Usually the first thing that any normal person notices when they wake up is their surroundings, the familiar comfort of their beds that they've grown so used to sleeping in or, hell, maybe even just the patterns on the ceiling they wake up to every morning. But the first thing Dan notices is the annoying blinking light on his phone indicating he has a message, which really wasn't helping the throbbing in his head due to the horrendous hangover he had developed.

He groaned rubbing his sleep ridden eyes with one hand and picking his phone up with the other, swiping his thumb across the screen of the phone to unlock it as he sat up slightly and yawned. His head was beginning to throb more as he tried to remember last night. Dancing, drinking and a pretty woman were all the information his brain would care to provide him with at the moment. Opening one eye mid yawn he glanced down briefly at his phone and paused.

You have twenty four missed calls and 16 new messages.

'What the fuck?' Dan thought to himself checking the missed calls. Who had been so desperate to get a hold of him last night?

Dan felt his stomach turn over in the worst possible way as he scrolled down his call history. Twenty from Phil, three from PJ and one from his house phone (Phil again probably). As he opened his inbox he discovered that the messages did not help quell the guilt which was steadily starting to building.

Phil - 04:07: Hey Dan I know you said you'd be out late but it's like four in the morning. Text me when you see this okay? X

His stomach began churning even more as he went on reading

Phil - 05:15: Okay I'm getting kind of worried now Dan…Look I know were not exactly getting on at the minute but surely you could text me back or something just to let me know you're okay? X

Phil – 05:27: Seriously Dan. I'm calling around if you don't answer you phone on the next ring.

"Shit" Dan mumbled. He must have put Phil through hell worrying. He took a deep breath before checking the other messages which weren't from Phil

Peej – 05:40: Hey man, Phil just called. Everything Alright? He said you're out but not answering him. Call me or him or something as soon as.

Oh he was in so much shit. He clicked PJ's other message

Peej – 06:30: Okay seriously, now even I'm starting to worry. Look, Phil's panicking so will you just get off your probably drunk ass and get home? (Much love)

There were various other messages from people such as Zoe, Alfie, Joe, Tyler and Troye but he wasn't up for reading most of them at the moment. Why had he called Tyler and Troye though? They weren't even in England…Did Phil think he'd left the country or something?

Dan definitely couldn't bring himself to listen to the voicemail he had waiting especially if he couldn't even handle the messages. Reading them was stressful enough and, assuming the message was from Phil, he wasn't quite ready to hear his voice again just yet. Just thinking about him made the guilt surge again.

It was at this point that he finally realised (as if the texts and missed calls weren't enough of a hint) that he wasn't anywhere he recognised. And he was completely naked.

'Fuck!'

He swung his legs over the edge of the bed faster than a lightening bolt and scanned the room quickly for his clothes and any other sign of human life. He frowned when he noticed his clothes neatly folded on top of a wooden chair on the other side of the room with his wallet and a piece of paper folded on top. He threw off the flimsy bed sheet and dashed towards the pile, grabbing his boxers and hastily pulling them on before reading the note.

Dear Handsome,

I had a great time last night. Unfortunately because you left marks I had to charge you double the usual rates. But here's my number if you ever feel like going for round two…But next time try not to moan out a guy's name. Kind of doesn't help the whole 'I'm not gay' thing x

And surely enough at the bottom of the note was the eleven digit number next to what looked like a lipstick print. Dan suddenly felt as if he was going to be sick. Wait…A guy's name? Surely he hadn't been thinking about…During…Dan shook the thoughts away. Guilt. That was the obvious explanation. Flipping the paper over, he noticed more writing

P.S. There's some Paracetamol and water on the table. Oh and don't bother waiting for me. I never return or use the same place twice. Also I'd check your phone. It kept going off during…Well, you know. Not that you noticed ;)

'Crap' Dan shook his head angrily and cringed at the last part. No way of confronting her about what happened last night then. Not that he actually needed to ask her what happened. By this point it was pretty obvious what he had gone and stupidly done. Slept with some random girl who hit on him in a bloody club. Classy Dan…

Wait…Double the usual rates?

Snatching up his wallet and opening it, surely enough, there was about one five pound note left. 'Oh even better' Dan thought 'a bloody prostitute has taken most of my money. Could this get any worse?'

He dragged a hand over his face in frustration and took in his surroundings a bit more clearly. The room he was currently in was obviously prepared for any man willing (Or pissed enough in Dan's case) to sleep with a street walker. The room was dimly lit by the closed curtains across a small window and a double bed in the centre. It had a sweet aroma from the unlit candles placed round the room as well as the sweaty after smell of sex. The sex Dan had with a prostitute. With the sick feeling returning he stood up and moved towards the table.

Grabbing the pill and glass off the table he swallowed the pain killer and sipped the water slowly as he weighed up his options to how to go about the situation.

He slept with a prostitute. No way in hell was that acceptable in general never mind if he actually added Phil into the equation. Phil made everything ten times worse. Not that it was his fault of course…That was Dan's for going out and getting completely shit faced.

'Phil' Dan groaned internally. He could NOT in any circumstance find out about this horrific experience. It would crush him. 'Shit, shit, shit' Dan repeated in his head as he quickly attempted to climb into his pants, shoving the note into his back pocket whilst scrolling down his contact list looking for a specific name before pressing call. He was just about done pulling his shirt on when a familiar voice answered

"Hello? Dan?"

"Louise, Thank god" he sighed, relieved she had answered and, from the lack of shouting, didn't appear to know anything about him not getting home last night. But just to be sure…

"What's wrong? You sound out of breath"

"Nothing…Listen," He began "Phil hasn't called you anytime between last night and now has he?" There was a pause as he assumed she was checking her calls/messages.

"I have a few missed calls from him at about…Wow, half six. I must have left my phone in the other room and not heard it"

"Okay good…Don't answer him if he calls!" He added quickly. So she definitely didn't know. That means he had options now.

"Seriously Dan, what on earth is going on?" Louise questioned

"I need your help…Can I come round now?"

"Aren't you home with Phil? Where are you?"

"I-…It's complicated" He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, grateful that the medicine was starting to take effect but he was still completely neck deep in the shit he had ultimately created. God if he could turn back the clock…

"Alright come round" She eventually replied after a small pause

"I er, might need to borrow some money from you for a taxi as well when I get there"

"You better have a good explanation for this Daniel James Howell" He sighed and, replying his thanks, ended the call and swiftly exited the caravan and out onto the open sidewalk. He eventually found a street sign from where he called a taxi and awaited its arrival thinking about seeing Phil again and what he was going to tell him.

'If Louise doesn't kill me first' He noted darkly.

…

Twenty minutes later

"YOU DID WHAT?!"

Dan cringed and shrank back into the sofa, away from Louise's intimidating glare. So maybe he shouldn't have risked Louise's wrath and taken somebody else's instead.

"I…Slept with a prostitute?" Dan quietly squeaked, covering his face and waiting for the impending blow she looked like she was about to deliver. Sighing, she brushed a stray lock of blonde hair from her face and gave Dan a half tired stern look. Dan looked away in shame wishing she had just hit him instead of looking at him like that.

"Okay Dan. Let me get this straight" She sat down on next to him and raised her hands, listing off as she went along.

"You went out after having a 'sort of' argument with Phil and you haven't really been talking to him" Dan wasn't really keen on telling Louise about his best friend's confession if he could help it so he nodded.

"You then proceed to get hammered to the point where you slept with not just a random any woman…But a prostitute?"

"Well to be fair I was drunk, upset and I hardly knew she was a prostitute at the time did I? Not till she left me a note saying she took all my damn money" Dan defended but Louise threw up her hands in despair and stressed

"Oh I suppose all those excuses make it all okay then do they?" Dan sighed placing his face between his hands as he began to regret getting her involved. Running a hand through his already messed up hair he mumbled

"Of course it doesn't. I just-" He paused to swallow the lump forming in his throat and the stinging sensation filling his eyes. Suddenly Louise's phone started to ring and vibrate on the table and with a glance at the caller ID both of them froze.

Phil Lester calling…

There was a long pause before Louise spoke

"I have to answer Dan…"

"Shit, fuck…Can you not just…Tell him I'm not here?"

"Jesus Christ Dan! He's probably worried sick about you. I can't lie to him like that"

"Fine okay…Then tell him that I slept here or something please! I'll speak to him when I get back I just can't…Not right now…Please" Dan pleaded

She gave him a disdained look and pressed answer on her phone.

"Hey Phil!" Louise answered cheerfully turning up the volume on her phone so Dan could also hear what was said on the other side of the conversation from Phil.

"Hey Louise…Sorry to bug you like this…"

"You're not bugging me Phil" Louise smiled sadly. "What do you need?"

"Well it's just that-…You haven't seen Dan have you? He never came home last night and I've tried calling him and some others but…Well nothing. I'm super worried"

Phil's voice sounded tired and was cracking which was probably from lack of sleep due to being concerned about Dan. Looking away for a second in guilt, Dan looked imploringly to Louise who looked witheringly back before responding quite calmly

"Oh Phil don't worry he's here! He called me last night to come and get him because he was completely trashed. He said he was too embarrassed to call you to get him when he was like that for some reason and I offered him our sofa. I completely forgot to text you because it was SO late when he rang. I'm so sorry." Phil sighed audibly over the speaker and mumbled a very quiet 'thank god'. After a few seconds went by before he responded

"As long as he's okay…Erm…Is he there now? Can I speak to him?" Louise quickly looked towards Dan whose eyes widened and he frantically shook his head.

"He's here but he's still sleeping at them moment. We both know how lazy he is." Phil chuckled on the other line slightly, agreeing. "When he wakes up I'll give him a good scorning and send him on his way back home, okay?" She answered kindly giving Dan a pointed look which basically said 'I'm not happy lying and you will owe me after this'

"Yeah that's fine…Thank you so much Louise"

"No problem! I'll text you when he's on his way and speak to you later"

"Alright bye"

"Bye, bye" She ended the call and placed the phone back onto the table in front of them. Her head swung back to look at Dan who was nervously biting his nails and finding particular interest in the carpet.

"Okay so I just lied to one of the nicest guys that we know for you so you better have a damned better explanation for me than 'I was drunk'" She stated folding her arms across her chest and staring him down. He glanced up nervously at her before pulling his hand away from his mouth and replying to her

"I've fucked up Louise…I really have. Phil's going to hate me if he finds out about this" He whimpered. Louise gave him a pitying stare, unfolding her arms and wrapping them around his shoulders in a comforting gesture as he began to shake trying to hold in the tears.

"Oh Dan…I know what you've done isn't morally right…Or legal, even if she did technically rob you, but Phil's your best friend. He wouldn't hate you. He might be disappointed in you but he would never hate you" She smiled reassuringly at him whilst rubbing his back soothingly. He threw her a half smile and took a shuddering breath in before replying

"But he will…He told me-" At this Dan's throat began to close up again and he bowed his head in shame. Louise pulled back slightly to look at his face, keeping one arm around him and said

"What did he tell you Dan?" There was a long silence filled with Dan's shallow breathing which he tried to calm down before eventually replying

"He told me that…That he l-loved me and I just freaked the hell out and walked away from him and now I just-I don't even know what to do anymore Louise!" Dan confessed and then rapidly broke down in tears. Louise sharply pulled him back into a hug and almost started crying with him. She had never seen Dan like this before.

"Oh Dan" They remained like this for awhile as she allowed him to release all the pent up emotions which had been hurting him for a while. At one point her husband, Matt, walked into the room and gave a confused look towards his wife at the six foot man curled up to her on the sofa. However she just shook her head sadly and used one hand to gesture for his dismissal as she continued to try and comfort the hysterically emotional Dan. About five minutes after Matt's departure from the room Dan moved away from Louise a little and gave her a sad smile and took shallow breathes to try and calm himself down

"Sorry about that…I don't know where that came from" She smiled gently at the fragile man before her

"It's alright Dan. But, as much as I love you and love having you here, you do know you'll have to face Phil at some time. And you will have to talk it out." He exhaled wiping his tear stained cheeks.

"I know but…It's Phil. I don't know how to deal with his feelings. Hell, I don't even know what mine for him anymore. I've never been in love! Not with a guy at least…I've always been openly bisexual but there's a huge difference between thinking 'oh he's hot' to 'oh I want to have sex with him and spend all my waking hours in his presence and love him and so on'. That and he's always just been my best friend. The person I couldn't see myself living without, but now? I can't even look at him without feeling like my hearts going to implode. This constant pain I keep feeling when I see him looking so sad is literally killing me. Louise…What do I do?" Louise smiled tenderly at him.

'Oh Dan. You are SO oblivious and stupid sometimes'

"Go home to him Dan. Trust me when I say that you can't get any answers from me. Talk to him and act like a mature adult. For once" She threw Dan a cheeky wink causing him to smile briefly before she continued.

"You might not be in love with him Dan, but…I can, at the very least, see you care deeply about him" He turned away feeling his cheeks heat up slightly at Louise's comment.

"Alright" He finally said standing up and straightening his clothes "I'll go back to the flat and talk to him" She smiled happily and pulled him into a final friendly hug.

"Good. Shall I text him and let him know you're on your way back shall I?"

"Please" picking up her phone once more she typed a quick message to the worried ebony haired boy and sent it.

"Done" She replied and picked up her purse and rifled through if for a moment before handing him a few notes "I assume you need money for a taxi back too"

"Yeah…Thank Louise, I'll pay you back I promise"

"I know you will, now shoo. I need to spend some quality time with my hubby and daughter" He smiled kindly at her before walking towards her front door and out in the open air for the second time today.

'In the outside world twice in one day. That's probably a record' Dan thought amusedly. He repeated the process of calling a taxi and waiting before he was in the back of the vehicle. Taking out his headphones he plugged them into his phone, placed it on shuffle and began to hum the words.

Crawling back to you

Ever thought of calling when you've had a few cause I always do

Maybe I'm too, busy being lost to fall for somebody new

Now I'm falling through. Crawling back to you

He almost laughed out loud at the irony of the lyrics. He was basically crawling back to Phil.

He just hoped he would forgive him

…

Forty five minutes later

Dan spent quite a while loitering outside the building and even longer outside of his and Phil's apartment door. It was pretty pointless delaying the inevitable as Louise had already let Phil know he was on his way but he was still nervous. Maybe he could just sneak inside and into his room without having to confront Phil. Dan patted down his pockets in search of his flat keys, then slapped a hand against his forehead as he realised he hadn't taken them with him the night before. He let out a sigh of frustration and raised his fist

'Now or never' he thought to himself as he knocked on his apartment door and waited. It wasn't long before he heard the lock turn and watched the door swing open. Phil's hopeful face was in view for all of ten seconds for him to notice how distressed Phil must have been as his hair had not been straightened and there was slight stubble appearing from not shaving this morning. However ten seconds was all it took for Phil's face to turn from hope to happiness as he practically threw himself at Dan and pulled him into a hug.

"Dan you absolute basta-" Phil stopped, catching himself in time and breathed in Dan's scent to calm himself down. He tightened his arms around him slightly as he considered what to say however Dan seemed to beat him to it

"Phil I-…I'm sorry I worried you" Dan spoke softly into Phil's shoulder. Phil smiled blissfully when he felt Dan arms slowly circled round his waist to return the hug.

"It's fine Dan I just…When you didn't come back…After everything I would've never forgiven myself if…" Phil's breathing hitched as various horrific scenarios flashed through his mind causing him to bury his face more into Dan's shoulder and squeeze his eyes shut.

"I know, its okay, I'm here now" Dan comfortingly rubs a hand in circles on Phil's back "Maybe we should go inside and…Talk" Dan suggested, pulling back from him slightly. Phil opened his eyes and, realising he was still holding onto Dan with an iron grip, moved back quickly mumbling an apology. Dan just smiled reassuringly at Phil causing his heart to beat faster in his chest.

Phil entered the apartment first with Dan close behind, shutting the door. Phil went straight to the kitchen and turned the kettle on.

"Tea?" he called to Dan as he entered the room. "Or do you want to shower first? Cause er- No offence but, you do smell quite sweaty" Dan mentally cringed at the thought of why he smelt like that but smiled at Phil regardless of the crushing guilt that assaulted him.

"Yeah I'll do that first then" Phil beamed at Dan happy that he was talking to him seemingly normally and Dan awkwardly smiled back before speedily leaving for the bathroom. Dab closed and locked the door behind him

'Oh Phil, if only you knew…You wouldn't smile at me at all' Dan reflected solemnly before undressing and climbing into the shower. He turned on the hot water and wished that it would wash away the dirty deed he had committed as well as the smell of sweat.

Phil was in the kitchen happily preparing tea for both him and Dan as he showered; grateful that firstly, Dan was okay and not lying dead in a ditch somewhere and secondly, that he was finally willing to talk to him. He had just about finished and set the two mugs on the table when Dan reappeared in the doorway looking (and smelling) much more refreshed and dressed in loose gray joggers and a baggy shirt. Phil looked him over, appreciating his natural beauty even in clothes which would make anyone else look quite scruffy and lazy but, to Phil; it just made him even more attractive. He blushed slightly and thought of something to say before he got caught staring

"Nice shower?" he inquired starting the conversation first, for which Dan was grateful. Dan sent a small smile back, nodding and making his way to the seat next to Phil and thanking him for the drink.

"So erm," Phil began, looking at Dan who looked steadily back "I can't believe you got trashed and ended up at Louise's" he laughed slightly causing the corner of Dan's lip to turn up slightly in amusement. On the side however Dan was internally squirming at the fact he lied.

"Yeah well, you know me" He replied jokingly wringing his hands together apprehensively. Nothing was said for a few minutes as both men cradled and sipped their teas. Eventually though Phil asked the question that was troubling him most

"Is this my fault?" Dan turned towards his distraught roommate surprise written all over his face.

"Is what your fault?"

"This…Awkwardness. The fact that you went out, got drunk and then didn't come home" Phil responded burying his face in his hands and exhaled loudly

"Phil…" Dan felt the stab of guilt once more. He couldn't believe Phil was blaming himself after everything that Dan had done. HE was the one who had completely blanked his best friend's feelings and HE was the one who then went out and slept with another person. If anyone should feel guilty (and he definitely did) it was him not Phil. He placed his cup down and replied

"Honestly Phil you've done nothing wrong. It was just- I wasn't sure how I…I didn't…This is entirely my fault"

"But after what I said-"

"No" Dan interrupted "You basically poured your heart out to me and I-" 'Went out and slept with a prostitute' "-I reacted badly" he finished hesitantly.

Phil raised his head out of his hands and looked earnestly towards Dan setting his own cup down.

"I kind of just sprang it on you though didn't I?" He half smiled at the younger man

"I did ask" he replied partly smiling back

Both men gazed at each other for a long moment before simultaneously leaning towards each other and wound themselves into a comfortable embrace.

"I hated not talking to you Dan" Phil mumbled into Dan's shoulder shuffling so he was closer to him.

"I know. Me too" Dan replied quietly holding onto him tightly. All was peaceful and relaxed in the embrace and they were finally starting to let go of the events they had both gone through and just enjoyed being with each other again. Finally Dan pulled away from Phil slightly and moved his head so close in front of Phil's that his nose actually grazed Phil's cheek in the process. Phil's face heated up at their incredibly close proximity and swallowed hard. Each time one of them would breath, the other would feel it

"Dan…" Phil half whispered not trusting himself to say anything more

Silence followed as neither man dared to speak, both completely entranced with one another. Dan couldn't help but stare into Phil's cerulean eyes and wonder how he had never noticed their beauty before whilst Phil looked lovingly into the brown eyes he adored seeing. Phil really wanted to kiss Dan. Dan really felt like he should kiss Phil. But he knew he should probably let him know how he felt first.

Phil watched as Dan reached out and took his hand by the wrist, slowly guiding it to the left side of his chest where his heart could be felt beating at an incredibly face pace. Phil's own heart faltered as he clenched onto Dan's shirt, connecting his eyes, once again, with the others. Dan smiled gently

"I wasn't lying when I said I don't know what love is. And maybe I never will know…But what I do know is that this is something only you can do to me…And I never want to lose that feeling…Or you" And with that said Dan took Phil's face with both his hands and pulled his head down to lay a gentle but sweet kiss to his forehead.

When Dan pulled back Phil's eyes began to fill with tears happiness and he closed them gradually as they pressed their foreheads together in an affectionate gesture. Phil didn't get the kiss that he wanted exactly and Dan didn't do what he felt like doing but in the end, it was a start.

All Dan had to do now was to get rid of that note in his jeans…

AN: Hey there everyone! I hope this chapter wasn't too long or goes on too much (no internet for a few days can do wonders for no distractions when you're writing) Here's the main points of this chapter as I wrote a lot (sorrynotsorry). Dan has NOT told Phil about the prostitute. Him and Phil ARE together now (I'm not sure if I made it clear enough…) and Louise is the only person (apart from the woman who slept with Dan) who knows what Dan's done. Will he tell Phil? Will LOUISE tell Phil? Or will something else happen? And shall they stay together? Find out in the next chapter…Review please! *offers cookies and a free hug coupon*

Oh and curious quick question for those who want to answer in a review or a PM…Dan and Phil's new radio show, Yay or nay? Would like to know what people think Okay bye!