.

Dan: good, I'm at school though. Ew.

Troye: I'm sure it isn't that bad. Isn't Phil there with you?

Dan: yeah, but he's talking to Louise

Troye: well I'll talk to you

Dan: thanks but the bell is gonna ring soon :/

Troye: well we'll talk later then. Have fun in class ^_^

Dan: -_-

Dan locks his phone just as the sound of the bell echoes around the school. Dan sighs deeply, standing and shoving his phone into his pocket before picking up his bag. Phil follows suit and walks beside Dan towards their first class.

"Oh yeah, Dan, my brother is coming home from boarding school on Saturday, cause it's holidays soon and his school finishes a week earlier than us," Phil says, taking Dan's hand in his.

Dan pauses. Phil's brother, the guy who bullied his brother and made him and Phil have a fight. He forgot about him, he was so caught up with other things in his life. He knows that Quinn won't handle this well, and he won't blame him.

"Look, I know you don't like him, and I don't blame you, but this school has really changed him, you'll see," Phil says, "he's a good kid, I swear. Will you give him a chance - for me?"

Dan sighs, knowing he can only agree. Phil's family have shown him and his brother so much support and kindness, he'd feel like the biggest, most unappreciative twat to say no. So he nods in response, giving Phil a small smile.

"Thanks Dan," Phil says, pulling Dan into a hug, "I promise he won't cause you or Quinn any trouble."

Phil tugs Dan into their classroom, finding a seat at the back. Dan is distracted through the whole class - not that it mattered much. Their exams were finished and teachers are now just filling in the next two weeks until summer holidays begin.

"Psst, Dan, can you believe it's almost summer holidays already?" Phil whispers, leaning closer to Dan.

I know, they've come so fast Dan scribbles the reply onto a page in the back of his book, tilting the page towards Phil. Phil smiles and nods in agreement.

"We'll have what, roughly six weeks of time together," Phil says, grinning, "I can't wait."

Dan nods. I can't wait either.

Phil's phone buzzes in his pocket, and Dan watches as Phil pulls it out, tilting the screen away from Dan as he reads it. Dan shrugs, thinking nothing of it and looking around at the other students in the class.

Phil reads the text he received. He sighs in relief when it's only from his brother.

Henry: hey bro, can't wait to see you tomorrow.

Phil sneakily glances up, deciding that it's safe to text back without getting caught.

Phil: me too. But I've been telling you everything in my life anyway.

Henry: true. Is that Dan kid and his brother still there?

Phil: yeah, why?

Henry: no reason. Just wondering :)

Phil: okay :) talk later?

Henry: yep

Phil slips his phone back into his pocket. He looks sideways at Dan, who is watching the guy in front, Felix Phil thinks, playing a game on his phone. Phil giggles at how entranced Dan is with the guy's game, as he's making faces when he almost dies.

Phil hasn't heart from the mysterious number since those first texts, which is a relief. It was probably nothing anyway. Phil leans back in his chair, smiling to himself.

This summer was going to be perfect - he could feel it.

***

Dan told Quinn about the return of Phil's brother on Saturday morning, when Phil and his mother had gone to pick him up.

"I-I don't want to see him Dan," Quinn stammers, his voice quivering and eyes wide.

Dan: it will be fine. Phil and I won't let him hurt you. I swear. And if he does, I'll break his face.

"I just... I'm scared of him," Quinn admits, "I don't think I can even look at him."

Dan: Phil said that he's changed. Everything will be okay, I promise Quinn.

"Everyone always breaks their promises to me," Quinn says sadly, looking down at his feet while tears glaze over his eyes.

Dan feels his heart ache at the sight of his brother falling apart. He hates that he can't give him more, that he can't be a good brother no matter how hard he tries.

Dan: who has broken their promises?

"Dad, he promised me that he'd try, that we would be a family again. And mum, the day before she died, she promised that she'd always be there for me," Quinn says, a tear slipping down his cheek, "but dad only tore apart our family, and mum left me the next day."

Dan: well I'm not going to leave you Quinn. Everything will be okay.

Dan pulls Quinn into a tight hug. He can feel Quinn's tears starting to dampen his left shoulder, but he doesn't care, it just makes him want to hug him even tighter. Dan has been focused so much on himself that he hasn't noticed his own brother falling apart before him.

Dan is surprised how Quinn is still standing after being broken down so many times. If both his parents had broken their promises to him, Dan knows that he'd never be able to trust again - to love again.

"I trust you Dan," Quinn whispers quietly, "you've never broken a promise to me."

Dan just nods in response, holding his brother tightly until they hear the front door unlock. Dan pulls away from Quinn, who is drying his eyes and gives Dan a small smile.

Dan: everything will be fine Quinn.

Quinn nods and they walk towards the front door, where the Lester family is. Dan just hopes that he's right, because he's not sire nor many more broken promises Quinn can take.

"Hey guys, you remember Henry, my brother," Phil says happily, smiling warmly at them both when they appear in the living room, a familiar boy beside him, but his hair is shorter and face less... Evil.

"Hey, nice to see you," Henry says, smiling widely at them both, before turning to Quinn, "uh, I'm really sorry for what I did Quinn. I hope we can be friends."

"Oh-I-uh, I guess so," Quinn says hesitantly, giving a small smile.

"Thanks," Henry says, "do you want to... Help me unpack? Then we could play video games or something."

"Sure," Quinn replies, his smile a fraction wider, and he follows Henry  out of the room and upstairs.

"Well, I'll go make some drinks," Phil's mum says, smiling at the two before disappearing into the kitchen and leaving only Dan and Phil in the room.

"See, I told you that he's changed," Phil says, "c'mon, do you want to play some video games before Henry and Quinn want to?"

Dan nods, forcing a smile. He is still slightly hesitant towards Henry - Dan doesn't believe people can change that much, especially after his father's apparent 'change' which was just an act. He knows he shouldn't let that influence him, but he's still not entirely convinced.

"Are you coming Dan?" Phil asks, looking back at his friend.

Dan nods, following Phil upstairs to where the gaming consoles are. Phil lets Dan pick the game, so he opts to play Mario Cart which he is especially good at. Phil rolls his eyes at Dan's choice, knowing that he is going to loose horribly.

"Dan! No no no!" Phil yells as Dan launches a shell at his car and races past him to finish first yet again.

Dan grins triumphantly at Phil.

"Uh, what is that? Four one?" Phil groans, pouting at Dan, "why are you so good? Never mind, don't answer that."

"Can we join?" Henry asks, appearing at the doorway with Quinn behind him.

"Sure," Phil says, probably happy that he may not get completely annihilated by Dan anymore, "grab the extra remotes."

Soon, all four of them are sat on the sofa, three of them yelling at the game while Dan silently just overtakes them all and wins three times in a row. Dan smirks as they all groan when he wins once again.

"Someone needs to beat Dan," Phil says as they start the next race, "everyone gang up on Dan!"

Dan frowns and hits Phil's arm playfully as the race starts. True to their word, they all spend the game harassing Dan both in the game and out, as Phil continuously keeps 'accidentally' elbowing Dan in the stomach.

Dan silently groans and rolls his eyes when he comes second to Quinn, who grins and jumps up.

"I beat Dan! I beat Dan!" He chants, dancing around, and Dan shoves him playfully so he lands on the carpeted floor with a soft thump.

Quinn looks up at Dan, and after a brief pause of silence, they all collapse into fits of laughter - only Dan's cannot be heard.

But for once, that doesn't worry Dan, because he's happy, Quinn is happy, Phil is happy, and maybe his brother isn't that bad after all. Dan is finally surrounded by people who make him happy, and he finds himself looking forward to the future.

Because surely, whatever is ahead can't be worse than what's behind him.

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

an// hey hope you enjoyed! I know it's a bit shorter but I wanted to end it there :)

Sorry it's a bit late also, I went to ed sheeran last week and I was tired for the rest of the week. But the concert was AMAZING!!!

Please vote, comment and share! Thanks so much for reading. Update hopefully within a week :D

p.s: PINOF 7 OMG I CANT EVEN