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The reception hall seemed to grow louder as the sky got darker through the windows scattered around the room.
Dan was sat at a white, clothed, round table near the corner, as far away from the dance floor as possible. He was never one for dancing. Especially by himself. Louise, his plus one, had drunkenly dragged herself on to the dance floor, glass of sangria in her hand, and navy blue dress flowing gently across her ankles. She took her shoes off after a few drinks, stating it will 'prevent her from falling'.
Probably a good idea in retrospect.
Dan sighs and places his elbow on the table, resting his chin in his palm, stirring his plastic wine glass in his left hand. He takes another dragged out sip, as he comes to the conclusion that he is definitely too sober to be enjoying himself.
He scans the room. Mainly everyone is in the buffet line or on the dance floor, save for a few older adults who are sat chatting away. The groom and his new husband and getting real intense, pretty much grinding on each other, completely juxtaposing their romantic first dance that happened less than an hour ago. Dan can't help but smile seeing Grayson so happy in his element, hands on his new husband, Matthew's, hips.
Grayson was one of Dan's housemates in his first year of university. They clicked rather well and became fast friends. Of course they weren't best friends, but it could be said that he helped Dan figure out some more about himself. Mainly his sexuality. So, it's easy to say that Grayson holds a special place in Dan's heart.
Dan's thoughts are immediately interrupted when he feels a presence sat next to him. He barely spares her a glance before mumbling, "Hey Lou."
"Why are you being boring?" She says with no ounce of sugar coating her voice whatsoever.
"No idea what you're talking about." He mumbles again, turning his gaze to look down the rim of his cup, taking another sip.
"You should be out dancing! Or stuffing your face! Or getting totally wasted." She emphasizes all the things Dan should be doing, but he couldn't care less. He's just sitting out the countless hours, waiting, and waiting for the night to be over already.
"You know parties aren't my thing."
"Well maybe you should go mingle with people. There are so many cute boys here, you’re bound to find at least one you wouldn't mind snogging in a room upstairs." She says casually, downing her cup of sangria.
Dan feels his cheeks heat up at her comment. While bringing a cute guy up to his hotel room is the dream, Dan doubts the night will end in his favor.
"Socializing is definitely not my thing."
Louise just sighs. Dan can feel her eyeroll that goes along with it.
The song changes, and Dan finally finds his eyes tear away from his half empty glass. He scans the room again, paying a bit more attention to detail. He doesn't recognize the majority of these people. Some he went to university with and a few of Grayson's friends peppered in that he vaguely knows. It's definitely a gay wedding.
Louise, however, is right, as much as he hates to admit it. There are indeed several attractive guys attending this wedding along with him. Dan takes any chance he can get to look at cute boys all the time he can.
He admires some from afar, judging them silently, but also complimenting them. The one with the man bun looks incredible in his pale blue suit, ad his beard neatly trimmed. But he is so, so short. The thought makes Dan chuckle.
There are two men who look like they could be brothers. One with curly hair (much more curly than his own curled locks), and the other has a high quiff with some stubble peeking through his pale cheeks.
Then there's a tall, ginger boy. Dan's never really had a thing for gingers, but he can pull off the mop piled on top of his head. The ginger boy laughs, a loud, cackling one, that can be heard throughout the room. Dan visibly cringes at this. He can hear Louise next to him laughing at his reaction, though not nearly as obnoxious as Ginger Boy.
Dan groans and huffs, as if he's about to give up hope. That is, until he catches sight of a particular man, stood in the opposite corner, drink in his right hand, his left shoved into his pocket as he casually chatters with the other three men around him, though Dan couldn't give two shits about them at the moment. Dan takes in the mans beauty. His raven black quiff sat neatly atop his head. He has black, wide glasses that shape his round, bright blue eyes that Dan can see from across the room. He laughs at this particular moment, Dan can see his tongue poke slightly (adorably nonetheless) in between his teeth. Dan continues looking, eyes moving down to his body. He's wearing a navy suit jacket and pants, which is accompanied by a slightly speckled white shirt, and a dark blue tie with white specks across the fabric. The suit perfectly constructs around his slim tall body.
He is, undoubtedly , one of the most beautiful men Dan has ever seen.
Dan audibly gasps as he takes one look at him, which then causes him to choke on his own spit.
Louise instinctively slaps her hand to his back, helping his situation in a way. When he's able to breathe and verbally communicate once again, he mutters a grateful "thanks."
"What in the bloody hell was that?" Louise asks a little louder than he would have liked.
"I... I don't know." He swallows normally this time, "I think I may have seen the most beautiful man in the world." He croaks out in a whisper.
Louise's jaw drops as she lets out a gasp of her own, "well bloody hell, Howell, show me!"
Dan flicks his eyes around the different people he observed moments ago, before finally landing on Beautiful Man once again. "There, across the room," he tilts his head said direction, "bloke with the black quiff and glasses." He looks away inconspicuously, taking a big gulp of wine.
Louise finds him, Dan assumes. "Ohh, he is cute."
"Right?" Dan can't look away a second longer. He wants to take in every bit of him while he can.
"He's not really my type, but the geek chic is definitely yours." Louise adds, tossing a wink his direction. Dan doesn't pay much attention though.
It's obvious he's gawking now, as the beautiful man twists his body ever so slightly so they make eye contact now. Beautiful Man raises one eyebrow, a hint of a smirk peeking in the corner of his lips. Dan quickly looks down at his lap, downing his wine as fast as he can. He stands up, feeling slightly dizzy as he does so.
"I need another drink." He mumbles to Louise, but doesn't give her a chance to answer as he shifts his way through the crowd towards the bar.
*
Glorious alcohol.
He takes one of the unoccupied stools and orders a glass of rum. He turns his body, trying to find one person in particular. He spots him almost instantly. Beautiful Man is now only talking to one friend. A man with curly hair and round glasses. Beautiful Man's smile has gone in an instant as he talks with his friend.
Oh God, Dan thinks as he swallows. He takes his rum (which seemed to appear like magic) in his hand trying to distract himself. They are definitely talking about him. Dan can't help but think he obviously freaked him out in a way.
"Fucking idiot." He mumbles to himself downing the rest of his drink. He feels the burn flow through his body, debating whether or not he should take the plunge and get another one.
But then, as he sees Beautiful Man's friend swiftly walk towards him, he decides another drink is a must.
The bartender takes the hint and fills up Dan's glass as he feels the presence of another person sat next to him.
Dan turns his head, retrieving his glass from the bartender.
"Gin and tonic, please" Beautiful Man's friend asks. Once he has the drink in front of him, he takes a rather large drink, and finally breaks the silence between the two.
"You know, my friend over there thinks you are somewhat of a handsome fella."
Dan's cheeks heat up. Surely this is a joke, so he gives in and just laughs.
The man next to him, doesn't follow his lead and instead, just looks at him.
Dan doesn't say anything in return, just takes another drink of rum, feeling the fuzziness in his mind take affect already.
"You should try talking to him." The friend empties his own drink and hops off the stool, "you might learn something about him. It's better than just staring, don't you think?" He gives a cheeky glance towards Dan, walking the direction back to his friend they were just speaking about.
Dan just groans and rests his head in his hands.
He doesn't want to, but he knows his conscious wouldn't forgive him if he didn't.
*
After one more drink, and about a minutes worth of psyching himself up, he makes his way to Beautiful Man, and his bar friend.
Dan takes a breath as he approaches the two men, feeling both of their eyes move to him.
Beautiful Man smiles and his bar friend gives a playful smirk, "I need a few more drinks. I'll see you later, Phil. Don't go too crazy."
Dan gulps as his friend exits the circle. Phil. That's his name.
"Did PJ tell you to come over?" Phil finally asks, as Dan realizes this is the first time he's heard his voice. It's so deep and the accent works just well. He never knew it was possible to be attracted by someones voice.
He decides he should probably respond, "I- no, n-not exact-"
"He's a bit of a wanker sometimes, I'm sorry about him." Phil says, but he doesn't exactly sound sorry.
"Friends can be like that sometimes." Dan responds, turning his glance towards Louise, giving him a subtle thumbs up. He just rolls his eyes internally.
"I'm Phil, by the way." The other man says, stealing Dan's attention. Dan looks to Phil, who has extended his pocketed hand for a handshake.
Dan gives a warm smile and takes it, shaking gently, "Dan."
"Dan." Phil repeats fondly with a pleased smile. "Is that short for anything? Daniel? Danger Man?" Phil laughs at his own joke. How cute. "Should I be scared?"
Dan giggles, probably too loudly, at the joke and just shakes his head, "N-no. Just boring old Daniel."
At this point, they both realize they still have hold of each others hand. They quickly retract, turning beet red and awkwardly giggling.
"So how do you know the groom? I know a lot of Grayson's mates and I surely think I would have recognized you if I've seen you with him." Dan asks boldly, awkwardly sticking his hands in his pockets.
Phil just chuckles lightly at the question. "Ah, that's where you're mistaken Daniel, I'm actually here for the other groom."
Phil nods in understanding, "oh of course, my mistake." He curses internally at himself for making such a silly assumption.
"Matthew and I grew up on the same street. I've known him for ages. He would star in some of the films I made as a kid, along with some other kids on our street." Phil explains, stirring his wine cup slowly.
Dan nods along as he listens, perking up at the information given. "So you filmed films when you were younger?"
Phil's cheeks heat up as he looks down to his feet with a small smile. "Yeah, pretty lame, I know."
Dan furrows his brow. How could he think this is lame? If anything, Dan wishes he could have to courage to go for something he dreamed of doing at such a young age.
"I'm gonna have to disagree with you on that, Phil."
"Oh?"
"Yes sir," he cringes at his choice of words, "I think it's quite endearing that you could go for something you're passionate about at such a young age." Dan says in awe. "I could never."
Phil raises an eyebrow towards Dan, "I never said I was ever passionate about film making."
Dan's lips press to form a line at his statement. He's fucking this up. He's definitely fucking this up.
He can kiss the fantasy of bringing a cute boy up to his hotel room goodbye.
Phil lets out another laugh, one more genuine sounding. "I'm joking, Dan. Just pulling your leg. I am very passionate about film making. It's my dream to be a director one day actually."
Dan lets out a sigh of relief as he sends a disapproving look towards Phil's direction, "you had me scared there for a second."
"Scared? What were you scared of?"
Dan gulps, thank god for the alcohol making him braver than he actually would be. "Scared that I actually had the courage to talk to a cute guy, but I end up blowing it with my awkwardness."
Phil nods with a small smile. "So what you're saying is that I'm cute."
Dan rolls his eyes and looks down feeling all his blood rush, "yeah a bit."
An ABBA song Dan vaguely recognizes begins to play over the speakers. Phil sets his empty glass down on a nearby table, swiftly holding a free hand out, "care to dance, Dan?"
Dan's cheeks heat up, once again. He's sure he'll feel lightheaded by the end of tonight. He gulps and just says, "I don't know how to dance."
"Neither do I! Let's go!" Phil grabs Dan's hand, proceeding to drag him on to the dance floor. There's a reason Dan has been actively avoiding the dance floor tonight. He's sure he'll look like an idiot. Everyone will laugh at him for even attempting to dance. Phil will be too embarrassed, and leave him without another word.
Phil, however is quite insistent on stealing a dance with Dan, as he doesn't let go of his hand once they secure an empty place on the floor.
"You're over thinking again." Phil interrupts Dan's plethora of thoughts, almost as if he can read them.
"I-" he turns to try and find Louise to hopefully save him from the disaster that will surely become. He feels fingertips on his cheek, turning his gaze back down to Phil. It's in this moment he's just realizing he is in fact taller than Phil. Not surprising really, Dan's taller than a majority of people. It's one of the things that helps him stick out in a crowd. Unfortunately.
"Don't look back. Keep your eyes on me." Phil says with a bright smile, dropping his fingers to grab Dan's other hand.
He looks down at his hands, being gripped very lightly between Phil's thumbs and other fingers.
"You're demanding." Dan says under his breath, but clearly Phil heard this statement, as he's soon leaning forward to whisper something in his ear.
"Shut up and dance with me."
*
Dan has realized that this boy is his destiny.
They both move so in sync with the rhythm of the songs. Phil was right, he can't dance either.
But Dan soon seems to realize that he simply doesn't care in this moment. All he wants to see is Phil's face, staring back at him with that wide smile and bright eyes. He looks so full of life, it's incredible. It's incredible how Dan can't help but smile every time he looks at Phil.
And they only met maybe an hour ago.
Well, at this point, Dan can't tell if it's been an hour or three. All he knows is that he's now stood outside with Phil, the night sky resting above them, a few stars speckled in the blanket of darkness. He and Phil have just been in endless conversation throughout the night. Dan learned Phil is actually interning at some kind of video interning company, which is where he met his friend, PJ. Dan also learned his last name is Lester, he has one older brother, has a weird fear of horses, and absolutely hates cheese, for some odd reason.
These facts may be so simple and plain to anyone else. To Dan, however, it just makes the man in front of him seem so much more interesting than he thought before.
The wedding venue has a beautiful botanical garden, where the ceremony was held earlier that evening. They both found themselves out here to catch a moment of peace from the loud music, and drunken arguing. Dan can tell how invested Phil is with the plant-life residing here, as he keeps examining all the different plants with a fascinated expression. It's really cute, Dan thinks.
There's a few more people outside with them, but they're all spread out doing various activities Dan couldn't be bothered to care about.
"So are you staying at this hotel?" Phil asks, without looking from the flowers.
Dan just nods, before realizing Phil can't actually see him."Yeah." He says just a few moments later.
Phil turns around from the flowers and looks at Dan, "it's nice, innit?"
Dan just giggles lightly at the slang, "Yeah.. it's pretty swanky."
"Can I ask you a bold question?"
Dan's breath hitches in his lungs, unsuspecting what he's about to hear. He can't find words at this particular moment, so he just nods.
"Do you happen to like boys?"
Dan lets out the breath he was holding with a laugh. This has to be a joke, right?
"Considering I'm at a gay wedding, and I've been gawking at you all evening, I think the answer should be pretty obvious."
Phil just shrugs, "not all the guests here are gay, Dan."
Dan doesn't respond.
"Also, if it makes you feel any better, I hadn't noticed the gawking."
Dan raises an eyebrow towards the shorter man, "Seriously?"
"Nope." Phil takes a step closer to Dan, "I've been too busy trying to figure out a clever way to ask you out sometime."
Dan chokes on his drink. Then he realizes he isn't drinking anything, which is even more embarrassing. "S-sorry what?"
Phil gently places his hands on Dan's hips, "To put it simply, I'm asking you you. Like on a date. You get me?"
Dan hasn't responded. He can't find the right words to say. Even though only one simple one needs to be said. Yes. It's so clear, but Dan's mouth simply can't accomplish that.
Phil removes his hands and slowly starts to step away, "Is this your way of rejecting me?" he asks, a tone of hurt to his voice.
Dan grabs his hands and pulls him back in, "n-no, I just..." He stammers, losing his words again.
"You just...?"
Dan gulps, "I'm not used to totally hot guys asking me out on a date out of the blue like that." He says, followed by a nervous laugh.
Phil's glorious smile returns to his face, his lips forming words, but Dan cuts him off before he can speak.
"Yes. Basically. I-I mean it's been so long since I've been out on an actual date. Like properly so I hope you don't have high expect-"
"Dan."
"You know if sometime throughout the night you change your mind, I'd totally understand and would not blame you at all, I'm kind of annoying to be-"
"Dan!"
Dan finally shuts up as Phil says his name louder. He looks down to him, waiting for an explanation.
"Shut up and kiss me."
Dan has a number of things he could say right now. How this is a bad idea, they're both not totally sober, and the atmosphere definitely could have an impact. But he swallows all these excuses. He takes a sharp breath through his nose, and lets out slowly. He closes his eyes and leans down slowly, gently pressing his lips to Phil's. He feels sparks through his body. Tingles and vibrations he can't describe in words.
They're stood there for a moment, before Dan actually realizes the vibrations through his body are coming from his phone in his pocket.
He, reluctantly, pulls away muttering an apology, before grabbing his phone from his pocket. He has 3 missed calls from Louise, and a few texts.
Dan.
DAN!
am drunk
pls walk me to my rom
wait are u snogging tht prettty boy
OMG i see u
okoko but im drunk pls rescume me thx
Dan sighs, before looking up to Phil with an apologetic stare.
"I'm afraid I'll have to cut our time short, as my friend is drunk off her ass and needs me to walk her upstairs."
Phil nods in understanding, but is silent for a moment before he responds, "such a shame." He grabs a napkin from a nearby table and retrieves a pen from his breast pocket. He begins scribbling some things down. He folds the material up and places it in Dan's hand, closing his fist.
"Come find me later. Maybe our night doesn't have to be cut short after all." Phil says with a wink before disappearing back into the reception hall and into the crowd of people.
Dan opens the napkin and finds a string of numbers written down. Underneath, there's a room number and a note saying 'Hope to see you tonight ;)'
He feels his knees go weak, before his arm is being grasped by stiletto shaped nails.
"Leaving your drunk friends by themselves for hot guys 'snot nice." Louise slurs has she drags him back inside to give a farewell to the grooms and a few other guests they recognize.
Phil, however, is nowhere in sight.
Once they're in the elevator, heading back to their rooms, Dan mutters, "sorry, I guess I got carried away."
Louise looks over to him in disappointment, but a smile creeps its way on to her lips, "I'm not mad, but you have to tell me everything."