Chapter Text
It was tough to find a more prestigious school than Weston Finishing School for Young Adults. At least, that was the general feeling of everyone who ever heard of it. So, when Phil Lester had gotten his acceptance letter to the academy with a full ride scholarship, Phil’s family had been ecstatic.
Phil, however, wasn’t sure at first, but quickly adjusted to being away from his family and the rigorous coursework. He even made a few friends, like PJ in videography class and Chris in English Literature.
His problems started the moment he first set eyes on Daniel Howell.
Phil was in his second year at Weston. Unfortunately, graduating required some kind of physical education credit, so Phil had to take General Fitness. It wasn’t so bad. The teacher was pretty laidback and let them do whatever they wanted, as long as it was some kind of exercise. Phil personally chose to walk laps around the track.
On one particular day, Phil was doing his usual laps, counting down until the 50 minute class ended. In the middle of the circle, a bunch of boys were stretching and warming up.
Phil remembered seeing a notice in his emails about football tryouts being today. He didn’t mind the sport, as long as he wasn’t the one playing it. He just liked watching the players with their short shorts and knee high socks, especially the ones with cute rears just like that one in the middle…
The boy he was checking out suddenly straightened and turned around and suddenly Phil forgot how to breathe.
Tanned skin and toned thighs gave way to a gorgeous face with deep mocha eyes and a matching hair fringe. Sweat made his skin gleam and Phil started fantasizing licking the sweat off while kissing those soft petal pink lips.
Phil snapped out of his daydream when the bell rang out across the field. Damn, he was going to be late for Physics. As he jogged back to the locker room to change, he spared the pretty lad one last look and thought maybe he’s worth being late to class for.
-
The next time he saw the boy was a week later in the school newsletter. Football was kind of a big thing at Weston, so the team usually got a whole, full-colored page that announced the new players. As Phil was thumbing through the letter at breakfast, he nearly choked on his orange juice when he spotted the boy’s grinning face staring back at him.
“Phil, are you ok?” PJ asked, reaching over to thump the other boy on the back.
Phil managed to wheeze out some excuse about the juice going down the wrong pipe and got back to examining the paper.
The boy was posing with his hands on his hips, one foot planted firmly on top of a football as the sun shone behind his head. He looked like an actual angel and Phil glanced at the name on the bottom, tracing the words carefully with a finger.
Daniel Howell, Freshman, #11
So, the boy’s name was Daniel. Phil whispered the name and liked the weight of it on his tongue.
-
The next time he saw Daniel was the exact same day, in the flesh and in his Trigonometry class. The lad had the audacity to waltz in like he owned the damn place and flash a grin at the teacher, Mrs. Davidson.
“Hello,” Daniel said, and his posh accent made Phil’s insides melt, “I just transferred here and this is my first day of classes. Is this Trigonometry II?”
“Yes, you must be Daniel.” the teacher said as she rifled through her papers.
The boy smiled again. “Oh, I just go by ‘Dan’.”
“Dan.” Mrs. Davidson repeated as she made a note on her attendance sheet. “Right, Dan. The class seems to be full, but I think I see an empty seat back there, next to Mr. Lester.”
At the sound of his name, Phil’s head shot up, heart pounding as he saw Dan staring right at him. Then, he was coming his way and Phil could feel his palms getting sweaty and Dan must surely see how labored Phil’s breathing had gotten.
By the time Dan was standing in front of him, Phil was pretty sure he was in the throes of a panic attack.
“Hi, this seat taken?” Dan asked, and good Lord, if his smile was dazzling at a distance, Phil was not ready for the full effect up close and just on him.
Phil didn’t trust himself to speak, so he just shook his head, turning quickly away so Dan wouldn’t see his blush.
There was a shuffle as Dan took a seat and Phil wondered how on earth he was going to survive the school year with this perfect being sitting next to him.
-
During his first year at Weston, Phil made a point not to attend social events. They were too crowded and noisy and always ended up in Phil counting down the seconds until he was back in his dorm room.
This was probably why, when PJ jokingly asked if Phil would like to go to the upcoming football match this weekend, he surprised everyone, including himself, when he said yes.
So, Friday evening, he found himself in the middle of a screaming crowd as the Weston Hydras ran up and down the field. Everyone was focused on the black and white ball, but Phil found his eye drawn to the bench, where a player with a number, ‘11’, on his back was sitting. His back was to the crowd, so all Phil could see was Dan’s last name and number emblazoned on his red uniform.
Somewhere, a whistle blew. An official looking guy, presumably the coach, gestured to Dan and suddenly, the boy was up and running to join the game on the field.
Even if Phil hadn’t noticed him before, he would have stared at Dan anyway. The boy was so fluid on the field, every move made him look as if he were made of water. Judging by the sudden chattering around Phil, the crowd had noticed this too.
Weston ended up losing that night, but Dan had played beautifully, even scoring a goal, and Phil found himself cheering and screaming with the crowd as he did so.
-
The following Monday, Phil knew there was a different energy across campus. Now that everyone knew Dan’s fantastic athleticism, every time Phil saw him he was swarmed by people. A girl in Trig had even offered Dan a seat next to her, which Dan politely declined as he took his usual spot next to Phil. This had caused a warm feeling to start growing in Phil’s chest and he didn’t stop smiling for the rest of the day.
-
A couple of weeks passed. Phil went to two more matches and Dan was obviously a rising star and becoming more popular within the school. Phil honestly wasn’t surprised. Dan’s good looks, along with his sportiness, made him a prime candidate for popularity. A group of girls always seemed to be around Dan, laughing and hanging on to his every word.
-
“Alright, everyone.” Mrs. Davidson announced, “It’s everyone’s favorite time of year: project time.”
The way she delivered this news in a flat voice was echoed in the groans of her students. Her next words elicited more moans of anguish and Phil was pretty sure he heard someone in the front burst into tears.
“Everyone, please, find a partner.”
There was a mad scramble as everyone tried to pair off. The goal of finding a partner was to not be the last one out, because then you’d look weird. Phil was well acquainted with being the one person who was chosen last and had resigned himself to it, not even moving from his chair.
Everyone seemed to want to be partners with Dan. There was a line and everything of eager people shoving each other out of the way as they tried to get close.
A sudden movement out of the corner of Phil’s eye caused him to turn in that direction. Dan had leaned over the space between their desks and was addressing Phil.
“Want to be partners?”
‘Yes’, ‘Always’, and ‘Have my babies’ flashed through Phil’s mind, but he just gave a small smile and said, “Sure.” His voice wobbled a bit, but it was clear. Nailed it.
“Cool.” said Dan before he pushed their desks together.
The teacher passed out a packet of worksheets for them to do and the room fell silent as people began to work.
Dan was quiet, his brow furrowed in concentration as he examined a problem. Phil had a little trouble focusing, too aware of the way the other boy was biting his bottom lip.
“Do you understand the fourth problem?” Dan suddenly asked.
Phil glanced at the paper. “Nope, not a clue.”
Dan grinned, “Nice to know we’re a winning combination, then.”
“No, no.” Phil scooted closer, determined to redeem himself and show Dan what a great choice of partner he’d made, “I’m sure we can figure this out together.”
“Alright.” said Dan, “Are you busy tonight?”
Phil’s heart started doing somersaults. “No, why?”
“Maybe we can get together and work it out.” Dan shrugged, “Only if you want to.”
“No-I mean- yeah.” Phil quickly stammered out. “Where and what time?”
“I would say my room, but I’ve got a pretty loud roommate.” Dan said, “And my last class is at 4, so I’m free afterwards.”
“We can go to mine.” Phil said, “I don’t have a roommate this year, and does 4:30 sound good?”
“Sounds perfect.” Dan answered, smiling that blinding smile, which Phil returned.
-
When Phil’s last class of the day got out, he immediately went to his dorm and started tidying. It was more complicated than he originally thought. He wanted the room to appear neat for Dan, but he started worrying that it would look too neat, making Dan suspicious.
He was right in the middle of wondering if he should leave a pile of laundry in the middle of the floor when there was a knock on his door.
Phil had never seen Dan outside of his school and football uniforms, so he almost didn’t recognize the casually dressed boy standing in the hall in jeans and a T-shirt.
“Wow.” Dan said as he walked in. “This is nice. Does your TV work, because my roommate broke ours.”
After they got settled on the floor, their textbooks, calculators and pencils between them, they got down to work.
Dan, it turned out, was an incredibly easy person for Phil to talk to. Phil was used to awkward silences and internal panic as he tried to think of something not weird to say. However, when he slipped up around Dan and began talking about why there are no lemon-flavored milkshakes, the other boy let out a burst of laughter, rather than give him a funny look.
It felt weird, but he and Dan seemed to function on the exact same wavelength, getting into hot debates over stupid things and cracking jokes that would make the other person dissolve into giggles.
By the time 8 o’clock rolled around (which was hard to believe that four hours went by just like that), they had fallen into an easy banter and had gotten half the Trig packet done.
“Hey, come to the game this Friday.” Dan said as he was gathering his things. “We’re playing Oakenheath and I want you to be there to bring me luck.”
“Yeah, alright.” Phil said, refraining from telling Dan that he was going anyway just to stare at him.
“Try to get a seat in the front, next to the bench. That way I can see you.”
Phil felt a swooping sensation in his gut and he suddenly felt extremely lighter. “Ok, I’ll try.”
“See you, Phil.”
After Phil closed the door, he fist-pumped in victory, not caring who saw it.