Although she'd been invited, Mulan had decided against going to Aurora's party. It just wasn't her scene – hanging around, getting drunk, dancing to music with no beat. Not exactly her idea of fun. Besides, she was still sore after the other day's football game, and she needed to rest.

So that was how she found herself studying for an upcoming maths test when she could be partying the night away. Lying in bed and resting on her stomach, Mulan cradled her head in her hands. Whose idea was it to make maths so difficult anyway? Someone with a cruel sense of humour, probably.

Sighing, Mulan checked the time on her phone. 11.50. Deciding she'd have a better chance of getting her head around trigonometry when it wasn't so late, she shut her maths book and attempted to throw it back on her desk. It missed, landing spine down on the carpet. For a moment she thought about getting up to retrieve it, but then decided against it.

Getting to her knees, she crawled up to the head of her bed and was just about to get under the covers when her phone started to vibrate. Frowning, Mulan picked it up to see what the fuss was. Phillip was calling – what would he want at this time of night?

Tapping the answer button, Mulan held the phone up to her ear. "This had better be important."

To her surprise, it wasn't Phillip's voice who replied, but Snow White's. "Hi, sorry, is this Mulan? Oh, it's Snow, by the way."

"Yeah, it's me." Mulan furrowed her brow and started picking at the woollen blanket that adorned her bed. "Is everything ok?"

"Well, uh, not really."

Mulan straightened up. "Is Phillip ok?"

There was a moment of silence on the other side, and a sick feeling of panic formed in Mulan's stomach. Had something happened to him? They hadn't been friends for that long, but he was a good guy, and she cared about him. She didn't want to see him hurt.

"Not really," was Snow's reply. "He got himself into a fight at Aurora's party. We're on our way to the hospital with him now-"

"Hospital?" Mulan cried, a little louder than she meant to. "You mean it's serious?"

"We hope not. But he hit his head quite badly…"

Before she knew it, Mulan was out of bed, scrambling to find her shoes and a hoodie. "Look, I'm gonna meet you there, ok? See you soon."

She promptly hung up, and by the time she'd slipped her phone into the pocket of her pyjama shorts, she was halfway towards her parent's room. She didn't even bother knocking first, busting right through the door. Fortunately, her father was still awake. When he shot her a look of concern, Mulan gave her order.

"Dad, I need a lift."

When Mulan was first assigned Phillip as her English partner, she certainly didn't expect she'd end up running to the hospital at midnight for him. Yet there she was, pacing the lobby, waiting for Snow to show up.

It was strange – she'd known him for less than a term, but she felt like Phillip was one of the closest friends she had. She certainly wouldn't be rushing to the hospital for someone like Flynn, who'd she'd been friends with for a good two years now. Funny how relationships work.

To her surprise, when Snow arrived, it was not from the outside, but from the inside. Mulan was immediately at her side, her eyes flaring with urgency.

"Ok, just tell me what the hell's going on."

Snow gently guided her to one of the plastic seats that lined the waiting room. "Well, from what it sounds like, there's nothing to worry about. Just a few bruises and a mild concussion, that's all."

Mulan breathed a sigh of relief. "So, he'll be ok, then?"

"The Doctors seem to think so," Snow replied with one of her bright, red-lipped smiles. "They even said we'll be able to go see him soon."

Raising one eyebrow, Mulan asked: "How soon is soon?"

"Half an hour, I think."

Mulan leaned back in her chair, ignoring the creak of the plastic as it strained against her weight. "Guess I'll be staying here for a while then."

Snow chuckled, and then the two girls sat in silence. It was a little awkward – neither of them knew each other very well, as Phillip was the only thing they had between them. Mulan found herself with very little to say. Time ticked by, and Mulan found her thoughts continually drifting back to Phillip. That was to be expected – he was why she was there, after all. What the hell was he thinking, getting into a fight like that? She would've thought he'd know better.

Before she could ask Snow how Phillip had got into the fight, a doctor arrived, telling him that Phillip was ready to take visitors. Mulan stood immediately, and Snow let her go in on her own. It wasn't a far walk to get to Phillip's room – the doctor only had to lead her down a few corridors before they arrived.

Phillip looked exactly as Mulan expected – black eye, bruised jaw, bandage around his head. He looked, quite frankly, terrible, but Mulan was glad to see him. She grabbed a chair and pulled it towards his bed, and he regarded her with lidded eyes.

"Ok, so first of all, you can tell me what the hell you were doing getting into a fight like that."

"Nice to see you too," Phillip groaned, propping himself up a bit in order to talk to her.

Mulan gave half a smile. "Hey, I just need the details so I know who to beat up at school tomorrow."

Phillip chuckled, an action which seemed to cause him a bit more pain than he expected. "No offence, but you wouldn't stand a chance."

"Try me."

"Gaston."

At that, Mulan spluttered. "Gaston? What were you thinking? Taking on Gaston? Ugh, I'd hit you myself if he hadn't made a thorough enough job of it."

Phillip gave a weak shrug. "He was being a real creep to Aurora, so I-"

"Wait, wait, wait," Mulan said, holding up her hands. "Did you say Aurora?"

"Maybe," replied a sheepish Phillip. Despite the purpling bruises that blemished his face, a hint of blush stained his cheeks.

Mulan folded her arms, leaning back in her chair. "Are you trying to tell me that you got into a fight with Gaston – probably the toughest guy in school – for Aurora?"

Phillip nodded stiffly, and Mulan, despite the circumstances, began to laugh.

"Oh my god, you really do love her, don't you?" Mulan asked, looking at him in earnest.

"Yeah, I think I do."

Sucking on her lip, Mulan couldn't quite believe the lengths Phillip was willing to go to for the bitchiest girl in school. She'd always thought Phillip's crush on her was just that – a crush that would go as soon as it came. But apparently not. Despite her constantly turning him down, despite her telling him directly to his face that she wanted nothing to do with him, he still put himself on the line for her.

And that, Mulan thought, was beautiful.

Snow rested her elbow on her knee, glancing up at the ticking clock of the hospital waiting room. It had been fifteen minutes since Mulan had gone in to see Phillip. She supposed he had a lot of explaining to do – throwing himself in danger for a girl like Aurora was far from sensible in anyone's eyes. But she had to commend him for it, especially since she heard exactly what Gaston had been doing to the poor girl. It was disgusting that he felt like he could do that to her.

Suddenly her phone buzzed, distracting her from her thoughts. She picked it up to find a text from Florian.

You still at the hospital?

Deciding she wanted to hear his voice, Snow rang him up instead of texting her reply. She barely had to wait for him to pick up – she heard his voice the moment she lifted the phone to her ear.

"Got my text, then?"

"Mhm. I'm in the hospital waiting room now – where are you?" Snow asked, crossing her legs over.

"Still at Aurora's. We called the police on Gaston, which was really satisfying, by the way."

Snow smiled. "I'm glad. Gosh, I just feel so disgusting when I think of people like that."

"Good thing you're not one of them. Anyway, how's he holding up?" Florian asked, his voice a little crackly over the phone.

"He's doing ok, I think," Snow answered, glancing over at the door Mulan disappeared through. "Mulan's with him now."

"Oh, good. God, she's gonna give him so much crap for this," Florian said with a laugh in his voice.

Snow mirrored his jovial tone. "Oh really?"

"Yeah. At practice, she's made it no secret that she thinks he deserves better."

Snow cocked an eyebrow. "Do you guys make a habit of talking about Phillip's love life?"

"No, it's just a subject she's passionate about."

Snow laughed. She knew that Phillip was close to Mulan – it was why she called her – but at that moment, she realised that there was more to them than she realised. It was sweet, to see two people care about each other so much. She was always grateful that those kinds of relationships existed, and that not all people would end up like Aurora and Gaston.

"Anyway, I think I'm gonna check in on Phillip. See you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, see you then."

Smiling, Snow told her boyfriend she loved him, and hung up.