Work Text:
Dan Howell was curled up in a ball on the bathroom floor within a stall in the boys’ toilets at school.
His light pink flower crown had fallen off his head and was now sitting on the dirty tiled floor. His blue pastel jumper was stained with a few teardrops, which had melted in. His knees, which were covered over with dark brown jeans, were pulled up to his chest and his face sat in between.
This happened on a regular basis. Dan would sit in the same exact stall every day during his English classes and cry to himself for a few minutes.
Everyone made fun of him about his appearance. But not just this; multiple people would call him a ‘nerd’ and a ‘faggot’ for being gay.
Dan had no idea what was so wrong with that. Unfortunately for him, over half the students were homophobic. Just his luck…
His ‘stupid flower crowns’ and ‘ugly pastel colours’ and much more, as students would describe his choice of clothing as.
Dan had no one. Absolutely no one. His only two friends, PJ Liguori and Chris Kendall, left school last year and attended college. They were both slightly older than Dan and now he was left completely alone.
Almost every student in the entire school bullied Dan. The ones who didn’t physically bully him would either ignore him or just hate on him in private to himself or herself.
The day was almost over. It was a Friday afternoon and the weekend was only a few minutes away. Dan had spent his entire English lesson in the bathroom. No one came in throughout the time being, due to Dan’s luck.
Dan stood up from his spot on the ground, wiping a few tears away from his tear-stained face. He whimpered as he bent down to grab his schoolbag, slinging it over his slightly bruised back.
Beforehand, a few boys beat Dan from his class out in the hallway. But Dan didn’t dare cry. He would never want to seem weak in front of them. He never cried in front of his bullies. He only cried when he was away from them; when they were done with him. And Dan cried hard sometimes.
Dan sighed as he grabbed his flower crown off the ground before leaving and brushed it off lightly. He placed it softly on his set of brown hair and left the bathroom, his head low.
Dan was almost out the door when suddenly, the bell went. Hopefully, he would be able to leave before he got beaten again.
Dan was used to this. It happened daily; and he couldn’t do anything about it. Dan’s mother and father died in a car accident when he was at a young age. Dan couldn’t remember much of them, but he knew he missed them and loved them very much. He now lived with his grandparents, and they were extremely nice to him. Dan didn’t hate them at all.
But there was no way Dan could explain this to them. There was no point. What could they do? The students wouldn’t stop harassing him no matter what happened. Dan found it pointless.
Dan was on the pathway now on his way home. But before he could take another step, he heard a voice behind him.
“Hey, Howell! Where do you think you’re going?” A boy Dan’s age called from behind him.
Dan stiffened, his feet stuck like glue to the concrete.
“Please no more…” Dan whispered to himself before turning around to face his enemies.
“Don’t ignore us, faggot! Say something!” The same boy shouted. “How about you stand up for yourself, huh?” The boy’s friend piped up, pushing Dan backwards by the shoulder.
Dan didn’t say anything. He kept quiet. Not a single word left his mouth.
The two boys looked at each other, a smirk creeping onto their lips. Dan knew exactly what was about to happen. He didn’t know if he could take any more of this. He just wanted to go home and go to bed.
Instead, one of the boys did something that they’ve never done before. He reached out his hand and forcefully grabbed Dan’s light pink flower crown off his head.
Dan gasped and tried reaching out to grab it.
“Give that back!” Dan yelled, his hands continuing to reach out towards the flower crown, but the boy held it above his head.
The two boys didn’t reply as the one that wasn’t occupied with the flower crown, grabbed Dan by the shoulder and looked as though he was about to throw a punch to his tanned face.
Dan decided he couldn’t take this. He’d never actually tried to run away from a few bullies before; it was too risky in his eyes.
But Dan desperately wanted to get home. He didn’t want this. So, with the small confidence Dan had built up, he forcefully pulled away from the boy’s grip and bolted in the opposite direction to them, where his house was located.
“Get back here, Howell! You can’t escape, you know!” One of the boys called out to Dan, beginning to run after him.
Dan wasn’t built for running. He was quite unfit and didn’t know how long he’d be able to keep it up for, but continued for as long as he could.
To his surprise, the two boys were slightly slower than Dan was, so he was gaining quite some distance from them. But suddenly, a solid object in front of him stopped his speed.
Dan didn’t fall down, but he stumbled backwards slightly.
“S-Sorry! I-I didn’t m-mean to bump into you-u like that!” Dan apologised quickly, looking up at the person whom he had run in to.
It was a boy who looked a few years older than Dan himself. He had the complete opposite appearance to him. This boy had the same haircut as Dan but instead it was painted black and had a bright blue fringe. He had a lip piercing, as well as a nose ring and a small golden stud a little above his eyebrow. His arms were almost a full sleeve with lots of small and a few large tattoos. He was very much a bad boy.
Dan hadn’t realised the boy spoke to him and that he had been staring for a little while before being pulled from his thoughts by the sounds of two angry voices.
“Don’t you dare fucking move, Howell!” One of them yelled, causing Dan to hide behind the stranger he hadn’t even physically met yet.
“You have a problem with these two?” The tattooed boy asked, his voice low with concern.
Fuck, his voice is attractive, Dan thought.
“They’re tr-trying to beat me u-up,” Dan stuttered, grabbing hold of the boy’s arm due to fear.
Dan’s bullies came up to the tattooed boy but didn’t dare take a step closer as they began judging the boy’s appearance.
“What do you think you’re doing?” The tattooed boy asked through gritted teeth, staring at the two boys before him.
“Just walk away, man. All we want is Howell here,” one of them said, pointing past Tattoo Boy and glaring at Dan.
Dan just gripped tighter onto Tattoo Boy’s arm. He looked back at Dan, a concerned look on his face. Dan was still partly questioning wether or not to trust this guy. His appearance wasn’t convincing him much.
“They took my f-flower crown…” Dan felt a little silly for admitting this to a complete stranger, but that flower crown was one of his favourites.
“Are you trying to cause trouble? What a pathetic loser!” Bully 1 yelled, laughing with his friend before approaching Dan and Tattoo Boy.
“Hey! You take another step closer and there will be trouble,” Tattoo Boy growled, his muscles tensing up.
“Woah, hey now. Just give us Howell and we’ll be on our way,” Bully 2 stated, his friend trembling beside him at the sound of him.
“Give me his fucking flower crown,” Tattoo Boy said, taking a step away from Dan and closer to the two boys in front of him.
Dan was startled to hear the boy swear if he was being honest. Dan never swore, but it seemed this boy didn’t really care.
“And why should we do that?” Bully 2 asked, confidence seeming to rise up.
Tattoo Boy was not hesitant to grab the boy by his collar and raise him up until he was on his tippy toes.
“Do you really want me to answer that?” Tattoo Boy whispered angrily in the boy’s face.
He was not happy.
“O-Okay, okay! Here, just take it and go! We’re going! We’ll leave!” Bully 2 yelled, his words stuttering and holding out the flower crown towards Tattoo Boy.
Tattoo Boy took it forcefully and let go of the boy, causing him to fall backwards into his friend.
“And you will promise me to never bother this young boy again, right?” Tattoo Boy glared at Dan’s bullies, holding the flower crown to his chest.
“O-Of course, we’ll never bother him a-again!” Bully 1 said fearfully, already beginning to run back down the path in the direction they had come.
His friend followed close behind as Tattoo Boy glared after them.
Dan stared in shock. He can’t believe they actually left and gave Tattoo Boy his flower crown. He was basically Dan’s hero at this point; no matter how cheesy that sounded.
Tattoo Boy turned around to face Dan, a smile growing onto his lips. Dan felt his cheeks heat up as he looked down at Tattoo Boy’s shirt. He was scared he’d get lost if he looked into the boy’s eyes.
It was still bright daylight out, too. Dan most certainly didn’t want this incredibly attractive boy to see his faint blush splattered on his cheeks.
Suddenly, Dan felt something rest on top of his head.
Dan’s eyes flickered up through his eyelashes to see Tattoo Boy had placed the light pink flower crown on his head.
Dan couldn’t help but blush more. This boy was absolute perfection…but, of course, there was no chance with him. Tattoo Boy was most definitely straight, right?
“Are you alright now?” Tattoo Boy asked, his hand resting on Dan’s shoulder.
Dan’s breath hitched, as he couldn’t form words. The boy was touching him.
“U-Uh…yeah. I’m fine…” Dan replied, still not looking directly into Tattoo Boy’s eyes.
The boy laughed. And it was probably one of the most beautiful sounds Dan had heard. Dan glanced up for a split second and saw Tattoo Boy with his tongue sticking out between his teeth whilst giggling.
Dan suddenly forgot to breathe.
“That’s good, then. I’m Phil, by the way. Phil Lester,” Tattoo Boy (Phil) introduced himself.
Phil held out his hand for the younger boy to shake. Dan carefully took Phil’s hand in his and shook it.
“I’m Dan Howell…” Dan trailed off as he said this.
He let go of Phil’s hand and continued to blush intensely. What had gotten into him?
“Well, Dan Howell, are you okay with going back home by yourself? I could walk with you,” Phil offered, a smirk on his face.
Dan was in awe of Phil’s beautiful features. He almost didn’t give him an answer to the offer.
“O-Oh! Um, sure. That’d be great. I mean…only if you want to, I really don’t mind, you don’t have t-“ Dan was cut short by the sound of Phil.
“Quit rambling and let’s go,” Phil chuckled, reaching out and grabbing Dan’s hand softly and intertwining their fingers.
Dan’s face felt like a boiling hot sauna by this point. He has never blushed so hard in his entire life. There was something that Phil did to him.
“Just show me the way,” Phil implied, his eyes twinkling at the sight of the brown haired boy.
Dan simply nodded and began heading in the direction of his house with Phil following behind. He had let go of Dan’s hand, much to his disappointment but continued on down the pathway.
Phil caught up with Dan and walked by his side whilst Dan tried to hide the smile on his face. To think just about 20 minutes ago, he was crying in his High School bathroom, to meeting this insanely hot bad boy who seemed to be such a sweetheart. Well, he was being a sweetheart to Dan, at least.
“I see you have a school bag with you, Dan. You’re a High School student?” Phil asked, bringing Dan back to reality.
“Yeah. I go to St. Kilda’s High School from down the road,” Dan answered quietly, raising a hand into his hair to grab his flower crown before tousling his hair and trying to make it neater than before.
Dan placed the flower crown back on his head before turning his head to look back up at Phil. He was quite surprised Phil hadn’t made any sort of joke about how he looked. Dan thought Phil might feel the same, though. They were complete opposites, by the looks of things.
“How old are you?” Phil asked, his eyes locking with Dan’s.
“I just turned 18 a few weeks ago…how old are you?” Dan asked in return.
“22. I’m still in college at the moment,” Phil replied, a smile making its way onto his lips.
Dan looked down and tried to hide his own smile. Phil was old enough for Dan. There was a chance…
No there isn’t! He 100% likes girls, probably. He probably has a girlfriend in college or something… Dan thought depressingly.
“I see. What are you studying?” Dan asked, raising an eyebrow.
He was so interested in the older boy. Dan was practically in love by this point.
“Mostly English Language and Linguistics for now,” Phil said.
Dan nodded whilst continuing to walk down the path. His mind was completely clear of the two boys from before and was now full of Phil. Just Phil.
The two boys continued to talk about anything and everything until Dan spotted his house in the distance. Dan didn’t want Phil to leave. But he also didn’t want him to come into his house. There could be serious problems with his grandparents or just that Dan didn’t want Phil to see his room.
They both arrived at the doorstep of his house as Dan turned on his heel to face Phil. Phil was smirking at him again.
“W-What?” Dan blushed, staring down at his shoes.
“Aren’t you going to ask for my number or am I going to have to take that part?” Phil chortled, staring at Dan in amusement.
Dan’s eyes widened as he pushed Phil playfully by the shoulder. Dan looked at Phil, trying to form a decent sentence.
“Why do you want my number? I wouldn’t have thought I’d be someone you’d want to see again, to be honest…” Dan admitted, a frown taking his smile’s place.
“Of course, I’d like to see you again, Dan. It’s the weekend now, isn’t it? Maybe I could take you out to Starbucks tomorrow and possibly go to the park afterwards?” Phil implied.
“I…um…” Dan hesitated with his answer until Phil interrupted.
“It’ll be like a date,” Phil smirked, causing Dan to burn up.
“A d-date?” Dan stuttered, not believing the words that had spilt from the bad boy’s mouth.
“Sure, why not? If that’s what you want it to be,” Phil winked at the pastel-covered boy.
Dan kept his head hung low and he brought his fist up to hold over his mouth. Dan bit on the bottom of the sleeves of his jumper, trying not to smile.
“I don’t mind…” Dan mumbled under his breath, his eyes closing and thinking about all the possibilities that could come out of tomorrow.
Suddenly, Dan felt two fingers being placed under his chin so he could look up. Phil was standing extremely close to Dan now, and Dan’s breath hitched.
He could physically feel Phil’s hot breath on his lips. There was no backing out of this one.
For a split second, Dan thought Phil was going to kiss him. But instead, his lips were pressed against Dan’s cheek.
Phil pulled back and smirked at the boy, who seemed to be gazing into nothingness.
“Mm, good. I’ll see you tomorrow, Dan,” Phil whispered in the boy’s ear before taking a step back and beginning to walk back down the driveway.
Dan stood there, watching Phil walk away before turning around and stumbling in the door.
He couldn’t believe what had just happened. Did that actually happen? Dan dropped his school bag by the door and took his thumb and index finger to pinch him on the arm.
Dan jumped a little at the contact and pain that emerged from his skin.
It was real. This was the reality. Dan had just met one of the most attractive men ever and he wanted to go on a supposed ‘date’ with him. Phil Lester wanted to go on a date with Dan Howell.
Dan sighed in content and a smile fell onto his face. He doesn’t think he’s ever been this happy before.
Dan walked up the stairs into his room, passing his grandma on the way up and shutting the door behind him. But then, he suddenly felt a pain in his stomach; a broken pain.
They didn’t exchange numbers.
FUCK! Dan thought as he ran his fingers through his hair. What if he never saw Phil again? There weren’t that many people in this town…that wouldn’t be impossible, would it?
Dan doesn’t even know what college Phil attends.
Crap, crap, crap.
Well, he did say that they would go to Starbucks tomorrow. Maybe Dan could just meet him there?
But they didn’t make a time.
Dan sighed sadly as he decided to change into a different jumper. He would just wash the one he was wearing now.
Dan lifted the jumper up and over his head before folding it up and putting it on his bed. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something fall out of the pocket of the jumper.
Out of curiosity, Dan reached down to pick up the object that fell. It was a piece of paper and it had small black writing on it. Dan raised an eyebrow and read the words that had been written in neat handwriting:
call me? c: 04** *** *** - Phil x
What the…?
How did Phil do that?
~
Dan called Phil on his mobile later on in the evening. Dan found that Phil was actually quite funny and by the time they hung up, Dan’s stomach was aching from the laughter that had erupted from inside.
Dan fell asleep that night with a smile on his face. He hadn’t done that in years.
He woke up the next morning with a text from Phil. He smiled at the name he put on the boy on his phone.
Tattoo Boy (1) New Message
Good morning, love! I can’t wait to see you today ^.^ Is 1 okay?
Dan blushed at the message. Phil was such a romantic. If Dan hadn’t of met Phil and had just glanced at him from across the street, he would’ve thought Phil could possibly be recognised as one of Dan’s bullies.
But Dan has now learnt to not judge a book by its cover. Phil was not what Dan was expecting.
It was a good thing.
Dan rolled out of bed lazily and grabbed his phone, unlocking it with the code to reply to Phil’s message.
Until something caught his eye.
This message was sent at 9:51am this morning. Dan glanced at the clock for a split second before his stomach twisted in a knot.
12:37pm.
Dan had less than half an hour to get ready. He knew it would be a mistake if he’d stayed up until 3am last night. He knew it.
Dan quickly replied to Phil’s message with a short ‘that’s fine’ before setting it down and making his way to the closet.
Dan rushed to his closet to grab out a new pair of clothes to wear. He pulled out the first thing he saw; a bright green pastel T-shirt. He rushed to his drawer and grabbed some black skinny jeans (maybe not the best idea for being late) and some converse shoes to match.
This took a while and Dan was stressing. Hard.
Dan was about to plug in his hair straightener to make his hobbit hair disappear but looked at the clock again beforehand.
12:55.
No time. Dan had no time to get his hair done. Starbucks was almost a 7-minute walk from his house, and Dan still hadn’t achieved his license.
Dan groaned in annoyance and rushed over to his bedside table where he kept all his flower crowns stacked on top of one another.
He took the mint green one to match his shirt, placing it on his head and rushing out the door. Dan passed his grandparents on the way out and called that he’d be back later.
Dan realised he may have to run to get there on time. He didn’t dare look at the clock the whole time during his half-run-half-jog until he physically arrived at the glass door to the small shop.
Dan looked around the café, trying to spot Phil. He saw a set of black hair in a booth in the corner next to a window and Dan sighed.
Phil actually came.
Dan began his walk over to Phil but not before looking at the time first.
1:06.
Dan was late. He was scared that Phil would become angry with him and become one of the students at his school. Dan has been bullied publicly before, and it was probably the most humiliating thing he could have ever experienced.
No one helped him. No one even dared to glance over at the scene. Dan was completely alone.
He took a deep breath and continued over to where Phil was siting with a cup of caramel macchiato.
Two, actually.
“Hey, Dan,” Phil smiled, taking a sip of his drink.
Dan’s eyes widened. Why wasn’t Phil yelling at him for being late?
“H-Hi…” Dan stuttered, nervous as to what Phil might say.
Maybe he hasn’t realised the time yet. That was probably a good thing on Dan’s behalf. Phil could change at any moment.
“Sit down,” Phil motioned towards the booth opposite him, making Dan shuffle quickly into it.
“S-Sorry I’m late,” Dan muttered, but immediately regretting it.
That probably wasn’t the best idea. Phil could get really angry with him now. Dan braced himself for an impact of a punch or something but felt nothing.
His eyes met Phil’s and all he was doing was smiling.
“No problem at all! As long as you’re here, I’m happy,” Phil said, making Dan blush a light shade of pink.
Dan nodded in response, his hair falling in front of his face a little whilst glancing up to the drink in front of him.
“Oh, sorry, I was ordering my drink and I just decided to order you the same thing I did; a caramel macchiato. I hope you don’t mind those,” Phil looked away from Dan, his fingers brushing over a few tattoos that were splattered on his arm.
“Are you kidding? It’s my favourite drink.” Dan giggled, holding the cup up to his mouth and gulping almost half down already.
Dan realised he must look like a complete slop in Phil’s eyes so he quickly set the drink down and wiped his mouth with a napkin nearby.
Dan noticed Phil was smiling. He was always smiling at Dan, no matter what. Phil looked past the cuts and bruises Dan had littered on his tanned skin; he looked past all the flaws Dan owned on his body; he looked past the beautiful brown eyes Dan owned to see inside his soul.
Phil wanted Dan. And he was hoping Dan wanted him, too.
~
“You’ve got curly hair!” Phil exclaimed all of a sudden as the two boys were walking through the park together.
Dan looked up at Phil and groaned in annoyance.
“You’ve only just noticed? It’s gross,” Dan mumbled under his breath, hoping Phil wouldn’t hear but unfortunately, he did.
“Oh, how could you say that, love? It’s adorable!” Phil grinned, his fingers sweeping Dan’s flower crown of his head to run them through his hair.
“It’s really not, Phil,” Dan convinced himself, but Phil wouldn’t have it.
“Of course, it is! You should have it like this more often. Especially around me,” Phil’s mouth curled up into a smirk, trying to get Dan to give in.
“Really…?” Dan asked, not bothering to move Phil’s hand away.
“I wouldn’t lie to you, Dan,” Phil said, his fingers moving down from Dan’s hair to his hand.
Dan’s breathing became a bit uneven as he slowed his walking pace. Phil took no hesitation, though, to intertwine the two boys’ fingers together.
Dan was in awe at how soft and gentle Phil’s hand was. He looked down at their hands and blushed.
Dan hadn’t liked anyone this much before. The whole week flew over his head and his mind became filled with Phil. His voice, his hair, his tattoos, everything about Phil made Dan’s heart melt, no matter how cliché it sounded.
Dan was in love.
“Phil…can I ask you something?” Dan asked, his eyes scanning over the tattoos that were littered on Phil’s pale skin.
“Sure. Do you want to sit down?” Phil pointed at a park bench a few metres away from where they were.
Dan nodded shyly; fixing his flower crown on top of his head with the hand that wasn’t occupied with Phil’s before walking towards the bench.
Dan and Phil sat down next to each other on the small bench, their hands not breaking apart once. Dan almost forgot his question as he was in a daze about thinking of their hands together.
“Dan? You had something to ask me?” Phil scooted closer to Dan on the bench, making him jump and turn his head towards the tattooed boy.
“O-Oh! Right, sorry,” Dan apologised, his cheeks turning a light shade of red, as he was about to ask his question.
“Stop saying sorry, love. There’s no need for it,” Phil brushed his fingers, which were unoccupied, across Dan’s face softly to move his fringe away from his deep brown eyes.
Dan nodded, looking into Phil’s crystal blue eyes, not breaking the contact.
“Do your tattoos have meanings…?” Dan asked curiously.
A few of Phil’s tattoos were coloured and others were plain black. There were small ones and large ones. Right now, Dan was only able to have a visible view to the tattoos on Phil’s arms. He wondered if there were more…
“They sure do. Why, would you like to know a few? …Oh my God, that rhymed!” Phil exclaimed, laughing at himself with his tongue poking out the side of his mouth.
Dan shook his head, giggling at how excited Phil sounded because of a simple rhyme.
“You’re a strange person, Phil,” Dan’s eyes glanced up at Phil through his lashes to see him smiling back.
“It’s a good thing to be strange,” Phil replied, making Dan look down at his lap.
Phil didn’t seem to care what other people thought of him. He seemed to be loving life just how it was and not worrying about anything else. Dan wished he had Phil’s life.
“Now, about these tattoos…” Phil began.
~
“…And this one basically represents my family,” Phil pointed to three hearts intertwined with each other whilst another heart was left on it’s own a few centimetres away.
“Why is that heart lonely?” Dan touched Phil’s skin with his index finger to where the lonely heart was located.
Phil smiled, but Dan didn’t think it was a happy one.
“That represents my father. The three hearts that are together represent my brother, my mum and myself. All three of us are extremely close and I still live with them right now. But my father kind of drifted off from us and is now living on his own somewhere. I still consider him family, but he’s just not as close to me as my brother and mum. So I didn’t intertwine all four hearts together,” Phil explained, his finger tracing over the heart.
Dan frowned. He took both his arms, leaned over sideways and wrapped them around Phil’s neck, his face nuzzling into the crook of it.
Phil was surprised at first but hugged him back, the warmness of Dan’s body radiating off of him onto Phil.
“I’m sorry about that,” Dan mumbled, his flower crown falling off his head.
Dan pulled away to grab it but Phil was already holding it in his hand. He smiled at Dan, putting the crown back onto his set of brown hair before cupping Dan’s cheek with his hand.
“It’s not your fault, love,” Phil whispered, his eyes locked on Dan’s.
Dan’s heartbeat quickened, the feeling of Phil’s hand on his cheek was extremely nerve wrecking. Suddenly, Dan saw Phil getting closer and closer to Dan’s face.
Dan’s eyes flickered down to Phil’s lips. He’s never kissed someone before…not properly, at least. What if Dan was a bad kisser? What if Phil hated him after this? What if h-
Dan could no longer think of anymore ‘what if’s as Phil pressed his lips gently against his.
Dan’s eyes didn’t close, but Phil’s did. They didn’t move together; they were just pressed to each other.
But then Phil took the risk and began to move his lips against Dan’s softly. Dan melted into the kiss and fluttered his eyes closed. He had almost no idea what he was doing but went with what his heart was saying.
Dan followed Phil’s movements in the kiss, beginning to move his lips also. He couldn’t help but smile into the kiss. Dan didn’t know if this was wrong, if you shouldn’t smile during a kiss, but he couldn’t contain it.
Phil caught Dan’s bottom lip between his and tugged on it slightly, making Dan make a small high-pitched squeak. Phil almost moaned at the noise Dan made, but it got stuck in his throat.
Dan was in awe at how good of a kisser Phil was. He couldn’t believe that his first kiss was with Phil Lester; the one guy that Dan may have never thought he’d fall in love with.
Phil flicked his tongue over Dan’s bottom lip, asking for a tour of Dan’s mouth. Dan gasped at the sudden contact, making his lips drift apart. Phil was given full access now.
He slipped his tongue into Dan’s mouth, unsure of how Dan would react. To Phil, he seemed a little unexperienced; but he wasn’t too bad at all.
A moan slipped from the back of Dan’s throat, the vibration radiated off of Phil’s lips. Dan’s arms wrapped desperately around Phil’s neck, their tongues dancing with each other.
Phil smirked at the noise that escaped from Dan, his fingers making tiny shapes on Dan’s waist.
Dan completely forgot they were extremely visible to anybody who may walk past, but Phil didn’t. He pulled away from Dan’s lips with a popping sound, making Dan whine at the loss of contact.
Phil chuckled, placing a kiss on Dan’s dimple.
“There’ll be more of that later, love. Not out here,” Phil whispered, leaning over to Dan’s ear and smiling.
Dan blushed, his hands tugging Phil forward into a hug. Dan’s lips twitched into a smile of his own at he breathed in Phil’s scent.
Dan couldn’t remember the last time he’d been this happy. And he wouldn’t want it any other way.
~
“Dan Howell has a boyfriend?!”
Dan listened to the whispers that were being said around the hallway as he made his way down to his locker.
Dan and Phil had been going out for almost 4 months now, and Dan couldn’t be happier with the decision.
Phil decided he was going to pick Dan up today from school. They hadn’t seen each other since last week and Dan wanted to see him as much as the other did.
Almost everyone in Dan’s school knew he was gay. And to them, it was a sin.
The last bell rang for the day, and Dan grabbed his school bag from inside his locker.
“Oi, Howell!” A boy yelled from beside his locker, shutting it violently.
Luckily, Dan’s fingers weren’t in the locker at the time or else they would’ve been crushed by the boy’s extreme force.
“What is it, Cody?” Dan asked, his voice dull and boring. He wasn’t in the mood.
“Where’s that boyfriend of yours, huh? It’s been months since that rumour came about. Has he been imaginary this whole time?” The boy, Cody, laughed.
Cody wasn’t the most homophobic bully in the school. He hardly ever made gay jokes towards Dan but he still joked that Dan would never be able to gain a relationship and actually keep it.
“He’s not imaginary…” Dan frowned.
Phil wasn’t imaginary. He was very much a human being who Dan was in love with.
“Then where is he? I don’t see him,” Cody pointed out, punching Dan harshly on the shoulder.
“He doesn’t go here or any High School…he’s picking me up today,” Dan sighed, but couldn’t help a smile that was forming on his lips.
“Oh reeeeally? I’d love to see this,” Cody scoffed, dragging the ‘e’ out in the word ‘really.’
Dan said no more as he walked away from Cody and down the hallway towards the front entrance. Dan could sense Cody behind him but ignored it. Dan just wanted to see Phil, and he’d feel better immediately.
Dan reached the outside of the school, walking down the steps and looking around for Phil. He couldn’t spot him anywhere except for a group of girls and boys chattering.
Dan was confused and slightly curious, so he decided to go over and see what all the fuss was about.
He walked over and it suddenly got quiet for some odd reason. He could hear the conversation very slightly and listened in.
“That’s a cool ass bike you got!” A girl sounded fond of the person she was talking to (whoever it was.)
“Thanks, I’ve had this baby for almost a year,” a voice was sounded from on the other side of all the people.
It sounded like Phil.
Dan tried to look over all the people and for a split second, he saw a set of black hair with blue attached to the fringe and that’s when Dan knew it was definitely Phil.
Students continued to make comments about Phil as Dan tried to get to him. But there was no use. He was continuously getting pushed back. Dan huffed.
“By the way, have any of you seen Dan Howell?” He heard Phil ask.
Dan’s ears perked up at the sound of his name from his boyfriend.
“Dan Howell? Why do you want to see him?” A boy asked, disgust visible in his voice.
“Because he’s my boyfriend. Is there a problem with that?” Phil’s said through gritted teeth. He wasn’t happy with the boy’s tone.
“You’re kidding, right? You’re not actually Dan Howell’s boyfriend,” a girl gasped. She seemed to be convincing herself that it wasn’t true.
“We thought that was a rumour!” Another boy expressed, his voice high pitched.
“Phil! I’m right here!” Dan called over, making everyone shuffle away from the sound of the voice.
Dan saw Phil in full-form now. He was wearing a dark leather jacket over a ripped shirt with ripped jeans to match the look. Phil was biting on his snakebites as soon as he spotted Dan, a smirk visible on his lips.
Dan ran over to him and practically jumped into Phil’s arms, ignoring the stares from the other students around them. Dan’s arm wrapped around Phil’s neck as Phil’s held onto Dan’s waist.
Dan’s face nuzzled into Phil’s neck as Phil leaned over towards Dan’s ear.
“Hey, babe,” Phil whispered, his lips grazing over the shell of Dan’s ear.
Dan blushed a dark shade of red and leaned back to look up at Phil.
“I missed you,” Dan whispered back.
“Why would someone like you be dating him?” A guy from the crowed interrupted whilst referring to Dan.
“Dan is absolutely perfect in every way possible and if you want to make a certain comment on that, I would suggest you leave right about now before I get angry. You do not want to see my angry side,” Phil growled, pulling Dan closer to him by his waist.
Dan curled up closer to Phil (if possible) and watched as his classmates walked away, mumbling in annoyance.
Only a few were left standing in the area, glaring at the two boys.
“Come on, love. Let’s get going,” Phil smiled sweetly at Dan, his hand grabbing onto Dan’s and turning them both around.
“I have to get on that?” Dan exclaimed wide-eyed, staring at the motorbike in front of them.
“Don’t worry, Dan. I am a professional. All you have to do is hold on tight,” Phil squeezed Dan’s waist gently, grabbing the one helmet from the bike’s handle.
“Unfortunately, there’s only one helmet. And you’re wearing it,” Phil handed the helmet to Dan; and he took it cautiously.
“But it’s your helmet. What if you get hurt without it?” Dan asked, looking up at Phil’s eyes pleadingly.
“I’d rather keep you safe. I’ll be fine, love. I promise,” Phil insisted.
Dan blushed at Phil’s protective side. That was something Dan was extremely in love with.
Phil jumped onto the bike and curled his hands into fists onto the handles. Dan followed behind, climbing onto the bike from behind Phil carefully and sitting back on the seat.
Dan was about to put the helmet on his head when he stopped himself.
“Phil! What about my flower crown?” Dan grabbed his orange coloured crown from his head and held it delicately in his hand.
“I’ve got it, Dan. Give it here,” Phil’s voice was soft as he held his hand out behind him for Dan to give him the flower crown.
Dan gave it to him, unsure of what Phil would do with it. Then, Dan sighed in relief as Phil put his flower crown into a small bag located in front of him attached to the bike.
Dan now set the helmet on his head slowly. He wanted Phil to be safe as well; but there was no point in arguing. When Phil says no, he means it.
Phil revved up the bike, causing Dan to gasp in fright and wrap his arms around Phil’s waist. He was appearing to be holding on for dear life; and the bike hadn’t even started moving yet. Phil chuckled.
“It’s okay, Dan. You’re not going to fall off. I’ve got you…well, in this case, you’ve got me,” Phil referred to Dan’s hands intertwined with each other’s around Phil’s skinny waist.
Dan blushed and let his head fall against Phil’s back. He trusted Phil. This wasn’t going to be the day he would officially die.
Phil began backing out of the car park of Dan’s High School until they were on the road. The whole way, Dan smiled.
He was so happy that he met this strange yet oddly charming Tattoo Boy.