Chapter Text
Dan didn’t wake up until the sun had set, and luckily for him it was still going down early, around six each night. He stretched out on the couch, the blanket falling to the floor. “Ugh.” Dan frowned, opening his eyes just a crack before opening them fully and sitting up, confused. The flat was empty.
He reached forward and took a coconut water from where he had left it on the table, draining what was left in one drink. Dan used the back of his hand to wipe at his mouth and stood, swaying a bit on the spot. He was dizzy and disoriented from not sleeping in his own bed, hungry, and still wearing last night’s clothes.
Dan padded down the hall to the bathroom, shutting the door behind him and stripping out of his clothes. He turned the water to a halfway temperature and stepped in, hissing under his breath as the spray hit his body: it felt hot to him, but Dan knew he would get used to it. He shut his eyes and grabbed the shampoo, rubbing it into his hair and rinsing it out, the suds dripping into his eyes and mouth. While Dan washed off his body (he had a nice loofah and some fruity body wash that Phil kept buying; it was basically heaven-scented), he thought over the half-formed plan he’d come up with just before falling asleep.
It wasn’t necessarily complicated or difficult; Dan had a vague idea of what he would have to do in order to pull it off. He wanted to change the way things were, but he hadn’t finished university and didn’t have all the knowledge available to him to do what he wanted. And asking anyone else for help probably wouldn’t go well; Dan figured that the wounds from the bill failing last night were still fresh.
He rinsed off shortly after and stepped out of the shower, wiping the condensation off of the mirror to check his hair before remembering that he wouldn’t show in the reflection anyway.
Dan left the bathroom and got dressed before heading to the kitchen. He was still hungry. Dan kept dissolvable plasma tablets in the medicine cupboard just for occasions like these. The small bottle was right in front and Dan shook out two tablets from it, plopping them into a fresh coconut water that had been left on the counter. It had gone warm and there was a note next to it, the handwriting in Phil’s familiar neat style.
Dan -- left around 3 to run some errands and stop at Tesco’s. Text if you need anything, Phil x
There was a poorly-drawn cat head next to Phil’s name and Dan smiled to himself before glancing up at the oven clock. It was only half past six right now and Phil was notorious for taking hours to run basic errands, especially if he did it by himself. He was probably buying another houseplant by now and Dan laughed to himself, then sent a quick text to Phil: just lmk when you’re coming back. He pocketed his phone, grabbed the coconut water, and went to his bedroom. Now would be a good time to film a video, Dan mused as he sat down on his neatly-made bed. (That was definitely Zoe’s doing; Dan didn’t make his bed unless he was filming.)
He could make a chatty video about the bill being failed last night, or he could use one of the ideas that’d been lingering in a document on his computer for months by now. Pulling his laptop over from where he’d left it on the nightstand, Dan opened up the file of video ideas and glanced through them, but nothing was really catching his eye. Just as well, he thought, putting on makeup to film would undoubtedly be a nuisance.
Opening a new file and titling it ‘the fucking bill’, Dan proceeded to stare at the blank word document for a solid thirty seconds before a proper idea hit him and he began typing.
- - -
Three hours later (about half of which was spent scrolling through twitter and tumblr when Dan’s brain felt burnt out), Dan had a working script. It wasn’t the best thing he’d written, but it gave him room to improvise while still providing him with a specific enough idea to follow so that he wouldn’t end up waffling through the whole video.
It was nearing ten now and Dan still hadn’t heard from Phil. That had been in the back of his mind when he took breaks from writing, but Dan had just assumed that Phil would get back to him sooner rather than later. Pulling out his phone, Dan sent another text out to Phil: hey are you coming back tonight? It wasn’t totally unusual for Phil to not come back for the night, but this didn’t feel right to Dan. Phil wouldn’t say he was running errands and then go out with someone. Dan hesitated only another few seconds before texting Louise.
[To: Louise]
hey, have you heard from phil today?
[To: Dan]
Not since this morning when I left. Why?
[To: Louise]
he went out to run errands today round 3 but hasn’t texted me or come home yet
[To: Dan]
I’m sure he’s fine, silly. He might have gotten lost or distracted; you know how Phil gets when he goes shopping. :)
[To: Louise]
you’re probably right but this doesn’t feel like that to me idk. i’m still kinda worried
[To: Dan]
Maybe give him a ring, then, if you’re that anxious?
[To: Louise]
okay i’ll give it a shot
Dan dialed Phil, holding his breath without meaning to as the phone rang and rang and rang, eventually hitting his voicemail: “Hello, you’ve reached Phil Lester. Please leave your message after the beep and I’ll get back to you shortly!” The machine beeped and Dan cleared his throat. “Hey, Phil, sorry to call, just wanted to make sure you didn’t get lost or like buy an entire tree. I’ll see you later.” Dan hung up, drawing in a deep breath and letting it out slowly.
[To: Louise]
he didn’t pick up it rang for ages and he didn’t pick up louise
[To: Dan]
Dan, it’s going to be fine. Give it another half an hour or so before trying again. He could have met up with someone or just have not felt his phone go off.
[To: Louise]
i guess
[To: Dan]
Just hang tight, Dan, everything’s going to be fine. :)
- - -
Phil didn’t make it back until midnight. Dan had called him nearly eight times (not that he was keeping track) and had been texting Louise nonstop. She had tried to call Phil too, mostly to put Dan at ease, but he didn’t pick up for her either and now Dan was pacing around the main floor of the flat. His chest was tight with anxiety and he couldn’t bring himself to sit still. All of Dan’s senses were heightened, even more so than usual, meaning he had to deal with an extreme amount of sensory input: vampires generally had better senses than humans or even other magical creatures, and now every little thing was too much for Dan to deal with.
When he heard their front door open from down the stairs, Dan’s world narrowed down to that sound. It was Phil, he could hear his friend’s heart beating and even smell the scent that was so uniquely Phil that Dan never noticed it anyway. Dan was downstairs before registering that he had moved at all and stopped Phil at the base of their staircase. “Christ, Phil, I was losing it, why didn’t you pick up, you asshole?” Dan asked, crossing his arms over his chest and biting at his lip.
“Sorry,” Phil muttered, dropping the bags he’d been holding in both hands.
Dan sighed. “It’s fine, I’m glad you’re home, I just - “ Dan abruptly cut himself off, his nostrils flaring as he took in the new scent he hadn’t noticed before. “Phil, why do you smell of blood?” he asked, taking a careful step away from his friend and flipping the switch, grateful that they had replaced the light bulb.
Phil looked exhausted, more so than last night, and he was bleeding. Dan put a hand in front of his mouth as if in shock even though he was just trying to cover the fact that his fangs had dropped down fully at the smell. Phil’s elbows and palms were scratched up, the knees of his jeans were stained with a dark wetness, and his hair was sticking up every which way. “Fell and got lost,” Phil mumbled, refusing to meet Dan’s eyes.
“Like shit you fell!” Dan exclaimed, his brow furrowing. “Who did this?”
Phil shook his head, his mouth set in a thin line as he swayed where he stood. Dan swore under his breath before taking a step forward and wrapping his arms around Phil’s waist, ignoring the grocery bags for now. “C’mon, we’ll go upstairs and put you in bed, all right?” Phil dropped his head onto Dan’s shoulder, which Dan took as an affirmative, and half-helped, half-carried Phil up the stairs and to his bedroom, getting him into bed. “I’ll get you water and an apple and some paracetamol, just stay awake a bit longer, okay?” Dan leaned over Phil, whose eyes were closed, and tapped at his cheek. Phil didn’t move but his breathing was deep and even and Dan sighed, straightening up as he left the room. Phil was already sleeping.
[To: Louise]
phils back but he’s hurt like he was bleeding
[To: Dan]
Oh my God, what happened? Is he okay? Are you okay??
[To: Louise]
idk what happened he passed out after i got him in his bed.
and yes i’m fine
[To: Dan]
Please keep me updated, Dan. I hope he’ll be okay.
[To: Louise]
i will. me too. thanks for talking with me while i freaked out earlier lol
[To: Dan]
Don’t worry about it, I’m glad I was able to keep you company. :) I’m going to bed so have a good night! xx
[To: Louise]
thanks louise, you too x
- - -
In general, vampires aren’t supposed to stay up past sunrise. It’s not like it would kill anyone -- sunlight isn’t deadly, but it’s not good, either. Dan had forced himself to stay awake past sunrise by dipping into the blood bags that were frozen at the back of their freezer, thawing them and drinking with a wince. It was the equivalent of a human drinking a pot of coffee on their own; the more actual blood that Dan had in his system, the more awake he was likely to be. And he wanted to be awake when Phil was so that they could talk about this.
As it turned out, Phil woke up naturally around ten and shuffled out of his room, changed into pajama pants and Dan’s university hoodie. Dan was seated at the edge of the couch, his leg bouncing as he felt apprehension blossoming in his stomach like a weed. “Phil?” he prompted, trying to get his friend’s attention.
Phil paused, wincing slightly as he turned to face Dan. In the light of day, Dan could see a dark bruise on Phil’s right eye, a shiner. There was crusted blood on his split lip and Phil was paler than usual. “Why are you still up?” Phil asked after nearly a minute of silence.
“I was worried,” Dan answered. He shifted where he sat, turning his body so that he could face Phil. “What happened last night?”
Phil looked away from Dan, his mouth set in a line like it had been when he’d come in last night. “I was jumped, all right? But I’m fine, I’m not seriously hurt or dead or anything.”
“You were jumped?” Dan repeated, incredulous. “How would they even know, pixies and fey are so similar to humans.” In the back of Dan’s mind, he realized how much it spoke about the treatment of magical creatures that he wasn’t outraged over Phil being jumped as much as he was confused about how they knew he had magic blood to begin with.
“I don’t know, Dan!” Phil took a deep breath in, his nostrils flaring as he shut his eyes and calmed down, opening them again to look at Dan. “Sorry. I just - I want some coffee and to relax, that’s all. I’m really tired and my entire face hurts.”
A compulsion stirred in Dan and he stood, directing Phil to sit on the couch and tossing him a blanket when he did. “I’ll make your coffee, just sit here.” Phil nodded, though Dan could see he was confused (Dan was confused by himself as well, honestly; he couldn’t explain where the compulsion had come from and determined it was just because Phil was his best friend and he was hurt).
Dan returned with the coffee a few minutes later, knowing that Phil was a coffee plebeian and preferred the crappy instant stuff to brewed coffee, handing the mug to Phil before sitting down on the sofa next to him. He waited until Phil had taken a sip of the drink to ask, again, “What happened?”
Phil sighed, studying the contents of his coffee cup. “I already said I got jumped. I dunno how they knew - I’m a YouTuber and we do radio one, though, so there are lots of options, it’s not like it’s a complete mystery.” He glanced up at Dan and gave him a tired smile before looking back down. “It was just some humans, that’s all. I got rid of them eventually, but I had to use magic, which is why I’m tired, probably.”
“And because they beat the shit out of you,” Dan added.
Phil rolled his eyes. “Thanks, Dan. That was a helpful contribution.”
Dan grinned and then a thought hit him, his face growing serious. “This is because that law failed, isn’t it? Like, they’re going to start hunting us.”
“I don’t know, Dan. I need to rest and you need to go to sleep. Staying up like this can’t be any good for you.” Phil frowned and drained his coffee mug, setting it down on the coffee table decisively.
Dan pulled a face and Phil cracked a smile before he yawned. “Sleep is for the weak,” Dan replied.
Phil laughed and leaned back against the arm of the couch, opening his arms. “Come on then. I’m tired, you’re tired. Might as well.”
They hadn’t cuddled at all since Dan had been turned two years ago and Dan knew that it would be stupid of him to turn down an offer to cuddle, especially because Phil was the perfect temperature. Hearing a heartbeat would definitely help Dan fall asleep, too… “Okay,” Dan said, finally giving in and fighting back a smile. He had to pretend he didn’t want to sleep, keeping up the reputation and all.
He laid down in Phil’s embrace, his head resting against Phil’s chest. Dan could feel his heartbeat through the sweatshirt Phil was wearing and he felt his eyes slipping closed despite himself, even as Phil shifted down a bit so he was lying down, Dan stretched out on top of him. “G’night,” Dan mumbled, feeling Phil reach up and tug a blanket around the both of them.
“Night, Dan.”