Boys This Young

15|Love Of Your Life

"So...how was your weekend?" Arin asked weakly, looking at Dan worriedly.

When Dan had gotten home from Phil's house that weekend, he didn't say a word. He just sat down, and stared out of the window for the longest time. He looked like he was just tired, so Arin hadn't bothered him, but now it was starting to bother Arin.

"Did you make up with Phil?" Arin asked, poking him in his side as he sat next to him.

Dan nodded. "Yeah."

Arin frowned. "Then why aren't you happy?"

Dan shrugged. "I have a feeling nothing's going to change, Arin."

Arin was silent for a while. "Do you mean, you don't think he'll change?"

"I don't know." Dan said with a sigh. "There's still going to be distance between us anyway. And I was at his house all weekend and he just...he just tried really hard to make it up to me with things, when all I wanted was for him to kiss me."

Arin chewed his lip for a while. He knew Dan wanted to talk about it, but he wasn't sure what were the right questions to ask. And he knew that at the same time, Dan didn't want to talk about it at all. It was like a grey area he had to operate in, to please Dan and stay on his good side.

"What do you expect from Phil?"

Dan closed his eyes, and then sighed. "I guess I just expect us to be...happy. Always. So I expect Phil to be mine...god, this is hard to explain. It just doesn't seem like he actually wants to make me happy, he just wants to keep me pleased. Which I just can't be. He always has kept me happy, and he's not anymore. I want him to love me, and he does, but it feels like...not enough. Because he's not putting effort into making things better for us. So I guess what I expect from Phil, is for him to treat me like more than just his younger boyfriend. I want to be treated, like the love of his life."

"Do you believe that you are?" Arin whispered.

Dan paused and then nodded. "I did. But now I'm not so sure."

//

"Do you think I should go visit Dan?" Connor asked Phil, sitting on his couch and scrolling mindlessly through social media.

"Why?"

"Because, I've been listening to your side of things for a while, and honestly don't you want to know what's going through his head?"

Phil shrugged. "But we're okay now."

"Are you?"

Phil rolled his eyes. "He just...he's just not used to any blips in our relationship. It's going to take him a while to adjust to the changes we agreed would help make our relationship better. For his happiness."

"What's changed?"

Phil thought for a while. "I...okay, we may have not figured that out yet, but we talked about changing."

Connor scoffed, "What the hell did you guys do while he was here then, if not figure this out?"

Phil sighed. "I took him out to the beach and for ice cream. And we also went out to dinner the next day, after the museum because I know he has a high appreciation for art. And while we were downtown, I bought him a new laptop at the Apple Store...and some new clothes."