Maybe the law degree wasn't for him.

At least, that's what Phil said. After Dan had stopped throwing his overexpensive textbooks around their flat. After he had calmed down. After he let Phil pull him into his arms and after he took a breath.

The law degree wasn't for him; they both knew that. They had known ever since Dan had fallen asleep after twenty minutes of studying for his first exam of the semester, even with three shots of espresso in his coffee. They both knew it, but neither acknowledged it, because Dan was determined and Phil was supportive.

The law degree wasn't for him.

But what was? That's what worried Dan.

That's not what worried Phil.

No, what worried Phil were the early mornings, the nonexistent nights, the unhealthily frequent intakes of caffeine.

What worried Phil were the evenings where his best friend would lock himself in his bedroom and succumb to the inevitable breakdown.

What worried Phil were all the times Dan would have to say he's fine, Phil, really.

Phil shoved Dan into his room and locked the door, telling him to get some sleep.

And he thought about what to do.

Phil wasn't exactly worried about Dan's future. He was smart, witty, and would have no trouble finding a normal job if he wanted to. (The problem was that Dan didn't want to. He might say he did, but Phil knew his best friend. The law degree wasn't for him.)

The phone rang, startling Phil out of his thoughts.

"Hello?"

"Is this Phil Lester speaking?"

"Sure is."

"My name is Lauren, and I work at the BBC Radio 1 station. I'm calling to ask if you and your friend Dan Howell would like to host a radio show on Sundays. Our listeners really loved your Christmas Specials, and we think this would be a good opportunity for both us and you."

Phil went silent.

Was this a dream, or did someone from BBC actually just ask if he and Dan wanted a radio show? Every week?

There was a small noise on the other end, and Phil realized that Lauren was probably waiting for an answer.

"Um, thank you so much! This is such an honor. Er ... Dan's asleep at the moment, but I'll ask him. I'm fairly sure that we'll be able to!" Phil stopped himself when he noticed the words turn to ramblings.

"Great! So, how about Saturday to discuss the details? I can email you the additional information."

"That sounds great. Thanks so much, Lauren. Have a wonderful day!"

"You too, Phil." She hung up.

Phil put the phone down and stared at the wall, a smile making its way across his face, so large it hurt. Dan and Phil -- radio hosts!

He bounced on the balls of his feet in excitement.

Phil eventually decided to go check on Dan. When he unlocked and opened the door, he smiled at the sight of his best friend, wrapped up in his duvet like a blue and green burrito. There were soft, muffled snores coming from under the pillow.

He left the door open, then decided to order pizza. It had been far too long since Dan had eaten a proper meal, let alone one with Phil.

When he heard the bedroom door open, Phil looked up from the book he had picked up to pass the time.

Dan, wrapped in a blanket from Phil's bed, stumbled over and sat directly next to him, despite there being two armchairs and several available feet of couch. He snuggled into Phil's side, and Phil wrapped an arm around him.

"Feel better?"

"Yeah," Dan mumbled into Phil's shoulder. "Sorry for freaking out."

"It's okay, bear. Sometimes you just need to let it out." Dan's breath tickled Phil's hair as he sighed.

"I ordered pizza," Phil added conversationally. "It's on the breakfast bar."

"Ooh ... thanks, Phil."

They sat there for a while, enjoying each other's company and eating pizza, before Phil remembered.

"Oh! I guess I forgot to mention. The BBC called."

"Really?" Dan lifted his head out of Phil's shirt. "What for?"

"They invited us to come in on Saturday to discuss details for our weekly radio show."

"Are you serious?" Dan's voice was higher than normal. Phil nodded.

"What the -- Phil!" Dan punched him in the shoulder, smiling too much for it to be serious. "You should have woken me up!"

"No, bear. You needed to sleep."

Dan rolled his eyes. "And besides!" Phil continued. "I had to read the Half-Blood Prince."

"You're a dork."

"Yes," Phil agreed, leaning down to kiss Dan on the temple. "But I'm your dork."

Phil accepted all blame that could possibly come his way for that Dan dropped out of uni the very next day.

Because nothing could make him regret the things he convinced Dan to do.

Because the smile on Dan's face cancelled out the negativity of all consequences.

a/n: hi this is a short lil thing that (fun fact) i wrote in the online notepad of MISA (a standardized test). i submitted the answers with this fic still open, and i really hope the person grading my test can/will read it (last year during PARCC i wrote a star wars fanfic and submitted it)