Chapter Text
Dan reached into his pocket in response to the small buzz that had come from his phone to see a text from his roommate, Josh. “ETA?” it read. He typed out a quick response promising to check, then headed over to the flight information board to check his plane’s estimated arrival.
He arrived at the screens at the same time as another man around his age, who Dan immediately noticed was, well, incredibly handsome. Just as he tried to find his flight number, all of the boards flashed with the message “FLIGHT BA2491A TO LONDON - CANCELLED.”
“Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck.”
Dan didn’t mean to swear as loudly as he did, and blushed when the raven-haired man next to him chuckled. Since when did Dan start referring to people as “raven-haired?” What was he talking about?
He was jolted from his thoughts by someone asking, “London?” He didn’t realize they were talking to him, but glanced over to see the man looking at him.
“Yeah,” Dan muttered. He was not a fan of talking to random strangers in airports, even incredibly handsome ones. God, what’s gotten into me? He wasn’t normally like this. Especially not to strangers. At the very least, he could normally get through one sentence without thinking of someone as “raven-haired” and “incredibly handsome.”
“Me, too. Although, I guess this isn’t the worst airport to get stuck in… I’m Phil, by the way.”
“Dan. Nice to meet you. Uh, what brings you to Isle of Man?” Dan supposed that if he was going to be stuck here, he might as well talk to someone.
“Family. You?”
“Just visiting some old friends for a few days.” Phil’s response had been so blunt, Dan kept his pretty short as well. Maybe he was annoying Phil and should just shut up. Or maybe he was just overthinking things. Fuck.
Dan’s phone buzzed against his leg again, reminding him of why he was checking the flights in the first place.
“Crap, that’ll be my roommate. I gotta reply to this, sorry,”
“It’s ok. I should go try to figure out a flight. See you around, Dan,”
“Bye.”
Dan assumed that would be the last of their interaction. Even though they both lived in London, apparently, it didn’t mean they’d see each other around, the way Phil had suggested. London was a pretty big city, after all. He couldn’t help but hope, just a little bit, but instead of dwelling on that, Dan opened up his phone to check his text from Josh.
Josh: dude it cant be taking that long to check how long your flights gonna be
Dan: fuck sorry.
Dan: it got cancelled
Dan: have to wait till morning. maybe longer
Josh: damn. gettin kinda boring around here w/out you
Dan: sorry. be home asap
Josh: k
Dan considered telling Josh about Phil, but decided against it last minute. He really didn’t want to be getting a crush on some random guy from the airport based solely on the two sentences they’d exchanged, and telling Josh would only solidify his feelings. Hell, he barely even knew anything about this guy. All he knew is that he lived in London and had family on Isle of Man.
He headed to the desk to inquire about his flight, only to discover that all flights to London had been cancelled until the next morning due to bad weather. He gave Josh the heads-up that he would be stuck overnight, then decided to head to the nearest place selling food. That place just so happened to be a Burger King, and Dan just so happened to run into Phil while in said Burger King. Quite literally run into him.
He was looking down at his phone, texting with Josh, when he slammed into someone.
“Fuck. Sorry.” He looked up only to see that that someone was Phil. “Fuck,” he said again.
“Hey, Dan,” Phil said, laughing. “Told you I’d see you around.”
“I’m really sorry.” Dan couldn’t help but chuckle a little bit, too; Phil’s smile really was contagious.
“It’s alright. You might wanna watch where you’re going, though; next time it might not be someone as good natured as me.”
“Sorry,” Dan muttered.
“What are you getting?” Phil asked, changing the subject.
“Uh..” Dan hadn’t actually had a chance to check the menu yet, and he didn’t usually end up in Burger Kings in airports talking to strangers about menu items. Are we still strangers? Probably. “Probably a cheeseburger, those are good, I guess. I don’t normally eat at Burger King.”
“Me neither. I have no idea what to get. Maybe I’ll just copy you and get a cheeseburger, but without the cheese.”
Dan couldn’t help the incredulousness in his voice. “A cheeseburger without the cheese? Isn’t that just a plain burger?”
“Oh. Right. Probably.” Phil giggled. It was rare that Dan had an excuse to use the word “giggled,” but whatever noise just came out of Phil’s mouth definitely qualified as a giggle. Dan almost rolled his eyes at himself for all the words he was using to describe Phil in his head, but narrowly avoided it, thank god. It really would have looked like he was rolling his eyes at Phil, and that would have made him look like a total dick.
They ended up eating their burgers together at an uncomfortable plastic table. The chairs made Dan feel like he was in primary school again. They chatted a little bit about their families and their roommates, and Dan learned that the two of them had a lot in common - they both had brothers, they both got along quite well with their roommates, and they both liked to play Mario Kart. They also realized they only lived a few blocks away from each other in London, and even frequently inhabited the same Starbucks.
“How have we not met each other before? It doesn’t make any sense. We’re practically the same person,” Dan said. “Hell, we even go to the same Starbucks! Do you know how often I’m in Starbucks?” Dan was genuinely confused about how he didn’t already know this guy.
“Maybe we’ve seen each other before and just didn’t notice? I mean, there are a lot of people in that Starbucks.”
“Maybe.” Dan was pretty sure he’d have noticed if he had seen Phil before, though. For one, he was almost as tall as Dan, and that was pretty damn tall. He was also, as Dan couldn’t stop thinking about, incredibly handsome, and had a pretty big personality - he was wearing a bright red sweater with ladybug spots all over it, and Dan got the feeling wearing something as brightly colored as that wasn’t unusual for him. It suited him, though. It brings out the bright blue of his eyes. There he went again. Thinking about Phil’s appearance while he was supposed to be having a conversation.
“Speaking of Starbucks - I could really use some coffee. Do you know if there's one around here?” Dan really was starting to get tired. It was already 9pm, but he might as well get caffeinated if he was gonna be stuck at the airport until the next day.
“There must be,” Phil replied, tapping his chin in thought. “Hey! I know! We can try all the holiday drinks!”
“You know what, why not? It’s not like we’re in a hurry.”
They got up and threw out their trash, then headed into the long, plain airport hallway to try and find a Starbucks. They walked past plenty of little shops, selling things like magazines, candy, and makeup. Why anyone would want to buy makeup from an airport stand, Dan had no idea. He also learned that Phil had a bit of a sweet tooth, as he insisted they stop and get candy along the way. Dan expected him to just get something little, like a bag of M&Ms, but instead he came out of the shop with an entire plastic bag of all sorts of candy.
“That is so much candy, Phil. Are you really going to eat all of that?” Shit. Dan realized too late how judgemental that might have sounded, but luckily Phil didn’t seem to take it that way.
“I couldn’t decide, so I got one of everything,” Phil said, giggling again. God, that giggle had to be one of the cutest things Dan had ever heard. “Besides, there’s two of us, and we’ve got all night. We might as well stock up on some snacks.”
At that, Dan blushed a little bit. Did Phil really plan on spending all night with him? Dan wasn’t complaining, of course, but he also wasn’t expecting that.
“Well, alright, then,” Dan agreed after regaining his composure. This one guy who he barely knew shouldn’t be ruffling his feathers this much. “That’s still a shit tonne of candy, though.”
“Oh, it’s not just candy. There’s popcorn and marshmallows, too!” Phil had already started walking, and Dan had to jog a little to catch up.
“Marshmallows?” Dan asked, incredulous.
“Yeah! We can add them to coffee. They taste pretty good on their own, too.”
“And popcorn? Is there even a microwave around here?”
“I’m sure we can find one. We can do anything we set our hearts to, Dan!” Phil was so enthusiastic, Dan couldn’t help but feel like they really could do anything.
“So, we can just make a microwave materialize if we can’t find one?” Dan might have felt inspired by Phil’s little speech, but he couldn’t help teasing him a little bit. Phil never responded, though, because he saw the Starbucks at the end of the hall and began to, well, skip towards it, dragging his suitcase and bag of candy behind him. Dan jogged a bit to catch up, and by the time he got there, Phil was waiting in line, out of breath.
“Why’d you run? It’s not like we’re in a hurry,” Dan said in between gasps for breath. He really hated running. A lot.
“I don’t know.” Phil was panting, too, but he wasn’t as out of breath as Dan. “I got excited, I guess. I really don’t like to run, though, I don’t know what I was thinking.” Dan laughed and agreed. The line was moving fast, though, and by the time they had both caught their breath, they were at the front of the line.
“What can I get you guys?” The woman working the counter looked exhausted, and spoke in a completely monotone voice with no emotion on her face. Dan forgave her for her sullenness, though, because it was almost 10pm and she must have dealt with a crap tonne of grumpy airport goers today.
“We’ll take one of all of your holiday specials, please.” At Phil’s request, the cashier definitely showed some emotion - pure confusion.
“All of them? You know there’s more than 20, right?”
Seeing Phil was about to nod his head, Dan cut in.
“Why don’t you pick five of your favorites?” he suggested to the woman. And then to Phil, he said, “We really won’t be able to get through 20 cups of coffee. Even if we’ve got all night.”
Phil still looked a little disappointed, but agreed in the end. Dan knew they’d be better off without 20 cups of coffee to get through.
When the coffee was finally done, Dan steered them to the booths in one of the terminals. It was still pretty uncomfortable, but less so then the plastic tables they’d eaten their burgers at. After trying - and finishing - all of the coffee, both Dan and Phil were very hyper. Dan solved this problem by fidgeting and bouncing his knee, but Phil, being much less shy, quite literally got up and began skipping around the mostly empty terminal.
Phil hopped back to Dan and did a little twirl in front of him, then started dancing to whatever shitty music airports played at 11pm. Dan realized that, with every stupid thing Phil did, Dan’s crush only grew. He laughed and pulled out his phone camera to record Phil. He wanted to remember this night forever, even if he never saw Phil again. He really didn’t like the idea of that, though. He decided that he would see this dork again, even if he didn’t quite know how or when that would happen.
After he recorded for a couple minutes, Phil came over and sat down next to him, a little out of breath. Phil pulled his phone out of his pocket and then sat it down again.
“Shit. My phone’s dead.”
“Wait, you swore! I think I’m a bad influence on you.”
Phil giggled again. “Nah. I swear a lot. But I lose my filter more when I’m this caffeinated.”
“Well, do you have a charger?” Dan asked.
Phil reached into his smaller carry-on bag and fished around for a while.
“Crap. I think it’s in my suitcase or something.”
“Well, let's find it then.” Dan had already flipped Phil’s suitcase unto its back and started unzipping it. When he flipped the top open, he discovered that his earlier assumption that Phil wore bright clothes all the time was confirmed. Everything in his suitcase was blindingly bright.
After digging though his suitcase together for a while, Dan finally felt his hand hit something metal. He pulled the cord out victoriously.
“Ha! Found the bastard.”
Phil cheered.
“Wait, where’s the adaptor cube?”
“Crap. Uhh.. I don’t see one. Did you feel anything?”
“Nope.”
“I might have left it at my parent’s house. I can text my brother, I think he’s still there. Wait, never mind, my phone’s dead. Can’t do that.”
“Did the place we got the candy from have chargers? We could buy a cube there,” Dan suggested.
“Yeah, I think so. Field trip!” Phil hopped up from his seat on the floor, then promptly sat down again. “Wait, do you know where it is?”
“Hang on. Their website has a map I can pull up… This says it’s a five minute walk from here.”
“I’m gay and caffeinated, it’ll only take three. Let’s go.”
Oh. Phil was gay. It hadn’t even occurred to Dan that he wouldn’t be. Of course he shouldn't have assumed, but it was ok that he had because Phil was. Thank god, Phil was gay.
Dan must have froze up because Phil turned to look at him funny.
“Everything ok?” Dan could almost watch Phil close off a little. “Unless there’s something wrong with me being gay...”
“No no no, of course not. Me too. I mean, I’m gay, too. Well, not gay. Bi. There’s nothing wrong with being gay. Sorry.” Dan tripped over his words so many times, he wasn’t sure if Phil knew what he meant, but he seemed to understand because Phil began to look relieved.
“Ok. Good. Me too. Bi, I mean. I’m bi too.” Dan laughed at their awkwardness, and Phil joined in. Dan stood up off the floor, and extended a hand to Phil.
“Shall we go get your phone charger, then?”
Phil grasped his hand, and Dan blushed a little at the sudden contact.
“Let’s go.”
Dan expected Phil to let go of his hand once he stood up, but he didn’t, grabbing his suitcase in his other hand and pulling Dan in the direction of the shop.
“Wait!” Dan laughed. “I gotta grab my suitcase.”
“Oops.” Phil looked sheepish, and dropped Dan’s hand, blushing. “Sorry.”
Dan, also blushing, just grabbed Phil’s hand back in response.
“It’s ok. That is, if it’s ok with you?”
Phil just squeezed his hand a little and set off once again.
Still holding hands, they soon arrived at the shop. It really did only take them about three minutes, but Dan wasn’t sure whether that was because they were “gay and caffeinated,” as Phil had said, or just because the airport was so empty. There really are surprisingly few people here. Maybe everyone went to hotels. That would have been a good idea. Oh. No. It wouldn't have. I wouldn’t get this night with Phil.
After they grabbed a cube, Phil suggested they go find the terminal back for the flight back to London so they could be ready when the time came. After wandering the airport for another 10 minutes, they finally found a packed terminal full of all the Londoners. That must be where all the people went. They just came here instead of wandering the airport.
Phil spotted a charging port across the room and pulled Dan in that direction. They finally wove their way over there - it would have been a lot easier to let go of each other, but neither of them seemed willing to do so.
“Crap. All the spots are taken. Do you see another one?” Phil asked. He was still holding his giant bag of candy, which he waved in the air. “We can eat all this as soon as we get my phone plugged in.”
“Do you wanna go over to another empty terminal? I think the one we were in before had a plug.”
“Ok!” Phil still seemed cheerful from the coffee, but Dan felt like he was starting to crash a little and really just wanted to sit down.
“There’s one right over there.” He raised the hand that was holding Phil’s to point them in the right direction. Holding Phil’s hand. He was holding Phil’s hand! Even in his mildly delirious and exhausted state, he couldn’t help but smile.
With every passing second, Dan was getting more and more tired. As the effects of caffeine wore off, his body seemed to start to remember that it was nearly 2am. After Phil plugged in his phone, Dan pulled a charger out of his bag and plugged his in, too, not thinking anything of it.
“Wait! You had a charger this whole time?” Phil seemed very awake still.
“Shit. I did.” Dan started laughing, and Phil did, too. They eventually collapsed on one of the benches together, and Dan rested his head on Phil’s shoulder.
“I’m sleepy,” Dan mumbled into Phil’s shoulder, probably barely audible.
“Go to sleep then, Dan,” Phil whispered back.
“Mkay.” Dan curled up on the bench, his head in Phil’s lap, and almost instantly fell asleep.
------
Dan awoke what must have been a few hours later with Phil shaking his shoulder gently.
“Dan… Wake up. I gotta go, they just called my flight.”
“Wait, you’re leaving?” Dan was suddenly very awake and sat up straight. Not yet! Phil can't be leaving! He felt he could spend forever with Phil, and they only had a couple minutes left, maybe less.
“Yeah. I’ll miss you, Dan.” Phil started to stand up, but Dan grabbed his hand.
“Wait. Gimme your phone.” Phil unlocked his phone and handed it to Dan, who quickly added himself to Phil’s contacts. “Call me. I wanna see you again. I really like you, Phil.”
He wasn’t normally this blunt, but he was tired, and this was his last chance to persuade Phil to see him again.
“I really like you, too, Dan.” Phil’s voice was softer than Dan had ever heard it. “I’ll call, I promise.”
Phil leaned forward and kissed Dan on the cheek. “See you around, Dan.”
And with that, Phil walked away, leaving Dan flustered and blushing, standing in the middle of an airport terminal.