Purely Platonic Love

  That ultra kind of love, never walk away from, you're just the last of the real ones ~Fall Out Boy

Sniffles could be heard from their shared flat, specifically from Dan's room. This wasn't uncommon; Dan would often find himself scrolling through tumblr and coming across some fanart featuring him and his flat mate, whether it was a portrait of them having sex or a sketch of them kissing, it made him severely uncomfortable and would almost always end with him in agitated and sometimes absolutely furious tears. Today was one of those days, he saw a drawing of them locked in a passionate kiss and just broke down. He loved Phil with all his heart but not in the way most people thought. They were like any other couple, minus sex, kissing and making out.

  See, Dan was a heavily sex repulsed asexual and aromantic and Phil was a sex indifferent ace and romance averse aro. They were partners in everything except romance and sex but the fans didn't know that and they never really thought of coming out since the ace and aro communities were highly glossed over or are harassed constantly. Corrective rape and intense hatred surrounding the community was also very much alive and extremely terrifying so it was a conversation they usually kept under wraps.

  Phil heard Dan from down the hall and came walking up to his room. He knocked on the door, only to hear more sniffles before opening it, going inside and taking an empathetic look at his upset partner. Phil made his way towards the monotone bed, sitting down and wrapping his arms around the younger man's shoulders, pulling him into a comforting embrace. Resting his chin on Dan's curls, he traced circles into the other's shoulder with his thumb. Dan just sobbed his heart out until he didn't have any more tears.

  "You wanna talk about it?" Phil asked, knowing what had happened since he'd glanced at the open laptop on the bed but he wanted Dan to explain himself.

  "Fanart. It just hurts you know, it-it had us kissing and I just couldn't handle it s-so... I cracked, I'm sorry you have to deal with my sorry, emotional ass," he replied.

  "Nonsense, I love you and your tears are just emotions in liquid form. I really don't care about you crying on me and getting my shirt all wet but you need to stop browsing the danisnotonfire tag, I don't want this to become a habit, please."

"Alright," Dan said after a moment of silence. "Ugh, 'm tired..." he murmured.

Phil chuckled lightly, "I bet you are, c'mon, cuddles?"

Dan nodded mutely, standing up with the other before stripping down to his boxers; Phil was already in his pajamas since it was around midnight and he was getting ready for bed before he'd heard Dan crying. Both got under the covers and Phil wrapped his arm around the chestnut haired man, spooning him from behind and lifting his other arm to trace patterns on Dan's bare chest. After a few minutes, Dan spoke up, "Maybe... maybe we should... you know, come out?"

Phil's movements stilled. "You want to?"

He turned to look Phil in the eyes, "Yeah. It might put a halt onto the tantrums I've been having. We might not get as many questions asking if we're dating... I know there's gonna be hate but nothing we can't handle, right?"

He contemplated the question, weighing the pros and cons of coming out. The pros ultimately weighed out the cons and he found himself saying, "Yeah, I guess it's time anyway."

  Dan just hummed in response, already falling asleep. Phil chuckled at him before closing his own eyes.

*

  Dan opened his eyes and glanced at the alarm clock, blue, illuminated letters informing him that it was 11:04. Sitting up and rubbing his eyes, he looked at the other side of the bed and noted it's emptiness; Phil was most likely eating his cereal or watching anime without him. Dan moved to get dressed, throwing on a random black shirt and a pair of black skinny jeans. Making his way into the kitchen, the delicious smell of cooking pancakes reached his nose, his stomach now rumbling. Phil was standing there at the counter, flipping over pancakes and humming along to the tune of Mr. Brightside. He heard chuckling behind him, knowing Dan had just gotten up and was watching him.