Work Text:
As a broke masters student, Phil found himself at the campus library more afternoons than not. He got unlimited, not to mention free, access to books and wifi, plus a quiet space away from the chaos of his flat (He loved his flatmate, he really did, but there was such a thing as too energetic). He was almost always one of the only patrons there. Most people had better places to be from 1 pm to 5 pm almost every day, but Phil quite liked the library even beyond the convenience. Located just off the main road, tucked between a coffee shop and a craft store, it was small but charming with a very tranquil atmosphere, and Phil found it so much easier to focus compared to at his flat. He doubted he would have been able to get anywhere near as much work done without the library to study at. The cute employee with soft brown curls didn’t hurt either - his name was Dan, Phil had learned, after enough short ‘hello’s on the way in.
Many months of small talk had taught Phil quite a bit about Dan, as he always seemed to be there when Phil was, though they were yet to interact outside of the library. Dan was a student much like himself, not surprising in their uni town. He was a third-year political science student working towards being a lawyer of some sort, and Phil’s degree in English and further research into film and post-production initially had him thinking that they wouldn’t have much in common, but Dan had surprised him early on. It only took a month or two of awkward greetings five or six times a week to progress to slightly less shallow small talk. They still weren’t anywhere near close, but they were acquaintances at least.
They talked about interests, many of which they shared; they both liked anime and video games, and neither of them cared for sports. They talked about family and home; they both had a brother, but Dan didn’t seem as close to his as Phil was. They talked about the future, though only in terms of career; Phil didn’t quite know what he wanted to do, while Dan seemed to have his career as a lawyer all planned out.
Phil would almost consider Dan a friend. Almost, because they still didn’t talk outside of the library. They didn’t even have each other’s phone numbers. Phil still liked Dan, though. No matter how he defined their relationship, Phil definitely enjoyed his conversations with Dan, maybe even wanted to talk with him more. Sometimes their idle chit chat and occasional banter were the highlights of Phil’s day (though it wasn’t very hard to beat studying, studying, and more studying - ah, the glamorous life of a student). That constant studying brought Phil to where he currently was seated. It was Christmas. Christmas afternoon, to be specific, and Phil was at the library, sitting at the small circular table in the corner that had basically become his. How festive. But deadlines didn’t disappear for the holidays, as much as Phil would have liked them to. It was a stretch enough to have gone home for Thanksgiving, so they’d have to settle for a phone call this Christmas. Phil knew that his family understood, though they still didn’t like it. They understood that some sacrifices were necessary, at least. What Phil didn’t know when he walked into the library, which was even more deserted than normally, was that his tentative almost-friendship with Dan was about to change for good.
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The windows were almost fully frosted over by the time Dan pulled the blinds shut in a last-ditch effort to trap some of the heat inside, climbing over tables and chairs to reach every last window. Morning flurries had quickly turned into an afternoon blizzard of record size, complete with harsh winds and low visibility, snow piling up faster than anyone could hope to handle. It was just his luck, really. Now Dan was struggling to fend off the cold amid the extreme weather, having been the only one willing to spend Christmas working at the campus library. Yes, Christmas. You might ask, “Who in the world would want to work on Christmas?” and you’d be correct in assuming that it wasn’t Dan’s first choice (or second, or third). But he needed the money and it wasn’t like he would have gone home anyway. At least shelving books and checking out customers was better than the judging stares and invasive questions that met him back home. He hadn’t even been invited home this year - only took his parents until his third year at school to learn that inviting him home was a recipe for hurt feelings and offensive comments and overall disaster. So that’s where he found himself that miserable Christmas afternoon, snowed in at the campus library, almost out of coffee and with only the attractive regular who’d basically glued himself to the corner table over the past few months. At least the man was quite funny and nice, not to mention cute - not the worst person to be stuck with. Dan had paid him little mind earlier outside of their customary greetings and pleasantries. The only concerns on Dan’s mind at the time were making sure his flatmate remembered to feed his dog and trying not to stare at Phil. It wasn’t his fault Phil was hot, give a guy a break. Averting his eyes, he returned to closing curtains in hopes of not freezing to death.
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Phil knew it had been a bad omen when customers and employees alike started a mad dash for home around 1:30, but, oblivious and easily distracted as he was, it wasn’t until 2 pm when his mother texted to ask if he was safe that he realized exactly why. There was a blizzard; the biggest one in decades apparently. And a quick look at the many feet of snow accumulating outside the windows and then at the slightly anxious look on Dan’s face told him everything he needed to know. They were stuck.
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They were stuck. Dan could not believe it; it was just his luck that he’d be spending his Christmas evening snowed in at the library. He’d even had an out, he could have avoided this. His boss had texted him around 1 giving him permission to close early due to the predicted storm, but he couldn’t bring himself to disturb Phil who looked frankly adorable absorbed in his studying. His tongue was peaking out to the side and his left hand tapped against the table rhythmically. There was no way Dan could have interrupted him. But he was now paying the price. Well, if you’d call being stuck with a handsome man a ‘price’. Now Dan was struggling to stay calm and completely lost as to what to do. He could see the moment Phil figured out their situation, making eye contact across the room with surprise evident on his face, but at least outwardly he appeared nowhere near as panicked as Dan felt.
It was almost as if he sensed Dan’s panic because it was at that moment that he called out across the small room, “Hey, Dan. Guess we’ll be stuck here for a little while.”
Dan had to put all his effort into keeping his voice from shaking as he responded, “Hey, Phil. Yeah, guess we will be.”
Phil might have noticed Dan’s worry, as he took charge of the conversation immediately; “So, do you want to do something to pass the time?”
Phil’s calmness seemed to help ground Dan, and his voice was much more level as he answered, “Uh, sure, I guess. What should we do?”
“We could just talk, maybe?” Phil beckoned Dan over as he spoke.
Dan went, perching on a chair near Phil, nervous but curious. “Oh, uh, that works.”
“So, Dan, what’s your favourite colour?”
With that, the metaphorical ice seemed to break, tension and apprehension giving way to pleasant conversation. They talked and talked until the snow was cleared and then they talked some more just for fun. By the time their conversation wound to a natural close, it somehow felt like it had been both no time at all and hours and hours. Their discussion topics varied wildly but somehow the conversation remained engaging and easy, feeling neither forced nor uncomfortable. That ease to their conversations that Dan usually only experienced after years of knowing someone, and even then it was only with people he knew intimately. An almost effortless conversation so soon was surprising to Dan for one main reason; he was very socially awkward and tended to attract people with a similar lack of social skills (how he had any friends whatsoever was a mystery that still perplexed him). While Phil seemed to be no exception to the awkwardness, their conversation flowed naturally despite that, which left Dan pleasantly surprised. Maybe their awkwardness cancelled out? Really, though, he shouldn’t have been surprised. Phil opened the conversation by asking about favourite colours, of all things, for goodness’ sake. That should have been a clear enough indicator in and of itself that Phil was different from a lot of the stuffy law students Dan was forced to interact with. They’d really only had one real conversation, but Dan could already tell that they were the same kind of weird. Their oddities seemed to complement each other instead of clash. Dan had never believed in love at first sight, and he still didn’t really, but he knew he wanted to talk to Phil more. It wasn’t love or anywhere near that, but he knew he wanted to get to know Phil outside of the customer-employee dynamic that had defined their relationship henceforth. Dan had never been one for trying to predict the future and he wasn’t about to start, but he could see him and Phil being good friends (if not more, but it was far too soon to think about those kinds of things, they really barely knew each other on anything more than a superficial level). They just clicked.
Dan’s introspection was cut short by Phil standing up. They had ended up in armchairs next to Phil’s usual corner. The small table was still piled with books while papers and pens were scattered in the gaps. It was when Phil started to pack his things from the table back into his bag that Dan realized he was preparing to leave. He felt strangely sad about that, having enjoyed their conversation more than he expected to. It was selfish that he didn’t want it to end, but the less rational parts of his brain could have sat there talking to Phil for hours more. Regardless, it wasn’t like Phil’s workload would suddenly disappear so his continued presence at the library, and therefore interaction between the two of them, was highly likely. Dan still wasn’t content, though. He was confused by the almost pull he felt towards Phil, the desire to just keep talking despite the winding down of their conversation, and wondered if the other man felt it too.
Dan shook himself out of his thoughts to share his musings with Phil only to see him standing, coat on and books packed away. Phil was ready to leave and Dan didn’t really know what to say about that. Some part of him had hoped this would go on forever and Dan didn’t want to go back to the short greetings and then nothing. As Dan worked up the courage to say something along those lines, Phil scribbled something down on a piece of paper. He then folded the paper, handed it to Dan, smirked, and walked away. He just walked away. Without even so much as a goodbye. Dan’s heart dropped. He opened the paper anyways, expecting some kind of request to stay away. His eyes widened as he processed what he was reading.
“Want to get coffee sometime? Text me ;) xxx-xxx-xxxx”