im being so productive today its weird
i hope you guys enjoy
Dan awoke on Saturday morning and for a moment wondered if the previous night was a dream. However, it couldn't have been. Because the clothes he had worn when we went to see Phil were still on the floor from when he had changed into pajamas.
Dan checked the time and saw that it was still rather early, so he lay back down and shut his eyes.
"How did it go?" Chris asked Dan when he had walked into the flat the previous night.
"It was great," Dan said with a smile.
Chris grinned in response, but still asked, "You didn't see anyone from school or anything?"
"No," Dan said with a shake of his head. "Everything was fine."
"Good," Chris said, seeming to be relieved.
"Yeah," Dan said in agreement and had gone to his bedroom for the night.
Dan returned to sleep and awoke a few hours later feeling much more rested. He rolled over to check his phone. He had texts from John, asking him if he wanted to meet at the mall.
His reply was, sure when?
Dan climbed out of bed and into clothes for the day. When he was fully dressed, he had gotten a reply from John, which was, 1?
Okay that sounds good, Dan replied. It currently was eleven am, which gave him time to make himself coffee and work on the paper Phil had assigned for about an hour. After he was satisfied with the amount of work he put into it, he checked the bus routes online, fixed his hair, then left to catch the next bus.
With his coat wrapped tightly around him, he walked to the bus stop. The bus arrived just a few minutes later. He climbed on and managed to find a spot to sit. As he rode along, he checked his phone. John suggested meeting at a yogurt shop in the food court and Dan agreed and added that he was on his way.
Great I'll see you soon, was John's reply a few moments later.
Dan put his headphones into his ears and started one of his playlists to listen to music. He had to change buses once, but the second bus took a much shorter trip to the mall. When he arrived at his stop, he climbed off the bus and walked through the parking lot, passed a parking structure, and towards the entrance of the mall.
Just inside the building there was a map where he found the location of the yogurt shop John named. After he studied the map for a few moments, he followed the most direct path to the yogurt shop where he found John sitting at a small, round table with colorful chairs.
He grinned and John smiled back when he saw Dan approaching. He stood, always polite, and greeted Dan with a hug and a squeeze of the hand.
"So you wanna get something?" John asked. "We can share one."
"Yeah, that sounds good," Dan agreed.
The yogurt shop was self-serve, so they collected a cardboard bowl and agreed to pick one flavor of yogurt each. Dan went with fruity, while John went with sweet. They both picked out toppings as well and ended up with a bowl of toppings and some yogurt.
"Maybe we should get some yogurt with this?" Dan said before they placed their bowl down to be weighed.
John laughed and asked the cashier for a second spoon as he got his wallet out.
"Oh!" Dan said. He put a hand out to push John's wallet away.
"I'll pay this time," Dan said, he got his own wallet out and passed his card to the cashier.
"Are you sure?" John asked.
"Yeah, of course," he insisted.
"Okay, thank you, Dan," John said as Dan's card was being returned to him.
After their transaction was complete they found a table to sit at and both slowly ate together.
"Okay, I didn't think this was going to be very good with all the different flavors, but it's delicious," John said in between his first few bites.
"It is," Dan agreed.
They chatted as they ate and when they were done they binned the cardboard bowl and spoons. Hand in hand, they walked through the mall, pointing things out to each other from store windows and browsing a few shops. At one point, they sat on a bench together to people watch and continue chatting.
"So, I wanted to ask you something," John began after a quiet moment.
"Okay," Dan said. He continued to restlessly scroll through tumblr without really processing the implications of John's question.
"Dan," John said.
Dan looked up and took in the serious look on John's face. With an apologetic look he put his phone into his pocket. Wanted to make up for it, Dan listened carefully as John began to speak.
"I wanted to know," John paused nervously and licked his lips. "If you'd like to be my boyfriend."
Dan hesitated, unsure. He liked John and John liked him. It was simple. And Dan liked that. However, he also thought of his near-kiss with Phil. He thought of how unfair it was to John, to date him while his heart truly belonged to Phil.
But realistically, he couldn't have Phil. Realistically, it wouldn't work out with Phil. He and Phil had all the factors for a disaster waiting to happen.
What if he was attracted to Phil simply because he couldn't have him? What if, upon getting together with Phil, he became immediately bored. What if his love for Phil wasn't true after all?
So he gave John a chance and said, "Yes, I would really like that."
He felt John let out a relieved breath. Dan took his hand, prompting John to look up with a smile.
Dan leaned in to kiss him on the mouth. They were having their first kiss between each other and Dan was praying that he was making the right decision. When John leaned away from the kiss he smiled at Dan and let out a small laugh. Dan grinned back with warm cheeks.
A few minutes later, they rose from their bench and returned to walking through the mall.
When they exhausted their interest in the mall, and their energy to walk, they walked to the bus stop together. They took the first bus together, but needed to take separate second buses. John waited with Dan, as Dan's bus was arriving before his own.
When Dan's bus arrived at their stop, they hugged and went their separate ways.
When he returned to the flat, Chris had woken up and was sitting on the couch with a mug of something hot.
"Hey, where were you?" Chris asked him.
"With my new boyfriend," Dan said with a smile.
"Wait, Phil?" Chris asked.
"No," Dan shook his head as he stood by the end of the couch. "John."
"John?" Chris said with a look of utter confusion.
"Yeah," Dan confirmed.
"Why John?" Chris asked in the same tone as before.
"Because he asked me to his boyfriend. And I like him. So I said yes," Dan said as if it should've been as obvious as the sky was blue.
"But, what about Phil?" Chris asked.
"But nothing," Dan said. "Phil and I could never work out. Just think about it," Dan tried to reason with Chris.
"I mean, isn't a little unfair to them both, though?"
"Maybe. John is my boyfriend now, though. So I plan to treat him accordingly," Dan said.
"Well, I don't doubt whether or not you'd be a good boyfriend. But it seems like Phil likes you too," Chris said.
"I know," Dan said. "But like I said, it wouldn't work out. What if, hypothetically, we got together and suddenly didn't even like each other anymore. With this sneaking around, who's to say we even know each other," Dan said, putting his hands out in a wide gesture.
"I guess that's true," Chris conceded in agreement.
"Yeah, so. That's why I'm with John. And I like John. He likes me. Nothing could go wrong," Dan said.
"Okay," Chris said, but his tone remained worried.
Dan returned to his bedroom for the afternoon and completed the paper Phil had assigned. Chris cooked dinner that night for himself and Dan and they ate on the couch with an episode of a new Netflix show playing.
On Monday morning, Dan waited outside Phil's classroom for Phil to arrive and let the students inside.
He scrolled through his tumblr dashboard, occasionally reblogging a particularly funny meme or an aesthetically pleasing image, as he waited for Phil with a few other students. When there was a shift in the few students waiting, Dan looked up and saw that Phil had just turned the corner and was heading towards their classroom.
Dan wasn't one to be dramatic, but for some reason that day, it was as if someone had called, "Lights. Camera. Action!" before Phil turned the corner and played the sexiest, most suggestive music they could find for Phil to walk to.
Dan nearly groaned aloud to himself. However, he felt as though this confirmed his suspicions. He only wanted Phil because he couldn't have him. And agreeing to be John's boyfriend that weekend solidified that suspicion.
Despite this, almost out of habit, Dan still lingered behind in the classroom, slowly packing his things up.
"Hey," Phil said to Dan as he attempted to walk passed him.
"Hey," Dan said hesitantly. His hands shook more than they ever had in Phil's presence. He shoved his hands deep into his pockets and fiddled with his phone.
"Did you have a good weekend?" Phil asked.
"Yeah. It was alright," Dan answered.
"Good," Phil said.
It didn't occur to Dan to ask how Phil was before Phil reached over for a sticky note and a pen and quickly scrawled something across it.
"Here," Phil said, holding the sticky note out to Dan. "Just call or text me sometime. So we can talk more." He added, "If you want."
Dan took the sticky note and said, "Okay," despite his resolve to begin distancing himself from his professor.
"Have a good rest of the day," Phil said.
"You too, Phil," Dan said and thought he ought to have called him 'professor' rather than 'Phil'. However, he still made sure not to lose Phil's number that day.
"Thank you," Dan added before leaving the classroom and heading for the cafeteria.
In the cafeteria he found John, Chris, and PJ sitting at a small table. John once again was politely waiting for Dan before getting his own tray of food, so the two of them got into line together.
"I really appreciate that, by the way," Dan said as they slowly moved closer to get a burger.
"What?" John asked.
"Waiting for me," Dan answered.
"Oh," John said. "It's just the nice thing to do."
Dan thanked him despite that and John replied with, "You're welcome."
Dan smiled at John and gave the hand he was holding a gentle squeeze. John smiled back to him.
They ate together, while Chris and PJ went their separate way when they were done eating.
"I feel like they don't like me," John confessed as Chris and PJ walked away from them.
"They'll warm up to you," Dan reassured him.
"I hope so," John said.
"They will."
They continued eating and when they were done they went to the library together as Dan needed to return a book and pick out a new one. They walked hand in hand, but in the library spent time on their own to find something to read. They each picked out a recommendation the other had.
After they checked out their books they went their separate ways for the day and agreed to talk or text the next day.
That evening Dan cooked for himself, Chris, and PJ, who joined them for dinner. They ate Dan's family recipe contentedly as they watched Netflix.
It was like old times, Dan thought to himself. Except for that small slip of paper that burned a hole in his back pocket until he dialed the digits on it into his phone and wrote, Hi phil.
pls let me know what you think in a review i would rlly appreciate it makes me happy
thanks in advance for any reviews and thank you for reading
have a good day