Phil takes a deep breath, checking his phone again to see the time. It's nearly 20 minutes past 7pm; his mother held him up, making him late: after his practice ended at 5:30, Phil went home, had dinner, and began to leave for Dan's house. However, Phil's mother asked him questions about where he was going, and Phil settled for just telling her he was going to a friend's house to study.
"A friend's house?" His mother had repeated. "Like just some.. random guy at school?" She waved a hand aimlessly through the air in confusion.
"No, um, this guy Andrew, on my football team," Phil said.
"Oh! Wasn't he the one who showed you around the school?"
"Yep, that's the one," Phil replied, anxiously checking the time again. It was already 7 o'clock, the time he and Dan were supposed to meet. Phil's mom noticed his demeanor, however.
"You're just studying?" She asked suspiciously.
"Yes, mom!"
"And he's just a friend?"
"Yes, oh my god, what is that supposed to mean?!"
Phil's mom grinned a bit. "Nothing, nothing, I'm just glad you're hanging out with your friends on the football team outside of school."
"Okay, thanks. Be back later," Phil said, and he tried to walk past his mom, but she stopped him.
"Hey," she scolded, opening her arms for a hug.
"Must you do this every time?" Phil said in exasperation, however he leaned down to give his mom a hug.
"Love you."
"Love you, too."
Finally his mom let him through to the garage, and Phil arrived here at Dan's house just a minute ago.
He raps on the front door a few times and shoves his phone back into his pocket. The door opens a few seconds later, and Dan welcomes him inside. "Hey, Phil, come on in."
Phil steps inside gently. "Hey, sorry I'm so late. My mom was holding me up with all these questions." He rolls his eyes.
"Questions?" Dan asks as he leads them into the living room. The bright, but soft, lights illuminate the clean, meticulously organized room. The only things out of place are Dan's papers and schoolwork already cluttering the coffee table in front of a couch.
"Yeah, she wanted to know where I was going, blah blah blah. I told her I was studying with a friend but she was still suspicious I wasn't telling her everything. I mean, all I didn't tell her was I was gonna be with my boyfriend," Phil explains as he sits with Dan on the floor, dropping his backpack next to him.
"I love hearing you say that," Dan says with a smile, turning to face Phil.
"Me too." Phil smiles back.
"So, uh, do you just want to start working on homework? Are you hungry or anything?" Dan questions.
"Nah, I'm good, thanks," Phil says. He begins to pull some books out of his bag and sets them on free space of the coffee table, then turns back to Dan. "So, what did you tell your parents? About me coming over."
"Uh, well, my mom's actually not home right now again. She's rarely ever home, leaving early and getting home late, so I didn't tell her anything about you coming over," Dan says, looking slightly guilty.
"Oh. What about your dad?" Phil questions, flipping open a notebook.
Dan suddenly gets very quiet and looks down at the table. "He... he died when I was really young," He replies shakily. He quickly reaches across the table to grab a pencil and starts doodling on a worksheet.
Phil turns to him in with arched eyebrows and his mouth forming a Cheerio sized 'o'. "Oh. Oh, god, I'm so sorry, Dan, I didn't know."
"How could you, I never told you. All these months, and I never even told you..."
"No, Dan, stop that. It's your place to tell; it's not my place to know," Phil says. He puts a comforting hand on Dan's thigh and looks down into his eyes.
"I still want you to know," Dan says with a sad shrug. They both turn back to their work as Dan continues: "He died from cancer when I was about 4. My mom just kind of threw herself into her work, to distract herself from it all. Even after all these years, I don't think she's fully over it. But she's a really successful businesswoman now - she's at a dinner party right now with a 'potential client' - which is how we can afford such a nice house. I'm sure you were wondering about all this," Dan says, gesturing to everything around him: the plush couch, sleek coffee table, expensive television, and fancy decorations.
He falls silent for another moment, and Phil looks up from his homework. It's clear Dan's done talking about it for now. "What about your dad, I've never heard you talk about him before," Dan asks, the unspoken question hanging in the air.
"He's in the military. I don't see him often at all, but we're forced to move wherever he gets stationed, so I've always been the new kid."
"That sucks. Why did we both have to get stuck with such crappy lives?"
"I have a feeling things'll get better." Phil turns up one side of his mouth and looks at Dan again, placing a hand on Dan's knee.
"Why do you have to be so sappy all the time?" Dan laughs, but he puts his hand over Phil's, anyway, and soon their fingers become intertwined. They hold each other for a moment, just staring into each other's eyes. Then Phil gently releases Dan's hand, and they return to silently scribbling on sheets of paper.
"So you said your mom isn't around a lot," Phil breaks the silence. "That must suck."
"Yeah, I guess so. We get along well enough, though, even if we don't see each other a lot. What about your mom, is she around a lot?"
"Yeah, she is," Phil says thoughtfully. "She works normal hours, I suppose, but she works from home a lot. She's almost always around when I'm home, too."
"That must be nice. Why didn't you tell her you were meeting with.. your 'boyfriend'?" Dan uses the word for lack of a better one to call himself, but grins internally at hearing it, nonetheless. "Does.. does she know you're gay?"
"Yeah, she knows I'm gay; I told her a few years ago. It's just.. she gets really nosy, you know?" Phil laughs. "When I had my first, and only, girlfriend freshman year, she asked me everything about her and always wants to know everything about everything, about school and football and stuff. I just didn't want to go through that right then about you," Phil explains.
"Ah, okay, I get that. But, did you say you had a girlfriend?"
"That was before," Phil says, rolling his eyes. "So, does your mom know you're gay?"
"I don't think so. I've never told her, and I've already told you she's pretty distant, so I'd be surprised if she knew."
"Are you going to tell her eventually?"
"I guess I have to, right?" Dan says. "Now that we're together and all. I've never really had a reason to tell her before."
"Well, that's as good a reason as any, right?"
"How.. how did you tell your parents?" Dan questions.
"I just.. told them, one night at dinner. You don't have to make a big deal about it, if you don't want to."
"So how'd your parents take it?"
"They were fine with it. For the most part. My dad's got this idea men have to be manly," Phil says huskily, lowering his voice, "and be all about women and sports and beer," He grunts. Dan laughs in spite of it all. "But," Phil continues, "I guess that since I play football, my dad thinks it cancels out the gay thing, so it's okay."
"That sucks. You shouldn't have to deal with that."
"It's fine." He shrugs. "I like football."
Dan and Phil continue working on schoolwork in silence, only punctuated by a comment (most along the lines of "I want death,") or an occasional question, but they were also just chatting about nothing in particular. They had a research paper due in World History the next week, so they were helping each other with that, too, and they took a snack break a few minutes ago.
"I should get started on this Lit paper, too, the outline is due on Friday," Phil mutters, shuffling around some papers. "Hey, so what are we doing about homecoming?"
"Well uh, wait, what do you mean?" Dan asks, clearly taken off guard by the sudden change in topic.
Phil sees this and explains: "Sorry, I was thinking about Lit, then Andrew, then football then homecoming. But like, do you want me to pick you up? Meet there? Are we going out for dinner? What are you wearing? Give me something to work with, Dan."
"Okay, that was way too many questions," Dan laughs. "I have no idea!"
Phil rolls his eyes with a smile. "Alright, first, do you want me to pick you up first?"
"I mean, sure. Does it really matter?"
"I guess not, but, do you want to go out to eat beforehand? Maybe all of us could get together. Except Andrew," Phil adds with an annoyed eye roll.
"Sure, I can ask them." Dan exchanges his pencil for his phone, and within minutes he's gotten all his friends to agree. "Alright, Nathan, Lucas, Ben, and Emmett said they're up for dinner before the dance. Do you have room for all of us in your truck?"
Phil does a mental tally of all the people. "So that's six of us total? Yeah, but either the four of them'll have to squeeze in the back, which is already really cramped, or they'll have to sit in the bed," Phil laughs.
"Alright, we could take my car, then." Dan owned a Honda, not overly expensive, but not cheap, either. "The four of 'em can squeeze in the back and you can sit in front with me."
"Sounds good, glad I get the good seat," Phil laughs again, and the two fall silent again, focusing on schoolwork. It's nearly 9:30 by the time Phil's getting ready to go home, as his mother wants him back before 10. "She's so overprotective, but I get it," Phil tells Dan.
He packs up all his papers and other schoolwork into his backpack, then follows Dan to the front door. "Thanks for having me over. It was actually fun doing homework with you," Phil says.
"Ha, yeah, you too. I didn't get a ton done, but more than I would've normally. You kept me on track, anyway," Dan says.
Phil takes a small step towards Dan. "So I'll see you tomorrow, then."
"Yep."
"Can.. can I kiss you good night?" Phil asks hesitantly. Instead of responding, Dan just smirks the tiniest bit and closes the gap between them. He hesitantly wraps his arms around Phil's neck, ruining the false sense of confidence he was trying to create, but Phil allows Dan to lead the embrace. Dan pulls the taller man down to his level, and Phil wraps his arms around Dan's back as their lips connect softly for just a few seconds until Dan loosens his grip on Phil. His arms slip off Phil's shoulders as each teen steps out of the embrace, then they pause and stare into each others eyes.
"So, good night, then, Dan." Phil breaks the silence and adjusts a fallen strand of hair back into Dan's fringe. Then gently, gently, he leans down and gives Dan a peck on the cheek.
"Night, Phil. See you tomorrow." Dan watches Phil leave the house and get into his truck from the open doorway. He places a hand on the cheek Phil kissed as a smile and soft blush creep onto his face, and he wave's a last goodbye to Phil as he drives away.
A/N: hey guys! hope you enjoyed this chapter. please tell me what you thought, because i focused a lot on dialogue this chapter and i don't normally do that. unnatural talking is a big pet peeve for me, so i tried to make everything dnp said sound like something they'd say irl, but i'd love to hear any suggestions you have for me on my writing. sidenote, finals are next week! i'm so stressed, but like last semester, i'm writing fanfiction instead of studying. go me. but thankfully, another year school is almost over! so thanks again for reading, and, ofc: fav, follow, and review! :) ~l