Chapter Text
“Your hair’s all frizzy,” Phil whispered, waking Dan.
Dan groaned and stretched, his back relatively sore from sleeping on the couch. “Don’t tell me,” he said sleepily and opened his eyes to see an already dressed Phil was on his knees in front of him, holding a mug of coffee.
He offered the mug to Dan and Dan took it gratefully, sitting up so he didn’t spill it everywhere. He blew on it a couple times before taking a sip and thanking Phil.
“It’s alright. The others won’t be up for a couple hours yet and I wanted to make coffee for someone,” he said and stood. “I also didn’t know if you were doing anything today, so I wanted to wake you up before it got really late.”
“What’s the time?” Dan asked.
“A little after ten,” he replied.
“Oh, well thank you. I don’t have anything today though,” Dan said and looked around the trashed lounge room. “You need help?”
“No, you can go back to sleep,” Phil said but Dan wasn’t taking ‘no’ for an answer anyway.
He remembered his jeans were in the bathroom and covered himself with the blanket again, putting his mug on the coffee table. “I’ll go put my jeans on and come help.”
It didn’t take long for the both of them to clear away the mess and once they were done, Dan joined Phil downstairs to help during the late morning rush.
Phil had given Dan a pair of sunglasses that helped hide his identity just a little while he served up pastries and pies. It didn’t seem like the businessmen and interns rushing in and out took much notice of him anyway.
“Sorry if everyone was pretty nosy last night,” Phil said while they were washing dishes in the kitchen.
“It was fun, don’t worry about it,” Dan replied with a smile to reassure him.
“Are you sure? I can tell them to take it down a bit if you want…” he said and stopped scrubbing the blue mug in his hands.
“I’m sure, honestly. They were just sussing me out, I’d do the same if I didn’t know me. Especially cause I’m… y’know, of my profession and all,” Dan said and looked up at Phil when he realised he was still staring intensely at the mug instead of washing it.
Dan placed a hand on his shoulder and said Phil’s name, and that seemed to wake him up from wherever he was. “Sorry, I just… Sorry,” he apologised and shook his head as if he was ridding thoughts from it and went back to washing.
Dan wanted nothing more than to know exactly how to reassure Phil but before he could think of ways to, they heard calling and the muffled sound of fast feet down the stairs. Peej and Chris burst out from the door and Dan pulled his hand away quickly before it was squashed by the two jumping on Phil.
“Did you make us pancakes?” Chris asked in between giggles while PJ tried to calm himself from the fit of laughter he was in.
“If you got up earlier and helped me clean up like Dan did, maybe I would have,” Phil said with a smile and no sign of the previously intense stare he had.
PJ whined and Chris huffed.
“You can go get yourselves a muffin from the display but don’t touch the coffee machine, I’ll get them for you,” Phil said and they ran out of the kitchen, rushing to get the best muffin before the other could.
“How much are you paid to babysit?” Dan asked with a smile and Phil chuckled.
“Not enough.”
Within the next hour or so, everyone else had woken up and either gone back home or stayed to hang out for a bit before leaving themselves. Eventually Dan was the only one still over and it was still pretty early in the afternoon, so customers were few and far between. They played card games and Dan helped bake treats to go on display with Phil laughing at his decorating.
They fooled around and both had more fun than they had had in awhile.
While they were playing Uno in front of the fireplace to keep warm from the early chill of November, Dan’s phone rang in his jeans and he left it for a few minutes until Phil had won the game and began reshuffling and dealing the cards.
Ange: Hey Dan, the new single’s done. I haven’t heard it yet but they’ve sent it through and I want to hear it with you so lmk when you can drop by my office or apartment.
Dan: I could probably come around soon if you’re free?
Ange: I’m leaving my office in an hour or so but yeah I’ve only got paperwork to do.
Dan: K, I’ll come by soon.
Ange: 👍
“My manager just texted me asking if I could go meet up with her,” Dan said.
Phil looked at the clock mounted above the back cabinet wall. “You’ve been here for ages.”
They both stood and Dan smiled. “Thanks for inviting me, it was really fun.”
“I’m glad you came,” Phil replied and smiled back.
They both lingered for a second without realising and Dan said goodbye quickly before he felt it become awkward and walked out the back to Ange’s office.
Dan’s voice cut out from the speakers and Ange looked up at him expectantly, a hopeful and satisfied smile on her face that dropped when she saw Dan’s frown.
“They did it on purpose…” he muttered angrily, the messy parts of the song running through his mind over and over, almost as if they were taunting him on purpose.
“Dan, it’s really fuckin’ good. I don’t know where you think the imperfections are but I love it, it’s definitely your best work so far.”
“But… there were parts where the bass guitarist missed chords and the piano was cut off… and the bass is messy, I don’t know how they messed with that .”
Ange sighed and watched as Dan replayed the track, shaking his head at parts where an instrument was off or the wrong chord or key was played. He corrected lyrics he hadn’t pronounced properly in the song by mumbling and Ange shut it off before the last two verses could play.
“Are you serious? It’s perfect, Dan. Your fans will love it, they’ll love anything you put out. The parts where some instrument messed up just adds to the emotion and vibe of it, alright?”
“It’s messy craftsmanship and I’m not happy with it. I want to redo it,” Dan said, still staring at the computer, angry for how off-the-rails it had gone.
“We don’t have the time or resources to, Dan,” Ange said, starting to get impatient.
“Yes we do, I could have made a whole album if I wanted to but I only did a single, of course we have the time and resources,” he said, losing his patience too.
“Daniel, we still have to make the music video and take photos for the cover. If we don’t finish the song today, the whole schedule will get fucked up.”
“I’m sure you could push everything back, I’m not happy with it and we’re not publishing it. I don’t care if we have fees to pay, I’ll pay them myself, I just want to make something I’m proud of,” Dan said.
“For fucks sake, Dan,” Ange said, her hands coming up to her face to rub her eyes. “You cancelled so many songs on all of your other albums and weren’t happy with most of them, but look where you are! You’re admired by millions and all your tours sell out in minutes .”
“Exactly, imagine where I’d be if you let me rerecord or fix shit up myself,” Dan replied. “All you want from me is money. I just want to fucking redo a song so it can be what I want it to be.”
“You’re not a fucking professional at everything in the music industry, why do you think I’m doing all of this for you? Making all these things happen for you?”
“Oh but I am a fucking professional. I’m the one who can fire you . I got myself through the first year and half of my career before you reached out to me. I’m fine by myself,” he spat, his knuckles going white from how tight he was clenching them.
“Fine then,” Ange said, fire in her eyes. She pulled the USB stick out of her computer and threw it at his chest and he watched it fall to his feet, stunned. “Get out of my fucking office. Do it yourself. I don’t care. But get out .”
Dan picked up the USB, hoping it hadn’t broken, and stormed out. By the time he got back to his apartment, he had cooled off a little but was still angry, so when he walked in and saw Amy vacuuming, he didn’t return her cheery hello and instead made a beeline for his bedroom.
He tossed his phone and keys on his bed before taking his laptop over to his desk and putting the USB in. He plugged in his headphones and put them on before opening his laptop and playing it again. And again. And again.
It wasn’t until he felt a tap on his shoulder that he jumped and was pulled out of his loop. He tugged his headphones off and looked up to see Amy looking down at him with a concerned gaze.
“Are you okay? Did you and Phil have a fight?” she asked gently.
“No, no. Phil and I are fine. It’s Angela,” Dan said, recoiling from his own voice when he said her name.
“What happened? You can tell me.”
“I know. It’s just… I don’t know. I’m not happy with this single and she said there wasn’t any time to redo it but I’m not happy with it at all. We had a fight and… well, she kicked me out of her office.”
“Just because you wanted to rerecord?” Amy asked, a frown playing on her brow.
Dan nodded and she looked at his computer screen.
“May I hear it?” she asked.
He passed her his headphones and she put them on, listening to the whole song. When it ended she passed the headphones back and nodded.
“No offense but yeah, you could do much better. Take that as a compliment.”
Dan smiled, albeit humourlessly. “I will.”
He looked back down at his laptop and Amy hummed. “How about we go out for dinner together? Or we can eat in if you want, I think you have some wine and stuff in the cupboards. Just to take your mind off things and talk about boys while we eat and drink too much.”
“You know me too well. Can we eat in? I don’t really want to go anywhere,” Dan replied and Amy nodded.
While they ate, Amy had found a half-empty bottle of wine in the kitchen and the pair were sipping their glasses slowly while they spoke. Dan mostly discussed how he was thinking of approaching handling the album by himself and how he was excited he could work on it himself and be his own boss for the first time in a while. Amy offered her hand of help for whenever he needed it and spoke a bit about the guy she had met and the conversation slowly winded down.
“So, how’d last night go? You still haven’t told me,” Amy said, cocking an eyebrow and sipping her wine inquisitively.
“All of his friends are really nice and funny, we played a bunch of party games. That’s pretty much it,” he replied.
“That’s all you’re going to tell me?”
“There’s not much to tell, I’m sorry to break it to you,” he said with a smile.
“There has to be something, c’mon! Nothing happened between you two?”
“Nope. Well there were fifty thousand other people in the room, as if I’m going to make a move then. Besides, I needed to make a good impression so none of them hated me; they’re good people.”
“Okay, I guess that makes sense.”
“You ‘guess’? What did you want me to do? Start stripping out of nowhere and declare my love for him?”
“If you’re going to do that let me know so I can be there to see it,” Amy giggled and Dan rolled his eyes.
Dan looked down at his hands while he fiddled with his glass, setting it down on the coffee table after feeling a sudden disgust towards it. “I was thinking of asking him if he wanted to go out for lunch or something.”
“Why haven’t you yet? You’ve known him for over a month and a bit so it’s not like it’s weird or creepy.”
“Yeah but what if he says no? He’s seen what the press can do when they see me. I don’t want to expose him to it but it’d also be nice to go out somewhere with him. Don’t get me wrong, his caf
é is cute and cosy but I want to go out and do something.”
“I know what you mean. All you have to do is ask him if he wants to go for lunch or something. It can be casual or as a date, he’ll be the one to ask you.”
“But what if he says no? What if he assumes it’s as friends?”
“Then you can go as friends and drop hints. You’ve been friends for a while now, he’s probably wondering why you two haven’t gone for a day out or something similar,” Amy put down her wine glass next to Dan’s and rubbed his arm to comfort him. “The worst thing to happen is for him to say he’s busy and wants to reschedule. You can go someplace the cameras won’t think to look so that you don’t have to stress about it. Or an anonymous tip can find its way into the media so they’re all looking in the complete wrong place…”
Dan shook his head but a grin was adorning his face.
“It’s not that difficult, trust me,” she smiled. “You will be absolutely fine. You’re overthinking it.”
“Okay.”
“Can I trust you to be alone for tonight? I’ve got a few things to do at home before you meet Luke tomorrow night.”
“We’re meeting at your place?”
“Yep, and you already agreed to it so you can’t get out of it,” she said.
“I wasn’t planning to.”
Amy stood up and Dan followed her to the door, helping her collect her things.
She turned around to give him a hug which he promptly returned.
“Are you sure you don’t want to wait up here for the taxi?” Dan asked.
“It’s cool, I’ll get out of your hair. You have a lot to think about,” she said. “If you need help or anything just give me a call, yeah?”
“I will, thank you.”
“Anytime,” she said with a smile and exited his apartment, leaving Dan with the choice of cleaning up, starting work or going to bed.
It wasn’t a difficult decision for him and five minutes later, he was in his pyjamas and drifting off.
Dan woke up to the sound of a vacuum cleaner working away behind his closed bedroom door. He groaned and rubbed his eyes before turning on his phone and looking at the time. It was nearly noon and he turned on his wifi to see if he had any messages, which he did.
He replied to Phil’s good morning and left the other messages to deal with for later and pulled himself out of the safety and warmth of his bedsheets to join Amy.
He winced as he opened his door and the vacuum cleaner roared away. Amy had earphones in and when Dan tapped her on the shoulder, he could hear the familiar guitar solo from a Liam Gallagher song. Amy jumped at the contact of Dan’s hand to her shoulder and whipped her head around, looking relieved when it was Dan.
“Christ Dan,” she said and smiled as she lightly shoved his shoulder before taking out her earphones and turning off the vacuum cleaner.
“Is there any food?”
“Of course that’s what you scare me for,” she replied and shook her head. “There’s a pastry and some coffee on the breakfast bar.”
He nodded and made his way to the kitchen, not looking forward to the cold coffee.
While he ate he scrolled through his Twitter and Instagram but grew bored quickly and just focused on his breakfast while he thought about things in general. Not too long after he finished his breakfast he heard the vacuum shut off and Amy joined him.
“Planning on seeing Phil today?”
“If he wants to then maybe. I do want to figure out how to do a studio set-up kind of thing for recording so I can record my song here.”
“That’d be cool, I could ask some friends of mine who do some stuff on YouTube if you want?”
“No, don’t worry about it. I want to figure it out for myself.”
“Fair enough.”
“How fancy is tonight going to be? What should I wear?” Dan asked, referring to meeting Amy’s new ‘friend’.
“It’s not going to be a black tie and red wine event, it’s just so you can meet him,” she said smiling at the thought of him.
“So jeans and a hoodie is okay?”
“Yes, you can wear your jeans,” Amy said with an incredulous grin while rolling her eyes. “Speaking of, you should have a shower and get dressed. I haven’t finished cleaning yet.”
“You don’t have to. Not like I’ll have anyone over tonight.”
“Or ever.”
“Shut up.”
“If I don’t clean up it’ll be on my conscience, so go shower,” Amy said and made an act of shooing him away with her hands.
“Okay, okay. I’m going.”
“He was nice,” Dan said to Amy with a smile as soon as they heard the door shut.
Amy was beaming and her cheeks were red from laughter and Dan guessed his were too.
Luke was friendly and conversation flowed easily between the three of them. He kept making bad jokes but it was enough to have them all bent over laughing while they ate a nice lunch from Greggs with the TV on in the background.
The hours flew by before Luke eventually had to go and now it was just Amy and Dan.
“Yeah? He was nervous about meeting you ‘cause he wanted to make a good impression.”
“You can let him know he did well,” Dan replied and felt his phone buzz in his pocket.
He pulled it out and read over his notifications he’d missed while Amy stood and took the dishes to the kitchen sink. His eyes flicked over them carelessly until he got to his messages. His nan had texted asking if she could call him at some point and he replied then went into his messages with Phil to see 3 waiting messages.
Phil: hey, r u free today?
Phil: or this evening
Phil: it’s fine if u aren’t
Dan: yeah i should be, what’s up?
Phil: oh cool
Phil: i was thinking we could do something
Dan: mariokart?
Phil: if you want. we always do that tho
Dan: what were you thinking
Phil: going out to get something for dinner maybe
Phil: if you don’t want to it’s fine
“Amy?” Dan asked, still staring at his phone screen.
She hummed in response.
“Phil wants to go out tonight.”
She immediately stopped stacking her dishwasher and whipped around, rushing over to Dan. “Excuse me?”
Dan showed her his text thread and she was smiling so widely it was a wonder her face didn’t split.
“As a friend thing or a date?” Amy asked, buzzing.
“I don’t know. What should I say?”
“Do you want to go?” she asked and he nodded. “Then say yes.”
Dan: sure, what time were you thinking?
Phil: around 5? Whatever suits u
Dan: 5 is good
“Well?” Amy asked.
“He wants to go out around five,” Dan said uneasily.
“Do you not want to?”
“Of course I do. I’m just worried I’ll be weird. I mean, should I take something to give to him? What do we talk about? What do I wear?”
“Wear something nice but not too formal. You know that black button up shirt you have? Yeah, wear that. Don’t take anything, for all you know it’s just a hangout with friends and as for the conversation, you’ll be fine. He’s probably just as nervous as you.”
“Maybe,” Dan murmured.
“It’ll be great, you’ll have so much fun. Stop worrying about it. Anticipation is always worse than the actual event.”
“You’re right.”
“I know,” she smiled and he did too and his phone buzzed.
Phil: meet at mine?
Dan: okay, see u soon :)
Phil: :)
“You should go get ready, you’ve only got two hours,” Amy said.
“That’s plenty of time.”
“Not when you’ll be fussing with your hair for an hour,” she retorted and he rolled his eyes but smiled.
“I’m leaving now, I won’t put up with this bullying,” Dan decided and stood from his seat.
Amy hugged him goodbye and said, “Good luck,” before letting go and letting Dan go to get ready.
“Hey you,” Phil said, smiling warmly after he opened his back door.
“Hey yourself,” Dan replied.
Phil was wearing his jeans and a loose white shirt that was covered mostly by a denim jacket with a woolen neck. He had on his glasses and a crooked smile that made the butterflies in Dan’s stomach float up to his throat and he had to swallow them down before an unwanted nervous chuckle escaped.
Dan’s cheeks hurt from the grin that was planted on his face and he sucked in his lips to try hide it and seeing Phil was holding two takeout cups. “Coffee at five PM?” Dan smiled and cocked an eyebrow.
Phil offered a cup to him. “So we don’t get too tired. I didn’t sleep too much last night and I want to be awake long enough to wreck you at MarioKart. If you want to come back here I mean.”
“Why not? I don’t have anything on tomorrow,” Dan took the cup gratefully and took a sip while Phil locked the door. “Should I ask how many coffees you’ve had today?”
“I lost count after the third,” Phil said.
“How resilient is your heart? My god,” Dan chuckled.
“Shush, don’t tell my mum or she’ll have my head,” Phil replied as he turned around and began walking, Dan sticking to his side and passing him his coffee.
“Your secret’s safe with me,” Dan smiled. “Where are you taking me?”
“It’s… a surprise,” Phil said with uncertainty.
“Let me rephrase my question; do you know where we’re going?”
“No,” he said sheepishly. “I didn’t want to reserve any tables anywhere because I wasn’t sure if you’d want to eat in. I also don’t know where the media tends to go and I didn’t want to lead you into a swarm of them and upset you or hurt anyone…”
“Phil, it’s fine. I don’t care what we do, as long as we don’t get bored.”
“Okay,” he said, still sounding worried.
“I promise we’ll be fine, no one really expects people to go out on Tuesday night,” Dan said and reached out to put his hand gently on Phil’s shoulder but bringing it away quickly, not wanting to invade his personal space. Especially since Phil was staring rather intensely at Dan.
Phil looked at the ground in front of him and nodded. “Okay. But we’ll still be careful, yeah? I don’t want anything bad to happen.”
“Of course we’ll be careful. It’s almost second nature to me now,” Dan laughed humourlessly.
“Sorry, that was insensitive to say,” Phil apologised quickly.
“No, it’s okay,” Dan said, annoyed it was already awkward. “I know a couple places the media doesn’t particularly go to, it’s an area where people are kind of judged if they stalk anyone with a camera or notepad in their hands.”
“Lead the way.”
Dan called a cab and requested someone he knew while Phil waited patiently beside him. Dan gave an apologetic smile but Phil waved it off, leaving Dan with a thankful grin plastered on his face.
They got to a reasonably sized but still cosy restaurant and Dan requested a booth towards the back, which the waitress was happy to supply them with. She led them to a mostly hidden booth with navy cushioned seats and bright but soft lighting. The café/restaurant had a Melbournian feel to it, with exposed brick on one wall and fairy lights that swung from different places on the ceiling. Another light hung from the ceiling of the middle of the booth and lingered a metre or so above the table, illuminating the boys’ faces with a soft white glow. Some sort of fake vines were crawling along the brick wall and some fake white flowers hung from it.
Dan and Phil sat across from each other, Phil insisting he take the far side so Dan could be more hidden even though Dan felt safe enough.
“This is nice,” Phil said with a hint of uncertainty in his voice.
“It is but it’s not my favourite,” Dan said and cringed at himself right after he said it, but Phil’s shy smile was almost worth-it.
The waitress brought them over a large glass pitcher filled with water and ice as well as their menus. They thanked her with smiles.
After a bit of debate and banter, they decided on their orders and called over the waitress. She smiled politely and set off to the kitchen immediately after they said their thank-yous.
“How’s work going?” Phil asked, seeming as if he was actually interested (unlike Dan’s family who just ask to be polite).
“Messy, mostly. How’s yours?” Dan said, wanting to avoid the subject but Phil easily picked up that something was wrong.
“It’s good. What do you mean by ‘messy’?” he asked in a light tone. One that gave Dan the option of either not having to tell Phil and he wouldn’t press or for Dan to tell him without judgement.
Dan started fiddling with his glass while he thought of how to say ‘I had a fight with my boss because of one song’ without sounding blunt.
“Just fell out with my manager over a song, no big deal,” Dan mumbled, his eyes trained on his glass. He regretted saying anything when Phil was silent for a moment.
“If you don’t mind me asking, why? I don’t imagine there’d be a stupid reason for it,” Phil replied, looking puzzled.
“I just wanted to rerecord a song and she told me we couldn’t so I got mad and she got mad and… yeah. Now I don’t have a manager. Whether that’s temporary or permanently, I have no clue,” Dan said trying not to shake. He put the glass down hastily and let his leg bounce quickly under the table.
“Dan, it's alright. If you want to rerecord it’s your decision.”
“But… it’s just selfish of me. And now I lost my manager all because of it.”
Dan cursed himself while he held back tears. If he hadn’t of opened his mouth he wouldn’t be in this situation right now. He didn’t want anything more than to crawl under his bedsheets and sleep for the next 15 hours but alas, he was stuck at the restaurant with Phil.
“I have no clue on how the music industry works but I don’t think you lost your company. You’re most likely their biggest star and they’re not about to let you leave because you fell out with your manager.”
“I guess,” Dan mumbled. “I’m sorry Phil. I… I’ll go clean myself up.”
Dan stood and Phil sent a strained smile. “Okay.”
Dan briskly walked to the restroom and was thankful no-one was in. He rushed into a cubicle and locked the door, then pulled out his phone and texted Amy immediately.
Dan: i messed up
Amy: shit, what happened??
Dan: phil asked about work and i told him about me and ange and i started crying so now he’s stuck outside and im hiding in the bathroom
Dan: idek why im crying
Amy: anyone would be if they were stressed about losing their job
Amy: phil will understand okay. just tell him you’re okay and its just stress cause thats all it is. GO OUT TO YOUR MAN
Despite tears still rolling down his cheeks and his nose running, Dan found the power in himself to smile and shake his head.
Dan: he’s not “my man”
Amy: yet
Amy: clean urself up and go out before he thinks u ran off on him
Amy: you’ll be absolutely fine. take the time to have fun and get your mind off work tonight
Dan: thanks Ames
Amy: anytime champ :p
Dan put his phone away and used toilet paper to wipe away all the snot and the tears off his cheeks before flushing the toilet and washing his face at the sink. He couldn’t help fixing up his curls a little bit while rehearsing what to say in his head but he eventually forced himself away from the mirror.
He walked back to the table and Phil looked up from his phone, shutting it off as soon as he saw Dan standing but not taking a seat.
“Are you alright?” Phil asked.
Dan nodded. “You mind if we go for a walk instead?”
Phil shook his head instantly and stood, having to rush after Dan to catch up as he was already on his way to the front. They stopped at the cash register and Dan paid for their meals, telling the waitress she could have them for dinner. She thanked them and wished them well and Dan led Phil out onto the street.
“I’m sorry if I made that weird, I shouldn’t have pushed,” Phil said nervously.
Dan shook his head. “It’s okay, it’s not your fault. I’m just stressed out about it. How do you feel about Starbucks?”
“I’ve probably had too much coffee for a week just today,” Phil admitted guiltily. “I’m not too hungry either.”
“Same.”
“We can order pizza at mine later?”
“Sure,” Dan smiled warmly.
They walked in a somewhat comfortable silence side by side. Dan shoved his hands into his coat pockets and blew out of his mouth, creating a fog cloud in front of him. It was a small habit he’d had since he was a kid so he didn’t realise he’d done it and missed Phil’s endearing smile.
“You want to go to a club?” Dan asked, keeping his eyes fixed to the ground. A different habit he’d adopted so people wouldn’t recognise him as quickly nor easily.
Phil looked at him as if he was crazy. “You’re insane.”
“Well yes, but no,” Dan said, grinning. “My friend gave me a few masquerade masks for this party I went to once and every once in a blue moon we put them on and go out. It’s fun, and almost no-one notices. They just think it’s a costume.”
“‘Almost’?”
“One person recognised me like, a year ago maybe. It’s fine, we’ll be completely safe. No one suspects a thing.”
Phil looked uneasy still. “I don’t know, Dan. I don’t want anything bad to happen to you.”
Dan tried not to take that comment to heart. “My friend was scared too, if anything bad was to happen to me it would have already.”
“That doesn’t mean it won’t, though.”
“C’mon dad , I can be fun.”
Phil shook his head but smiled, a red flush rising in his cheeks. “I hate you.”
“Is that a ‘yes’?”
He sighed. “Fine. If anyone realises it’s you we’re leaving straight away, though.”
Dan punched the air. “Yes! We’ll have to change and get the masks.”
He called a taxi and they jumped in the back, Dan giving the address to the cab driver enthusiastically.
When they arrived at the apartment complex, Phil looked up at Dan’s building in wonderment. It was an old London building made of sandstone bricks that Dan fell in love with instantly when he first saw it, though he barely paid attention to the intricate details of the windows and entrance anymore.
“This is beautiful,” Phil inquired while he followed Dan into the foyer and to the lifts.
“Thank you. It’s not worth the rent but it’s the best place I could find this side of London,” Dan replied while he scanned his card and punched in the number to his apartment.
“I know what you mean,” Phil smiled, jumping into the lift.
The lift took them up in almost no time at all and Phil followed Dan into his apartment, expressing how much he loved the design and furniture.
Dan was amazed at how much Phil could get out of just a room full of black and white couches and tables. He fell silent when they reached Dan’s room and Dan was worried of what he thought before he turned around to meet Phil’s shocked expression.
“It’s nothing special,” Dan muttered. He thanked his lucky stars he made some kind of an effort to make his bed and it looked neat.
“Are you serious? This is amazing,” Phil replied, “It’s like, something straight out of Architectural Digest! ”
“You read magazines? Steady on boomer,” Dan snorted and got a shove from Phil.
“There aren’t many customers who want to read comic books, okay?”
They laughed and Dan went to his wardrobe where he grabbed a baby pink hoodie and a band shirt. “Come here and choose something.”
“What?”
“You can’t dance in that outfit,” Dan said, turning back to look Phil up and down. If his gaze lingered for a second longer than was probably normal he didn’t realise.
“Sure I can, watch,” Phil said before he started moving his hips in circles and shaking his arms like they were noodles, causing the two of them to erupt into laughter.
“I thought you were about to start flossing or something, that just hurt to watch,” Dan giggled.
Phil tried flossing but failed miserably, making himself laugh more. “You’re right, it’s too cringey.”
Dan shuffled through his jumpers and picked out a blue knit jumper. “Put this on, it’ll look good on you.”
He threw it to Phil and Phil shrugged the jacket off before pulling the hoodie over his head and messing up his quiff in the process. “This is actually really comfy.”
“I know right. And I was correct.”
“What?”
“It does look good on you,” Dan said and turned to close his wardrobe so he didn’t have to see Phil’s reaction, scared it was one of disgust. “The bathroom’s down the hall to the left if you wanna fix your hair.”
Dan didn’t realise he was holding a breath until the bedroom door closed behind Phil and he exhaled heavily. He grabbed his phone out of his pocket and texted Amy quickly.
Dan: hey ames
Amy: hey, what’s up?
Dan: i said something i probably should not have
Amy: can’t be the worst thing u’ve ever said…
Amy: from a scale of ‘i called harry styles cute to I said kylie jenner’s makeup quality is shit’ how much did u fuck up
Dan: i’m not that bad on twitter am i?
Amy: answer the damn question howell
Dan: i said he looked good
Amy: …
Dan: what??
Amy: u overthink way too much
Dan: shut up i regret it
Amy: well shit u should have started with that.. what was his reaction?!
Dan: idk
Amy: DANIEL JAMES HOWELL U DIDN’T SEE HIS REACTION?? HOW?
Dan: i wasn’t looking okay
Amy: smh
Amy: okay
Amy: worst case scenario, he bails on the night
Amy: best case, you’re in bed with him by 11
Dan: amy..
Amy: okay okay sorry but im right
Amy: you’re overthinking this, okay
Dan: i guess
Amy: where’d u get the time to text me? Did u abandon him again?
Dan: no im not that horrible, i’m getting changed
Amy: DUDE WHAT
Amy: WHAT ARENT YOU TELLING ME
Dan: stfu its innocent, we’re going out clubbing
Amy: then hurry up and get changed instead of leaving him alone
Amy: don’t forget the mask for u
Amy: have fun and stop texting me
Dan: ik and i will
Dan took a deep breath and turned off his phone before changing out of his black button-up and into the hoodie, throwing his nice coat into his wardrobe. He made a note in his mind to worry about it later. He went into his ensuite to fix his hair, brush his teeth (for what felt like and probably was the third time that day) and quickly sprayed deodorant on. He took a deep breath and made the split second decision to put some mascara on, stabbing his eye in the process with the mascara wand. He also decided to put on some lip gloss. If Phil wasn’t bailing after that charade then Dan felt he might as well look decent.
But what if he thinks I’m trying to hook up with him… the nasty part of Dan’s mind said.
“Fuck,” Dan sighed frustratedly, opening the cupboard to wipe off the makeup before reminding himself Phil wasn’t like other people he used to go out clubbing with.
He still felt the nervous twinge in his stomach when he forced himself to leave his room and saw the bathroom door was still closed with the light on, so he continued to the kitchen and grabbed a pack of chips he munched on nervously while he waited for Phil.
Dan was lost in browsing through Twitter on his phone so he barely realised Phil had made his way to stand right in front of Dan.
“Oh, hey,” Dan said, relieved to see Phil was amused he made Dan jump.
“Hello to you too,” Phil replied. “Now where are these masks?”
“Oh shit, hang on.”
Dan rushed to his bedroom and grabbed a white intricately detailed lace mask and a black one with a couple feathers on the side of it. He returned to Phil and showed him the masks.
“They’re really pretty,” Phil said, admiring the design and texture before choosing the black one and putting it on, having to put his glasses over the top.
Dan tried to stifle his laughter but couldn’t and was in stitches for a few moments before he forced himself to recover.
“Do I not look good anymore?” Phil said with a pout.
“No, you do. It just looks ridiculous with your glasses over top,” Dan giggled.
“Well unless you have contacts made for -3.5 prescriptions, it’s all I’ve got.”
“I only have coloured contacts. Sorry,” Dan said before pulling on his own mask.
“I definitely still know it’s you,” Phil said worriedly.
“It’s fine, Phil. No one will notice in a room that’s dark as heck.”
“True but still…”
“Phil, chill, we’ll be absolutely fine.”
“Okay.”
Dan called a taxi and they went to a club that was both not too well known but popular enough there were still plenty of people dancing and at the bar. Only a couple people realised they were wearing masks but thought nothing of it, continuing to laugh with their friends or down shots instead of paying a second thought.
They took seats next to each other at the bar and ordered drinks. Dan opted for a beer and Phil went for a pink drink in a fancy glass Dan couldn’t remember the name of. They had to shout over the music and laughs of others to hear each other, and even then it was a difficult task. After drinking almost all their drinks, Dan asked for some tequila shots and they each did a couple, Dan laughing at Phil when most of his second went down his nose.
After Phil recovered, Dan asked, “Wanna dance?”
“You sure you want to see that?” Phil said, laughing at himself and adjusting his glasses.
“I’m as bad as you, trust me.”
“You’re literally a world-famous singer, you can’t possibly be bad at dancing!”
“Watch me, I dare you.”
“Fine.”
Dan pulled Phil out into the crowd of dancers and did the best dancing he could manage while having two shots and a beer sloshing around in his stomach. He and Phil were both clutching their sides and laughing while they tried to dance and sing along to the music.
They danced until their stomachs couldn’t handle anymore and their feet were sore. They were both sweaty and both noticed their mouths felt extraordinarily dry while they calmed down.
After they had fallen into giggles, Phil smiled and pointed to Dan’s face. “Your mascara is running.”
“Shit. Hang on, I’ll go fix it,” Dan said, about to turn around when Phil stopped him by grabbing his hand.
“No, wait,” he said. “The bathrooms are ages away.”
With his free hand, Phil rested his palm on Dan’s cheek and swiped under his eyes with his thumb. Dan had a giddy smile on his face and he hoped his heart couldn’t be heard from how fast it was beating.
“You smudged it more, didn’t you,” Dan smiled, seeing Phil’s serious expression go to one of amusement instead.
“Maybe,” Phil replied, making no effort to take his hands away.
“Let me go to the bathroom and clean up,” Dan said, but Phil made no effort to take his hands away. “Phil, you gotta let go.”
Reluctantly, Phil pulled his hands away. “I’ll wait by the bar.”
Dan nodded before making his way through the crowd to the bathrooms alone. His heart felt fluttery and his smile was as shit-eating as five seconds before. He went into a cubicle and leaned on the closed door, typing out a few reference points for lyrics. Most of his songs were about his teenage years but he had a few that reminded him of his favourite days. This happened to be one, even if it wasn’t as eventful as his birthday two years ago or the day he got a dog when he was a kid.
He waited until the other two people left the bathroom and left his cubicle to quickly fix his smudged mascara and splash his face with cold water. He left the bathroom just as a few more guys were heading in. He looped around the outside of the room, hanging to the walls to avoid people recognising him. He managed to get to the bar fairly quickly and spotted Phil; it wasn’t hard to, considering he was the only one with a mask on.
“I’m hungry,” Dan announced as he sat beside Phil.
“Me too,” Phil replied. “Wanna go?”
“Yeah,” Dan said.
They called a taxi and Phil insisted they go to Dan’s ‘for a change’. Dan tried to resist but decided it was fair enough they went to his place for once. They were in fits of giggles over nothing while they travelled up the elevator and through the hallway to the entrance of Dan’s apartment. Dan kept trying to tell Phil to be quiet in case of a noise complaint but he couldn’t help laughing himself.
“Up for a game of MarioKart?” Dan asked after they collapsed on his couch and were quiet.
“Always. Maybe I’ll even beat you tonight,” Phil said hopefully.
Dan chortled and got a shove from Phil. “Rude.”
While Phil set up the ‘Switch, Dan ordered a couple pizzas. While waiting for their food they played an hour's worth of races that the harsh majority of which Dan won. He threw a couple games on purpose just to let Phil gain a sense of victory but was happy when Phil won some games fair and square as well, being dramatic about his losses.
When their pizza arrived they sat on opposite ends of the couch with a ribena in one hand and a slice of pizza in the other while they spoke about nonsensical things. After they had eaten a fair amount of food Dan sunk down so he was laying on the couch and decided to prop his feet up on Phil’s lap. The couch was hardly big enough though, so it was more his calves that were across Phil’s lap.
Dan thought he’d push his legs away with a laugh but Phil leaned his head to the side to rest on the couch cushion and closed his eyes. It was barely 10pm but they were both tired enough to sleep until noon the next day.
Dan felt less tipsy since he’d had a better drink and some food, but his mind still seemed foggy. He tried to make sense of his thoughts before he spoke but eventually he found it wouldn’t happen in that moment so he whispered, “Phil?”
“Hm?” Phil replied, keeping his eyes closed and evidently showing he was exhausted.
“I’m sorry about my outburst earlier,” Dan said and tilted his head back against the couch armrest to stare at the ceiling to avoid seeing Phil’s reaction. “About… my job. In the restaurant.”
“It’s fine, I crossed a line I shouldn’t have,” Phil said groggily. His arms came down to rest on Dan’s legs.
“I’ll tell you about it tomorrow.”
“You don’t have to.” Phil sounded more conscious now.
“But I want to. If you want to hear it, I mean.”
“Sure. I’m too tired to process anything right now though.”
Dan smiled. “I know.”
After a minute or so he tilted his head back down to see Phil’s eyes were closed again and noticed the uncomfortable position Phil was in.
“Phil, you can’t sleep like that,” Dan chuckled.
“‘M too tired to move.”
“This couch is the worst, trust me,” Dan said, forcing himself up. He held his hands out to Phil and pulled him up.
“Where are you taking me?” Phil whined.
“You can have my bed, I’ll sleep on the couch,” Dan said as he took Phil to his bedroom. “Do you want some pyjamas? I have plenty spare.”
“Are you sure? And that's not fair, I don’t want to take your bed away from you.”
“Sure, keep the pyjamas if you want. It’s fine, you seem to always get robbed of your bed whenever I stay at yours.”
“But I don’t mind taking the couch,” Phil insisted while watching Dan rummage through his pyjamas, picking out a pair of red tracksuit pants and a black shirt and passing them to Phil while he got his own pjs.
“Neither do I, you can have my bed tonight, no questions asked.”
Phil was silent before asking, “Are you sure?” one last time and eliciting a smile from Dan who shook his head.
“I’ll get changed in the bathroom, make yourself at home,” Dan said, leaving his bedroom to Phil while he changed in his bathroom and brushed his teeth.
He threw his clothes in the laundry basket, not wanting to disturb Phil by having to put them away, then went to the kitchen to get a glass of water.
He grabbed a spare blanket from his hallway cupboard and laid down on the couch ready to sleep, but of course his body wouldn’t let him now he’d gotten up. His thoughts kept him preoccupied though, as all he could think about was Phil’s hand on his cheek. He sheepishly smiled and grabbed his phone, opening his messages with Amy.
Dan: WE HAD A MOMENT
He wasn’t expecting Amy to text back so soon but she proved him wrong, answering almost immediately.
Amy: WHAT??!!
Amy: SPILL
Dan: its sound stupid but he put his hand on my cheek
Amy: like intimately?
Dan: pls offer a reason to why u would do that platonically
Amy: IDK MAN
Amy: BUT THAT’S AWESOME!!!
Dan: ikr :)
Amy: did y’all kiss?
Dan: no, we came to mine and played mk
Amy: smh so typical of you
Dan: shut up
Amy: soz lol
Amy: did he go back to his for the night
Dan: no, hes staying over
Amy: ‘,:)
Dan: wtf is that lmao??
Dan: and istg it’s still innocent okay, i’m on the couch
Amy: i saw it on tumblr
Amy: why aren’t u sharing a bed? lord knows ur bed is big enough for you and another fifty giants
Dan: i dont wanna be weird
Amy: fair enough
Amy: want me to come over later tmrw so u guys have space?
Dan: sure. U can have the day off if u want
Amy: aight thx boss
Amy: i’m gonna go to sleep now, night. Enjoy ur day tmrw ;)
Dan: you need to stop lol
Dan: night
Dan put his phone down on the coffee table and closed his eyes but his phone buzzed again. He picked it up thinking Amy must have forgotten something or it was his grandma or someone else who wanted to get into contact with him and was surprised to see Phil’s name.
Phil: i didn’t get the chance to say good night, so good night
Dan smiled goofily while he replied.
Dan: good night
Dan: would have thought you’d be sleep by now
Phil: your bed is too comfy
Dan: ‘too comfy’? That’s why u can’t sleep? Lol
Phil: yes. it’s a srs problem. i’m also thirsty
Dan: u could have told me earlier, i’d have brought a water in for you
Phil: no it’s fine
Dan: shush, i’ll bring one now
Phil: dan u srsly don’t have to, idc
Dan: phil, be quiet
Dan groaned while he sat up and stretched out, thankful to be out of the cramped position he was in. He ignored the mess on the coffee table but took the pizzas to the fridge. He grabbed a glass and filled it with water, knocking on his bedroom door lightly before entering and setting the glass down on the bedside table next to Phil.
“You didn’t have to,” Phil muttered, looking up at Dan from his comfortable position under the covers.
“It’s fine, I had to put the pizzas away anyway.”
Phil was silent before sighing. “I should have helped with that.”
“Phil, shush. I don’t care doing it myself. You always look after me really well when I’m staying over at yours, the least I can do is return the favour. Which I’m happy to do.”
“Okay.”
“Do you need anything else?” Dan asked.
He heard some rustling and Dan laughed.
“Phil, it’s literally pitch black in here. I have no clue what you just did.”
Phil giggled. “I shook my head. Thank you.”
“No worries. Good night,” Dan said, making his way to the bedroom door and trying his hardest not to trip over anything. He successfully made it with no injuries and was just about to close the bedroom door when he heard Phil.
“Dan?”
Dan pushed the door back open a little. “Hm?”
“You need a better couch.”
Dan smiled. “I know. I’ll look tomorrow.”
He was closing the door again when Phil said, “Wait. I mean you can’t sleep on the couch, that’s not fair.”
“Phil, for the last time, I don’t care that you have my bed,” Dan said amused before a thought dawned on him. “Do you want to go back to yours? I can call a taxi.”
“No, of course not,” Phil replied with a tone that made Dan’s words seem like they were the most ridiculous things he’d ever heard. Phil turned to pull the doona away from the empty space beside him and he patted it.
Dan was silent for a few seconds, a lump in his throat. “Are you sure?” he managed to say.
There was some rustling again before Phil said, “Yeah. Unless you don’t want to...”
“Don’t be daft,” Dan said, walking into the bedroom and closing the door behind him.
He got under the covers as carefully as he could and turned to lean on his right side and faced Phil, Phil turning to lie on his left side to do the same.
“Hello,” Dan smiled.
“Hey.”
“I don’t think me being here will help you get to sleep any faster,” Dan said.
“Who knows. There’s something calming about you,” Phil said.
“Yeah?”
“Mhm.”
“Even after my freakout earlier?”
“It was barely a ‘freakout’, but yes. Even after that.”
Dan felt the same strange fluttery feeling Phil always seemed to cause that no one else could.
“Good night,” Dan whispered.
“Night,” Phil yawned.
They both fell asleep quickly and at peace.