"He was definitely drunk, Chris," Dan fumbled with his empty glass as the two of them sat in the flat,

"Stop thinking about it, okay? Maybe he fell asleep there," Chris tried to comfort Dan,
"He said he wanted to walk home, and then he said he wanted to TALK home. What does that even mean?!"
"It means that he made a little bit to drink and started getting a little weird,"
"I'm still so angry with him… How dare he make me worry even more?!" Dan spat out,
"Yeah…"
"I mean, I thought he'd just come home and I could be passive aggressive for a little while after we talked things out and then forbid him from seeing this Aaron guy and then everything would be okay!"
"Could you really forbid him from seeing anyone? Realistically, I mean?" Chris asked, carefully removing the empty glass from Dan's hands before he smashed it on the ground or something,
"Yes, because if he loved me, he'd want me to be happy, and if he's still seeing Aaron, then I'm not happy,"
"Do you think that maybe that's exactly why he kept Aaron a secret from you? Because he knew you'd be jealous like this even though anything that happened was BEFORE you realized how you felt about him?"
"What if Phil loves him more than me and leaves me for him?" Dan whimpered pathetically,
"Then so be it. Phil loves you, you know that. He has sacrificed so much to be with you, you know?" Chris told him,
"What do you mean?" Dan wondered,
"He didn't tell you?" Chris asked, Dan shook his head, "Dan… about 4 days before Christmas, Phil's dad told him that if he broke it off with you, he could go home for Christmas and still be, well, included as part of the family…"
"What?" Dan stared open mouthed in disbelief,
"He chose you over his family, and you know how much he loves his family!"
"Why didn't he tell me?" Dan looked down into his lap,
"He probably didn't want you to feel bad, or to do something like break up with him so he had to be with his family, you know?" Chris said, wrapping his arm around Dan. Dan leaned into him and closed his eyes, he was so tired. He was glad he'd called Chris, he was sort of like an older brother that actually gave good advice from time-to-time. Within 10 minutes, the two of them were asleep, cuddled up together on the lounge, Chris's arms around Dan and Dan's hands placed gently on Chris's rib cage and waist, their feet intertwining as they hung off the edge of the sofa.

Phil's mouth felt like it had been stuffed with cotton balls, his brain pounded against his skull harder than a truck accelerating into a building, followed by the rest of the convoy. He rubbed his eyes as they adjusted to the light that burned his retinas, and then it hit him. It hit him like a truck. Panic set in and he shot up, pulling himself away from the naked man lying beside him and ignoring the pain that pulsated through his head as he did so. He remembered everything, and oh, how he wished he didn't… He looked up to the mirror across from Aaron's bed and saw the left side of himself, his left eyes was sunken and bloodshot, his hair was a mess atop his head and from what he could see, he was completely naked. His breathing became shallow and fast, he felt tears build up behind his eyes and he felt hot, and dizzy. "This isn't the time for this, Phil!" his voice echoed through his mind, he ignored the panic and embraced the rush of adrenalin as he quietly slipped from the bed and found his clothes strewn across the floor. He stepped into his pants as fast as he could, tripping and falling into a heap on the floor with a slight thump. He looked up from where he fell and saw Aaron still asleep in the bed. He threw his purple T-shirt on over his torso and stood up, surveying the room for anything else he may have left behind, spotting Aaron's phone on the floor by his own clothes. He stepped over the pile of clothes and picked up the phone to unlock it. There was a passcode. He tried 1, 2, 3, 4, obviously to no avail, and then tried his own name in hopes that maybe that would be it. Wrong again, thankfully. He typed in 4 characters as a final attempt, A, R, O, N. It unlocked! Phil paused a moment, silently berating the somewhat narcissistic passcode. He scrolled through Aaron's contacts until he found his own and deleted his name and number, along with the string of calls and messages between them before tossing it back onto the floor and almost running to the front door of the house. He quickly bent down and grabbed his socks and shoes as he ran out of the front door barefoot, and into the outdoors, running as fast as he could to get as far from there as possible. His lungs burned as the birds chirped in the surrounding trees, he could feel the panic arising once more and the throbbing of his brain becoming unbearable. He stopped and felt the light-headedness kick in as his body involuntarily instigated the hyperventilation that ended him up sitting under a tree and holding his knees close to his chest. His eyes stung as he cried to himself, squirming at the memories from the night before. They were disgusting, vivid, and he couldn't turn them off.

Dan felt a ricochet of pain through his spine and ribs as he woke up on the floor, mere milliseconds after tumbling off of the couch where Chris was still asleep. He looked at Chris's sleeping face and the anxiety came creeping back through him, like a vine climbing from his feet to his head. He shoved his hand underneath Chris, in search for his phone, waking him up in the process. Chris blinked a few times, watching Dan scroll through his phone before letting out a loud, frustrated yell as there was still no contact from Phil. Chris sat up and Dan sat down next to him, fidgeting and bouncing his leg up and down, Chris wrapped his arm around Dan's waist and pulled him in closer for comfort. Dan looked up at him with a confused expression,
"What are you doing?" Dan asked, not mad or anything, just a little muddled,
"I'm not sure… This is what people do to comfort their friends, right?" he exhaled through his nostrils like a silent laugh,
"Yeah, but not you, or us, at least" Dan laughed a little, forgetting to be anxious for a moment, "thanks though," he leaned into him,
"I do this whole hugging and comforting thing sometimes," he laughed again,
"Really, with who?" Dan chuckled, thankful for the distraction,
"You know, with like… people…"
"You don't really have many friends, do you?"
Ah… no. Not at all. Just you, Phil and Peej, mostly. Which is a little sad, but oh well,"
"So this is how you comfort Peej, then? Because I KNOW that you wouldn't dare get this close to my Phil," Dan joked,

"Pretty much," Chris stuck his tongue out at him, "Speaking of Phil, do you mind if I try to call him?"
"Why you?"
"Because you need to have a hot shower, you were walking around in the middle of the night, in the cold rain. Just go shower do you don't get sick or something," Dan gave in with a shrug and leaned in close to Chris's ear,
"Do you want to join me?" he whispered seductively with a wink. Chris looked at him, bemused,
"Go. Now. Or I'll tell Phil that I really did go in with you, and that you touched me in places that I'd never been touched before," Chris raised his eyebrows. Dan nodded with a smirk and dragged himself into the bathroom.