Achromatopsia

White

Perfection

Phil was sitting in the front row with his family as Dan walked across the stage, his body covered in a black robe with the only thing visible being Phil's red polka dot shoes that Dan begged to borrow for that day. Phil's never smiled bigger than when the same monotonous voice that announced his name four years ago uttered 'Daniel James Howell' and Dan walked across the stage, his eyes locked with Phil's as he made his way across without tripping. He made his way back to his seat, his other classmates ignored in favor for Phil who stared back. 

When the ceremony was over, Dan made his way over to Phil who stood with a bouquet of periwinkle flowers that his mum helped pick out since they were Dan's favorite color. What Dan never told Phil was that they were the closest thing in nature to Phil's eyes. He wrapped his arms around his boyfriend, picking him up and twirling around with a laugh. Once Dan was placed back down on the ground, he gave his parents each big hugs before moving onto Phil's parents, thanking each of them. The parents stepped back to discuss that nights dinner plans, leaving the boys to stare into each other's eyes. 

"I'm so proud of you, Dan." Phil whispered, wrapping his arms around Dan again, pulling him into a bone crushing hug. Dan yelped in surprise, giggling as he hugged him back, gripping onto the sweater Phil was wearing. "You worked so hard to get here."

Dan smiled to himself, burying his face in Phil's neck. "You got me here." he whispered back. Even though everyone at his school was around them, talking excitedly with their families, Dan couldn't hear anything other than Phil's heartbeat and breathing. It was like it was just the two of them there. 

"Do you have any plans for after dinner? With any of your friends or anything?"

Dan grinned, remembering when he had basically this same conversation with Phil on his graduation day. "Hmm, let me think. Do I have plans with my zero other friends? Nope, looks like my calendar is clear." 

Phil laughed, the laugh he fell in love with, "Do you want to go back to my flat?" he asked, turning to Dan's parents a bit. "That is if it's okay with you guys." 

Dan's mum rolled her eyes a bit, "Of course it's fine. You've practically lived there for the past year." she teased. 

"Thank you, Mrs. Howell." Phil said politely, knowing he didn't need to address her as that. Dan rolled his eyes a bit, nudging Phil in the side before looking up at him with a pout. Phil looked with a sly smile on his lips as he feigned ignorance. 

"What do you want?"

Dan huffed, "Kiss." he mumbled before leaning up the inch or two between them to kiss him softly, something he wished he could've done at Phil's graduation. Phil grinned against his lips and tugged him closer by his robe. The two broke away as their parents announced they were heading out to dinner, a smile shared between the two. 

~

At dinner that night, the boys held hands under the table, making little inside jokes and teasing remarks towards each other all night, effectively ignoring their parent's presence at the table. This time, their parents didn't have to ignore the longing gazes shared between the two boys. 

Dan was then invited to give a speech to the table, just a little one about secondary school, how it feels to be done, and how it feels to be moving on to Uni. He grinned, clearing his throat as he took the invisible microphone from Phil without further discussion. 

"Hello family," he started, already laughing at himself. "I just want to say that every single person at the table has had a profound impact on my life. Each of you have helped me with maths, literature, or life in more than one way. I wouldn't be here without you. Now, Phil. I'm going to try to avoid getting sappy right now." he cleared his throat. "When we got together, I was just a scared little closeted baby. You helped me accept who I was, every piece of it. And as a thank you for that, I have something for you." Dan looked across the table to his mum who in return pulled a wrapped gift out of her bag. "Now, she might have had it in her purse but she doesn't know what it is either." he smiled, handing it over to Phil who looked at his boyfriend with tears in his eyes.