deja vu | phan DISCONTINUED

thirteen times.

dan's driveway had become familiar now, his big, blue house loomed above it in a way that felt like it should almost be ominous but it wasn't. it was just a house.

the duo hopped out of the car almost simultaneously and walked to the door, entering the living room. "i'm home!" dan yelled out to somewhere in the house.

"i'm at the dining table!" came mr. howell's reply. upon hearing this, dan started to make his way through the doorway to the left. phil wasn't sure if he was supposed to follow but when dan realized he wasn't following he quickly grabbed his elbow and tugged him along with him.

they were met with a tall man with tired hazel eyes at the table surrounded by paperwork. "hi dad," dan said.

"oh, hello boys. phil, nice to see you again." he gave a small smile (dimpled, phil noted).

"you too, mr. howell." phil said with a polite nod. the man's smile only grew, it seemed.

"where's ade?" asked dan, shuffling his feet.

"at a friend's house." came his dad's reply.

a few beats of uncomfortable silence.

"well, we're gonna head upstairs now." dan said, and turned before his dad could give a response. phil quickly hurried afterward.

he didn't ask what that was all about, that was dan's business and if he wasn't comfortable saying phil wasn't going to pressure him. he did, though, place a hand on the small of dan's back when they were about to turn into dan's room which caused the boy to jump.

he looked back at phil with a shocked expression, but it faded quickly, "i, um, wasn't expecting that. sorry. you haven't really engaged much physical interaction and it scared the living shit out of me," dan said with a laugh.

phil smiled, "it's fine, sorry for spooking you." they entered the room together, and phil spread himself out across dan's bed starfish style. he received a jab to the side and gave a muffled 'ow' but didn't bother moving any. dan sighed, and phil felt him sit down on his thigh.

whoomf!

"oops," phil said sarcastically, sitting up and looking to dan from his place on the floor where phil had kicked him off. he was met with a glare from the brown-eyed boy, but he ignored it. "so, what're we doing first?"

dan fidgeted with his hands, and mumbled something phil couldn't discern.

"what?"

"i said, i kind of have to play animal crossing before anything else so no one moves out."

phil just looked at him with a blank stare and an internal monologue of oh my god you're such a nerd what the hell.

"why're you looking at me like that?" dan said.

"just, you're a fucking nerd." he replied, dan tugged on his foot and caused him to topple into the floor next to him. another muffled 'ow'.

"you deserved that." dan said while fiddling with his 3ds. phil groaned and shot a pout his way.

he huddled closer to dan and watched him play animal crossing and couldn't help the feeling of wanting to rest his head on dan's shoulder. he was sure it was just because he was tired, but he powered through.

he was becoming awfully fond of dan and he really didn't like it.