carry me home (phil x dan)

01

it was the middle of the day, but dan wouldn't know that. his room was pitch black, the shutters drawn and his door shut tight. the black paint that covered three of the four walls of his bedroom only made the room appear more closed off, and more dim.

dan was sleeping, his brown hair falling in soft waves across his forehead and beneath the nape of his neck. his open mouth lay on the keyboard of his newly-purchased macbook computer, and he had drooled just a tad over the 'x' key.

he had been up all night. again.

he had promised himself (and his mother) ages ago that he would stop staying up too late, but the newest season of free! had just came out and for god's sakes, haru and the rest of the speedo-clad swim team was very important to dan's well-being. at least, that was what he had told himself last night as he clicked on episode after episode until he had fallen asleep on his keyboard.

his mother knocked on his door lightly, and sighed when he didn't respond. she quietly opened the door and rolled her eyes at the sight of dan sleeping even though it was past noon.

"dan" she whispered, stepping closer to his bed. now, she wasn't normally the type of mother to pry, or even go into dan's room uninvited. but this was the last straw. she saw her son sleeping on his brand new laptop and began to shake him awake.

his eyes flew open, and his mother was not surprised to find them bloodshot from a lack of sleep.

"daniel james" she hissed as he wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his oversized sweater (black, of course). "do you know what time it is?"

he stretched his arms above his head, wincing as his shoulder popped. he sounded like an old man, all of his joints cracking like that. "morning time?" dan tried to crack a smile, his dimples flashing, but his mum would have none of that.

"dan, it's past noon. you know how i feel about you sleeping so late like this. you're practically wasting the day away! and besides, i can tell that you went to bed much too late. i thought we talked about this"

dan winced. he loved his mum, he loved her infinitely, but he just...couldn't deal with this.

"mum, i know. it....it won't happen again, alright? i just lost track of time"

he watched as his mother sat on the end of his bed, smoothing out the wrinkles on the sheets with the palm of her hand.

"i just worry about you love, that's all. you know i just want what's best."

dan sighed and ran a hand down his face. "i know".

with that, his mother offered a small smile. she got up and left the room, leaving behind only a faint trace of her perfume-some cheap stuff she'd gotten from one of her boyfriends along the line.

dan was left alone once again. not that he minded. he rather liked being alone. but as he closed the door once again and crawled back into bed, (this time closing his macbook and placing it on the dresser), he felt a pang of sadness. maybe his mother was right. was he wasting his life?

-------------------------------

the next day, dan woke up bright and early. he opened his window, and definitely did NOT wince at the brightness of the streaming sunlight. he changed out of his pyjamas, and he even took a shower. a nice, steamy shower with tons of soap and shampoo and clean stuff.

he was ready to prove that he was doing more than just zoning out behind a screen. he could do lots of things with his summer holiday like...reading (not going to happen) or even jogging (not bloody likely). maybe he could even start lifting weights or something.

when he finished his shower, he threw on some fresh clothes and headed downstairs, where he could hear his mother's voice.

"oh, cynthia how lovely! i've always wanted to try the lemon one" dan's mum was all but singing into her cell, her voice in the octave reserved for her girlfriends. "oh, here's dan now! i'll have to tell him all about what we've been talking about. i'll call you back in a tad."

dan could feel the life drain out of him. he was a seventeen year old boy with a new promise to be full of activity (!) and vitality (!). the last thing he wanted to do was listen to his mother drone on about her friends. but, dan slid into the chair around the kitchen table, figuring he owed her this for the whole free! marathon yesterday.

"dan, baby, i have the most exciting news!"