After a long night of sharing jokes and watching movies, everything had finally started to slow down in the lives of Dan and Phil. The outside world, despite them living in the city, had for some reason almost gone completely quiet, leaving Dan alone with his thoughts. His friend had his focus on the movie playing on the screen in front of them, Lord of the Rings: Return of the KIng, so he didn't even notice when Dan slipped off the couch and into the kitchen. More than anything right now, he needed time to think.

It had been about a month or so since he had realised his feelings for his best friend. Or rather, more than best friend feelings. The duo had been side by side for almost a decade, the thought bringing a subtle smile to his lips. A decade? He never really thought he would make it this far with anyone, much less his idol and man of his dreams. Mid-twenties in age, he was supposedly at the height of his life… now that was a reaching assumption about humanity that he could agree with. However, as he fumbled around the kitchen lost in thought, he somehow managed to slip on a loose floor tile. They should really get that fixed.

As he crashed to the ground, he let out a long stream of curse words, causing Phil to turn away from the movie for the moment and laugh at him. Dan clapped at himself sarcastically in response, prompting yet another snort from his friend before he turned back to the film on screen. Must have been a battle scene. However, just as Dan was about to put down his arms to stand up, he spotted something familiar. The tattoo on his upper arm.

Everyone in the world had one, from birth till death. These designs in particular were distinguishable by a very faint glow around the edge of the design. Irremovable and completely unique to each pair, the patterns certainly at least started as one of humanity's greatest mysteries. Only after countless years of private research on the subject was an answer finally proved and released to the public. The story went as follows:

Every time a child was born, a completely unique mark was to appear on their body, the location being random. Well, almost completely unique. The connection the studies had discovered stated that each person with the same mark, in one way or another, would be related to a significant event in each others lives. If the effect of said person was to be overallly positive, the outline would be white. Oppositely, if the outcome was to be negative, the outline would be a dark black..

Simply thinking about reality in this way sent shivers down his spine. What if his greatest enemy was standing right in front of him, and he would never know? His tattoo in particular raised too many questions to count. The image depicted a looming white tree upon a black background, swirls of grey scarcely decorating the painted sky. The entire picture was outlined in a glowing white, a sight that was at least reassuring to see. The picture could have been almost beautiful if he had any clue what it meant. What did the tree mean for him? Did it mean anything? Did he already know the one who shared his tattoo? Was it black or white? Did it even matter?

Snapping back to reality, Dan pulled his sleeves back down and took a deep breath. "No time for a crisis tonight Dan. Today is the day. Today you can finally have a chance at having a life worth living, before you're murdered in a forest or something. Is this what it means to live life to the fullest?" He had been planning out this exact moment a million times over in his head ever since the very moment he had realised his feelings for Phil. A million questions about everything imaginable still floated around and clouded his thoughts, just as they always did, but he pushed them away to the back of his mind for now. He'll have to deal with the consequences later. When he wasn't confessing.

Taking one last deep breath, he walked over his friend on the couch. The movie's credits were rolling, Phil gently snoring to the soft music playing behind them. The sight brought a smile to his face, him then beginning to shake the man's frame slightly, trying to wake him up. He didn't move a muscle. Maybe staying up until 5 am watching anime for five days straight wasn't such a good idea after all. Dan shook his side again, this time with more force. However, instead of getting to see his eyes flicker open, his body moved in his slumber, freezing Dan solid.

There, just above his ankle, was a glowing black tattoo. How had he never seen it before? To be fair, nobody in this universe tended to show others their tattoos. After all, what was the point of living in fear or anticipation? But his friend's secrecy wasn't what had made him go cold. The design of Phil's tattoo wrapped slightly around the curve of his leg, causing the image to be slightly distorted. But that didn't make the realisation any less obvious. Pulling up his own sleeve for confirmation, then back at Phil, his mouth fell open in shock. Phil had his tattoo.

Dan was at a complete loss for words. What can he do? Can he do anything? How bad would this event be? How soon? Could it be tonight? While he slept, Phil could sneakinto his bedroom, a knife in his hand, a smile on his face. Hovering over his friend's… no…. his victim's limp frame, bringing the blade down…. "NO!" the brown haired man yelled out, instantly regretting everything.

"Dan? Are you alright?"

There was no time for love. There was no time for anything. He had to clear his head. He needed time to think about everything. This was all going too fast.

Looking back at Phil one last time, he booked it to the door of their flat, running as fast as he could down the stairs and out of sight.

Phil was beyond confused.

What had he just woke into? One moment he had been peacefully dreaming of sugarplums and Lord of the Rings battle scenes, and then he wakes up to his friend's terrified expression. That was the worst part. The fear. Phil had been living with Dan for around eight years now, and he had never seen him look at anything that way before, much less him. So what was it? What had he done?

It's quite hard to find such an answer when ten seconds after seeing that fear, it runs. And runs. It runs oh so far away. There weren't many options left in that moment. So, like anyone would do for their best friend, he ran after him.

Luckily enough, neither of them were really in the shape to be running anywhere, much less at full stride. Adrenaline can only do so much before your muscles catch up with your mind, begging you to let your body rest. Dan having not slept a full night sleep in days, had much less energy than Phil, leaving him easy enough to track down. Well, that is if the pursuing party had the motivation.

Upon reaching the bottom of the steps, Phil turned his head around the corner of their building, catching a glimpse of his friend's black sweatshirt trailing behind him. Energy suddenly pulsing through his veins, he continued to run right after him, yet still keeping a considerable distance. After all, he was curious where he had been running in the first place. Maybe that would be the first step towards figuring out why his friend had tried so desperately to escape their flat in the first place.

"What could I have possibly done?" Phil thought to himself. "I've seen Dan scared before, but never like that. He looked more like a deer in headlights than a human being. But what could make him feel so terrified? Was he in danger? And if so, what from?"

Phil was so utterly lost in thought, he didn't even realise that he had lost him. Spinning in circles of confusion over and over again, he let out a deep sigh. Guess he would have to just search for him the old fashioned way. However, this task may not prove to be as hard as would be assumed.

Sure, London was enormous, but there was only so many places that Dan would really go to. He would need to go to some sort of refuge, a safe place. A place that could help him clear his head. He would also not be able to go into buildings, being that it was around 2 AM. Darkness engulfed the sky, so that somewhere had to be well lit with street lights of some sort. Somewhere relatively close to the flat….

"The park!" Phil thought out loud, instantly beginning to sprint down towards it. His brain was a roadmap, and Dan was the destination.

Upon reaching the park edge, he slowed his pace. There was no way he was going to lose him again now, he was too close. Darting from tree to tree, his eyes searched every corner, raven black hair blending with the shadows. When every movement just seemed to be a false alarm, squirrels or birds, he had almost given up hope on finding his friend. But that was before he heard the voice.

He instantly advanced towards the voice in the corner of the park, recognizing it immediately. It didn't take long for him to reach a nearby spot behind a tree, being able to see his friend's bouncy brown curls in perfect view. However, as much as he could see Dan's clothes and looks, he just as clearly could see the tear tracks staining his face. His heart shattered.

"How could I be so dumb? I should know better to not get too close to people in this world. Every corner is a new danger, every person a possible threat. Why did I even think for a moment that I could live a normal life? Does fate have to ruin everything? He probably doesn't even like me anyway. To Philip Lester, I am virtually nothing. I'd be better off if I just left this town and…"

"Not true!" Phil shouted from behind the tree, standing up in defense. He instantly regretted it.

Upon seeing his friend's face, Dan's was once again filled with the same fear as back at the apartment. For some reason though, his face fell again only moments later, more to a face of perplexment than fear. The dramatic mood change gave Phil the same confusion, making him wonder what was really going on inside his head.

"Well,." he thought "I guess there's only one way to find out."

Taking a deep breath, Lester walked over to the bench and sat next to Dan on the bench. His friend was shivering furiously. Words were tossing themselves around in his head, trying to come up with something to comfort him. Only one thought came out.

"What did I do wrong?"

Dan propped up his head and looked Phil straight in the eyes, longing and sadness plastered across his entire expression. Closing his eyes for a moment and taking a deep breath, he stated, "Something neither of us can control."

At that he stood up and walked away, pulling his hood over his head. All motivation to follow him had faded away. He'll be back right? Right? All alone now in the park, Phil sat there, tears streaming down his face like small waterfalls.

What did I do wrong?