Dan almost groans as he hears the familiar tone of his phone. He rolls over, tumbling around for the device that suddenly pulled him out of his sleep. He blinks as he tries to concentrate on the screen, before promptly clicking the answer button.
"Hey," his voice is groggy, and he can hear a light chuckle from the other side of the line.
"Sorry, did I wake you?" Phil asks, a teasing tone lacing his voice.
"Mmm-hmm." Dan exhales, pulling himself into a sitting position, and leaning back into his pillows and head board in an attempt to become slightly more alert; perking up a little at hearing Phil's voice. A lazy smile fills his face, the thought of waking up to Phil talking to him is sort of perfect. "What time is it?"
"Almost 11am."
Dan sits up a little straighter, pulling the phone away from his ear and looking down at the screen. He blinks at the scene slightly, contemplating how it even became so late without him waking up. "Oh."
"Stay up late playing Guild Wars again?" Phil asks, and Dan smiles somewhat guiltily even though he is aware that isn't the reason this time.
Dan gives a fake scoff directly into the phone. "No, actually, pretty sure this had something to do with texting a particular someone at 2am."
Phil laughs and Dan can picture his grin clearly. "Oh, yeah, could have had something to do with that."
"I believe the real question here is, how are you awake before 11am? Weekends are prime sleeping time. You're missing out. "
"They are also prime cinema time," Phil says, and Dan's heart skips a beat.
"Yeah?"
Phil's voice is a little softer as he mumbles, "I mean, yeah. I was thinking, if you wanted to like, go and see a movie together. Or something. We could?" Dan bites the corner of his lip, smiling shyly as Phil continues. "No pressure or anything, but I mean, we could do something different, and I can buy the tickets. If you'd like, that is."
Dan can practically picture the small blush on Phil cheeks as he says it. There sort of isn't anything he likes more than spending time with Phil. They haven't exactly labelled themselves since this week's previous events, but everything just happened so easily that Dan hadn't really seen the point.
"Like an official date?" Dan asks, and he feels a little nervous as he does so. Even though it sounds like that's what Phil is offering, it might not actually be the same thing.
"Well, I figured going to each other's houses all the time doesn't completely count. So, yeah, exactly like a date."
Dan's grin is so wide, and he is pretty sure that Phil could feel it radiate though the phone. "Are you telling me that making out on the couch and playing video games qualify count as an official date? Because I for one would really like that to count."
"Oh, yeah, it definitely does. Trust me, next time you come over, you can count on it."
Dan sniggers though the phone, rolling onto his side and curling up onto the side of his pillow. "Okay, then. Let's go."
"Yeah? Yeah." Phil says, almost as if he is reassuring himself. His voice perks up, becoming overly enthusiastic and Dan can't help but grin and shake his head. "How about I come round at 1? And then we'll go from there?"
Nodding, Dan agrees, "Sure, I'll see you soon."
"See you later."
The line goes dead and Dan lays there for a moment, staring somewhat goofily at the roof and wondering when exactly everything managed to change.
:::
Phil arrives perfectly on time, which isn't that surprising. As Dan opens the door his jaw almost drops. It's not as though he doesn't think Phil usually looks attractive, but it's obvious that he has put a bit more effort into his appearance than usual. His hair is shinny and recently washed, straightened and falling perfectly into place at its side. Phil is wearing his usual bottom up plaid shirt, but one in a red and black combo Dan hasn't seen before. More prominently, Phil's back jeans seem to fit him even more perfectly than usual. And the sight almost makes Dan's head spin.
"Hey," Phil greets, and yeah, maybe it's just Dan, but he could swear that there is a spark in Phil's eyes, like he knows exactly what Dan is thinking.
Dan steps out, closing the door behind him and telling himself not to blush. "Hey."
"Ready to go?" Phil asks, and Dan nods his head, stepping forward and for once, taking the incentive and entwining his fingers with Phil's own. Phil's eyes light up at the contact, before he swiftly reaches across and places a quick kiss on Dan's cheek.
They walk in sync, as usual, along familiar streets and towards the local strip of shops. Phil frowns a bit as Dan tries to lead them into a right hand turn and along a different path, thoroughly convinced that they should be heading straight. Dan laughs, teasingly, and pulls them into the right direction, proclaiming that Phil should know his way around better by now.
"This is still new to me!" Phil announces, glancing towards Dan.
Dan chuckles, taking step back and pointing down the former street. Sometimes, Dan forgets that he hasn't actually known Phil for that long. No more than three months. It's sort of a strange concept, because it always feels as if he has known the other male forever. "If you follow that path for a while and take a left, you end up at Chris' and if you keep walking, eventually you'll stumble upon a great Chinese place. However, that isn't exactly where we were planning on going. Unless you feel a sudden need for dumplings and honey chicken."
Phil doesn't reply, and Dan takes it as means to continue. "This way, however, gets us to the local main strips of shops-"
Dan stops talking, suddenly caught up in looking at Phil. And maybe he isn't right, but it seriously just looked like Phil was checking him out. Phil is almost blatantly staring right at Dan, with a soft sort of smile on his lips that sends tingles up Dan's spine in the best possible way.
"Maybe we can go there after?" Phil suggests, and Dan's voice is literally caught in his throat, because Phil's eyes fall on his lips for a moment, and it takes a lot of Dan to resist leaning forward and kissing him until they both gasp for air.
He manages to restrain himself, somehow. The somehow is a big statement, because Phil really looks attractive, and even though they have been together for less than a week, he's had feelings for so much longer. When they are together, it just seems easy and natural. Maybe it goes with the weird feeling of having known Phil for longer than he actually has.
"Yeah, sure. As long as I get to order," Dan teases, attempting to snap himself out of whatever daze staring at Phil had developed. Which is actually a bit harder than it sounds, especially when Phil continues to glance over at him as they walk.
Phil raises an eyebrow, "don't trust my judgement?"
"More like, there are dishes I love, and really want to eat, and I'm pretty sure you'll love them too."
A smirk falls onto Phil's lips. "And by that you mean, 'I can't decide which one I want so I'll order them both and hope Phil thinks it's romantic.'"
Dan nudges Phil's side playfully, pushing hard enough that he almost steps off the path way. "Please, a movie and someone forcing you to eat salt and pepper spare ribs, what isn't romantic about that?"
Phil laughs, falling back into line and failing to hide his smile as he finally settles down.
"Your hopeless, and I sort of like it."
A goofy sort of smile settles onto Dans lips. "Yeah, well, I sort of like you too."
:::
The movie goes along way better than Dan would have expected. Not that he doesn't trust Phil's choice in movies, he was always sure that the other male would pick something they would both enjoy. After all, their DVD collection is practically a double copy of the others. For some reason however, this movie session is just that much better. Dan is pretty sure that sitting in a cinema with Phil's arm draped over his side and a whole lot of buttery popcorn tasting kisses manages to beat every other cinema experience he has ever had.
At points, he may have spent more time focusing on Phil when actually watching the movie, but he's pretty sure that the feeling was more than mutual. He may have caught Phil looking at him more than just a few times and that may have encouraged a lot more kissing than usual. Not that Dan's complaining.
He feels as content as they walk the streets after, hand in hand. Just being around Phil is strangely uplifting, and as cliché as it sounds, he honestly believes he walking on cloud fucking nine sometimes. The thought almost causes Dan to chuckle, because never did he believe that would be something he'd think, let alone feel.
"So I'm thinking, maybe before we head out we can grab a shake away?" Phil suggests as they walk down the shopping strips. "They are sort of amazing, and we've got a bit of time to kill before dinner."
"Favourite flavour?" Dan asks, because shake away literally make his favourite milk shakes and he is honestly so keen that Phil seems to think so too.
"Oreo and dime or cookies and cream."
"Never tried it, but cookies and cream sounds like all my five year old hopes and dreams in a cup. I usually get-"
Dan stops mid-sentence, pausing as he notices something momentarily. He sees something out of the corner of his eyes, vague and familiar all at once. The figure disappears behind the corner, out of sight as quickly as it had previously been seen. Dan frowns, halting his steps and causing Phil to do the same.
"Are you okay?" Phil questions, slight concern resting on his features.
"Um, it's just-" Dan mumbles, trying to contemplate his previous thought. He feels weird, like something isn't right. It feels as though he has forgotten something important, and it lurks at the back of his mind.
It flashes before his eyes, suddenly instantly recognisable and forgotten all at once. But Dan is sure, so sure that it's the same person as before.
He takes a step back, breath catching in his throat. He drops Phil's hand, reflexively pulling them by his side. His breathing changes, becoming quick and panicked as a sense of dread fills him. Anxiety is rising to the surface, and his abilities are reacting instinctively; the same feeling washing over him as it had all those nights ago.
"Dan? Hey, what's going on-"
Phil's sentence is cut off by Dan's own anxious one, "we need to leave. Right now, Phil. Let's go."
Dan turns around, taking Phil's wrist and wrapping his own hand around it.
A millions thoughts race around Dan's head, but one is crystal clear; that they both need to get away right now.
"Dan?" Phil says again, worry lacing his voice. He doesn't resist as Dan pulls them away quickly, matching the pace that has almost become a jog. Dan doesn't reply, rushing past the shopping strip and entering a housing sector that Phil is unfamiliar with.
"We need to get home." Dan says, almost like he is out of breath.
"How come? What happened, Dan?" Phil questions again. He watches as Dan's eyes flicker towards him momentarily, before averting his gaze back to the surrounding landscape. The brunette looks around frantically, focusing between everything all at once.
Dan shakes his head, his voice higher pitched then before, like he is one step away from becoming partly hysterical. "We just need to leave."
Phil doesn't say another word, time going antagonising slowly as a sense of dread fills him. He can see the panic clearly plastered across Dan's face, and Dan picks up the pace once again, legs pushing fast against the concreted side. They have finally entered familiar streets, closer to Phil's house than Dan's own. Phil can't draw his eyes away from the worried expression on Dan's face. Alarm is evident in practically every way, Dan is tense and on edge, almost completely panicked. The only time he has ever seen Dan look like that was that time in the alleyway. Suddenly, something clicks; like a flash of lightning in his mind and Phil lets out a small sort of squeak.
The sound makes Dan look at him, checking to make sure he is okay before glancing behind them in every possible direction. The words bubble in Phil's throat, but before he has time to say them they're walking up the drive way and are at his own door. They have made it back in some sort of record time, almost impossibly fast. He fumbles with the keys slightly, before he finally manages to open the lock.
He steps inside, Dan following close behind and all but slamming the door behind him. He slinks against it, using as some sort of stability as his hands shake slightly by his side.
"You saw something? Right? One of them? The person that tried to attack you in the alleyway?" Phil says, clearer then he would have thought possible at this current moment. His voice almost cracks as he says it out loud.
Dan glances up, eyes locking with Phil and nods. His body trembles, and he presses off against the wall, taking two small steps forward and being engulfed by Phil's arms.
Notes: Once upon a time in a far away place, I was actually ahead in my chapters. Now, not so much. So next week there will officially be no update, even though I'm already half way though with the chapter. As stated in the previous chapter, I have exams and major assignments due, so I just don't have a lot of free time at the moment. But hey, then I'm on my summer holiday break and will have a lot more time to write. Seriously, it's like four months until my classes start up again for next year.
Sorry to leave this on such a cliff hanger (but not really) ;) And I'd also like to give a shot out to witbeyondmeasureXOX, who literally edited this chapter for me in less in 12 hours on Monday because I was so late giving it to her. Major thanks lovely!