Gender Fluid - Phan

15- they/them

There was nothing better than waking up with your best friend. Dani was sure of it, especially now, lying in bed as P woke up and went about their morning routine, humming softly as they went along. If they could use one word to describe the situation, it would be paradise.

Light shone in from the window, which P had opened, citing that it was "too dark and depressing," and that they should "enjoy the morning." P was the kind of person who would say things like that. Downstairs, Dani's mum was still asleep, oblivious to the personal heaven unfolding upstairs.

"Good morning!" said P, finally noticing Dani was awake.

"Hey," they replied, sitting up in bed. Even with circles under their eyes and a little bit of toothpaste on their lip, P was beautiful.

P put their toothbrush back into their suitcase and pulled out some clothes, skinny jeans and a nice t shirt, as well as some patterned socks. "So what are we gonna do today?" they asked, pulling on the socks and walking into the bathroom.

Dani shrugged, "Probably just hang out. Chris and PJ are hanging out later so we might join them."

"Arrogant asshole PJ?" P asked.

"He's better now. Chris is like, training him or something. It's weird, but he's definitely benefiting from it," Dani explained, combing a hand through their bed head. Curly hair and sleeping for eight hours were definitely not a good match.

P went into the bathroom to change while Dani waited outside, planning the day. They hadn't really thought about what they were going to do with P, and now that they were here Dani was realizing there was literally nothing to do in town. Sure, there was a park and a couple stores, but what were they supposed to do there? They figured they'd ask P, give them the few options they had.

P came back out, still pulling the t shirt over their head. "You thought of anything to do?" they asked, standing in the doorway.

Dani shrugged, "This town is the most boring place to ever exist. I mean, we have a park?"

"Sounds good!" said P, "We could have, like, a picnic or something!" They grabbed Dani's hand and pulled them off the bed, "Cmon, you have to get ready!"

Dani smiled and got up, going to their closet and grabbing some jeans and an old football jersey.

Once they were done getting ready, the pair headed downstairs and made a picnic lunch, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with some crisps. They packed it all in an old backpack of Dani's, hoping it wouldn't get too smooshed.

Then they set out, deciding the park was close enough to just walk the couple blocks across the neighborhood to get there. The exercise was nice, and they could talk more when Dani wasn't preoccupied by driving.

"So does your mum just not care?" asked P, kicking a rock down the sidewalk.

Dani shrugged, "I mean, she does, but not really. No. She doesn't care. At least not that you're here."

"So she's just letting a stranger stay with her child all weekend?"

"She's glad I have friends. And she thinks you're just some kid from school," Dani said, laughing a little. How was she so clueless?

They kept walking, and P adjusted the backpack full of food on their shoulders. It was starting to get heavy, since Dani had the brilliant idea of packing a whole six-pack of water bottles. Why any two people would need that much, P didn't know, but they'd just gone with it. Better be over prepared than die of thirst.

When they finally reached the park, they chose a table and set their stuff down, but didn't sit. Within a matter of seconds Dani had grabbed P's hand and was dragging them to the swing sets, all the way across the park. The area was filled with trees, and green leaves sheltered the two from the sun. Grass practically shimmered beneath their feet in the sunlight, and a few people walked their dogs on gravel paths.

"I call the red one!" Dani yelled, jumping onto the swing like they were a kid again. P smiled and sat down gently on the blue one next to them, pushing of the ground lightly with their feet.

"Did you come here as a kid?" asked P, smiling as Dani swung back and forth with all their strength.

They slowed down, just enough to talk, "Yeah, my parents used to take me all the time. It's such a short walk, you know."

Dani hadn't talked much to P about their family, or childhood. It was all what was happening now, how their mum didn't care and their dad was never home. P's parents were average, going to work and coming home and asking about school at dinner. They weren't tiger parents, but it wasn't like they didn't care. P couldn't imagine them just not being there.

"That seems nice," P said, swinging a little more, "You wanna go out on the playground?" they asked, jumping out of the seat and onto their feet.

Dani shrugged, "Sure. It's kind of small, just saying."

In real life, P was just a little taller than Dani, but those two inches felt like a lot for whatever reason. If Dani could hardly fit on the playground, P would probably have to fold their body origami-style to fit.

They clambered up the steps into the covered area of the playground. It had a slide and some ladders coming down off of it, a rock wall. Somehow P and Dani both fit, even though it was made for five year olds.

"Do you think a squirrel could eat our food?" P asked, glancing back at the table where their bag of lunch sat.

Dani shrugged, "It should be fine."

The pair sat on the top of the playground, leaning against the back plastic wall and looking out at the park in front of them.

"I'm so glad you're here," said Dani, leaning their head against P's shoulder. P adjusted to let them rest more comfortably, making Dani's heart race.

"I'm glad to be here," said P, letting Dani's soft hair rub against their cheek.

Everything was good.