Phil was always the little shy kid who stayed away from everyone. Even at the age of 17 he was walking around the outskirts of the school grounds, trying to stay away from everyone. He had an extreme case of agoraphobia that made him terrified of large crowds and just people in general. This was the reason he liked to be alone, people were always bullying him, calling him hurtful names and pushing him around. So he hid from them. Staying away from everyone he saw, so terrified they might hurt him. He was so busy watching a group of people walking past him that he didn't notice the brown haired boy in front of him until it was too late. "I'm s-sorry" he stuttered, as he back away slightly and looked into the strangers brown eyes.
"oh, no worries, I should have looked where I was going I suppose" Dan laughed
Phil backed away a little more from the boy. "s-sorry again" he said softly, still cowering away.
"no it's fine honestly I'm so clumsy I walk into everything, I'm Dan by the way, I am new" he smiled
Phil tried to smile a little "I'm Phil" he answered quietly. he normal tried to avoid talking to people but he felt almost comfortable around this Dan boy.
"hey Phil, so why aren't you with anyone?" he asked
"I...no one likes me, so I..." he sighed softly, looking into Dan's eyes shyly "I'm always on my own..."
"they hate you? but why you seem really nice" he said confused "I'll be your friend then"
Phil smiled again "really?" he asked quickly "I mean, um, yeah, that's um...cool" he mumbled, trying to seem not so weird to Dan.
Dan laughed "really" he smiled "so where are you heading?"
Phil blinked a few times, trying to think were he was actually going. lunch was almost over and after that he planned to try find somewhere to hide so he wouldn't have to go to class. but of course, he couldn't tell Dan that "I…um, I don't know" he lied.
"oh just aimlessly walking then? well I have a free lesson next, what do you have?"
"n-nothing important" he quickly added, trying to gather up his confidence to ask what he wanted "do you...wanna...h-hang out with me?"
"well yeah that's sort of what I was implying" he laughed and nudged him
Phil blushed slightly as he looked at the ground "y-yeah, s-sorry" he stuttered nervously.
"why do you always apologise? you did nothing wrong" he laughed
Phil kept his eyes on the ground, trying not to apologize again "where...do you wanna go?"
"anywhere, I don't mind"
Phil bit his lip as he locked eyes with Dan. "we could go...to my house, I mean if y-you want" he suggested shyly.
"yeah sure, if you want?"
Phil nodded as he looked around. he didn't want anyone to see them leaving. he knew if they saw Dan with him they would start to bullying him too. Phil really didn't want that. he sighed softly as he looked towards the gate. there were several large groups of people in the way but if they moved fast enough they should have been able to get past them without any bother. "let's go"
"yeah okay" Dan smiled and followed him over
Phil walked through the large groups of noisy students, looking around nervously. he was almost in tears as one kid bumped into him.
Dan watched curiously, wondering what would happen
Phil apologized quickly before trying to hurry away but the kid pulled him back by his shirt "where the hell do you think you're going faggot?" he spat hatefully at Phil "do I need to beat you up again you freak" the boy added, raising his fist in the air. Phil winced, waiting for the impact he knew was coming.
Dan punched him in the face "leave him alone, he did nothing wrong!?" Dan exclaimed
Phil looked at Dan with wide eyes, "D-Dan" he whimpered, clinging to Dan's arm tightly "w-we have t-to get out of h-here"
"okay, I don't care, come on" Dan shrugged and followed him out
They managed to escape the crowds and were soon outside the school gates. "this way" Phil said softly, pointing then walking towards a large clump of houses in the distance
"okay, what was all that about?" he asked about the group of boys
"n-nothing, they...they just don't like me" he sighed again "they won't like you after this. the one you punched, that's their leader. They, they're not very nice..."
"I'm not scared of them, why do you think I was kicked out from my old school?"
"...you...you were like them?" Phil asked quietly. Dan couldn't be like them. he seemed to nice, well, a lot nicer than the other people around here.
"no, not like them, the bullies were beating up my friend, so I punched them and they managed to make me look like a psycho"
"oh..." Phil answered simply, taking his keys out of his pocket as they walked down his garden path. he quickly unlocked the door and let them both inside before locking it again "well...here we are"
"I can't believe you thought I was a bully" Dan said hurt by his presumption
"no, I didn't" Phil assured him quickly "I just...everyone around here hurts me and...people who fight and hurt people are bullies so..." he bit his lip as he felt tears sting his eyes. he had messed up this friendship already and it had only been about ten minutes.
"oh so you are saying because I hurt someone to protect you I am just as bad!"
"no!" Phil almost shouted, a few tears escaping his eyes "I...I'm s-sorry, I- I didn't mean that" he sobbed quietly.
"whatever Phil, I don't even care" Dan said annoyed "what shall we do now then?" he sighed and rolled his eyes
Phil wiped his eyes, shrugging. he knew if he spoke again Dan would see how upset he really was. he silently walked through to the living room and sat down on the couch. he turned on the TV, hoping having something to focus would calm him down a bit.
Dan went and sat down with him "sorry for making you upset but I don't see how I did" he sighed
"It's okay" Phil tried to say but his voice cracked, making it painfully obvious he was on the brink of tears again.
"sorry, I am not really good with feelings" Dan laughed awkwardly
"It's okay" Phil repeated, not taking his eyes of the TV screen "you know...you'll probably hate me too after you find out the reason why they all beat me up..."
"I doubt it, do you want to tell me?"
Phil took a deep breath before nodding slowly "but...promise you won't hate me...okay?" he asked, locking eyes with Dan again.
"never, I don't know what you have done so bad?" Dan smiled reassuringly
"this is gonna sound really stupid but..." he sighed deeply "I'm gay, and... I had a crush on this guy who was kinda nice to me. I told him and...he called me a freak and then he told everyone else. they've all hated me since" Phil looked down, completely ashamed "I know it's not right, but...I can't help it..."
"what?" Dan said in disgust "they are like that because you are gay?!" he exclaimed "and don't be ashamed or whatever, I think it is perfectly fine for anyone to like anyone no matter what their gender"
"r-really. you...you still want to be friends, even if... I'm gay?" Phil asked in a small voice in disbelief.
"yes I don't care, if I liked a boy I wouldn't want anyone to not like me anymore so why should it be different?"
"because...well, I'm weird and different. people have never liked me" he admitted quietly
"well people are stupid then" Dan laughed "actually I already knew that"
Phil smiled slightly "y-yeah, I guess so" he agreed. "hey...Dan?"
"yes Phil?" Dan smiled sweetly at him
"can I...hug you?" he asked shyly, a light pink tint covering his cheeks.
"of course you can, why ask?" Dan smiled pulling him closer
Phil smiled. happily, for the first time in years and he snuggled up to Dan, gently laying an arm over his friends stomach.
Dan smiled and hugged him tighter "I can't believe you asked you turnip"
"turnip?" Phil asked as he giggled slightly. "I had to ask, I mean, I just told you I was gay...I didn't want you to think I was coming onto you by hugging you without permission or something" he admitted sheepishly.
"hugging me without permission" Dan laughed "last time I checked most people hug, whether they are attracted to them or not"
Phil giggled again, snuggling closer to Dan "thank you, by the way"
"what? for letting you cuddle me?" Dan laughed
"for everything, for sticking up for me and for understanding, just...well, for everything" he said as he blushed.
"aww that's fine Philly" Dan laughed "mind if I call you that?"
Phil blushed an deeper shade of red "of c-course not" he stuttered, hiding his face in Dan's chest
"good, you can call me Danny then" he laughed "that good Philly?"
"yes...Danny" he replied back shyly with a small giggle.
Dan smiled at the boy and stroked his hair, before leaving his hand resting on his waist
Phil closed his eyes for a moment, just enjoying this moment. everything may have gone wrong in his life so far but this had changed it all. he was actually...happy, for once. he shuffled closer to Dan, mumbling something, he wasn't sure if he wanted to let Dan hear or not.
"huh, what was that?" Dan asked softly in Phil's ear
"n-nothing" he replied quickly, burying his head in Dan's chest again. maybe saying it wasn't such a good idea.
"aww come on tell me" Dan asked poking his sides playfully
"ilikeyou" he said quickly, blushing crimson as he whimpered softly.
"you like me? as a friend or what?" Dan smiled at him
Phil hid his face, not wanting Dan to see him like this "what do you think" he mumbled softly. Instantly regretting admitting this to his new friend.
Dan grinned and lifting Phil's face up to his level and pressed their lips together
Phil let out a small surprised yelp but soon also smiled into the kiss. he gently kissed back. having never kissed anyone he didn't really know what he was doing. he hoped he was doing it right, or that would be another thing to add to the list of how he'd embarrassed himself in front of Dan.
Dan relaxed as Phil kissed him back and then smiled into it
Phil gently broke this kiss, smiling as he looked into Dan's eyes. "wow..."
"yeah, wow" Dan laughed and smiled back at Phil
"that was...amazing" Phil added with a small giggle, snuggling back into Dan.
"yeah well don't seem too surprised" Dan laughed at him
Phil looked up at Dan thoughtfully "does this mean?..."
"does it mean what Philly?" Dan smiled
"are we...you know" he asked while blushing deeply "...a couple?"
"well, only if you want to be" Dan shrugged but secretly wished they were
"of course I do" he admitted shyly as he hid his face in Dan's chest again.
"good" Dan smiled kissing Phil's head
"I think...I" he sighed happily "I think I'm really falling for you" Phil whispered gently.
"you've barely known me for a day" Dan laughed
"yeah...but...I think I am. you're the first person to ever treat me like this, and...that kiss was...incredible"
"It sure was" Dan laughed as he gently pressed his lips to Phil's again. "Phil?"
"yeah?"
"I love you too"