three months later

This is so fucking boring, Dan thought about halfway through his teacher's lesson. Why do we even need to know about photosynthesis? It's not like I'm a self aware fucking plant. Fucking self aware plant? Whatever. It's not like I have any desire to be a fucking plant scientist, but this fucking school is still making me take FUCKING Biology. ..I swear too much. His thoughts drifted up and away from focusing on the lesson, and his hand gradually stopped taking notes.

Honestly, there's about a million things I'd rather be doing than sitting here, his thoughts continued, and he brought his free arm up on its elbow to rest his chin in his hand. I'd love to just get up and walk out of here. Dan recalled once when his English teacher talked about the norms of school and such. Everyone is taught to go in the classroom, sit down at a desk, and listen to the teacher. No one would even think to sit on a table, even, lay on the floor, or just stand up and walk out in the middle of class. They'd all been taught what to do from an early age, and doing anything else is simply unthinkable. What would happen if I just stood up and punched Mr. Klemp in the face? Would he fight back or just let me hit him? Would people try to stop me?

What if I just stood up and just took off all my clothes, or started belting out the Star Spangled Banner, or declared my love for Phil? Phil's eyes unconsciously widened as he heard his name suddenly appear in Dan's thoughts. He was so intrigued with what Dan was thinking about he forgot himself and the school, and how Dan had a crush on him. Although he did pop up in Dan's thoughts many times throughout the course of the day, it was still surprising to hear such things.

What if I just walked over and planted a big fucking kiss on him. I'd probably get suspended.. would I go to jail? Is that like assault? A-salt. A-salt and a-battery. ..I was thinking about Phil. Dan did a quick skim back through his train of thought and looked diagonal across the aisle at Phil. Jesus fuck, he's hot. A blush began to spread across Phil's cheeks and he tried to look like he was diligently taking notes as some, er, M-rated thoughts about what Dan would do to him, or more appropriately, what he would do to Dan in their alone time consumed Dan's mind. Phil felt really guilty he was listening in on Dan's personal thoughts, but for some reason, he just couldn't stop. It's not like he was enjoying listening to them, definitely not..

What the fuck, Dan, Dan thought after a minute. What is wrong with you. You're in the middle of class, for Christ's sake! You need Jesus. Imagine if someone could hear what you were thinking, what would they say?! Well, that's impossible. Like time travel. Grandfather paradox and all that. Dan imagined a brief scene where he was arguing with someone over time travel. You know it's impossible. But.. Dan's mind suddenly went quiet as he read over his notes for a moment. And then, AHHH! He yelled the thought.

The sudden noise reverbrated through Phil's mind like a ping pong ball, and he reflexively jumped at his desk. Holy shit, Dan thought with wide eyes as he saw Phil flinch. Did I just-? Did that just-?. No, you know mind reading's impossible. Idiot. He just got a hot flash. Cold flash. Fell asleep at his desk for a second. Dan tried to come up with an explanation for Phi's sudden jump. It was just a coincidence. Dan then actually tuned in to what his teacher was saying, and it wasn't until several minutes later when he did the same thing - just screamed in his head, and again, Phil jumped.

Holy shit, Dan thought again, that is not a coincidence. He's definitely reading my mind! Okay, you're being ridiculous. Or not. Oh god, what if he actually can read minds and knows everything I was thinking about him! I have to think something sexy at him. Phil smiled despite the situation. Wait, he can hear that, oh shit shit shit, FUCK, what do I do?! Okay, no, you're forgetting that this is impossible. You're being insane. Dan went back and forth several times, until finally Phil decided to put him out of his misery. Besides, Phil figured his cover was basically blown anyway. So..

You're not crazy, he thought quietly in Dan's mind. Dan's head snapped toward Phil, who was just staring straight ahead and biting his lip.

Oh my god. This isn't real, please tell me I'm just hearing voices, Dan thought.

Phil glanced back toward Dan, and their eyes locked. You're not hearing voices.

Holy shit.

You've said that three times now.

Wait - so you can read minds. And you heard me, just now.

Dan was staring at Phil in shock, but somehow, Phil managed a smirk and a quirked eyebrow. What, the yelling? Thanks for that, by the way.

"Phil! Pay attention, please!" The teacher called. Phil cringed and faced forward again.

Oh god. How long have you been listening? Dan thought in horror.

Phil bit his lip again. Er, a while.. He thought so Dan could hear.

Nononono, this is not happening, fuckfuckfuck...

You really do need to stop swearing.

Get out of my mind! Dan shrieked. Under normal circumstances, Dan would never even slightly raise his voice at Phil, but these were not normal circumstances, were they?

I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Phil hastily apologized before concentrating on someone else's mind, some random girl that sat in front of him who was thinking about a party she was going to that weekend. Dan could feel Phil's presence leave his mind, just a very slight change, like a very faint mist lifting from the air.

Oh my god, that actually happened, Dan thought in shock. Did that happen? That happened. He needs to explain what the fuck is going on! Oh god, he must know I have a crush on him! I swear to God I'll kill myself if he knows what I was thinking about him... Dan buried his face in his hands in humiliation, right there in class, not even caring if anyone saw him.

Phil didn't enter Dan's mind again that period, but the moment the bell rang Phil quickly shoved his things in his bag and followed Dan out the door, also making a hasty exit, while cringing at the look on Dan's face - a mixture of fear, panic, embarrassment, and something else Phil couldn't quite place. Curiosity, maybe? Or maybe that affection, that longing, Phil knew Dan held towards him.

Dan ducked into a small men's bathroom in the hallway, and Phil quickly mimicked Dan's move through the door a few seconds later. Dan was staring at his reflection in the mirror while leaning over the counter, and he quickly whirled around once Phil's reflection appeared behind his.

"What do you want?" He asked, trying to keep his voice steady but a slight quiver in his voice and his wide eyes gave way to the inner turmoil he was experiencing.

"I just want to talk," Phil pleaded. He felt really guilty about what he did. "And clear some things up about, you know, what happened back there."

"You mean.. the..." 'Mind-reading incident' sounded too crazy to even put into words. Dan considered thinking it, but a, he didn't trust his unfiltered brain, and b, he knew Phil well enough to know that Phil would never read his mind again after being told not to.

However, Phil knew what he was going to say: "The.. Yeah..." He trailed off and bit his lip. Phil just stood there awkwardly while Dan leaned back on the counter, the air between them filled with tension.

"So, you.. you can read minds?" Dan phrased the statement as a question.

"Er, yeah. I wanted to apologize for that, too."

"Uh, thanks, I guess. But..." Dan's curiosity won over his personal concerns, so first he simply asked, "How?"

"I don't know," Phil replied. "I just.. can. People's thoughts are like little voices that are always there. Normally I tune them out, but sometimes I listen in."

"And, um, how long have you been 'listening in'?"

"Well, I've been able to for as long as I can remember."

"What about with.. my thoughts?" Dan cringed at how awkward he sounded.

"Er... remember the first day we met?" Phil offered a sheepish smile as Dan's eyes widened with horror.

"And how often, exactly, do you do it?" Dan demanded.

Phil remained silent; he didn't have a good answer other than 'constantly'. Over the past few months, it had become easier and easier to pick out Dan's thoughts and listen to them, to the point where he could hear Dan's thoughts when he was at home. Phil was ashamed to admit it, but basically whenever he had free time or was bored, Phil would listen to Dan.

"Oh my god." Phil's silence was answer enough; Dan could draw conclusions himself as to what it meant. He couldn't even begin to imagine what horrible, uncensored Dan thoughts Phil had heard, but focused on the thing specific to Phil he had specifically wanted to keep secret. "So.. you know.. how I feel about you?" Dan forced out with his eyes glued to the floor, cringing again as he gnawed on the inside of his cheek.

Phil took a small step closer to Dan. "Yeah. And... I know how I feel about you."

Dan took a sharp inhale and looked up at Phil through his eyelashes. "Which is?"

A sudden smirk took over Phil's lips. "Let's just say I wouldn't say 'no' to trying some of the things you were thinking in class."

Dan's mouth fell open. He quickly closed it, opened and closed it a few times, licked his lips, swallowed thickly, and licked his lips again before finally speaking. "Are you reading my mind right now?"

Phil furrowed his brow slightly and the smirk fell of his face in confusion. "No, why?"

"Do it."

Phil obliged, and it didn't take long to pick out the one thought Dan was thinking: Kiss me.

They didn't notice when the bell rang.

A/N: hey y'all! hope you enjoyed this twoshot, please leave a review with what you think and favorite if you liked it, it really means a lot to me. also my pm's are always open if anyone wants to chat :) ~l