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“Phiw?”
The room was too dark to see anything of interest as Dan stumbled inside. Realistically, it would’ve made sense to switch on the light, but he was too preoccupied with another task to care about vision.
He needed to find Phil.
“Phiw,” he called out again, his words slurring as he clumsily shut the door behind him and walked further inside. “Mm… are you there?”
Suddenly, there were hands on his shoulders. If the hands belonged to anyone else, Dan probably would’ve screamed. However, he instantly recognized the touch as belonging to his boyfriend of nearly 17 years, and so he just relaxed into it.
“There you are,” he sighed, his eyes flickering shut as he leaned back and tucked his head into the crook of Phil’s neck.
“Love, you’re absolutely pissed,” Phil observed quietly into the top of Dan’s head. He sounded concerned as well as amused, his hands finding their way to Dan’s waist to hold him upright.
“No,” Dan protested weakly. He turned around in Phil’s grasp, pressing his chest against the other man’s and starting to pepper his face and neck with gentle kisses.
“Pfft—what are you doing?” Phil asked, looking down at Dan in confusion but not making him stop.
“I missed you,” Dan whispered against Phil’s pale, soft, beautiful skin. “I missed you so much.”
“Did you not have fun?” Phil brought his hand up to rest in Dan’s hair, slowly carding his fingers through the dark curls.
“It was fine,” Dan relented, sounding somewhat disappointed, “but it would’ve been infinitely better if you were there.”
“Aww…,” Phil hummed quietly in reply, his smile softening at his boyfriend’s sincere words. “Then I’m sorry for not showing up. How much did you have?” he added when Dan started to, once again, shower him with kisses.
“Just a… twelve…,” Dan mumbled, sheepishly hiding his face in Phil’s neck.
Phil raised an eyebrow. “Twelve what?”
“…Shots….”
“Dan.” He grabbed Dan’s face, tilting it upward to look him in the eyes. Dan was taller than him, so usually Phil would be the one looking up, but right now Dan was slumped forward against him for support, making him seem shorter than usual.
“That’s a lot,” Phil continued, frowning.
“Sorry,” Dan said, although he didn’t sound like he meant it. He was looking at Phil in a way that suggested he hadn’t absorbed Phil’s words at all; it was what their fans referred to as Heart-Eyes Howell.
Phil sighed. He let go of Dan’s face, letting the younger man once again lean against him. Then he slipped an arm around his torso, heaving him up to stand on his own feet.
“Come on,” he said, starting to slowly lead Dan to their bedroom. “You’re going to bed right now.”
“Nooo but I want to spend time with you,” Dan whined, struggling slightly against Phil’s arm around him (although not nearly violently enough to actually get himself let go). “That’s why I came back.”
“You can spend plenty of time with me while we’re asleep,” Phil insisted, smirking slightly. “Dan, it’s 2am.”
Dan grumbled quietly but quit resisting as Phil took him into the bedroom and sat him down on the bed. Phil told him to stay there, then disappeared into the kitchen for a glass of water. Dan let out a sigh, leaning forward and burying his face in his hands. It wasn’t a bad sigh, though, as could be seen by how his face was flushed and accompanied by quite a large smile.
God, he loved Phil so much.
What are the chances that he’d find someone so authentically perfect for him, someone who cared about him so much and genuinely wanted only the best for him? Dan didn’t know, but he did know that he had to be one of the luckiest people on the planet to be given someone like Phil.
When Phil returned, Dan drank the water with no complaints, then flopped down backward onto the bed. Phil sighed, shaking his head affectionately, before crawling into bed beside him.
“You’re not going to wash up?” Phil asked with a gentle touch to Dan’s jaw.
Dan turned over so that he was facing his partner. He watched him for a moment, gaze flitting across his features, then shut his chocolate brown eyes and smiled.
“No,” he responded simply, to which Phil chuckled.
“Okay.” Phil shifted closer, pulling the covers up and over Dan’s form before hugging the other man close to his chest. “That’s fine. You can always do it in the morning.”
Dan snuggled close, a giddy smile still plastered across his face. He tucked his face into its home against Phil’s neck, and inhaled deeply.
“Phil, you know… I’ve always loved you,” Dan whispered. They were the same words he said every time, and yet they never seemed to lose their earnestness. “Since the day we met….”
“I know, silly,” Phil laughed quietly in reply.
Dan felt Phil’s chin tap against the top of his head before resting there; heard the way his breath stuttered in his throat despite the simplicity of Dan’s words. He heard the way Phil didn’t hesitate, not one bit, as the fond reply was spoken aloud.
“I love you too.”
[ END ]