Stick Around // phan

Chapter 6

The next few days went by in a blur. Phil was so wrapped up in everything about Dan, his life and his laugh and his hands and his hair, it was pretty much disgusting. Dan was having the time of his life. For the first time, he had someone to walk the halls with, someone who didn't mind being away from everyone else. More than anything, he felt lucky that Phil hadn't turned out to be rude and inconsiderate like he first thought he would be. They went to Dan's house almost every day. Eventually they did finish the haiku!! episode, but had to pause a few times for... various reasons. The kisses got longer and the goodbyes got harder, and Phil raced to wake up and get to school, to Dan, as fast as he could. One might call it falling in love, but it was far too early to jump to such scary conclusions for Phil.

It had been 14 days since the first day of school, and they had spent every one together. Phil adjusted his hair before stepping into the classroom. He made his way to Dan's designated seat, a bit nervous for him to see what he'd done and for his plans that day.
Dan started giggling when Phil stood in front of him. "Well? Do you like it?"
He was thrilled. "Do a spin!"
Phil turned slowly, letting Dan see the whole of the dark red button up that was littered with polkadots. He had saved up since that first night at Dan's house to get the top, the most colorful thing he felt comfortable wearing. It was the perfect outfit to wear for asking Dan to be his boyfriend.
"I was right. You do look nice in color."
Phil slid onto Dan's knees and wrapped his arms around him, and kissed the tip of his nose.
"This is now the single piece of colored clothing that I own, and it's all because of you. I hope you're proud."
"Very."
Dan closed the gap between their lips, grateful to see him again. 10 hours apart was far too long. Phil pulled back, having forgot an important request.
"I'm still wearing the black jeans though. I can't work the white ones or the jean shorts like you."
Dan laughed lightly, his forehead coming to rest on Phil's.
"That's fine. They make your butt look nice anyways."
Phil leaned back in to continue the kiss. Dan was so good at it, every moment they spent with their lips connected might as well have added time onto Phil's life. Hopefully, it was all time he'd spent with Dan.
The idea to ask him about officially making them a package deal had come two days earlier while at Dan's house.

~ ~ ~ ~

They were tangled up together in his bed, under the soft grey and black duvet. The window was closed and their light laughter filled up the darkness around them. The TV was turned up on full volume, and they were watching The Gallows. There was popcorn scattered across the bed from where Phil had thrown it during a previous jump scare where a locker slammed shut.
"Dan this is awful there's gonna be someone dead there!"
Phil was curled up tightly around him, his hand covering his eyes.
"Oh, they're going down the dark hallway.."
Dan taunted
"Why the fuck would they think that's a good idea!"
"Oh no, the lights are flickering," Dan teased
"Screw this."
"There's a door at the end of the hall."
"Please tell me they're not going in the door."
"They're going in the door."
"These assholes deserve to die. I can't take this."
Phil had brought the movie over as a surprise after Dan offhandedly mentioned that he was the type of person who can't be shaken by horror films. Phil saw that as a challenge. He had never watched The Gallows before, in fact he secretly borrowed it from his older brother Martyn. The only flaw in Phil's plan was that he forgot that he had no tolerance when it came to jumpscares. It just so happened this movie was full of them.
The leader of the pack, a girl named Pfeiffer, pushed open the door at the end of the hall. An old TV screen on a cart began to play the original recording of the kid dying on stage years before. Then something crashed and the door slammed shut.
"OH MY GOD NO"
Phil jumped and ended up on top of Dan's chest. His head was buried in Dan's neck.
"Turn it off!"
"You're the one that brought it over. I'm actually enjoying it. Good story line."
"Who cares about the story line?! He's gonna come down the hall and hang us both!"
"Who Phil? Who's gonna hang us?"
"Please don't say his name."
Dan's lips curled into a devilish grin. "Chaaaaarrrrliiiieee..."
"DAN DON'T TAUNT HIS EVIL ASS HE'LL KILL US"
"Chaaaarrrrrlllliiieeee!"
Just then, another door slammed shut on the movie.
"That's it!"
Phil sat up and grabbed the remote and hit pause. He buried his head in his hands.
Dan was laughing really hard.
"Don't laugh at my fear! You could have gotten us killed!"
Dan opened his mouth to taunt the demon again. "Ch-"
Phil slammed his hand over his mouth. "Never again."
Dan's laughter didn't stop, and eventually Phil found himself giggling too.
"You know you wouldn't have died." Dan stated bluntly
"No, I don't. How would you know if Charlie's real or not?"
"That's not what I mean."
Dan scooted closer to Phil on the bed and took his left hand in both of his and started to rub circles in his palm. He couldn't look Phil in the eye for this, it was too cheesy.
"What do you mean then?"
Dan took a deep breath.
"I mean if ch- the guy- showed up, I wouldn't let him hurt you."
Phil didn't answer.
"I would fight a hell demon murderer for you I mean."
Phil was still silent. Dan was sure he had overstepped and made things weird. Time to cover it up with sarcasm.
"Because obviously if you tried to fight him you'd lose. I'd only win because I'm like super buff and-"
Phil cut him off with a kiss. He leaned him back down on the bed and ran his fingers through his auburn hair. His mind buzzed. He started to kiss more hungrily, getting lost in Dan. He felt heat rise into his whole body, and he knew his lips would be sore after this. He made his way to the side of Dan's mouth, and started to trail down his cheek and found his jaw bone. Next, he followed down the underside of his neck until he reached Dan's collar bone. He untangled a hand from out of his hair to pull away the yellow tank top Dan was wearing. Dan's breath hiked, spurring him on. There he went faster, and started to nip at one place just above the bone until he was sure there would be a mark left behind. He retraced his path until he landed back on Dan's face, and slowed down to take a breath.
"You're probably the first person who's ever offered to fight a hell demon for me." Phil whispered.
"Well you know those hell demons. They're a real and present danger." Dan out of breath, Phil really knew his stuff.
"You know what else is a real and present danger?"
"What?"
"This tank top."
Phil slid his hand slowly up under the fabric, knowing it would drive Dan crazy. He was right.
"Wait," Dan said
"What? Did I do something wrong?"
"No it's... It's nice. And I really want to. But it's only been like a week."
Phil smiled. "Yeah. I get it."
Dan's eyes lit up. "Tell you what. You marry me, and you can do whatever you want to me."
They both burst out laughing. Dan only meant it half jokingly. He was glad he didn't scare Phil with the M word.
"You promise?" Phil teased
"I do." Dan said romantically.
Phil laughed. "You're such a nerd."