Phil felt the door slam in his face for the final time. He was at least hopeful it was the final time. It would be stupid to even go back to her – even though this was the fourth time he came running back.

Tonight was supposed to be a special night for the both of them. It had been a year that Tuesday evening that Phil and Kelsey had been together in their on/off relationship, and to be frank he'd had enough of her. Her lying, cheating ways had finally taken over once again and Phil had to leave, broken hearted.

When they met, Kelsey was normally quite popular, though she felt competition from Phil and his growing fan base over multiple media backgrounds. She envied his success that she wanted, even though she never actually told him this. It was the reason why two months later, Phil found them in her flat a lot more than friendly. Phil felt hurt, Phil felt pain. It subsided, but the end result was anger, which he resultantly took out on Kelsey herself. But she was good with words.

Kelsey blamed Phil for her wrong doing. She said he was too bothered about other people's lives on his phone and never noticed him. She felt he didn't care for a relationship and had used he for his popularity. Phil believed her, and after long days alone he would have stumbled head over heels to the woman with the upper hand. He didn't check his social media as much.

It was dark and misty outside, the kind of eerie cold that sent shivers down the spine of Phil, wrapping his torn coat tighter around his painful chest. The door had made a resounding noise which clearly woke up some of the neighbours and their dogs, giving Phil the signal to move before it was too late. the roads were empty and icy, only blocks away from where he lived, but he knew he couldn't face yet another I-told-you-so meeting with Dan, who had hated Kelsey from the moment she stepped through our door. She had caused so many arguments, especially after Dan turning cold towards her randomly in the middle of our date night. Eventually, he walked out the door and didn't return for another hour after Kelsey left.

The second time seemed to go a lot better for them both. Phil, feeling more confident than ever that it would work this time, taking all the time he had for her, seeing her almost every day while working from home and for the radio. He bought her flowers, gifts when she felt down, anything she wanted. And she used this. It was his weakness this time, as she began to use his sudden financial struggle after a copyright issue as a way to accuse him of not caring anymore. She left him on a final note of he was not enough for her – and he never would be.

Although Phil was now a lot more conscious of what he spent, he was still hurting for Kelsey. She had shown him a false affection and he had fallen for the inescapable trap. She reeled in the hook slowly, and for a third time, she took everything he had.

There was one thing that she could never take from his grasp – his YouTube career.

Though this was true, it didn't mean she wouldn't, and her valiant attempts to bring him down under her hand were working slowly. She pushed that he spent more and more time with her, occasionally suggesting that he move in and have a 'more appropriate job' for his age. This hurt Phil more than any dagger she threw at him, and his felt the pressure build up, he couldn't create a fun video, a cool challenge, anything that would please her.

So this month he didn't upload.

And this month he saw he with another person.

"You obviously care about a bunch of pathetic strangers more than me, otherwise, I would actually care about you! This is your own fault, for not loving me like a normal person!" she screamed at him only a few moments ago before slamming the door.

Rain pattered on his already damp face, threatening to pour heavily as it always did when Phil had to walk home; especially if he had decided to walk the long route, just to avoid another awkward encounter.

Maybe she would accept my apology. Maybe she would understand. Surely there was a way I could try and be something to her again…

No.

That wasn't an option to Phil. He would much rather have a one-sided talk with Dan than encounter another screaming tearful face again like that. Just like before it hurt every part of him to see her light that.

The rain began to fall heavy, just like he thought it would.

Their apartment was in sight, and Phil could see our living room light on. Dan could have fallen asleep, Phil believed.

The door shut quietly behind him as he made his ascent upstairs as smoothly as he could, holding his breath to subdue the shivering from the dripping rain.

"You don't even need to tell me." Dan yawned, looking down the stairwell to a dripping Phil, who pulled his way to the top and looked Dan in the eye before crying out and flinging his sodden arms around disgruntled Dan who didn't appreciate his Pyjama's getting soaked in icy rain water. Dan did notice that this time, it was a lot worse than before. he secretly hoped it was the last he would have to hear about Kelsey and her fiendish schemes. "Come on, all this wet clothing needs to come off, otherwise you'll be ill like last time."

Phil remembered the last time he had been thrown out the door, he had literally been thrown into a pile of melting ice and snow which soaked through his clothes and left him feeling the beginning of frost bit and down with a severe sickness. This time around he knew better than to stick around in the cold. Dan had to help him undress this time too, the shivering taking all his energy away from crying, but still feeling the ever strong pain that went with heat break.

"Phil?" Dan said questionably as he unbuttoned Phil's ruined shirt revealing the marks she had left "What is all this?"

They looked down to the world of a mess that she had left. There were scratch marks where her razor sharp nails had slashed, a large bruise spreading on his shoulder where she had hit again and again for suggesting she be at fault too. Other marks were there from times before, having not faded yet or even healed properly. "Did… she do this" he asked concerning, accenting harshly on the she. Though he needn't have done it, Phil nodded his head slowly, feeling the tiredness pull over like a blanket.

Phil, suddenly fell back, Dan only just catching him in time before he landed on the coffee table. This was the worst Dan had ever seen Phil. He was tired and stressed so much that he could hardly hold himself together from the pain of losing her again. Though the last times had been difficult, Dan knew this had to be the last time Phil saw her. For good.

"Phil? Listen, I don't think you should go back to see… Kelsey. I don't think she's right for you. Please just give some time and think first, let yourself understand what's happening. Please" He begged Phil who sobbed while he stirred in Dan's arms. "Just some time, let her realise what she's done. And I want you to see what she's done. This isn't normal and whatever she's said can't be true"

With great strength, he pulled Phil up, who relied greatly on Dan while he reached tiredly for the wall. They sat down, Phil limply leaning with tears no beginning to dry. Dan wrapped his arm around Phil, who had moved towards his warmth and lay his head across Dan's chest.

After a little while, both were asleep, Phil only awoken with a flash that he couldn't place. He found himself sprawled across Dan, who was sat with his head to the side, fast asleep, while his arm circled Phil. Pushing his arm slowly off, Phil stood up and walked slowly to the door of the living room, feeling his rain damp jeans unstick from his legs. They were heavy and smelt, so he pulled out a pair of pyjama bottoms and a shirt from his drawer, pulling them on and feeling instantly warmer.

The house was dark apart from the main room which still had all of its lights on, and Phil felt his way towards the kitchen, flicking the light and reaching to the top shelf, hand just hovering before the handle. He remembered why he was here, and not with his now ex-girlfriend. He knew what had happened, how he had gotten here.

"You know I would never treat you that way," Dan said from the dark hallway, shadows cast across his face as he stood at the edge of the door frame, looking at Phil intently, who couldn't understand the look on his face.

"What?" Phil stutter, feeling the shock of hearing a voice in the dead of night ebb away but his heart still racing.

"What she's doing, it's abuse. You don't have to suffer from it either. She's not worth it…" Dan stepped through the door into the kitchen.

"She's- It's not abuse! She just got upset, it happens like that." Phil replied, turning away and reaching for a glass from the sink and filling it with glass.

"And I'm pretty sure getting upset doesn't include hitting people, usually just the crying bit. Has she already damaged your mind about abuse too?"

"She hasn't damaged my mind, Dan!" Phil shouted back, placing the untouched water onto the table side and stepping forward.

"If you think that being hit isn't abuse as well, then she will have done more than damage you. Stop putting yourself through this, please. I have to stand and watch this" he argued in a calm and collected voice, much more powerful than Phil's. Dan walked forward and stopped dead in front of my face.

"She didn't mean to do it. I probably stressed her out more than anything." Phil mumbled in denial as he looked down at the ground. Dan grabbed hold of his shoulders tightly, catching Phil off guard and pushing him against the cupboards. Phil leaned back from Dan, who was inches away from his face.

"Phil, don't ever let me hear you say that again. if she didn't mean to do it, she wouldn't have. She meant to hurt you for no reason and that's wrong." He took a deep breath, leaning in slightly and lowering his voice, "Like I said, I would never treat you that way. You know that, don't you?"

He tried to shrug away from Dan, who's grip only loosened but did not let Phil leave in despair. Dan tried to get Phil's attention searching for his averted eyes to look back up again, while Phi; stood with his arms limply by his side and his eyes welling up again. he couldn't contain his feeling anymore, he could hold in all the sadness and captivity he had learnt the past few months in his own mindful prison. Phil couldn't hold onto hoping that it would be all okay the next day because he knew that wasn't true.

Dan stood frozen as Phil moved slowly in, hesitating only inches from Dan's lips and making eye contact that reflected his saddened eyes. They both breathed gently, nervously, trying to understand the confusion of looks they gave each other, not sure if they would move together or move apart. Phil almost seemed to lunge at Dan, their lips making contact and Dan stumbling back a few steps in surprise, as Phil's hands found their way to his neck and shoulders. Dan's hands fell behind him to grasp the table and he leant away, breaking the short contact that Phil had made momentarily.

They breathed heavily, Phil holding onto Dan with more tears spilling as he regretted his action, feeling that Dan had just rejected him, on the worst night of his life. The air was still as time froze for a moment in that room. Dan, who had his arms clinging onto the table moved so that he could stand straight, putting his arms around Phil's waist and pulling him closer.

They embraced in a long and gentle kiss, Dan wiping away Phil's heartbroken tears softly.

Phil knew he was safe, the feeling striving through his body as he realised all of the so called love he had fallen into in the past had been false. The shaking, the complete trust he felt, itching through his whole body as he felt he could be stood at the bottom of a mountain but be at the top of the world at the same time.

Dan and Phil embraced for the rest of the night. Their new found love was inevitable.