The days pass uneventfully; almost nothing changes. The only thing that changes is Dan and Phil get even closer, if that's possible. They almost exclusively talk to each other during class, and Paige grows increasingly annoyed with the boys because of this. Eventually she gives up on them and talks to Hayden, a quiet kid on her other side in their line of four who immediately regrets his choice of seating for the year. Unfortunately, anyone else to talk to is across the aisle which divides the tables, so there's no escape for poor Hayden.
Dan and Phil hang out nearly every night for study dates, going out to grab dinner beforehand at a small, local sandwich shop. After a few of these little dates, the weekend, creeping up behind them all this time, suddenly pounces along with the homecoming dance.
Saturday night, a few hours before the dance starts, Phil changes into his simple suit. It's a semi-formal dance; his friends are all going to wear the same type of thing. He carefully walks down the stairs, the excitement building in his chest, but he forces himself to slow down in fear of messing up his clothes. When Phil enters the kitchen, his mom rises from the kitchen table and walks over to him. "Oh, you look so handsome, Phil," she squeals. Phil swears he can see a tear starting to form in her eye.
"Oh, lord." Phil rolls his eyes but blushes slightly. "I'm leaving now," he calls over his shoulder on the way through to the garage.
"Hey, hey, hey! Get back over here!"
Groaning, Phil makes his way back to the kitchen. "What?" He sighs overdramatically.
"So you're going to have dinner with your friends, then go to the dance?" His mother questions.
"Yes."
"And who are these people again?"
"Just people from school I've been hanging out with. They sit at my lunch table: Dan, Nathan, Lucas, Emmett, and Ben." Even after being through all this, Phil still repeats everything for the sake of his mom's worry.
"Alright. Make sure to text me when you're going to the dance, and call me if you ever need anything. You're not going to an afterparty or anything, are you?"
"Well, we might hang out at Dan's house for a bit after." At his mom's furrowed brows, Phil hastily continues: "But it's definitely not a party. Not my thing."
"Okay. Make sure to be home by curfew."
"Okay. Can I go now?" Phil asks, already making to inch his way past his mother.
"Oh, alright." They share a quick hug. "Have a good time! Stay safe! Text me!" His mom's voice carries through the air as Phil walks away.
"Okay!" Phil calls back just before he shuts the garage door behind him, and he gets into his car. After shooting a quick text to Dan that he was on his way, he starts the car and begins the drive to Dan's house.
Soon he arrives and parks on the street just outside Dan's house, as the driveway was already taken up by two cars, and he walks up to the house. After ringing the doorbell, Phil hears some scuffling and muted voices, then a few seconds later Dan opens the door. "Hey," Phil says, and he steps inside and gives Dan a quick kiss. "You look... amazing," Phil tells Dan once he pulls away and looks Dan up and down before settling back on Dan's eyes.
"So do you," Dan replies breathlessly.
"Alright, alright, break it up, loverboys," Lucas says, coming around the corner from the kitchen with a juicebox in hand, Emmett following him.
Phil steps away from Dan quickly, a light blush with an embarrassed smile creeping onto his face. "Hey, guys. Who else is here?"
"Ben, but he's in the bathroom," Lucas says.
"So we're just waiting on Nathan." Lucas nods. "Is your mom here?" Phil asks Dan.
Dan shifts uncomfortably. "No. I told you, she's almost never around."
"I just thought that-" Phil stops speaking after seeing Emmett shake his head slightly and the look on the two guys' faces behind Dan. "Just- nevermind..."
Only a minute passes as the boys wait for Nathan; once he arrives they make quick adjustments to their appearances and leave for dinner. They go to a local restaurant, not fancy, but good enough for homecoming, and steer clear of a group of people in their grade who are there as well. The dinner flies by uneventfully; they act like normal, rowdy teenage boys before a dance, and are soon leaving for the school.
The boys pile out of Dan's car at the parking lot of the school and enter together. After checking in with the minimal security outside the school, they make their way inside and through the decorated hallways towards the gym. There's probably a hundred people littering the hallways, just standing around and talking or walking toward the gym, too. Outside the cafeteria there's tables full of refreshments all along the walls leading down to the gym: cookies, brownies, fruit, soda, lemonade, you name it. There are also several other hallways unlocked and lit up branching off from the main one that contain bathrooms for the students to check their appearance or on the off chance one actually has to use the bathroom.
"Should we go dance?" Lucas asks, gesturing to the noisy gym just down the hall.
"What did you think we were at a high school dance for?" Dan asks with a mocking smirk.
"Oh, shut it. Let's go." Lucas leads the way into the dark gym, snaking a path through the groups of students milling about the hallway. Hundreds of other students are already filling up the large gym, dancing to the music pumped through the speakers by a DJ and sound system at the front of the gym. Well, 'dancing' isn't quite right. More like.. hopping and grinding on other students. There are more decorations to fit the dance's theme, like balloons and signs stuck to the walls, as well as brightly colored, flashing spotlights lining the gym, just barely illuminating the rest of the room.
The group of boys join the throng of dancing students, and begin hopping around with the best of them. They alternate dancing and getting refreshments, and gradually the boys begin to get split up in the controlled chaos of a high school dance, moving to party with other peers they know. Phil sees Andrew and joins his group for a few minutes, later spotting Jack and his little posse, and quickly regroups with Dan and the other guys he came with.
As the night goes on, people get more out of control as the secret flasks they snuck in become empty, but of course, the one supervisor they have positioned at the entrance to the gym can't do anything about their inappropriate dancing in the middle of about 500 kids crowded in a stuffy, overheated, dark gym. Dan and Phil share a look after seeing a couple making out next to them, and Phil pushes his way out of the center of the kids, motioning for Dan to follow him.
They leave the gym, and weave through people down the main hallway until they're the last people at the end. "This is torture, Dan," Phil groans. He lowers his voice after glancing at the students chatting just a few feet away: "I can't stand it, seeing all those couples grinding on each other and making out, and I have to just stand there, not being able to kiss you in front of everyone."
Dan looks at Phil with a small, confused smile. "Well, I don't know what to tell you, Phil," he whispers. "Do you.. do you want to go public?"
"I don't know," Phil mutters. He steps even closer towards Dan. "All I know is that I need to kiss you right now."
Dan grins then inconspicuously pulls Phil into a nearby bathroom. After they both check quickly to make sure no one was in there, Phil turns to Dan. "You really do look amazing, Dan."
"I know," the shorter man says smugly, and soon they're kissing, and it seems like nothing else matters. Well, one thing does. But it stays in the back of their minds like an ant crawling on one of their legs; the tickling sensation makes sure they're aware of it, but they don't care enough to try and place the feeling. It's just a harmless little ant, right?
And then the bathroom door opens.
Dan and Phil spring apart and look toward the door wildly, but thankfully, by some godly miracle, it's only Lucas.
"Good lord, guys, might want to find somewhere a little more private to do that," Lucas says with raised eyebrows, shocked.
"Yeah, that's why we're in the bathroom," Phil responds, his cheeks burning.
"Well maybe lock the door next time!" Lucas exclaims, but it's clear he's not actually mad. "Now, I need to take a piss, so either piss with me or find another spot to make out."
Dan follows Phil out of the bathroom, throwing another apologetic look towards Lucas, both of their faces still red. They cautiously slip out of the hallway and turn down a few more until they get to an empty, dimly lit one.
Phil looks down the empty hallway and turns back toward Dan. "We're alone," he says suggestively.
Dan raises an eyebrow. "I've noticed," he replies smoothly, and they're back to kissing within seconds. Phil pushes Dan back up against the lockers, and they kiss deeply for moments on end. And then Dan hears the clicking - of high heels, maybe, but he's so caught up in what he's doing Dan doesn't fully register it until right before it stops, and he breaks the kiss and puts his hands up against Phil's chest, looking toward the end of the hallway to see a group of people standing in the door frame.
Their silhouettes are barely illuminated by the dim lighting, but Dan can make out the figures: it looks to be 2 couples, coming to do (*smoke, drink) God knows what in the secluded hallway. "Phil, Phil," Dan mutters in warning, but Phil doesn't notice his tone.
"What, baby?" Phil mutters back, pecking him again on the lips.
"Phil." Dan pointedly looks at the people in the doorway before looking down in embarrassment at having been caught. Phil finally turns around and his eyes widen at the sight of the couples, and he quickly takes his hands off Dan and steps away.
"Oh, my god."
"Phil?" A masculine voice speaks up from the darkness, one Phil vaguely recognizes.
"Yeah?" Phil says, cringing.
"Oh, my god," a feminine voice mirrors Phil's earlier interjection. The small group hurries away in a chorus of whispers and giggles, and Phil turns back to Dan with wide eyes.
"Did you know those people?" Dan asks Phil. Phil thinks back to the male voice that spoke, and he's finally able to place it.
"I think so. I'm almost positive that was Chris and Aaron and their dates. It was definitely Chris that spoke, and did you see the other guy? Totally looked like Aaron," he sighs, falling back against a locker next to Dan.
Dan turns his head to look at Phil. "So, what does that mean?"
"Well, they're Jack's best friends," Phil says with another sigh. "I'd be surprised if he doesn't know what we were doing by the end of the hour."
"So.. what does that mean... for us?" Dan asks tentatively. "Do you... still want to be my boyfriend?" He forces the words out.
Phil looks down at Dan in surprise. "Of.. of course I do. Other people knowing doesn't change how I feel about you," Phil says, somewhat confused.
Dan glances up through his eyelashes, biting his lip. "Really?"
"Yes, Dan. It was stupid of me to want to hide our relationship. I don't care who knows anymore," Phil says as he turns and leans his shoulder on the locker, and he uses a finger to lift Dan's chin slightly.
"Even Jack?"
"Even Jack."
"I'm just worried he'll do something, or say something.. you know..." Dan looks away again.
"Well, let him. I've yelled at him once before," Phil says with the tiniest hint of a smile. Dan finally smiles again, but it quickly falls off his face.
"It's just..." Dan starts, "last year.. was just awful. I don't want to go through that again. I don't want you to go through that."
"Hey, hey," Phil says. "We'll get through whatever happens. Together. Yeah?"
Dan agrees, and Phil kisses Dan's forehead before they return to the main hallway. Thankfully, none of the people in that group are in the hallway, but Dan and Phil still quickly round up the rest of their friends and head home. Why wait for any trouble to walk up to them? Besides, it's getting late, anyway. Phil barely has time to hang out at Dan's house before he has to get back to his own house before curfew. Damn Mrs. Lester.
A/N: hey guys! hope you enjoyed this chapter. shameless self promo: i published a soulmate au a few weeks ago and i'd really appreciate if you guys could check it out! ok, self promo's over, back to this fic. please leave me a review telling me what you think and fav if you enjoyed and just haven't already, and if youre just now finding this fic, follow if you want to see what happens next! ~l