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Dan did not care about the end-of-term exams.
Okay, that was a lie. He cared, alright?
But he didn't care about getting a good mark on a paper and a thumbs up from a teacher. He just needed his parents off his back about his grades, which had actually improved a lot these past few months. Still, though, when it came down to it, studying just wasn’t his thing.
And it didn't help that his boyfriend was trying to encourage him by enticing him with stupid trigonometry.
"Just think, Dan. If we can ace these exams, we can both be in trig next year. They only let a few kids in our year in, but your math has gotten so much better, I bet if you really crammed for this-"
"Isn't trig just about triangles? What's so hard about that?" Dan interrupted, raising an eyebrow. "Do they need a whole class?"
Phil mimicked his unamused expression. "If you'd remember from the last time we talked about this, trigonometry is not 'just about triangles'. It's really about…"
The more he talked, the more animated he got, and Dan let himself admire the show. Phil looked good when he got passionate about something.
Phil looked good, period. He'd kept his black hair since the whole dramatic breakup incident, but today he'd opted to wear his glasses. With the top button of his uniform shirt unbuttoned and tie loose, he looked…his brain supplied the word “hunky”. Dan giggled a little to himself at the description.
"…And that's why trigonometry is actually the science of hamster's sexual activity." Phil wrapped up.
"Fascinating." Dan murmured, a grin spreading across his face. As he heard Phil groan, though, he froze up a bit.
"Dan. You didn't listen to a single thing I just said, did you?"
Dan blushed and laughed sheepishly. "I was distracted! I have a very interesting tutor." He said, lowering his voice just to make sure nobody in the library could hear.
Phil's own face flushed a bit, and he matched his tone. "Yeah, but if I can't prove to be a good tutor, you'll spend next term being tutored by-Garrett H.”
The two glanced over at Garrett, who was focused more on digging through his nose for a snack then noticing them.
Dan shuddered at the thought, but Phil soldiered forth. "Plus, what about applying for Uni? You know, it's never too early to think about building up applications-"
"It is, actually. It is when I'd rather be spending time with you ." Dan smirked as Phil's face flushed even further. Even under the new hair and more confident attitude, Phil still had that shyness that made him so dang cute as when they first met.
"Well-spend time with me and study seriously. Deal?" He offers finally, Dan letting out a dramatic groan before nodding.
"Fine. Fine!" He relented finally, shutting his eyes tight before peeking out at Phil. "You win, mister. We shall study until we pass out and die."
"Cheers to that, Dan." Phil joked wryly, tipping his milk carton to tap against Dan's. "Cheers to that."
*
Usually, if Dan and Phil were at Dan's place and nobody was home, the two would be curled up in D's bed giggling and half-watching some show as they snogged.
Key word is usually.
"You know, I was exaggerating the other day. We don't really need to study until we die." Dan whined as Phil slid his binder across the carpet, a few notes in the margins of a paragraph Dan had half-assed.
Phil raised an eyebrow at Dan over his coffee cup. He had brought his own NesCafe from home since Dan had been worried about breaking his dad’s coffee machine. Phil was on his second mug and it had only been an hour-or was that his third?
"I know you might have been exaggerating. And we won't die. These are the last two weeks before exams, though. This is when the pedal hits the metal." He said, grabbing one of his books and flipping through the pages.
Dan pouted, giving Phil his best puppy-dog eyes. "Can we just take a fewwwww minutes to snuggle? I know I've missed seeing you…we never get any time alone these days…" He said in his best, sweetest voice, letting it get all high even if it embarrassed him.
"Dan…" Phil pushed his hair back, adjusting his glasses. "Yes, we can." Dan's heart lifted, but Phil stopped him before he could jump up.
"Once we get through these few questions. I promise you it'll be worth it."
"That's it. I'm taking matters into my own hands." Dan huffed, leaning in and kissing Phil suddenly.
Phil let out a small squeak but couldn't hold back a giggle, cupping Dan's cheek. Dan grinned and started to scoot a bit closer when-
"Dan! We're home!" Adrian called, he and his mum closed the door behind her.
"Oh my gosh, I'm going to kill them both." Dan snapped as he pulled away, Phil laughing weakly at that.
"It's all good. We should get back to work, anyways." He said, letting out a small breath as he pulled his binder back into his lap.
"Can we just go over to yours?" Dan asked, biting his lip at the guilty look Phil gave him.
"You know we can't. My mum's still convinced you made me fight Davis and will turn me into a vengeful, surly teen who's going to drop out and turn to doing coke." He joked weakly, Dan sighing.
"Yeah…" Dan mumbled, grabbing his book. "Okay, fine. More studying. Here. Yay. My heart cannot contain this excitement." He deadpanned, itching the back of his head with a pen.
Phil smiled a little, nudging his knee against Dan's. "Two more weeks. And then, there's the big end-of-term dance, and we can have fun all break long." He said excitedly, Dan unable to hold back his grin at the other's enthusiasm.
"Two more weeks." Dan relented.
*
The next Thursday, they were all cooped up together at a lunch table with their friends, but Dan had his eyes closely trained on Phil. Well, as much as he could.
If he thought he got distracted during studying, he couldn't believe Chris. It seemed like every two minutes, he had something else to say.
"Peejy, bud, have you thought about our new song yet? I really wanna get something out on Napster soon. For our fans."
"Hey, Lou-remember last weekend when I said I'd pay you back today? For the donuts you got me? I'm gonna need to get an extension on that."
"Yo, Ry. What are you thinking about? You think you're gonna do well on these exams?"
"Hey, Phil. You got any plans for break?"
Their other friends had humored Chris and answered kindly, but Phil was seeming stressed out, running hand after hand through his hair. Were his hands shaking? Phil had been sipping a lot from his coffee mug…
"I dunno, Chris." Phil said. Dan could tell he was a bit annoyed, but was trying to be nice about it. "My parents said we're probably going to the Isle of Man for a bit. Visit Gran. Let's focus on the work?"
Dan froze up a bit. Woah, woah, woah. All this time, they had been working towards the goal of two weeks. And now Phil was gonna skip off to some island up North?
"You didn't tell us you were going away for the holiday." Dan said cooly, raising an eyebrow at Phil.
Phil didn't even look up, twiddling with a highlighter. "Mmm. Parents brought it up a couple nights ago. Y'know how it is."
"Well, what if we all wanted to hang out?" Dan challenged, giving Phil’s shin a light kick under the table. "You could've messaged us. Let us know."
"We'll see him when he gets back." Ryan added naively, but Dan wasn't about to drop it.
"Yeah, I know. But it would've been nice to be informed." Dan protested, furrowing his eyebrows as Phil finally looked up at him.
"Okay. I'll fill you in once they figure out the dates." Phil said softly, mouthing a quick sorry before Chris went back to chattering.
"I like islands. You know, did I ever tell you the time I went on the ferry to Isle of Arran and puked the whole way there and saw the fish eating the sick?"
*
The day before exams, Phil looked awful.
His hair was everywhere, almost a bird's nest on his head. His eyes were puffy behind his glasses, dark bags under them. And he was clutching to that stupid travel mug like it was his life source.
"You need a nap, love." Dan murmured as Phil slid into their normal seat a couple minutes late.
"No, no, I'm fine. I work well under pressure." Phil said offhandedly, starting to pull out his notebooks. "And-you're wonderful, and doing so great. But let's just polish up your thesis skills-"
Dan shook his head. " Phil I'm serious. Have you been sleeping at all?"
Phil looked up at him and offered him a small, warm smile that didn't meet his exhausted eyes. "Tomorrow is the big day. Then I can relax, and we can go to the dance, and then-."
"And then you leave for all of break." The words left Dan's mouth before he could even think about them, feeling guilty as soon as Phil's face fell.
"My Gran isn't doing too hot, Dan." He said after a moment. "So, you know. The family wants to spend time with her. If I could stay here, I would."
"I know, I know." Dan leaned forward in his seat. "So. What you need to do right now is just take it easy. You know all of the stuff that's gonna be on the test."
Phil shook his head. "I-I don't think so, Dan. These exams are tough . I wanna make sure both of us do our best."
Dan pressed his leg against Phil's under the table, gently taking the travel mug as the other teen moved to take another gulp. "Phil. At least take a nap?"
Phil furrowed his eyebrows, taking the mug back and gulping down another swig of coffee. "No need. I've got liquid energy running through me. All I need to focus on right now is helping you with this thesis. Now! Let's see…"
*
The day of the exams, Dan was admittedly nervous, for someone who supposedly didn't care about these kinds of things. The idea of being judged, the time pressure, all of it was a bit intense.
All he wanted to do was see Phil before they went in, but all he could find were their friends, talking in hushed voices in a corner of the corridor.
"Have you guys seen-" Dan starts before yelping as he feels a hand clap his shoulder.
"Dan !" Phil cheers, eyes wide and wild. "Peej! Lou! Soph! Aw, man, I wish I could shorten my name like you guys! What would that be, would it be Ph? Phi? Phee?"
Everyone froze, staring at Phil before Chris speaks up.
"Are you on cocaine?"
Phil laughed too loud at that, throwing his head back. "Chris, you make me laugh. No, I'm not on cocaine, silly! Mum said I couldn't have any more coffee, which is daft. Coffee's great. Amazing. Ace! But, but, but, I asked Mart super-duper nicely, and he got me some energy drinks! He said only had one. I had two. Maybe three? These things are great!"
He waves his hands around so much as he talks he nearly smacks Louise in the face, giggling as she raised an eyebrow at him. "Okayyyy, okay. Let's take some deep breaths, yeah?"
Phil takes in a noisy breath with her, but as soon as he lets it out he's off again.
"Anyways. Are you guys nervous? I'm always so nervous before exams. But I'm fine. It's so bright in here. Have you guys noticed the clocks are so loud in exams? Because they are. So so so loud. And it's like, yeah, we get it! Time is ticking! I didn't think time stopped or anything!"
"Sure, Phil. Sure." Sophie says kindly, placing a hand on his back and patting it gently. "Maybe you should get some fresh air before-"
At that, though, Mr. Howards comes out and ushers them into the room. Phil bounces on his heels practically the whole way there, humming happily to himself as he sits down.
Dan's a few rows ahead, glancing back to see Phil pull out his pencils. Then rearrange them. Then rearrange them again, knee jiggling a million miles an hour.
Before he can focus too much on it, though, the first packets are handed out, and the room falls silent, save the sound of pencils scratching against paper.
They couldn’t have been working for more than half an hour when a hand brushes by Dan’s table. He looks up to see Phil-practically skipping up to where the teacher’s are sat, handing over his first booklet.
There’s a quiet conversation as Mr. Howards looks suspicious, but after flipping through the booklet he gives a resigned look and hands Phil another and watches the teen bounce back to the desk. This time, forty-five minutes pass and Phil has two full essays written.
The rest of the day goes like that, until a full three hours before the exam period ends, Phil is done. Mr. Howards looks bewildered, but he waves Phil off, grimacing as he goes.
Dan just shakes his head and gets back to work.
Finally, finally, the final bell rings, and Dan-even though he's got about a quarter of an exam left-shot up and filed into line to drop his packet off before jogging towards the door.
He looks around the corridor-lots of students, but no Phil. He's not at his locker, either. He's about to head out to the front of the school when he sees Martyn talking to the receptionist in the main office, looking a bit annoyed.
"I told him he could have one, not three. Yeah, I know, I know." He says with a sigh, glancing back at Dan and smirking. "Howell! Just the man I wanted to see. Get in here."
Dan gulps thickly and steps in, looking up at Martyn.
"My idiot brother drank so many of my energy drinks he puked." He explained, sighing as he makes his way back to the nurses station and pulls the curtain back. Phil is starfished across the small cot, letting out a loud snore to punctuate Martyn's statement.
"Oh, Phil…" Dan mumbled, shaking his head as Martyn walked over before smirking back at Dan.
"Since you're here, might as well help me drag 'em to the car. C'mon."
*
For the first time in the past few weeks, Phil looks happy-proper happy. The dark bags under his eyes have nearly disappeared after nearly 15 hours of sleep the past two days.
And, yeah, he looks good . He's wearing a button-down shirt, a tie, and new black jeans-tighter than the loose uniform pants and Martyn's hand-me-downs he usually wears. When he had walked into PJ's, where they all met up before the dance, Dan had practically dropped his cup.
He didn't feel quite that good looking himself, wearing pretty much the same thing Phil was wearing, but by the look on Phil's face he could tell he felt the same about him.
Which was mental, that Phil could even feel a quarter of what Dan felt for him. But still.
The dance had been fun for the first part-they had all swarmed the snack table, and it turns out their friends (including Phil) had no problems looking stupid as they danced. While everyone else was bobbing their heads and trying to look "cool", their friends were having the time of their lives sprawling their limbs out and laughing.
Dan even made eye contact with a few of his old friends, who watched on with raised eyebrows. He just laughed it off and kept dancing. It was definitely more fun this way.
But then, the slow songs started. Everyone seemed to couple up, and Dan could tell Phil was getting a bit tired. At one point, Sophie and Peej were in a heated embrace and Dan subtly motioned for Phil to follow him.
They ended up in the wings of the auditorium, feet dangling off the platform as they laid back.
"This is the best dance I've ever been to." Dan said quietly, and Phil grinned.
"Me, too. Never had a date before."
"Me, neither." Dan murmured, biting his lip. "You think PJ and Soph are still going at it?"
Phil made a face. "Probably. It's like they're doing it on the dance floor." Dan gagged loudly and Phil giggled, poking Dan's cheek. "Betcha they're gonna be joined at the hip all of break."
"She'll probably be pregnant when you get back." Dan snickered as Phil gagged this time, but the words hung heavy in the air.
When you get back.
"It'll only be a couple weeks." Phil said after a moment.
"I know."
"And I'll email you every day."
"I know."
"And I'll save you some of my mum's holiday cookies."
"You'd better." Dan grinned, scooting closer so their bodies were pressed against each other-just gently.
Phil smiled, pressing a small kiss to Dan's cheek. "I'll bring every mixtape you made me and I'll listen to them the whole time. Or until Dad throws my Walkman in the sea."
Dan giggled at that, sighing softly. After a few moments he poked his side. "You won't…you won't forget me, right?"
"Forget you?" Phil raised an eyebrow, and Dan blushed.
"I dunno! We spend all our time together these days. What if you run off and realize you hate me, or that there’s other hotter guys out there, or-”
"Dan, oh my gosh." Phil laughed and kissed him quickly. "Shut up. I love you, but shut up."
Dan's face flushed more as he kept talking.
"I promise, even if-even if Justin Timberlake, or Will Smith, or Joey from Season 1 of Friends, or Spike from Buffy, or-"
"That’s a lot of people, Phil."
"- or anyone else for that matter came and professed they had feelings for me, I promise I'd stay with you." He assured him, wrapping him into a tight hug. "Promise. Pinkie swear. All of that."
Dan hummed softly and hugged Phil back, letting out a soft sigh.
After a moment, though, he froze.
"Wait-did you just say you loved me?"