Chapter Text
The plushies hit the floor before his feet did, tumbling into a pile around him. Chris always laughed at him and told him he was too old to be sleeping with children’s toys, but the teasing always had an edge of softness because he knew that it was a safe spot for Dan.
The dark haired boy stretched his too-long arms over his head and ruffled his curls. It had been a while since he had straightened them and he was strangely enjoying the feel of them. Not to mention, he was lazy and not having to straighten his hair in the morning saved him a lot of time.
He grinned to himself. He never thought he would get to a point in his life where he was able to allow himself to wear his hair naturally. All his younger years while he was living at home, he was consumed by such crippling anxiety that every time he thought of leaving the house with his curls, he felt his stomach get tight and his breathing get heavy. And then he met Chris.
Chris was unlike anyone he had ever met. The tall boy with the dark shock of hair hanging carelessly in his face and a mind unlike anything Dan had ever encountered had come literally stumbling into Dan’s life, knocking into him and 3 separate piles of suitcases at the train station and generally wreaking havoc wherever his feet landed.
Dan had caught him as his foot caught over yet another suitcase, earning them both dark looks from the owner of the case, and they had shared a conspiratorial giggle and decided to share a train seat on the way. After an hour of travel, they found out that neither of them had a place set up in London and were both just trying to escape home life, so they moved in with each other more out of necessity than anything out.
Two years later, they still lived together and had developed a casual routine. In the beginning, when they had come out to each other, they tried a relationship but gave up after two days when they couldn’t keep a straight face long enough to kiss.
Dan shuffled down the hallway to the living room, pulling on his shirt on the way and ruffled Chris’ hair on the way to the couch.
Chris looked up, surprised. “You know it’s only 8am, right?”
Dan grinned as Chris handed him a cup of coffee. “Interview today, remember?”
“Ugh, at that grocery store? I don’t know why you don’t just make videos. You could stay in bed all day editing instead of being on your feet.”
“I need a steady income so I can pay my part of rent, mate. Unless you’re offering to pay my portion.” The taller boy smirked up at his friend.
Chris snorted. “Nice try. Enjoy capitalism.”