AN: I'm sorry this took so long to write but with school and exams and isus and all the end of school stress i didn't really have time to do anything! so last night i wrote a chapter but i ended up not using that chapter so basically i wrote two whole chapters in one day! haha anyways, i changed somethings in the story and all that because its an au remember? haha so ya (: enjoy! (p.s. it's not exactly edited well due to homework so sorry about any mistakes!)
I started the long walk to the restaurant that Phil and I were going to meet at and couldn't help but smile. The thought of Phil and I actually being friends was exciting, finally getting what we should have had all along. The walk was a peaceful one, barely anyone was on the streets and for once the rain was holding off. I arrived at the restaurant later than I thought I would be and when I entered I saw Phil sitting at the table, looking at a menu. I quickly made a beeline to his table and slid into the chair across from him.
"Sorry I'm late, hopefully you haven't been here long." Phil looked up and smiled his crooked smile at me. His smile sent butterflies in my stomach and brought me back to my days sitting in my room watching his videos.
"No no, I only got here a couple of minutes ago myself." I nodded and picked up a menu. "I suggest the pasta or the lasagna, they're both delicious." I smiled and flipped to the pasta section. There were pictures of many different types of pasta and sauces and at the bottom a picture of a piece of lasagna. We remained silent, debating on what to order until the waitress came back to take our order.
"What can we get you?" The waitress was a young girl with fire red hair. She smiled largely at Phil, a sparkle in her eye. Phil opened up his menu and flipped to the page that his food was on.
"Can I please get the lasagna?" The waitress nodded and wrote it down, turning to look at me.
"Can I get the same thing please?" She nodded and wrote it down as well before collecting our menus and walking away. "I decided to trust your judgment, hopefully it won't let me down." I laughed slightly and took a sip of my water. Phil laughed slightly, sticking his tongue out of his mouth like he used to.
"It'll be good, trust me." He smiled at me and I nodded. We fell into comfortable silence as we looked around the room. There were tables of families and friends and couples eating everywhere and the smell was making my stomach growl. "You're getting hungry too?" I nodded, laughing as I turned back to look at Phil.
"So what are you doing in Manchester?" Phil laughed slightly as the waitress brought over our food. The smell of the lasagna made my mouth water slightly. "You were right this smells delicious." I picked up my fork and knife and cut a piece of lasagna, sticking it into my mouth. "Oh my god, this is delicious." Phil laughed.
"Told you." He said before putting eating a piece of lasagna himself. We continued eating in silence until I realized Phil never answered my question.
"So again, why are you in Manchester?" Phil swallowed his piece of Lasagna and took a sip of water before answering me.
"Well since I finished Uni, I've been living with my parents." I nodded. "It's a bit different I'm not going to lie. I've been on my own and going back home wasn't fun, having rules and things and it's just different." I nodded, not really understanding what he was saying considering I never really had many rules, I had always made my own. "How are you adjusting to Uni?" I laughed slightly.
"Well we haven't even started classes yet and I've only had one day so you know, good so far." I smiled slightly, finishing my last piece of lasagna. "We getting desert?" I grabbed the desert menu, looking over it.
"No there's a much better place where we can get milkshakes not far from here." I nodded. " I mean if you want to?" Phil's eyebrows rose slightly and I nodded.
"Milkshakes sound perfect." I smiled slightly, Phil following my lead. We paid for our meals and left the diner. "You lead the way." Phil and I walked in silence along the street one or two blocks until we got to an ice cream parlor. As we entered, the bell above the door rung, signaling that we were there, and a young boy ran back out into the store.
"Hello!" Phil smiled walking toward the counter, "How are you?" The worker smiled and responded with a polite good.
"So Phil, what do you suggest?" Phil shrugged and looked at all the flavours.
"Well really, they're all good. Its really more what you feel like." I looked at all the flavours I could choose from and found that there was so many. I eventually settled on orange and vanilla, to make a sort of creamsicle flavour while Phi got Oreo. We left the store and started to walk. "There's a park nearby if you want to drink them there?" I nodded, grateful for the extra time I was getting to spend with Phil. We walked in silence sipping our milkshakes as we went. We got to the park very soon and we were sitting on a bench, drinking our milkshakes. "How's your milkshake?" I held my straw out for Phil to have a taste and he smiled before taking a drink. "Not bad, mines better." He stuck his tongue out and handed me his drink. I took a quick drink of his milkshake and shook my head.
"Ugh I got the wrong thing." We laughed slightly and fell silent again. There was something so comforting about being in Phil's presence that allowed me to let my guard down.
"So random question here, by why did you choose law?" I laughed and groaned all at the same time.
"Well because I've always wanted to be an actor but that wouldn't really get me anywhere in life so I just kind of thought about what would make me look smart and that just happened to be law, so here I am." Phil shook his head and laughed. "I know, but hopefully it won't be that bad." Phil laughed again and took another sip of his milkshake. I felt something hit my head, which felt suspiciously like rain. I stuck my hand out into the air as another couple drops hit it, each one heavier and faster then before.
"It's raining isn't it?" I nodded and Phil laughed. "Well my house isn't too far if you want to come over?" I looked at Phil, my eyes wide.
"Are you sure? I don't want to be a burden." Phil shook his head and grabbed my hand, pulling me up.
"Dan, we can just play some video games. You won't be a burden, trust me. Besides, the Uni is way to far away. Just come on." I smiled and started to follow Phil, dropping my hand in the process. However, cliché it is, my hand felt empty without his. It felt like something was missing from my hand and Phil's hand was it. We walked slowly at first, still sipping our milkshakes. The rain was only slow at first, a bit of drops hitting the ground at first and we allowed ourselves the pleasure of walking in the rain. The was however, until the rain picked up. It was raining so hard and fast that we could barely see in front of us. I felt Phil's hand grab my arm again and find my hand as he pulled me along. The rain was cold but my hand felt warm, I know so cliché. As we ran it started to rain even harder and I found myself laughing. "Dan are you laughing back there?" Phil looked back at me, smiling and laughing along with me.
"This is so fun!" I found myself laughing even harder, enjoying running in the rain with Phil, my friend. As I ran I realized that this was the first time in a long time that I had actually laughed, and I mean laughed until my stomach hurt. It was an amazing feeling to just let myself loose and actually have fun. We got to Phil's house in less then 10 minutes, but our clothes were soaked right through.
"I'll go get you some clothes you can change into and we can put yours in the dryer." I nodded at him, already feeling like a burden. I sat in the doorway of Phil's house and looked around. From what I could see it was a relatively nice house, cousey looking and comforting, nothing like my old house. I sat in the doorway, dripping while I heard Phil rummage around his room. He came back within a minute holding some clothes.
"Thank you." I smiled as I took the clothes from him. In my hand I held a pair of track pants and a t-shirt. I frowned slightly and felt some nervous. "Um, I don't want to be a burden but do you have a sweater I can borrow? I'm just a bit cold." Phil nodded and went back to his room.
"Well come on then." I followed Phil into his childhood bedroom. His walls were green and blues, a brown wardrobe was in the corner and his carpet was slightly green. The bedspread was still the same green, black, white and blue bedspread that used to be featured in his videos when I watched them. It literally felt liked I had stepped into one of Phil's videos and for some reason it felt like I had belonged there all along. "I'll just let you change and when you're down I'll throw your clothes in the dryer."
"Thank you." I quickly stripped down to my boxers, feeling better without the tight, wet clothes clinging to my body. I slide on the clothes that Phil lent me and warmth spread through my body. I came out of Phil's room, warm and comfortable and found Phil sitting in the living room. "Um wheres your dryer?" Phil got up from the couch and grabbed my wet clothes, walking away from me. He came back a few minutes later and sat back down on the couch.
"Ready for some video games?' I sat down on the opposite side of the couch from Phil and grabbed the other controller. While we continued to play video games, I found myself falling into the comfort of Phil. I had never been so comfortable and happy around a person before. By the time that I was back in my dorm, my face was hurting from all the smiling and laughing that I had done at Phil's house.