A/N: Wow, oh wow! It's been soooo long since I last updated and I apologise for that. I've had writer's block for a long time with the last chapter; I didn't know where to go with the storyline or what I was going to plan next but I've managed to think of something just recently. Also, I moved out of my parent's house a few months ago and I now have my own place which is really exciting :)

As always, comments mean the world to me so please comment away your thoughts/criticism if you have any.

Enjoy!

***Phil's POV***

After everything that Dan has been through over the past few weeks, I decided that he deserved a break from it all so I planned to take him on a road trip to the beach in Skegness. I was hoping that this would take his mind off of things, if only for a few hours.

I'd informed Dan's mum about it but Dan wasn't aware as of yet. My plan was to surprise him and hope for the best.

I quickly woke up, had a shower and got dressed. I messaged Dan whilst eating my cereal, hoping that he was awake.

"Hey sleepyhead, are you awake?"

It only took a few minutes to receive a reply.

"Hey. Yeah, I'm awake. Will you be coming over today? :)"

"Of course, baby. I do have plans for later on today though."

"Oh okay. That's fine."

"I think you'll like them though. If you're not ready, get yourself sorted and I'll be over soon. I love you, Dan :)"

"Okay. I love you too, Phil."

It didn't take me long to get everything packed and ready for today. My Mum is letting me borrow her car and drive to Skegness so we won't have to use public transport. I don't think that would be a brilliant idea for Dan right now.

I ran over to Dan's house and knocked on the door. I was met with a warm welcome from Dan's mum.

"Hey Phil," she smiled, "Dan's upstairs getting ready. Come on in."

"Thanks." I smiled back and walked in. Dan's mum closed the door behind us and walked off into the kitchen. I jogged upstairs and knocked on Dan's door, hoping he was ready to go. I could hear Muse being blasted out from his stereo.

"Come on in." I heard Dan shout over the music.

I opened the door and saw Dan packing a few things into his bag. He turned to face me with a smile on his face.

"I missed you last night, Phil."

I could see the sadness in his eyes. "I'm sorry baby but tonight I'll stay with you, I promise." His eyes glinted at my words.

I walked over to Dan and wrapped my arms around him. We stood there for a few minutes holding each other and I didn't want to let go. I wanted to hold Dan forever, cuddle him and make him feel safe and secure like nothing would be able to hurt him.

"So, what do you want to do?" Dan asked.

"We can do whatever you want to although it can't be for long because I've got plans as I mentioned earlier."

"Okay. We could play some guitar hero if you want?"

"Sure." I smiled at Dan and gave him a quick peck on the lips.

***Dan's POV***

It had been a couple of weeks since I'd asked Phil to be my boyfriend. He'd stayed over at mine almost every night bar a few and I couldn't be more grateful. The nightmares had gradually begun to get better and I was able to get a full night's sleep nearly every night. I still struggled on the nights Phil didn't stay over but I'd cuddle up to the pillow on his side, remind myself of his familiar scent and that seemed to help.

It's hard to think that a couple of months ago, I was on the brink of life itself. I didn't want to live nor did I think I had anything to live for. I was forever afraid that the truth would kill me and it very nearly did. If someone had told me that moving to Manchester would result in meeting my soulmate and that the truth would finally set me free, I would never have believed them. However moving to Manchester has changed my life and definitely for the better.

*...*

I woke up this morning to a message from Phil.

"Hey sleepyhead, are you awake?"

I quickly messaged back. "Hey. Yeah, I'm awake. Will you be coming over today? :)"

"Of course, baby. I do have plans for later on today though."

I sighed but tried not to let it bother me. It shouldn't bother me but for once, I wanted Phil all to myself today.

"Oh okay. That's fine."

"I think you'll like them though. If you're not ready, get yourself sorted and I'll be over soon. I love you, Dan :)"

"Okay. I love you too, Phil."

It didn't take me long to get ready. I jumped in the shower then blasted out some Muse whilst I got dressed and sorted out my hair.

I began to pack a few things into my bag when I heard a faint knock on the door. I shouted for the person to come in. I turned around and my heart filled up with excitement as it always did whenever I saw even a glimpse of Phil.

"I missed you last night, Phil."

"I'm sorry baby but tonight I'll stay with you, I promise."

I smiled at his words. I get to cuddle Phil tonight instead of his pillow.

Phil made his way over to me and wrapped his arms tight around me. I breathed in his scent and allowed us to stand there for a while. Phil's hugs were honestly the best and they always make me feel a lot better if I'm in a bad mood. Those hugs also made my worries and thoughts disappear too.

I loosened my arms, breaking the hug and asked Phil what he wanted to do.

"We can do whatever you want to although it can't be for long because I've got plans as I mentioned earlier." Phil replied.

"Okay." An idea quickly came to my mind that we hadn't done for a while. "We could play some guitar hero if you want?"

"Sure." Phil smiled and gave me a peck on the lips. It didn't last for as long as I wanted it to.

I threw Phil a guitar and loaded up the game. For the first two games, I thrashed Phil by quite a bit but then on the following three games he ended up beating me so I'm not too sure if it was my left hand skills that were letting me down or if Phil was genuinely letting me win on purpose. After Phil's three wins, he paused the game and then paused my music too. It was silent except for my own heartbeat which was rising by the second. Silence was never good and this silence felt cold and deadly.

"Dan, I want to talk to you." Phil gulped.

This wasn't happening and my instant thought was what have I done? Was this the "it's not you, it's me" talk? It couldn't be, I didn't believe that.

"Uh, okay." My voice shook a little. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Well, I've been thinking about something..." Phil looked into my eyes nervously.

I nodded for him to continue and he took a deep breath. I could feel my eyes welling up a little. This was it; this was everything I hoped I'd never have to experience with Phil.

He didn't continue straight away and each second that passed felt like a dagger was piercing through my chest.

"It's not something major but I've planned for us to go on a road trip to the beach."

It took a few seconds for my brain to register his words before I breathed in a huge sigh of relief.

"Oh my god, Phil. You scared me the hell out of me." Phil looked a little confused.

"I thought you were going to break up with me, Phil. Don't you dare do that to me again." A tear fell down my left cheek and I pulled Phil into a hug in hope that he hadn't seen it already.

He tightened his arms around me. "I'm so sorry, Dan. I would never do that. I love you."

"I love you too. Damn you."

"I will make it up to you. As soon as we get there, I'll buy you some salted caramel ice cream, okay?"

"Deal." I kissed him on the lips then smiled. Salted caramel was my all-time favourite flavour of ice cream.

*...*

I was excited to be going on a road trip. Back in Cardiff, I'd never been on a road trip with any of my friends. None of us could drive and my friends weren't really interested in leaving Cardiff.

Phil was driving down to Skegness in his Mum's car and we currently had Fall Out Boy blasting out of the stereo.

"I'd love to see these guys live one day. Their music is insanely good." It was one of my goals to see Fall Out Boy live. They did visit Cardiff a few times but each time my father refused to let me see them. He argued that the venue was too far away and that I'd be wasting my money on a bunch of 'untalented emos'. I never argued back or begged for my Mum to let me go instead because I knew I'd get a beating and she wasn't exactly in a good position to go against my father's word. His decision was final and that was that.

"What?! How have you not been to see them yet? They're amazing live."

I sighed. "My father never liked them. I could see it in his eyes. He tried to make up excuses to try and deter me but I knew the real reason was because he didn't like them. He thought they were untalented wannabes and referred to them as 'faggots' a lot which is stupid but I couldn't argue with his decision so I never got to see them."

"Wow, that's ridiculous. Could your Mum not try and change his mind?"

"No, definitely not. My father's decision was final and neither of us could argue against it or we'd have to go without any dinner and endure my father's beatings instead."

Phil gasped a little. "Oh gosh. I'm so sorry, Dan. Noone deserves that."

I wiped away the few tears that had escaped and sighed once more. "Of course they don't. It's not like I did anything wrong but back then I didn't see it like that. After you've had endless beatings, you begin to think it's entirely your fault and that you brought it upon yourself every single time."

"Is that the reason you moved away from Cardiff?"

"Partially." I paused for a moment. "I don't want to think or talk about the past anymore though. Not today. Today is our little adventure and I don't want my past to make this day into a bad one."

I smiled at Phil and squeezed his leg slightly.

"Okay." Phil smiled back.

All of a sudden, there was a faint pop sound and I could see from the corner of my eye that Phil was struggling with the steering a bit.

"Phil? What's just happened?"

"Uh, I'm not too sure…" He paused and then sighed as he realised what the problem could be. "I think we may have a flat tire."

A/N: I do love my cliffhangers! I aim to not leave it another two years or so before I update again for sure. A new chapter will be on the horizon a lot quicker this time, I assure you!

Also, I'm writing a new story. It's not a fandom-based story but it's about a rising superstar called Eva Delaney who has quite a fierce personality but ends up face to face with a very big challenge in her life. If you're interested in having a read, be sure to keep an eye out on my works over the next few days as it won't be long before I upload the first chapter!

Thanks for reading :)