D A N ' S P O V

"Dan?"

It was Nyla. Where was I? It was cold. My throat burned, my head throbbed, and my lungs stung.

I slowly opened my eyes, squinting at the bright light above me. I felt limp.

"Dan?" I heard again, but this time it was coming from my mother. I slowly sat up, but winced when I remembered why I'm here in the first place.

I drowned.

Did I die? Where was Phil?

I stared at the people in front of me, my mother in my father's grasp, Nyla chewing her nails, but Phil was not present. I furrowed my eyebrows.

"Can you hear me?" Nyla asked me, coming to my bed.

I nodded. "Where's Phil?" I asked, but gasped, surprised at how cracky and raspy my voice was- like a broken record or newborn dog's bark.

Nyla chewed her lip nervously and I understood that this wasn't something to talk about in front of my parents, so I just nodded to her. She sat down in the seat next to me while my parents came forward. My mother rushed to my side, petting my hair while my father set his hand on my shoulder.

"You nearly died," my mother whispered, a tear streaming down her cheek as she pet my hair. "Don't worry, baby, we got the boys who did this to you. We're filing all medical bills against them, and hopefully getting them off your swim team."

My dad spoke up. "How long has this been going on, Daniel?"

I gulped. "Longer than a year," I told him. Mum dropped her head in her hands, sighing sadly. "But it's never gotten this bad. Either way, I don't care to talk about this."

"You never want to talk about anything-" mum began to snap, but my dad shot her a look. "Fine. We're going to go get you some food, but when you get out of this hospital, we are going to talk about this."

I rolled my eyes, and they left. Nyla sat down on the edge of my bed. "So about Phil. . ." she began. "We noticed something was up when you weren't answering your phone-"

"They threw it in the water. They ripped my flower crown too."

Nyla ran a hand through her hair, looking down sadly. "Phil picked me up and we drove there, but on the way there an ambulance drove by, and I'd never seen Phil look so terrified when it turned right- to where you were. He hit the pedals and we sped there, and immediately he noticed that the boys in the corner were the ones who did it. He told me not to follow, so I went to check on you while he disappeared with them behind the building. Cops showed up and that's all I saw from that."

"Do you think he's alright?" I asked worriedly. "I mean, they're pretty tough-"

"You'd know he was okay if you saw how angry he was. I don't think they'll mess with you ever again after they deal with your boyfriend."

"He's not my boyfriend," I blushed.

"He could be. I mean, c'mon. You haven't done anything romantic?"

I smiled shyly. "Um, well we got food together, and when I fell he bandaged my knee, and I also fell in the river to which he helped me wash the mud off, and I stayed the night at his house during a thunderstorm and cuddled and wekindofkissed."

"Woah, what? Say that again?" Nyla teased, poking my side.

"We kissed," I giggled. "He leaned in first but I kissed him back. Nothing's really changed."

"You should tell him," Nyla suggested. I shook my head.

"What if it ruins everything?"

"Then he's not a good friend. Besides, if he kissed you first I'm pretty damn sure he likes you, Dan. I mean sure, you guys dress completely different and you act different, but as corny as it is: opposites attract. Whenever you two are together, it's almost like you block out everybody else. I think that's why you aren't so anxious when he's there- because he makes you feel at ease, right?"

"Yeah. I have bad thoughts, and I used to cry myself to sleep. I'd call myself names and I wouldn't stand up for myself. But today, even though it ended up bad, I told Ben to back off and punched him and it felt good. Really good. Phil's slowly making me okay."

"You're also making him okay. Phil really cares about you, I saw that today when we were driving to find you. The whole car ride he was sweating buckets. And the way he stood up to those guys- it's amazing how much he'd do for you."

I nodded. Then I heard footsteps and I watched as black Converse made their way to my hospital doorway, and I raised my eyes up to see none other than Phil Lester.

He had a black eye, with a forming bruise on his arm and a cut lip.

"You look like shit," Nyla laughed. Phil grinned at her, sticking his tongue out to the side.

"You should see the other guys."

"So what happened?"

"I may have twisted Alex's arm, broke Parker's nose, and I'm pretty sure Ben can't have kids anymore," he told us. My eyes widened. "I was beating Parker's ass when a cop came. He asked me to talk and at first I thought I'd get arrested, but really they just wanted to know if I knew anything. They did warn me though."

"Thanks, Phil."

He sat on the edge of my bed. "How are you feelin'?"

"I'm doing fine, I suppose. I no longer have a phone or my old pink flower crown. I have a headache and it burns to talk, and my legs are sore. Could I use your phone as a mirror?"

Phil nodded and handed me his phone, and I opened up the camera, my eyes widening as I looked at myself. I had a dark bruise covering my cheekbone and dried blood on my nose, my lip slightly swollen.

"I look terrible."

"It's a cute kind of terrible," Phil responded. I saw Nyla smirking in the corner of my eye.

"Well I should get going. I didn't exactly tell my family that I was leaving, so they're probably really pissed right now," Nyla spoke up, but I knew that she just wanted to give us alone time.

"Thanks for coming with me, Ny."

Nyla nodded at him, and kissed the top of my head. "I'll visit tomorrow."

I nodded. "Bye, Nyla."

"See you guys!" She called, then she was gone, leaving Phil and I alone. He climbed over and gestured for me to scoot over, sliding into the bed next to me. I leaned on his chest and he wrapped his arms around me. He reached over and pet my hair with his free hand, my arms tangled around his waist protectively.

"I punched Ben."

Phil's eyes widened. "Really?"

"Yeah. I mean his friends nearly killed me afterwards but I at least punched him. He bled."

Phil chuckled. "Good job," he replied. I yawned. "Are you tired?" I nodded. "It's late anyway. Almost midnight. Go ahead and get some rest."

I nodded sleepily, yawning and taking a fistful of his shirt in between my fingers, scared that if I let go he'd slip out of my grasp.

"Goodnight, Phil," I murmured.

"Night, pumpkin," he whispered. I blushed at the nickname but luckily he couldn't see since the room was now dark, the only light being the reflection of the moon through the window.

As I was half asleep, I thought about what Nyla said. That if I told him how I felt, it shouldn't affect our friendship or relationship. And what if he liked me back? But what if he doesn't want a relationship, or likes someone else?

Oh, fuck it.

"I think I'm falling in love with you," I mumbled.