/Disclaimer thing: Dan and Phil are actual real people with actual real families, which I've recognised, so I'd like to stress that I don't think stuff about their families etc. Sorry .-./

"Phil! Ah, Phil, is that you? What are you doing here?"

Oh my god. The one time Phil decided to go to a party, he went to the same party as Dan, who was obviously someone with a proclivity for getting drunk.

"Hi, Dan. Yeah, it's me."

"Oh man, Phil, how you been? I haven't seen you in a while!"

"Dan, school's only been off for ten days..."

"I know but, man. It seems like forever. I've missed you, man." Dan slurred. Phil could almost taste the liquor in his breath when he spoke to him. He tried to ignore it.

"Dan!" Someone called from by the stereo.

"Woah, that's me! Come on, Phil, someone's calling for my epic dance moves." Dan turned around just a bit too quickly for drunken Dan to handle and he tripped over his own foot, spilling some of his drink on the carpet. "Ah. Do you think they'll notice? This is my cousin's house, so I don't want to be dragged into cleaning it another time."

Phil just shrugged, and started devising an escape plan. He was dragged from his thoughts both mentally and physically when Dan grabbed his arm and pulled him to the other side of the room.

"Come on, Phil! Have some fun!"

How do I avoid this? Phil thought to himself. "I can't, I-I need the bathroom." It was a feasible excuse, although admittedly, Phil had no idea where the bathroom was. He hoped no one noticed as he flung a closet door open and hid himself inside, pushing a box against the door in case anyone tried to get in.

He was safe from the noise and the drunks and the making out – For now, anyway. He regretted coming to the party in the first place, but his brother was going, and he wanted to keep an eye out for him. Like Dan appeared to be, Phil's brother was a little too enthusiastic about booze.

Phil, on the other hand, was not going to be starting the go-out-and-get-drunk-at-a-party-every-night fan club any time soon. He preferred his mind unclouded and his thoughts straight like the lines he walked. He didn't like being surrounded by people he barely knew either, but he couldn't see how anyone would find that enjoyable.

There was a thud, followed by a mumble of "The door's locked. Wait, this door doesn't lock."

Phil instantly recognised Dan's voice and moved the box away, exactly at the moment Dan had decided to throw his entire body weight into the door, sending him flying into the room.

"What are you doing? Get in, quick." Phil beckoned.

"Woah, what's got your panties in a twist? I'll come into your little den."

Phil was about to object and say it wasn't a den, but then he realised that it pretty much filled all the criteria for a den.

"I brought you a drink."

"What do you mean you brought me a drink?"

"Look, Phil. I may be pissed as hell, but I saw you come in here. Hiding from the party is an absolute giveaway to your soberness-"

"Sobriety."

"You wouldn't care if you were drunk."

"I don't want to be drunk."

"Just drink it, Phil. It tastes really nice, I promise."

Phil sighed and took a sip. It didn't taste nice at all, so he placed it to one side of him. He pushed the box back against the door, as Dan had now settled into a sitting position that was comfortable for him. Dan was very restless, Phil had noticed. Maybe he liked drinking to make his brain shut up for a bit.

"So, Phil." Dan said, patting a hand on the floor. "How ya been?"

"Um, I'm not sure what you're asking-"

"Just, whatever. How's life? How's your dog? Your guinea pig? Your grandmother? Your morning cereal? Whatever, I'm just making small talk."

"Right. Okay. Um..." Although his dad had been very fond of drinking, a trait passed on to his older brother, Phil and his mum had never had any idea concerning how to handle drunk people. However, Dan seemed pretty harmless when intoxicated.

"Well, I don't have any pets-"

"No! You should get a pet."

"My mum's allergic to most animals so-"

"Oh, that's a shame. Man," Dan reached over and patted his shoulder "It'll be okay."

"Okay. Um. What?" Phil asked, both confused and amused.

"I'm just really sorry. I'd let you borrow my dog but I think my dad would get pretty mad at me. I bet you'd like my dog." Dan said, shaking his head.

"I'm sure I would." Phil smiled, trying not to laugh too loudly. He knew that Dan wouldn't detect if he laughed slightly at him.

"Hey, Phil. I dunno if it's too personal, but like, you changed a lot."

"What do you mean?" Phil asked.

"I just mean that a few years ago you hated me and now we're drinking together."

"Well, you're drinking. I'm watching you drink for my amusement." Phil taunted.

"See? Bros. We're bros now. Come on, give me a bro hug."

"What?"

"Come on!"

Dan stretched his arm out and wrapped it around Phil's back, bringing him closer. Phil brought his arm out to copy, as he had no idea what was going on.

"Remember that other time when we hugged?"

"What?"

"You remember, when we were like 12 or something, and we hugged. Yeah. I didn't tell anyone. I mean," He took a drink from his bottle, "I just told you. But that's it."

"Yeah, I remember that." Phil nodded, unsure of where the conversation was going. He noticed a slight dryness in his mouth and drank too. The second taste was actually a bit better.

"What even happened then? I mean, you hated me."

"I only hated you because you hated me."

"Same, man. Same." Dan drawled. His character changed drastically when he was drunk. "But yeah, you were really upset. It was sad. I'm glad you're happier now. I don't get how you got happier after what happened, but I'm glad you did." Dan nodded as he spoke, pointing his fingers at Phil.

"I just sort of realised that I had to, you know, appreciate things, I guess?" Phil was starting to feel somewhat uncomfortable with the conversation topic, but he decided that Dan probably wouldn't remember any of it the next day. "I mean, my parents got divorced when I was little, so I was pretty used to being without my dad. He was really horrible to my mum sometimes, but when he was sober, he was alright, and he was really the only role model for me and my brother. I mean, I didn't take him as a role model, but my brother kinda did and... You know what? I'm going to shut up." Phil stopped himself mid sentence, coming to realise that he was explaining his life story to a guy he wasn't even that close to. They were friends, sure, but they weren't really best friends.

"Dude, it's fine. You can keep going." Dan assured.

"No. I'm okay. Sorry about that."

"Don't worry about it, seriously." Dan paused. "So I guess that's why you're so uncomfortable with drunks?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, obviously, you've been raised to see the bad sides the drinking." Dan said slowly.

"That's a lot of thoughts from someone who's drunk."

Dan laughed. "I just get drunk from the party. Sitting in here, in the quiet... It's sort of eased away some of the drunk."

"Not all of it though." Phil joked.

"Oh, no, never all of it." The two laughed, unaware of what was even funny, but they liked laughing together.

"OI!" A voice boomed, followed by a bang on the door. "Let us in!"

"Ugh, no, do we have to?" Phil asked no one in particular, speaking under his breath.

"If we sit-" Dan cleared his throat before he continued speaking at a lower volume. "If we sit against the door then they won't be able to come in, right?"

"Probably not."

"Come on then."

The two shuffled over to the door and pressed their backs against the wood. Phil looked nervous, while Dan looked thrilled. Neither really had any reason to feel the way they did. After the people (A girl and a boy wanting somewhere private, it seemed) had gone, Phil breathed out heavily and Dan started complaining about the dark.

"You know, they should really get a light in here." He said, looking at the ceiling.

"I don't think people are supposed to be in here. Be thankful it's big enough for both of us to sit on the floor, never mind the fact that it's dark." Phil said, as he realised that Dan was resting on his shoulder.

"It sets the mood though?"

"What mood?"

"Well I'm sure those two people like the dark because they can't see each other's ugly faces when they eat them." Dan said, waving his hand in the air to accompany his sentence.

"Are you suggesting that you want to eat my face?" Phil joked.

"I said ugly faces." Dan said, changing his position so that he was lying with his head on Phil's leg. Phil rolled his eyes.

"You know what Phil?"

"What?"

"I think we have chemistry." It wasn't long until Dan was snoring gently, and Phil was breathing at the same rate. Soon, he caught himself slipping too. It was going to be awkward when they both woke up, but he didn't care.