Figure It Out [Phan]

[5]

Detention wasn't overly bad. Rather boring, but neither Dan nor Phil felt uncomfortable alone with each other.

Dan and Phil didn't speak another word all detention. And not the next day either.

Clarke, the asshole, always yelled at Dan. The words had gotten worse. Dan tuned them out best he could, but they still stung.

Dan managed to survive another day of school and went to detention, just like the day before.

In the silence of the classroom, Dan glanced to his right without thinking. Dan didn't see Phil there like he was yesterday. When Dan realized that he had expected to see Phil, his mind immediately filled with thoughts.

The thoughts were moving so fast, it was hard to focus on any one of them at once. But one thought managed to stand out more than the rest: "Why do I care so much about Phil Lester?"

***

Phil had a decent day. Clarke was still yelling at Dan, and Phil felt bad that he never stopped Clarke.

Phil was hanging out with his friends after school that day, thankful that he wasn't again in detention. But still, Phil was thinking about Dan, sitting alone in that classroom.

After about an hour of Phil socializing with his friends, he realized that he had left one of his textbooks back in his locker.

"Hey, guys, I need to go back into the school. I'll only be a minute." Phil said.

"Make sure you don't run into that faggot!" Clarke laughed.

"Clarke, maybe you shouldn't be so hard on Dan." Phil said, not even realizing the impact of his words. "You could try to be not as mean."

Clarke laughed. "Are you really defending him?" Clarke said. Phil didn't say anything. "You're really defending him? Come on, Phil! You know I'm just kidding."

"Yeah, I guess." Phil mumbled. He gained his confidence as he realized he was doing the right thing. Phil raised his voice. "But maybe you could still not be so mean. You are being a bit of an ass. Nobody likes a jerk. Or a jerk-off, like you, Clarke."

The group laughed. Clarke's face flushed red. He was so embarrassed.

Clarke stood up and walked over to Phil. Even though Phil was rather tall for his age, Clarke still towered over him. Clarke stood uncomfortably close to Phil. Clarke grabbed Phil's shirt by the neck tightly and raised Phil up on his toes.

"If you ever make fun of me again, Phil, you'll be the one getting laughed at. By the whole. Fucking. School." Clarke growled, quiet enough for only Phil to hear. "Don't even try to get me to stop making fun of that emo. I do what I want for a reason. Never say another word defending that fag."

Clarke dropped Phil on the ground and walked away. Phil laughed awkwardly and said, "Well, seriously guys. I gotta go get my stuff."

Phil ran back through the doors of the school, glad to be free of the menace that is Clarke.

***

After an hour of sitting lonely in the classroom, Dan was finally released to go home.

He walked down the hallways quickly, desperate to get out. Dan stopped when he saw that the door to the choir room was propped open. Dan could see the grand piano inside, waiting to be played.

Dan glanced down the hallway. He didn't want anyone to know of his nerdy passion for the piano. Luckily Dan was the only person in the school.

Dan walked into the room, sitting at the piano. Dan opened it, and stroked his hands over the beautiful keys.

After a solid minute of admiring the piano's beauty, he decided to play his favorite song.

The Fur Elise.

***

Phil was walking through the hallway of the school. He suddenly heard the key of a piano echo down the hallway.

Phil stopped dead in his tracks. Then Phil heard another piano note. Then another.

"That's the Fur Elise!" Phil thought. "And it's good! I have to find out who is playing this!"

Phil followed the sound all the way to the choir room, where he saw Dan Howell sitting at the piano, his hands gliding angelically over the keys.

Phil didn't say a word, and just listened to Dan's melodic playing while standing in the doorway. Phil stared at Dan, looking at every feature on the perfect face. Dan's freckles, his dimples, his warm brown eyes. Dan's face had a pleased smile on it, something Phil had never seen on Dan's face. Dan was happy, and Phil was the only one to witness it.

When Dan struck that final note, he dropped his hands dramatically from the piano and sighed deeply.

Phil started to applaud.

***

Dan played the Fur Elise perfectly, and apparently he had an audience when he heard the applause from the door.

When Dan turned around, the last person he expected to see was Phil standing in the door.

"Phil! What are you doing!" Dan said.

"Listening to you." Phil said. "That was gorgeous." There was an awkward silence, as neither knew what to say. "So you play piano?"

"I guess you've figured me out." Dan said, with a slight smile.

"That." Phil said, moving closer to Dan.

"That what?" Dan said, scooting farther on the seat.

"That smile." Phil said, sitting on the seat. There was barely an inch between them.

"What about my smile?" Dan asked. Dan's heart was beating so fast he thought it might explode.

"I've never seen it before." Phil said. "You always seem so... sad."

"It's because I always am sad." Dan said, with a bit of a laugh. The same smile came to face.

"See! Look! Another smile!" Phil said. "You seem really happy when you play piano."

"I am." Dan said, with another smile. Dan's heart was near bursting.

Phil smiled at Dan. And neither of them said anything for a while, but neither of them minded the silence.

Dan shook off the momentary feeling of euphoria. "I have to go." Dan said, getting up quickly and leaving the room without a word. 

Both of their minds were flooded with thoughts that night.