Stick Around // phan

Chapter 4

After disposing of the bloody towels and ice and cleaning some off the linoleum floor, they took their pizza pockets back downstairs.
Dan moved the massive gaming chair so they could sit on the floor together. "Still wanna watch 'haiku!!'?"
Phil remembered the Mario kart case and grinned. "Would you mind if we did that a little later?"
"What did you have in mind instead?"
Phil scooter over to the game stack where he had thrown the case earlier. He stuck it up to his face and smiled, knowing how cute he was.
"Pllleeeaaase?"
Dan laughed. "You have no idea how good I am."
"I bet I'm better."
"Do you now?"
And so, the challenge was on. They both picked the fastest karts and wheels, neither of them backing down from the challenge.
The race began.
"Holy shit you're in first already?"
Dan was too focused to respond.
Phil stole a glance sideways, plotting his revenge. He jabbed out towards Dan's stomach, while his eyes were still fixed to the road. Dan's cart fishtailed and Phil overtook him.
"You ass!"
Dan didn't take long to swerve around and bring back the lead, as his skills were impressively advanced from Phil's.
"Guess I'll have to try again!"
This time, Phil went for the underside of the knee. A dirty move to say the least. Not only did Dan's kart flip off the track and have to be replaced, but he screamed so loudly Phil would have sworn he heard the walls shake.
"You can't just go for the underside of the knee and not expect retaliation!"
While still keeping his eyes fixed to the game, Dan moved quickly behind Phil, and clamped a hand across his eyes. Phil's kart wrecked within seconds.
"Outrageous!"
He squirmed out from Dan's grip and ran to the bed. Standing on the shaky memory foam, he overtook Dan's kart around a tight turn. Dan stood up and approached the TV, standing inches away from it.
"Get your ASS out of my view!"
"You like it!" Dan screamed
Phil jumped down and grabbed the back of Dan's shirt with one hand, the other controlling a spinning kart. Dan fell to the ground.
"Oh! Oh! OOOHHH!"
Phil crossed the finish line inches in front of Dan. "I won!"
"No! I won't believe it!"
Phil thrust a finger out towards the screen and looked defiantly down to Dan who was a puddle in the floor.
"It clearly says Phil!! 9th place! And what does it say next to Dan?"
"You cheated!"
"That's right! 10th place!"
"I've had enough of this."
Dan reached and his hand found Phil's jeans. He pulled, and the tall boy fell hard to the floor with a thud. Dan took the moment of vulnerability to dig his fingers deep into Phil's sides.
"No! This isn't fair!"
"You started it!"
Phil couldn't breathe. He had to take it back. He unpinned his hands from his sides and pushed them straight into Dan's stomach.
"No!"
Phil pushed and flipped him over, now holding the upper hand. Dan tried kicking him off, but Phil held strong. His mind raced, his laughter turned into difficult breathing. He had to do something now, he couldn't lose a tickle war and Mario kart in the same day. He'd play dead.
He let out a labored cough and went limp. It took everything he had not to react to Phil's prying and busy fingers in his sides. They began to slow. "Dan, are you dead or something?"
He didn't respond.
"Dan?"
Phil stopped altogether and leaned towards him to check if he was still breathing. "Dan!"
This was the time. His eyes snapped open and he overtook Phil, back on top. He went straight to work under his arms.
"You faked death!"
"You gave me no choice!"
Phil's laughter was even louder now, and Dan found it contagious. His hands slowed and they laughed until tears streamed down their faces. Dan's head leant forward, and he let Phil's arms go.
"I guess I won...."
He stopped when he found Phil staring straight back up at him, their faces inches apart. Phil only had to whisper for Dan to hear him.
"I'll let you have that one, since you sucked so bad at Mario kart."
Phil's heart was hardly beating. He felt dizzy. Dan was so close, his nose was drowned with his warm smell. He was so pretty, his fringe hung down from his eyes, and the contour of his face was perfectly illuminated by the light around them. His eyes pierced into Phil, but were still inviting and kind. Had he been standing, he would have been weak at the knees from seeing Dan's face glow like this.
Phil saw something change in his expression.
"What?"
"Would you... Would you mind if I.. Tried something?" He stuttered
"Like what?" Phil teased, knowing full well and being grateful for what was coming.
"Like this."
Dan leaned down slowly, trying to muster the bravery to close the gap. It was the longest 3 seconds of Phil's life, but more than worth it once they connected.
For what might have been the first time ever, Phil couldn't think of a single thing to say. He was busy making sure to keep up with Dan's lips, which worked deliberately and softly. His arms floated up to Dan's back, pulling them closer together. Dan slowed down and hovered just above Phil's face, and his eyes opened slowly and spread with his smile. Phil's teeth shined in the sunlight around them, and they breathed together, only being alive for each other in that single moment. Dan leaned forward again and left one last kiss on Phil's lips before he slid to the side and propped himself in the crook of Phil's arm. He wrapped himself around Phil and felt the rise and fall of his chest.
Phil couldn't help but feel all the exhilaration of earlier leave him and be replaced with a new bliss as he wrapped his arm around Dan's back.
"That was nice." He whispered
"Yeah it was..." Phil cooed
"Except you still kind of tasted like pizza pockets."
Phil felt his own laughter rattle Dan's fragile frame beside him.
"You too. But I love pizza pockets."
"It's a good thing I picked the right snack then, isn't it?"
Phil reached down and arranged Dan's hair, which had gotten tousled. He sunk further into Phil at this, and they laid there, legs tangled, in the warm light from the window for hours in a comfortable silence. It didn't take long for Dan to drift off in Phil's arms. A smile played at his mouth when he realized how much he wished he'd found this moment before. How much he wish he'd had Dan before. But he has him now, in his arms, and for the moment, that was enough.