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“Good night, bear,” Phil said across the narrow passage between the bunk beds, reaching out to lock his index finger with Dan’s.
“Good night, rat,” Dan replied, smiling lovingly. After another successful show, they had a quick dinner and a cuddle in Phil’s bunk before they finally called it a night, ready to get some well-deserved rest.
“Good night, dads,” Emilia mocked from the bunk under Dan, making Leila on the other side chuckle.
“Good night, children whom we’ll leave on a church doorstep in the next town,” Phil replied sweetly, sending both women into fits of giggles.
Soon enough, everyone settled down and only the hum of the engine and occasional noises from the bunks interrupted the late-night silence. Until…
“AAAAAHHHH!” Dan shrieked at the top of his lungs a few hours later. “No, no, stop it, no, PHIL!” Followed by a metallic screech, a loud thud, a groan, and a hollow bang of the curtain rod against the bunk below. The automatic blue backlight illuminated his nearly naked body, drenched in sweat and splayed on the floor between bunks.
“Dan?!” Phil called, quickly unzipping his curtain. Six more zippers followed suit.
“Dan, are you okay?” Emilia asked, pushing away the curtain rod to get a better look.
“Dan, oh my god!” Phil exclaimed, putting his glasses on and scrambling out of his bunk, nearly falling as well.
“Dan, what happened?” someone else asked.
When Phil knelt next to him, Dan looked up with a pained grimace on his face, reaching for his head clumsily.
“Are you hurt? Dan, talk to me,” Phil said frantically.
“I hit my head,” Dan muttered, sitting up groggily and trying to cover himself.
Phil helped Dan to his feet, pulled up his boxer shorts where they’d slid down a bit and walked him to the small lounge at the back of the bus. Dan groaned when the big light turned on and sat down on the sofa with his shoulders hunched, shielding his eyes and holding the sore spot on his head.
“Where does it hurt?” Phil asked, sitting down next to Dan and watching his tear-stained face cautiously.
Dan made an unhappy noise – he could barely understand what Phil was saying over the dull, throbbing pain pounding against his skull. Phil dimmed the lights and gently pulled Dan’s hands away.
“Let me take a look, okay?” Phil said, checking Dan’s head.
“Ow!” Dan swatted Phil’s hand away when his fingers poked at the sore spot.
“Oh, dear, there’s going to be a big bump tomorrow. It’s already swelling,” Phil worried. “Maybe we should take you to the ER, just in case.”
“I’m not dying, Phil,” Dan retorted, then sighed. “Sorry. You’re helping. I’m fine, I promise. Just fucking embarrassed. I almost made it without screaming at night.”
“What happened?”
“I just had a fucking nightmare. Don’t… I won’t even tell you. It was awful.”
Phil sighed, wrapping an arm around Dan’s waist and squeezing his knee with the other hand. “You don’t have to be embarrassed about that, bear. I think you ripped your curtain, though.”
Dan leaned into Phil’s side, closing his eyes and exhaling shakily. His heart was still hammering wildly.
“Guess I’ll sleep here, then,” he muttered.
“You can sleep with me,” Phil offered.
“The beds are too small, Phil. We’ve already established it’s not comfortable,” Dan said dismissively, but Phil was not fooled. Dan just didn’t want to inconvenience him.
“Then we’ll both sleep here,” Phil decided. “You hit your head; I’m not leaving you alone.”
“Phil…” Dan protested, but his partner was already power-walking back. Without hesitation, he unzipped Dan’s curtain, stuffed it into a narrow storage space above the bunk, and pulled Dan’s thin mattress out.
“Is Dan okay?” Emilia asked, watching him from her bunk.
“Yes. Mostly feeling awkward. We’ll sleep in the back,” Phil said, dragging the mattress through the narrow passage.
“Phil… are you sure about this?” Dan said sceptically, pulling his legs up to the sofa to let Phil bring the mattress in.
Phil shrugged. “Well, your bed isn’t safe. And it’s our last night here, anyway.”
Dan nodded, grimacing as the movement sent a dull jolt of pain through his head. He sat there while Phil brought in the second mattress and both their duvets and pillows. The mattresses didn’t quite fit in the tiny space, but they made it work.
“Come here, lad,” Phil said softly after the lights were off and Dan was trying to find a comfortable position. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Mhm. It doesn’t hurt much anymore.”
“Okay,” Phil whispered, running his nails up and down Dan’s back. “That’s good. Are you comfortable?”
Dan rolled over and pressed his back against Phil’s chest. Phil kissed Dan’s shoulder and wrapped his arm around Dan’s body.
“Now I am,” Dan muttered, rolling his hips into Phil’s crotch.
Phil gently smacked Dan’s ass and tilted his head for a long kiss. “You naughty tease. Let’s get some rest.”
Dan sighed. “I can’t wait to sleep in a hotel room tomorrow.”
“Are you not comfy?”
“I want to fuck.”
Phil giggled. “Alright, sounds like you didn’t hit your head too hard.”
“Shut the fuck up,” Dan chuckled. “I can get used to sleeping on the bus, but this is a huge flaw in our planning.”
“Mmm, I know,” Phil purred, squeezing Dan and grinding against his ass. “I can’t wait either. But now go to sleep, okay?”
“Okay. Good night. For real this time.”
***
They both woke up with a start a few hours later to the sounds of zippers, quick footsteps, and frantic talking.
“Wha–” Dan groaned, rubbing his eyes and discreetly wiping away saliva from Phil’s arm where his head had been resting.
“We must be there already,” Phil said, realising the bus wasn’t moving. But when he reached for his phone, he saw it was only shortly past 7 AM. “Hm. Probably a break, then. I’ll go check.”
Dan made an unhappy sound when Phil’s warm body disappeared and rolled over to Phil’s side, burying his nose in Phil’s pillow. Phil shook his head in amusement and left the lounge.
“Morning. Why have we stopped?” he asked no one in particular.
“The bus has broken down,” Leila reported from her bunk, tapping her phone screen. “It’ll probably take a while. I’m trying to order food, but that doesn’t look promising either.”
“Why, where are we?”
“Middle of Fucking Nowhere, Florida.”
“Shit,” Phil muttered, making his way to the front to talk to the drivers, but they couldn’t give him much more information. The tech was looking into it, apparently. It was still quite dark outside, but Phil could see through the windows that they were really in the middle of nowhere. He grabbed some clothes from the sleeping area, pulled on a t-shirt, and returned to the small lounge to tell Dan what he'd found out.
“Great,” Dan sighed. “And I’m awake now.”
“Yeah, me too. Do you fancy a walk?”
“Not that awake.”
Phil chuckled. “I have an idea. Help me move those mattresses.”
Together they cleared the floor, and then Phil stood on the sofa, reaching towards the ceiling.
“What are you doing?” Dan questioned, watching his partner fumble with a latch he hadn’t noticed before. “What the hell?!” he exclaimed when Phil uncovered a ceiling window, opened it, and pulled down a folded metal ladder.
“Get dressed,” Phil said, pointing at the small pile of clothes he’d dropped on the sofa on his way back, and started hauling their duvets and pillows to the roof.
“Phil. What the actual fuck?” Dan said flatly, looking up. “This can’t be safe.”
Phil didn’t reply, but Dan heard him walking around, and then some metallic noises.
“Phiw!” Dan whined.
“Shush and toss me some blankets,” Phil called.
Dan huffed and grabbed a few blankets around the lounge, then threw them to Phil through the opening.
“Thank you,” Phil sang, and then Dan finally climbed up the ladder as well.
“What the hell?!” he exclaimed, laughing and impressed. In the first pale rays of morning light, minutes before sunrise, he saw what Phil had done. Using a raised wooden panel propped up by two sturdy metal rods, Phil had built a makeshift headrest and arranged their pillows against it. It looked like there was a small wooden patio on the roof, but most of it was covered with their duvets, which Phil had used to build a cosy little nest for them.
“What do you think?” Phil asked proudly, grinning.
“Did we… were we told there’s something on the roof?!”
“I don’t think so. But I read the bus manual one night when I couldn’t sleep.”
Dan snorted. “Of course you did. Phil, this is so cool!”
“Right? Come on, then.” Phil took the blankets from Dan and spread two over the duvets. Once they were both comfortable and Dan had snuggled up to Phil’s side, he used the remaining one to cover them both, tucking the edge around Dan’s body to keep him warm. Then he pressed a kiss to Dan’s curls and slipped an arm around his waist.
For the next several minutes, they silently watched the sun rise over the horizon and bathe the endless road, the passing cars, and the trees in warm, golden light. Phil then turned his head to the side, and his smile fell.
“Bear,” he said gently, reaching to wipe the tears from Dan’s face. “What’s wrong?”
Dan shook his head with a wet chuckle. He wiped his face with the sleeve of his t-shirt and took a slow, deep breath.
“I’m so happy, Phil,” he said. “The fact… just the fact that we’re still together after everything we’ve been through. And not only are we together. We’re doing another tour, and a podcast, and… we’re just… free. Just like that. Did you ever believe we would be? Like five, ten years ago, did you? Because I didn’t.”
“Oh, bear.”
“But now… after the year we’ve had…” Dan chuckled, shaking his head and wiping his eyes. “I’ll believe in anything, Phil. Because… apparently… we can do anything.”
Phil smiled and pressed Dan against his chest, kissing his cheek.
“Yes, we can, bear. We can do anything we want.”
Dan sighed against Phil’s chest. “I love you.”
Suddenly, the bus came to life, and the patio started vibrating under their butts.
“Guys, we’ll be leaving soon,” one of the drivers called through the opening in the roof.
They quickly packed up and threw everything back inside, climbed down the ladder, and Phil closed the ceiling window.
“We’ve got food coming!” Emilia cheered, rushing through the sleeping area into the back lounge. “Someone recognised you two on the roof and arranged it.”
“Oh, wow, we should go say hi,” Phil said, looking down at his clothes to decide whether he was decent enough to meet a fan.
“They left, said they’d see you tonight at the Q&A.”
“Well,” Phil chuckled when Emilia left. “Looks like we have a great opening for the pre-show.”