walmart » phan

aisle two

dan stood in front of the walmart doors. he literally stood in front of the doors. he looked insane. especially since it was raining outside. dan was soaked.

maybe he was insane. insane for believing that a month later the same boy would be there, ten minutes before the store closed.

dan didn't really know why he didn't go back to the store before this. it was walking distance from his house, but his parents always chose the costco that was essentially the same walking distance, in the other direction. so dan didn't go to the walmart.

but he couldn't ignore their connection. it was like a magnet that was taken to the other side of the world but was still determined to reattach to its other half.

dan never had another half.

he never had another anything.

so he opened the doors.

he was the only one going in, as the walmart was basically closed. dan flipped up his invisible hood and started to lurk around the department store. come on, he thought. where are you. his converse squeaked, bringing too much attention to him. shut up shoes. no one was there. no one was too many.

all of a sudden, the lights turned off. dan walked quickly back to the front of the store. he realized he overstayed his visit. but before he could pass the checkout, he felt two strong hands on his waist. up. up. up.

up on the bottom shelf check out counter, his long legs a couple feet off the floor. it was too dark to see what was happening, and he didn't have time to try to see because someone's hands were on his waist, and lips on lips, skin on skin. phil.

the air was cool but dan was hot. heat. dan let out a little moan. he breathed in phil's skin, listened to his lips. dan wanted to dive back into the boy. make up for every second. every. second. we wanted to dig his hands back into phil's hair, cuddle with him for hours and hours and hours. dan's damp skin tingled at phil's touch, and the water droplets on his lips soaked into phil's.

dan opened his eyes.

"hey," phil said.

"hey," dan replied, breathing heavy. he hopped off the counter and brushed himself off. "i didn't think i'd actually-"

phil cut dan off by bringing him into a tight hug. "thank you," phil said into dan's shoulder.

"me? for what?"

phil laughed a little. "i came out to my dad. we- we're so much closer now. and, and my friends don't actually hate me. they're totally cool."

"that's, that's great!" dan said, pulling away. he got a chance to look at phil. what an incredible boy. what an amazing fucking human.

there was no one else in the store. well, some guy was mopping near the back, but that was it. dan and phil. phil and dan. alone. together.

"stay," phil whispered.

dan nodded. he took phil's hand and placed it on phil's chest. "i'll try."

phil smiled and traced over the bottom of dan's hand with his thumb. dan quickly pulled away.

"you good?" phil asked kindly.

snap. dan went from the sun to the moon. he shouldn't have come. "i'm sorry."

"dan?"

dan wanted to cry again. he wanted to go back and delete. back. back. back. and then start over. revise his life. hearing how the last month was so great for phil made him even more guilty. dan rubbed his wrist with his other hand. it was tender.