Chapter 1.
Phil was walking down the road towards the bus-stop, rain was pouring down. He was already late for a movie night with Dan, and knew that he would pretend to be mad. Smiling at the thought slightly, he glanced up at the sign telling him his bus would in two minutes. Good; that wasn´t too late. He was just about to text Dan when he saw him standing across the road to him, looking down. Phil frowned since Dan should have been home for a while already. As Dan walked over towards him, he just shrugged and waited for him so that they could enter the arriving bus together.
Once the two were seated, on two of the cold, seats opposite too each other, Phil realised something was wrong. Dan wasn't usually that quiet, and he kept his gaze down for some reason, which worried the older boy.
"What's wrong, Dan?" he asked with a reassuring voce crouching down to try and catch his gaze. He expected the worst already, images of Dan crying because of something absolutely horrible, him looking really ill, him having done something terribly wrong. But he did not expect what he saw; because when Dan lifted his head, his left eye was covered in a dark, reddish blue patch, swollen and looking as if it must hurt horribly.
Phil reached out to touch it, careful not to hurt Dan even more. Below his eyes, by the nose, was a smear of blood, and a bit more around Dan's mouth. A small tear managed to find a way from Dan's swollen eye and Phil let out a shocked breath. Worry and anger filled him at once, and he was certainly not used to it.
"What… what happened?" he breathed and gripped Dan's hand giving it a squeeze. But Dan just shook his head and Phil understood. He wanted to get home first, and that was fine.
By the time Phil pushed open the door to the apartment, Dan just looked sick. He hadn't spoken, or lifted his head much further than to know where he was going. They weren't used to it. They never really held hands, but Phil hadn't let go of Dan's hand on the whole way home. And that was fine because neither seemed to mind it. Dan let himself thump down onto the sofa with a grunt reaching up to his head and dabbing at the side of his eye. He looked pained and Phil felt helpless at the sight of him. An icepack and a hot chocolate was all he could offer, so he just sat down next to his friend looking at him, waiting for an explanation. He didn't expect one, but he was curious. And Dan stayed silent.
Only later when Phil had reached for his phone to get some pizza, because he didn't feel like cooking and Dan certainly couldn't, did Dan finally open his mouth.
"Thanks Phil" he croaked trying to smile. And Phil just nodded, smiling back, or at least trying because it hurt to see Dan like that. He looked better now, his eye wasn't so swollen anymore and Phil had wiped the blood off his skin, but his left eye was red, and had a dark circle around it. And Phil didn't want to think about how bad it must have been, and he wanted to know who did this. He was far more worried than he should anyways. Dan was grown up now. He could fight for himself, and it was only a hurt eye wasn't it? It would be fine. But he kept checking on it over and over again until, after eating pizza and having a shower Dan managed to giggle slightly.
"Don't worry, Phil" he said, nudging Phil with his elbow; "I'll be alright." But Phil was not convinced until Dan fell asleep with his head on Phil's shoulder.
"Good night, Dan" he whispered and closed his eyes as well, still sat right there in the same position on the sofa.
Chapter 2.
It was 2am when Dan next stirred. He grumbled and lifted his head sleepily off of Phil's shoulder, looking confused. Then he sighed and touched his eye remembering. Phil had only been half asleep for the last three hours, and didn't take as long as Dan to wake up. He blushed slightly at the sight of Dan's ruffled hair and his sleepy eyes as he looked at him.
"Are you better?" Phil asked him and realised just now how close the two of them actually were. He pulled away a bit looking down. But Dan just smiled, blushing a bit as well. Phil had never truly seen him blush before. He assumed it was something that Dan was good at controlling. And then he nodded, simply leaned forwards and cuddled himself against Phil's chest. After a moment, Phil noticed how Dan felt warm, and how it actually felt so right and he laid an arm around him.
They just lay there like that for half an hour, Dan repeating his phrase of "It's ok, don't worry" once or twice before he sat up and just looked deeply into Phil's eyes. And Phil shivered a bit, because this moment felt so intense, and then he leaned into Dan, kissing him quietly on his lips. They felt soft, and Phil was surprised how much he enjoyed it. After a moment, far too short to be real, he pulled back and opened his eyes, not knowing when he closed them.
"Sorry…" was all he managed to mutter before moving away a bit, suggesting to stand up but pausing, staring at the ground.
"What for?" Dan asked innocently, and before Phil could answer with his eyes wide open, he pulled Phil in for another kiss: a bit longer, a bit more intense, a bit more real than the last one.
That was when Phil knew that he had been lying to himself all the while. Because Dan wasn't just his 'friend'. Because he liked Dan far more than he thought; than he should. And that's when he decided to follow him and finally go to bed, all snuggled up against each other. And that's when Phil knew it didn't matter what had happened to Dan, because he wouldn't let it happen again.
And that's when he decided to tell him exactly that.
"I love you Dan…" he mumbled, snuggling deeper into the covers.
"I love you more" Breathed Dan against his hair, and that's when they fell asleep.
