True Beauty lies Beneath the Skin (Phan)

It's Been a Long Time Coming

It's been a long time coming
(Woah!) Just waiting on an angel
To take me out of my hell
I'm falling for you

After working feverishly at work for the next week and a half, Dan took a Friday evening off in preparation for his date with Phil. Considering this was the first date that Dan had been on in a number of years, to say he was nervous would be an understatement. However, that wasn't the only reason.

Dan was taking time off work to go on this date, and since this wasn't for an emergency reason like the past couple of times had been, he wasn't getting paid to take the night off. Austin was more than willing to let Dan take the night off and let Dan have some fun, especially since Austin was always telling Dan that he worked too much, but this night out with Phil could come at a price.

Not to mention that this time off work was also time that Dan could be spending with Bella, but he wasn't. So as Dan buttoned up his black button-up shirt and studied himself in the mirror, he couldn't help but feel a pool of guilt forming in his stomach. When he finished getting dressed, Dan walks out into the living room to find his mother and Bella playing with a couple of Bella's stuffed animals and dolls.

Dan's mother smiles, "Aww, you look so cute!"

Dan chuckles, "Thanks."

"Is Phil meeting you here?"

"Mhm."

"Tell him I say hi!" Bella exclaims.

Dan laughs, "I will, sweetie."

"You alright? You look a bit...off."

"What? I'm fine," Dan lies.

His mother stands and walks over to him. She lowers her voice so Bella won't hear them and crosses her arms.

"You do not need to feel guilty about going out and having fun tonight."

"I don't feel guilty, I just - "

"You're not abandoning Bella and your job isn't in jeopardy," She says, "Honey, I know you're still sort of getting back on your feet, but taking one night to go out on a date won't hurt anybody, I promise."

Before Dan can respond, his phone vibrates in his pocket. He sighs, then takes out his phone and looks at he message.

"Phil's here."

"Good, go and have a fun night."

Bella walks over to Dan and hugs his legs, "Bye, Daddy."

Dan chuckles, "You be good, okay?"

"Mhm."

Dan gathers his things, then walks down the stairs of his apartment to find Phil leaning against his car.

Dan's eyes widen, "You drove here?"

"How else was I supposed to get here?"

"You're a terrible driver even when both of your legs work!"

"Relax, my bad leg isn't the leg that is used for driving, so we're fine."

"I really don't think we are."

"Well, we're not going far anyway. Come on," Phil says, getting back into the car.

Dan sighs, then gets into the passenger seat and prays to whatever powers that may be that this night wouldn't result in another car accident.

"You look cute tonight," Phil comments.

Dan was in a black, button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, black skinny jeans and black combat boots. It was simple enough, and he felt appropriate since Dan wasn't told exactly how much he should dress up as Phil still hadn't told Dan where it was that they were going.