Chapter Text
p.
cold.
that was a basic summary of phil’s feelings when he was stood in the middle of the train station. condensation from his breath came and dissipated as soon as it had appeared. he felt the sensation of someone crossing his grave, his thin jacket not doing much for him. why he decided it wasn’t going to be that cold that evening was mystery to him; as was the idea of travelling to the even colder location of scotland for a somewhat spontaneous holiday. five years and one and a half degrees into uni, and phil was yet to have an actual holiday. yes, he had visited his parents, and yes he had taken the odd train however many minutes out of london to see what surrounded him - but he had not had an actual holiday, for just him. which is why he stood there in the centre of the london subway, trying to figure out which direction to take to make it to his platform. phil was bad at directions at the best of times. so when he was put in a situation where he was freezing cold at 9pm at night and under the stress of locating a train that was destined to leave in the next 10 minutes, one can imagine his state of mind.
“left... no wait... platform 9? right... oh wait no it is left” phil mumbled to himself, looking back and forth between the platform numbers and the timetable with the ever ticking timer for his train.
“shit” phil blurted as he heard a train whistle signalling it’s impending descent, almost dropping his phone from
his hand. phil wasn’t one to curse a lot, but he also wasn’t one to be late, so he felt the situation was fitting. he grabbed his suitcase, which had been sitting next to him patiently for the past 5 minutes and ran. phil also wasn’t one to run, especially with 12 kilo luggage, plus a 3 kilo backpack, holding him down. the click of his suitcase wheels and the smack of his thin souled shoes against the brick floor echoed throughout the empty station. empty, because who else was taking a train to edinburgh at 9.05pm on a tuesday night apart from phil?
smack
“ah, fuck, ow!”
oh yeah nice going phil, way to run into literally the only other person in the station. damn that hurt...
“oh my god! i’m so sorry!” phil exclaimed trying to simultaneously make sure the stranger was okay while also moving toward his platform.
“fucking watch where you’re going mate”.
phil stopped in his tracks. he was shocked to say the least. sure, he had ran into the man but the reaction he had received was completely uncalled for. the man rose to full height, which was to phil’s surprise quite tall, as few rose to the same height as he.
and eye contact was made. the tall stranger gave off a demeanour that wasn’t quite cold, although his attitude provided otherwise. the weather seemed warm compared to the look he was being given by the guy. there was an edge of mystery to the man with the bad attitude, and phil didn’t know if he liked it or not. the first impression had him leaning toward the latter.
“it was an accident, there’s no need to be rude about it. i apologised” phil retorted, confusion and defensiveness etched into his voice.
“just shove off, yeah? i don’t need pricks like you ruining my night” the stranger replied, grabbing the strap of his bag tight over his shoulder and pushing past phil to make his way to god knows where.
“twat” phil whispered to himself as the mystery man walked away in a hurry. it’s always the cute ones that disappoint the most.
phil turned around to pick up his phone, which he had somehow, yet not surprisingly, managed to drop in the heated disputation. when he went to face back toward his platform. the man was gone... thank god.
—
phil huffed as he pulled his luggage onto the train with 1 minute to spare, quite a record. he was sure his face was as red as his skin was white, no doubt due to his lack of exercise. his excuse to his mum had always been that he couldn’t afford gym membership. her retort was usually along the lines of that he didn’t need a gym when he had the entirety of london to run around. valid as that point be, phil would never admit that to his mum, and would just argue back with indistinguishable sounds.
back to reality, phil noticed the crew member in bright red lipstick standing to his side, with a slightly concerned, but mostly judgemental look on her face.
“sir? are you alright? have you got your ticket?” the woman spoke, talking in the queen’s english. not unlike the man phil had run into prior, he realised.
“yes... yes i’m fine... and yes i do...” phil puffed out, still trying to catch his breath between words, pulling his ticket out his pocket and handing it to the lady.
“ah... yes mr. lester. we have been waiting for you... you have booked a sleeping carriage yes? just this way” she stated, not actually giving phil any chance to say anything. before phil could get in a word, the crew lady had turned around and started trotting down the carriage.
wordlessly, not that he had much choice in that, phil followed the fast paced lady down the carriage. by the time they had passed through 2 carriages of surprisingly full seats the woman spoke up from the silence that surrounded them.
“now mr lester,” she spoke as they started to make their way to the sleeping carriages “due to full bookings from previous stops, and your lateness in arrival, there has been a slight seating issue”.
the narrow passageway seemed to become narrower, phil’s heart skipping a beat.
‘is she suggesting a shared room? between me and someone else?’
phil’s internal monologue haunted him, the thought of having to spend an entire night in the same cramped room as a stranger looming in his head as he formulated a response.
“i am not sure how long your roommate will be remaining on the train for, but we apologise for this inconvenience” the lady added, unintentionally interrupting phil’s almost question, but nonetheless answering it.
a roommate. carriage mate? either way, another person. all phil wanted to do was wash away the effects of his late night coffee with a few hours spent watching whatever crap he could find on netflix in his own silence and presence. now he had to share it with another. phil did not want this at all, but he was generally a nice person and didn’t want to complain. especially since the lady was probably the same lady who would be near his food. ahead he realised that the lady had stopped and put her hand on a dodgy looking door knob, the number 14 nailed above it. her eyes looked expectantly at him, waiting for the response she wanted.
“oh... okay that should be fine i suppose...” phil stammered, crumbling under the gaze of this woman.
phil received a toothy smile from the lady, one that he was sure was fake, but was convincing nonetheless. the gap between her two front teeth was highlighted by a smear of her red lipstick which had gone astray.
“oh that’s great” she replied, almost hissing between words. her hand twisted on the door knob she was holding, opening it in a swift movement.
“mr who-elle? your roommate has arrived”
phil began to move toward the door, nodding his head down as he came close to the small door way. but then he heard the voice that he didn’t even need to look up to recognise. phil didn’t want to believe that a coincidence like this would happen to him. yes, the universe seemed to have an affinity with putting him in awkward social situations, but this would just be too much. but when phil raised his head back up to eye level his fears were confirmed
“it’s howel-“
the no-longer-mystery man, howell, stopped mid sentence when he saw phil. confusion crossed through his eyes, before letting all emotion slack from his face, leaving a blank canvas. a silence blanketed the two men, a staring contest presented itself to see which could present themselves as the most emotionally void.
“my apologies sir. mr lester, you may store your bag in the cupboard just outside her-“
“is there anywhere else i can go?” phil interrupted. he was not spending his night with the man who had verbally abused him a mere 10 minutes ago. the crew lady look quite taken aback, but regained herself almost immediately, plastering on her fake smile once again.
“there may be a few regular seats available, but they would not encompass your luggage and you paid for a bed. we do not provide refunds mr lester”
“of course you don’t” mumbled phil under his breath so only he could hear. she was right. he paid for this seat, and he was nowhere near financially stable enough to just throw away the extra money he had spent. he can’t speak for the man across from him though...
“what about him then? he can’t leave either?” phil snapped bitterly. his own rudeness shocked him, as well as howell and the crew lady. how could god hate him this much as to put him in this situation.
“excuse you, but i also paid for this seat. i’m not going anywhere” howell sneered back, leaving the crew lady with an expression of confusion and shock. the glare that phil was receiving from this man, who couldn’t have been older than 20, was so full of resentment that phil’s reciprocated glare almost faltered.
“okay,” the lady interrupted, clearly unsure of what was ensuing, “all sleeping rooms have been exhausted, this is the only one left where there is less than two people”
phil’s stomach dropped.
“i can inform you when a room opens up if you would like, although it is unlikely as most people won’t be getting off at 1am, especially not ones with a room booked”
silence for what seemed like the 10th time ensued. phil could wait for another room to open up, it’s not like he was going to be sleeping anytime soon anyway. phil broke eye contact from the man, who was also clearly now deep in thought, the cogs behind his eyes whirring at what to do. this howell guy would probably go to sleep soon anyway. phil could do this for a few hours. he has done harder and been trough worse social situations. or has he?
“...fine” phil spoke hardly above a whisper.
“fine” howell retorted, as if it was a competition.
this was going to be a long night.