Dan doesn't really know how he got here. He remembers leaving his parents' house after yet another argument about his future, catching a taxi to the train station, buying a ticket to the next train out, and then hours of scenery flashing past him. Somehow he ends up in Manchester, with only a small backpack of his essentials, about $5000 in savings, and no plan of ever going back to his parents' house. (Okay, maybe not never. Just when he actually had a job and a life and when they would get off his back, because shit. He was still only 19 and he didn't know what he wanted to do yet, and they couldn't make him decide.) And that's how he ended up in Manchester, of all places in the entire United Kingdom.

It's not too early or late. Dan checks his phone and sees it's about midday. He'd left in the middle of the night. He didn't want to face his parents, or rather, their disappointed faces when they realised he was running away from decisions. Dan didn't think he was running away from anything, not really. Just putting them off, until he could really decide what he wanted to do with his very, very short human life. (Because he only got one shot at this, and he wasn't going to spend it being a lawyer, or a teacher or a doctor. Not like his parents, not like his family.)

The thing is, he really had wanted to go to university. Like, he tried in all his exams and assignments. He really did, he got a decent enough mark in the end to go to most universities and do most courses. He just wasn't sure what he was good at. Because Dan, well he really wanted to be something worth living for. Like an actor, or a writer or something spectacular like that. But he never had the motivation to join any local drama troupes, and his writing was really sup-par when it actually came down to it. Dan was good at talking, he wasn't good at thinking about what he wanted to say and writing it down. Dan just thought of a topic, and let his mind run wild, he had sometimes wished he could have handed in his essays for school in audio form, but he wasn't quite bold enough to suggest that to his school. And anyway, the school board never really seemed to have a sense of humour. (Even though Dan was totally, 100% serious.)

Dan spent the next two hours wandering around all the local coffee shops and hang out spots, anywhere with a corkboard really. He didn't want to turn his phone on and face his parents (Not avoiding. He just wasn't in the mood for their rational thinking and adult tones), and he didn't want to waste his money on buying some internet time at an internet café, when he knew he'd spend it scrolling through tumblr instead of looking for a place to stay. Because that was step one. Find a housemate, and then find a job. Something that would pay for him to live his life until he figured out what he wanted to do. Eventually he settled into a small but cosy Starbucks, and pulled out the only three ads he could find. It seemed most people these days just advertised online.

Over a caramel macchiato, Dan pondered the three adverts. Two were very similar, just listing the ages and genders of the other tenants, and the basic rules of the household. (No smoking, no random rowdy parties, and no pets.) But the third, was printed in full colour, with little pictures scattered around the main images of the inside of the apartment. The ads rules were much more specific (must love Muse, Mario, movie marathons and Buffy. And be okay with living with a house rabbit!) Dan mentally ticked each category in his head. Muse was his favourite band. He loved the entire Nintendo franchise, staying up until three in the morning watching movies was his speciality, and Buffy was his childhood. The house rabbit thing was a little endearing, and Dan really wanted to find out who the guy behind the ad was. Because the little "Hi! I'm Phil! 24 year old male looking for a housemate!" at the top of the ad didn't give much away.

After another fifteen minutes of consideration, Dan decided to just give Phil a call. Because, honestly. What could go wrong? The guy could say no and then Dan would just move on to the other two ads. He dialled the number and waited for Phil to pick up.

"Hello?"

"Hey! It's um, I'm responding to your housemate ad?" Dan didn't mean to finish the sentence like a question, but something about Phil's voice made his heart do flips.

"Oh! Hello! Thank God you called! Some other guy showed up yesterday after responding to the ad and he just took one look at the place and grabbed his stuff and left! Honestly, I think it must have been Lion. But I mentioned him in the ad! I thought I was gonna have to move out and get somewhere cheaper, but I love this place so much. I think I wanna retire here to be honest!"

"Lion?" Dan didn't know what to address. The fact that Phil sounded like a child and an adult all at the same time, or the fact that there was a lion living in his house. Dan looked over the ad once more, and there definitely wasn't any mention of any lion.

"Lion! My house rabbit! He loves everyone honestly, he's such a sook!"

Oh, the rabbit. A rabbit named Lion.

"Oh, of course!"

"Anyway, I didn't catch your name?" Dan could hear Phil smiling down the phone somehow, and he was already in love with the thought of Phil, a 24 year old child with a rabbit named Lion holding his hand for the rest of forever.

"Dan, I'm Dan."

"Well Dan! Hello! Anyway, after yesterday's disaster I figured I should actually meet people who respond to the ad, if anyone else did, but you did! So? When are you free? To meet?"

Dan considered lying and asking Phil to meet tomorrow, but honestly, the thought of not sleeping on a bed tonight after sleeping on the train this morning made his back ache. And maybe a little bit of the ache was because of Phil's mysterious smile.

"Now?"

"Now? Yes sure! Meet me at the Starbucks closest to my place in fifteen!"

Dan smiled down the phone, realising that he was already at the Starbucks closest to Phil's place, softly letting a laugh and a "see you soon" ring down the phone, before settling into his corner to meet Phil.

Soon enough, Dan found himself in the presence of another human. Phil awkwardly sat down across from Dan, who had ordered another two caramel macchiatos a few minutes before. Phil had jet black hair and fringe to complement his own. And the most beautiful ocean blue eyes. Dan felt himself being pulled in by the tide in Phil's eyes.

"So…" Phil said, barely above a whisper. Dan realised his was staring.

"So, hi?" Dan tried,

"Hi! Well you seem a lot more like my kind of person." Phil smiled, and let out a small, soft laugh. Dan fell in love all at once with the sound. He wanted to record it and listen to it whenever he was feeling down. Dan smiled stupidly big.

"Yeah, yeah. You seem. Muse is my favourite band!" Dan doesn't know where it comes from, but he's smiling from ear to ear and his heart is racing and he just wants to kiss Phil even though he's only known him for less than an hour.

Dan and Phil spend an hour slowly drinking their coffees (caramel macchiato is Phil's favourite too) and talking. They slowly find out that they have a lot in common, and a lot of differences. But everything important, they agree on. And that's enough to have Dan completely infatuated with Phil.

"So, why the rush to meet me and move in?" the conversation progressed through bands and anime, to games and TV, eventually landing on their pasts, family, friends and favourite animals (Phil loved lions, obviously.)

Dan fumbles over his words, "I ah. I left home. So I'm kind of homeless. And I don't have a job yet but I promise I'm going to get one as soon as possible! I just, you seem really cool and we have so much in common. I want to get to know you more?" Dan's not sure if Phil has caught on that Dan's totally in love with him. And Phil has to be blind to not see that last desperate attempt at flirting.

"Oh Dan! Don't worry about any of that. You don't have to tell me anymore. Come on, let's get home right now!"

And that's how Dan ended up sharing a bed with Phil, and Lion, on his first night in Manchester.