Homeless~Phan

Chapter 7

I'm supposed to be at Chris' house in 5 minutes, and I'm lost. The road beneath my feet continues deeper and deeper into unfamiliar neighborhoods, taunting me. Every time I take a turn down an unfamiliar road, the anxiety I feel builds up. Every time, I think,
His house is down the road I didn't take...
I feel like I'm going in circles; all the houses and streets look the same. I take a turn down another side road, and find myself back at Grantor Park.
I let out a groan.
I'll never make it in time.
Then, another thought forms in my head.
What if this is some sort of cruel joke? What if there isn't even a party, and Phil told me a wrong address, just to mess with me?
No. Phil wouldn't do that. I just need to look again...
I remember he said that Chris lived on Wayberry Street, not too far from the park. Maybe it's around the left side of the park.
I turn around the corner; and, sure enough, the street sign says Wayberry Street.
Great going, Dan. You wondered around for half an hour and the place was just around the corner.
Now, my main concern is finding out which house is his.
I find it soon enough; the dead giveaway being the bunches of balloons tied to the mailbox. Upon first glance, the two story house house looks ancient. The greenish hue of the painted exterior is chipped and faded. The roof shingles are missing in some places, and vines crawl up the side of the house. The overall appearance looks disheveled, but the house has a vintage charm to it.
I walk up the stone pathway to the front porch. There's no doorbell; only a heavy, bronze door knocker on the windowless white door. I lift the knocker and let it fall.
I hear muffled voices, then, footsteps. The door is flung open, and Pj greets me.
"Finally, you're here! Come on, we need loads of help."
He pulls me inside and shuts the door.
I take look around, and gape at the interior. While the outside looks vintage and overgrown, the inside is tidy and modern.
The white marble floor gleams beneath my feet, and a staircase is directly in front of me. Behind it, a doorway leads into the great room. The entire place is clean, not one speck of dust can be found anywhere.
"It's a lot to take in, isn't it?" Pj says.
I nod.
"Wait till you see the rest of the house. Of course, there'll be plenty of time for that later. But right now, we need to set up!" He grabs my arm and pulls me into the great room. It's even more elegant, with dark wooden floors and white furniture. Above the fireplace, a huge flatscreen T.V. is attached to the wall. French doors open into the backyard, where Chris and Phil are hanging up string lights. Chris notices me, and says,
"Look who's arrived!"
He finishes hanging up the lights and comes inside, with Phil on his heels.
"The outside's done, now all we have to do is set up the inside. You brought the party lights, right?" Chris says to Pj.
"Yeah, you wanna help me set them up?"
"Sure. Phil and Dan, you can get the food ready in the kitchen." Chris says to us before disappearing up the stairs with Pj.
Phil turns to me.
"I'm glad you could make it."
"So am I."
Phil smiles before heading into the kitchen, which is high tech and modern. It has dark stained cabinets and a huge center island, a modern look. Phil pulls bags of chips out of the pantry, along with a giant bowl.
"Put the chips in here," he says as he hands them to me. Our fingers barely brush, and electricity travels up my arm.
I turn away before he sees me blush, and busy myself getting the chips ready.
"By the way, did you have a hard time finding the house?" He asks.
"I kinda got lost on the way, but I made it here," I say sheepishly.
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Phil exclaims. "If I had your number, you could have called me and I would come and get you."
My mouth drops open.
"Are you asking me for my number?"
"Maybe."
He's leaning against the counter, with a smirk plastered on his face.
I scoff.
"I'm sorry to let you down, but I don't have a phone," I say.
"Oh." Phil's eyes become a bit dull, and he looks down at the floor, crestfallen.
I feel a pang of guilt in my chest.
"But if I did have a phone I would definitely want your number.
He smiles, and begins to say something before the doorbell rings.
"Is that the pizza?" Chris yells from upstairs.
Phil walks to the door and opens it.
I hear a muffled exchange before Phil walks in with a girl.
"Louise is here!" Phil exclaims.
She has a curvy body, dressed casually in a periwinkle blue dress and white flats. A black duffel bag hangs off of one shoulder. Her hair is blonde, and the curled ends are dark pink.
Pj and Chris come down the stairs, and Louise greets them with a hug.
"How are you, Louise?" Chris asks.
"I'm doing great. Pj, would you be a dear and take my bag upstairs? Thanks." She smiles. Pj takes the bag and disappears upstairs.
She notices me standing in the doorway, and says,
"Oh, hello. I don't think that we've met."
Phil walks over to me and puts his hand on my shoulder.
"This is Dan. Dan, meet my friend, Louise."
Louise wraps me into an unexpected hug.
"Hi, it's so nice to meet you. Phil's told me about you. All good things."
She steps away from me and grins at Phil, whose cheeks turn a bit pink.
Pj reappears, and pats Louise's shoulder.
"Louise here is the best drink mixer in the country. She makes a killer black velvet."
"Shut up, Pj! I'm not that good, I only know how to make 6 things." Louise mutters.
"Speaking of drinks, have you gotten them out of the fridge?" Chris asks.
"Nope," Phil answers.
"Well, what are you waiting for? People are gonna be here in 15 minutes!" Chris exclaims as he heads up the stairs with Pj.
"Ok, ok. Care to help, Dan and Louise?" Phil asks.
Louise nods. "Yeah."
Phil opens a door that leads into the garage, and we all file in. Besides the black Volvo, the only things in the garage are a workbench and a refrigerator. My eyes bulge as Phil opens it.
Inside, there are at least 15 cases of beer. On top of that, there's also three bottles of Smirnoff Ice, one bottle of Jack Daniels, and three two-liters of soda.
"How did Chris get all this stuff? How can he afford it all?" I stammer.
"Chris' parents have more money than most, and he gets allowance." Phil says as he picks up the vodka.
"Where's his parents?" I ask.
"Out of town for the weekend," Louise says.
"We can answer all your questions later, after we've set up," Phil adds.
I pick up two of the beer cases and follow them to the kitchen. After three more trips to the garage, all of the alcohol is on the counter. Phil and I set out red plastic cups while Louise rummages through the fridge.
"Found it!" She sings.
She closes the fridge and triumphantly holds up a bottle of orange juice.
"What do you need that for?" I ask.
"To make screwdrivers."
"To make what?"
Louise stares at me in disbelief.
"You have been to a house party before, right?" She questions.
"Yeah, but only twice-"
"How come you don't know what a screwdriver is?"
"I don't know! The people at the party weren't exactly mixologists."
"A screwdriver is one of the simplest drinks you can make. It's half vodka, half orange juice." Phil explains.
"That's a weird name for it," I say.
"It is," Phil agrees.
"So you've never had a screwdriver before?" Louise asks.
I shake my head.
"You're in for a treat," Louise grins wickedly.
A minute later a cup is thrust into my hand and Louise and Phil are cheering me on.
"Chug, chug, chug, chug!" They chant.
I take a small sip of it, and prepare for the worst. After a moment, I say,
"That actually doesn't taste that bad. It just tastes like orange juice."
I take another sip as Pj and Chris come down the stairs.
"Jeez, Dan. The party hasn't even started yet, and you're already drinking," Chris says.
"Oh, don't worry, I have drinks for everyone," Louise says, handing everyone a plastic cup.
"Cheers!" Pj says. We all have a swig of our drinks before the doorbell rings. Chris answers the door, and he comes into the kitchen a minute later with several boxes of pizza.
"Food's here," he grunts, setting the boxes on the counter.
After paying the pizza man, Chris says, "We finished the lights. Come outside and see the final product."
We all gather on the lawn and look at the house. In all the upstairs windows, neon lights change from color to color; illuminating the house in purples, pinks, greens, and blues. It's a nice contrast to the dusk settling across the sky.
"You did a good job, guys." Phil says as he sips his drink.
Louise and I murmur an agreement.
"Shall we go inside, then?" Pj asks.
"Yeah," I say.
Once we're in the great room, Chris says,
"Alright, everyone knows the rules, right?"
"Dan doesn't." Phil pipes up.
"Right," Chris turns to me.
"So at my parties, I have a couple of rules that everyone has to follow. Just a few simple guidelines so stuff doesn't get out of hand."
"The first rule is that there is no drinking and driving. Everyone has to have a designated driver that stays completely sober. We don't want to loose one of our friends."
"The second rule: Beer Pong is to be played outside, in the designated area. In fact, any drinking game should be played outside. I really don't want to replace my carpet again, Phil."
"Hey, it was one time, and it was an accident! I wasn't the only one to spill drinks on the carpet that night!" Phil
exclaims.
"Whatever you say. Back to the rules. Number three: if the cops arrive, every man for themselves. So far, we haven't had to use that rule; but in the events that they do show up, go out the back and meet up at the park."
"Rule number four: If you need to pee or puke, please do so in either a restroom or outside. Rule number five: don't turn the music up too loud. We don't want the neighbors complaining, resulting in rule number three."
"The sixth rule is that parties are invite-only. You can only attend if you're invited by me, Pj, Phil, or Louise. Rule number seven is no drama, which is pretty self-explanatory. Number eight: don't break anything."
"And, the final rule: If you spend the night you have to help clean up the next morning. Are you spending the night, Dan?"
"Um, I guess," I reply.
"Great, I'll take your bag upstairs, then."
I hesitate for a moment.
"You're sure no one will take it?" I ask.
"I always keep my bedroom locked during parties."
Okay. It'll be fine.
I hand it to Chris, who takes it upstairs.
Once he come back, he asks,
"Have you gotten a party playlist, Pj?"
"Of course." Pj plugs his phone into some huge speakers.
"LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!" He yells, and presses play.
The opening notes of Neon Tree's Animal blasts through the house, and I have the feeling that it's the beginning of an epic night.
~
A couple of hours(and a couple of drinks) later, the party is in full swing. The house is packed full of people, the music is blaring, and drinks are everywhere. Phil and I are lounging on a sofa in the corner of the living room. He introduced me to a couple of people, whose names I've forgotten. Not that I don't enjoy parties, I just prefer to stick with the people I know.
"Phil, for the last time, giraffes don't make that sound!" I laugh. Phil replies with a mix between a screech and a roar. Phil and I have been going back and forth over what certain animals sound like for the past 15 minutes. Sure, we both might be tipsy, but the conversation is still understandable.
Suddenly I feel a pair of arms wrap around me from behind.
"Oh my gosh, hi!" A familiar voice exclaims. Behind me is the girl from the sandwich shop, smiling at me.
"Hi, um, I didn't expect to see you here." I say.
"Me neither. I just realized that I didn't catch your name yesterday. In fact, let's redo introductions."
She sits on the couch beside me.
"I'm Zoe Sugg. I'm really good friends with Louise, and we both work at the sandwich shop. That's my boyfriend, Alfie, over there." She nods to a tall guy with dark, curly hair and a whole lot of stubble.
"My brother Joe is around here somewhere. By the way, what's your name?."
"I'm Dan," I say.
"Nice! It was really nice meeting you! See you around!" Zoe gets up off the couch and joins Alfie in the kitchen.
I silently thank her for not bringing up what happened at the sandwich shop yesterday.
"So you know Zoe?" Phil questions.
"We literally met yesterday," I answer.
"She's really nice, I think you two will get along." Phil says.
Just then, the music changes, and the familiar opening riff of Mr. Brightside booms onto the speakers. Phil says,
"Ooh, I love this song!" He pulls me to my feet and drags me to the center of the living room, where a couple of people are dancing.
"Phil, I can't dance for shit." I say.
"It doesn't matter. Just have fun!" Phil exclaims, waving his hands in the air.
I look around the room. Everyone else in the room is dancing like there's no tomorrow.
If they don't care, why should I?
So I focus on the music and let go.
"Coming out of my cage, and I've been doing just fine, gotta gotta be down because I want it all."
I shuffle my legs from side to side.
"It started out with a kiss, how did it end up like this? It was only a kiss, it was only a kiss."
I nod my head to the beat and sway my arms a bit.
"Now I'm falling asleep, and she's calling a cab, while he's having a smoke, and she's taking a drag."
"Now they're going to bed, and my stomach is sick, and it's all in my head, but she's touching his chest. Now, he takes off her dress. Now, letting me go."
I look over at Phil, who is bouncing up and down. He gives me a smile.
"And I just can't look, it's killing me."
He has galaxies in his eyes.
"And taking control."
My god, he's beautiful.
"Jealousy, turning saints into the sea, swimming through sick lullabies, choking on your alibis."
We move closer together.
"But it's just the price I pay, destiny is calling me."
Brown eyes meet blue.
"Open up my eager eyes"
He moves even closer, resting his forehead against mine.
"Cause I'm Mr. Brightside."
The music fades into a dull thud. I wrap my arms around his waist, and he does the same. We sway to the music. And I lean forward, ever so slowly closing the distance between us.
And the music stops.
I jerk away from Phil, whose face reddens as he turns away from me.
Chris is standing by the speakers, with his arm slung around Pj and a beer in his hand.
"We're gonna play truth or dare!" He drunkenly shouts.
Everyone begins to sit in a circle on the floor.
"Should we join?" Phil asks.
"Sure," I say. We sit down, with Phil to my right and a girl with short brown hair to my left. Once everyone is sat down, Chris announces,
"Alright, I'll go first. Um..."
He looks around the circle, and his eyes land on Louise.
"Louise, truth or dare?"
"Dare." She grins wickedly.
"Okay, Louise, I dare you to kiss Jack."
Her face goes pale.
"No! I can't kiss him, he's my friend!"
"You're the one who picked dare!" Chris exclaims.
"Kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss!" People egg her on.
Louise sighs in defeat. "Come here, Jack."
She pecks a blonde haired boy with glasses sitting beside her, and they both gag. Wolf whistles can be heard all around the circle, and Chris yells, "Alright, calm down everybody! It's Louise's turn!"
Louise says,
"Phil, truth or dare?"
"Truth."
"Do you like anyone in the room?" Her question sounds innocent, but a glimmer of knowing is in her eyes.
It's silent for a moment, before Phil murmurs a barely audible "yes."
"Oooooh!" A few people sing, and Phil buries his face in his hands. I stare at the floor, and can't help but wonder,
"Is he talking about me? Louise did say earlier that Phil told her about me... I hope he likes me back."
My thoughts are interrupted when Phil asks someone else truth or dare. From that point on, I tune out everything happening and think about what Phil said.
That is, until the girl beside me nudges my shoulder and I snap back to reality.
"Tyler asked you truth or dare." She says.
"Oh, uh, dare." I say without thinking.
Shit, he's gonna make me kiss someone or worse...
A blue haired guy across the circle says,
"Thank you, Cat. Ok, so Dan picked dare..."
He pauses, thinking of a good one.
"I dare you to hold hands with Phil for the rest of the game."
Hoots and hollers are heard around the circle, and Tyler gets a pat on the back from a few people. I look over at Phil, who holds out his hand.
"If you don't do it, they'll get you back even worse next time around. Also..."
He leans closer to me and speaks in a lower tone.
"It's better than holding hands with a stranger."
Well...he isn't wrong.
I clasp his warm hand in my own, and my entire arm is set ablaze. My face flushes pink, and I see Phil blush, too.
"I ship it," someone coughs, and my face turns as red as a fire engine.
"Dan, it's your turn to dare someone now," Cat says.
I scan my eyes over everyone and finally land on a wavy-haired brunette next to Tyler.
"You. Truth or dare."
"Dare, I guess." He replies.
"Play seven minutes in heaven with Tyler." I say, wanting to get my revenge.
"Ooooh!" Almost everyone shouts.
"Well, Troye, let's go," Tyler says, winking at the boy. They both get up and go towards the front of the house.
Everyone in the circle follows them, leaving me and Phil in the living room; our hands still clasped.
"I don't know how I feel about following everyone else. It feels a bit voyeuristic." I say. Phil nods in agreement.
"It is a bit creepy," he remarks.
Then he says,
"Do you want to get out of here?"
"What?" I ask.
"We can sneak out of here. Trust me, the dares only get worse from here. It'd also be a way to get out of this, if you want," Phil squeezes my hand.
I actually like holding hands with him.
"Lead the way," I say.
"Okay, we're gonna have to be sneaky. Follow me."
He stands up and leads me to the back door. I notice that he hasn't let go of my hand; which, to be honest, I don't mind the slightest bit.
We step outside, which has been abandoned. The string lights shine onto the empty patio, littered with plastic cups.
"We can go out through the gate," Phil says.
We go around the side of the house; avoiding any windows in case anyone gets the wrong idea of what I'm doing with Phil.
We make it to the street in front of the house.
"It's official. We snuck out," I declare.
"So, what now?" Phil asks as the front door opens.
We both look up like deer in car headlights. A figure is in the doorway.
I turn to Phil.
"Run."
We take off down the street.
"Hey!" The person yells, be we don't stop. We run until we're out of sight, away from the streetlights. When we finally stop near the park, we're both out of breath.
"Oh my gosh," I pant.
"That was intense," Phil coughs.
I look down and see that we're still holding hands. Phil looks at our hands and says,
"Well, now that we're away from the house we can stop the dare..."
Neither of us make a move.
I grip his hand a bit tighter, and he does the same. Even though we haven't said it, we both don't want to let go.
"So...What do you want to do?"I ask.
"Well, we are right outside of the park..." Phil suggests.
"Are you sure you wanna go to the park? I mean, after what happened last-"
"I'll be fine, Dan." He reassures me. "Last one to the dock is a weasel!"
We sprint to the dock, and I beat Phil to it.
"You're the weasel!" I taunt.
"I am the weasel." Phil declares, plopping onto the dock. I settle beside him, dangling my legs off the edge.
"Are we going to look at stars?" He asks.
"I'd like to," I say. We both look up at the black night, sprinkled with thousands of stars. After a moment, Phil asks,
"What do you think is out there?"
"Do you really want my opinion?"
"Yes."
"So we exist, and everyone else exists, but that's only because of chance. In the black void that we call space, it just so happens that a giant rock was the right distance away from the sun to sustain and support life. That rock is the planet earth. And the entire universe, infinite or not, could have thousands, or millions, of planets just like that. So one of these stars that we'e looking at could be the sun that supports life on a distant planet. That form of life could be looking at the stars right now, wondering if there are other planets like theirs a million miles away. The thought that other beings who may or may not exist could be doing the same thing as us utterly fascinates me."
I meet Phil's eyes. "And that's my opinion."
He's quiet for a moment.
"You have really good opinions. Why didn't you want to share them?"
I sigh.
"At home my parents just thought I was being an annoying smartass, and at school I would be made fun of. I just learned to bottle it up and not express an opinion."
"That's terrible. I'm sorry you had to go through that. I would want to hear your opinions, if it makes you feel better."
Phil's hand squeezes mine, and I squeeze back, trying to control the electricity traveling up my arm.
I look over at Phil, who's staring at the sky again. I can see the reflection of stars; sparkling and shining, somehow making his blue eyes even more beautiful.
I look up at the black night, observing and tracing the pattern of constellations. It's so peaceful, sitting here. The only sounds I hear are the crickets chirping, the faint pounding of the party music, and our steady breathing.
Phil suddenly breaks the silence.
"See that star?" He points to a faint twinkle in the sky.
"Yeah."
"It says you're a nerd." He giggles, and I scoff.
"Shut up."
"Make me."
My heart skips a beat. I turn my body so it's sitting completely on the dock, and look into Phil's eyes.
"Okay."
I close my eyes and lean forward, closing the distance between us. My lips brush against his, and the butterflies in my stomach are doing somersaults, and I'm kissing him. It's slow and sweet and perfect, and in this moment everything fades away but the touch of my lips on his.
Then, my eyes shoot open and I pull away.
Shit. I fucked up. Why did I do that?
My face turns red with embarrassment.
"Phil, I'm sorry, I-"
Phil crashes his lips onto mine, and he runs a hand through my hair as he deepens the kiss. I wrap my arms around his waist and pull him closer, our lips connected the entire time. Pure adrenaline is pumping through my veins, and I feel invincible.
When we finally break away from each other, Phil says,
"As soon as I first saw you, all I thought was 'yeah, I'm probably gonna fall for you'. And I did."
He kisses my forehead.
"And yeah, we aren't sober and you probably think it's the alcohol talking right now, but it's not. Dan, I lo- I really like you."
I cup his cheek in my hand and look into his eyes. The starlight shines onto us, illuminating every freckle on his perfect face. "I like you too."
Our lips meet, and I'm lost in his touch once again.

...p.s. Aftermath by Muse was playing while they kissed

A/N:
ITS HERE AND I AM DEAD AND THEY FINALLY KISSED AND THE PARTY AND *SCREAMS*
So sorry about the late update... I kept rewriting this chapter to get it just right. I feel like I did a pretty good job. Let's talk about what happened: DRUNK YOUTUBERS PLAYING TRUTH OR DARE. What could go wrong? We got some Troyler action, Louise and Jack kissed, PHAN HELD HANDS. I was so happy I got to introduce a bunch of new youtubers, maybe we'll see them in future chapters *wink*.
Another thing: the chapters don't seem to go together so far, but they will in the future. It's just a bit confusing now, because you don't have all the pieces of the story yet. I will get to that in the next couple of chapters. And now... What everyone's thinking about... PHAN KISSES
I feel like the final part of this chapter was really sweet and adorable. They're just looking at the stars, sneaking a few glances at each other, and then BAM. Phil says the cute thing, Dan is sarcastic, "MAKE ME" (which is a phrase that almost always causes romantic tension), "okay", and THE FIRST KISS.
The kiss after that was fantastic, "as soon as I saw you, all I thought was 'yeah, I'm probably gonna fall for you' and I did." That line killed me. The forehead kiss, and the sweet kiss while Muse plays in the distance..... UGH THIS ENTIRE CHAPTER WAS GREAT.
As always, comment whatever you'd like, whether it be constructive criticism, what you think of the story so far, your feels(highly recommend this), and let me know what you liked!
Byeeee