Hate Me Closer (Phan)

Chapter Thirty-Nine

The boys were beginning to file out, making their way back to their homes across the country. Dan, despite being packed already, was late as usual with gathering his last bits together. He was pulling the covers off of his bed and throwing them in the laundry basket when he saw Phil standing in the doorway.

He looked at him for a moment, before shaking his head and chuckling, "Enjoying watching me struggle?" Dan complained.

Phil giggled, walking over and taking the pillow cover off and stuffing it all into the top of the bag, "Is that everything?" he asked.

Dan nodded, picking up his suitcases and asking, "Are your parents here yet?"

"Yeah, I just got a message." Phil smiled, shaking his phone at the younger boy.

"Right." he grinned, "We should probably get going."

Phil hummed, stepping closer as he spoke, "One more thing." he brushed his lips against Dan's, with his fingertips stroking against his chin. He heard the brown-haired boy whimper in shock, and just as he became used to it, Phil pulled away again, "I'll take down one of your suitcases for you; mine are already downstairs."

"Thank you." Dan grinned, leading them out of the corridor and down the Crossings staircase. Phil passed the suitcase back to his friend, taking his own and dragging them across the pebbled pathway. Dan took in a breath as he asked, looking straight ahead, "Are you planning to say anything to your Mum?"

"Stop worrying." Phil pushed. He could almost feel the anxiety settling around Dan, "And, well...no, I wasn't." he admitted.

"Why? You said they'd be fine with it." Dan reminded him.

"They would be." Phil's cheeks reddened as he murmured, "They'd keep us in separate rooms if we said that."

Dan's throat swelled as he looked at his feet that marched along the pathway. He felt as though his hands, which were gripping firmly on his bags' handles, were dripping sweat from their skin. But, he stifled a laugh, not expecting such a crude comment to come from the nerd that he quite frankly adored.

"Welcome back!" Katherine giggled, taking them both in a hug, one at a time. She got them to clamber their bags into the boot and settle in the back of the car as she rambled her welcoming speech, "How's the term been for you both?" she began with.

Both the boys exchanged a look before they masked their amusement behind bored faces, "Yeah, alright." Dan shrugged.

"Not too worked up about exams?" Nigel asked, looking at them through the rear-view mirror as his wife drove.

If they were honest, both the boys had almost forgotten their GCSEs were in a couple of months' time. Phil shook his head, "We're both on track now, so." he grinned.

"You two are becoming more and more alike with your mannerisms, you know?" Kath pointed out, chuckling in amusement to herself, "You're spending too much time with each other." she jokingly remarked.

"What?" Dan giggled, "Am I making Phil sound like a commoner?"

Kath shook her head, "Be quiet, Dan. That's not what I mean, and you sounded posh the first second I met you."

"Articulate," Dan mumbled.

"If that's what you want to call it." she winked.

They drove in silence for a while, Phil staring out the window fighting his carsickness as he shared his earphones with Dan. They'd put a playlist together on his iPod one evening, when PJ and Chris were filming.

Katherine hummed, looking towards Dan briefly, "I got an email that you were doing a piano exam?" she questioned, "I thought you weren't going to do those?"

"Well," Dan shrugged, "It's grade five, so if I pass it's UCAS points and the school harassed me every time. I made a deal with Mr Brown that if I took it, he'd never force me to compete."

She snickered at the teenager, shaking her head, "You're a stubborn one, Dan."

"I know," Phil muttered, grinning to himself. Dan kicked him, wiping the cocky grin off of his face.

"Do you know when you'll hear back?" Nigel asked.

"It'll be after the holiday, now. They'll get my certificate in the post, if I pass, and I'll open it the first day back." he smiled.

"That's exciting." Katherine acknowledged, "You'll have to call us straight away."

"Okay." he nodded, finding it unusual for anyone apart from his close friends to take interest in his extracurricular activities.

Katherine sighed as she remembered something else, "During two weeks of the holiday, Martyn's staying over. He's moving out of his accommodation and into a flat with his friends, but the times they've got to be out of one and in the other don't match well. Would you two be alright to share a room? We'll put the blow-up mattress on the floor and you can alternate between the bed and that, if you want. I'm sorry, but if it was only a few nights I'd keep him on the sofa, but it's fifteen, so." she asked, looking expectantly at the boys.

Dan wanted to scream, but before he could, Phil answered for the both of them, "That's fine." he smiled, "Not much different to boarding, apart from we don't have to share with anyone we don't like." he giggled, "Will Martyn be in my room?"

"If that's alright? And I thought that, but you might look forwards for the whole term for your own room, and now I'm taking it away for two of the six weeks."

Dan shook his head, "It's really okay." he reassured her, receiving a glare from Phil to warn the younger boy of the tone that fell from his throat.

***

They arrived home just after midday, taking their bags out of the boot and wheeling them into their bedrooms. Dan was barely inside his room when he threw the suitcases inside and walked across the hallway to his friend's, opening the door and wrapping his hands under Phil's shoulders.

They giggled, Phil trying to maintain his balance by holding his hands against Dan's back, but then pulling his body in for their lips to briefly touch. The younger boy closed his eyes, tightening his arms around the taller boy's shoulders and resting his head into his neck. He closed his eyes, enjoying the warmth that came off of him.

Phil ended up tracing circles against Dan's back, his eyes open as he watched the light from outside the shut door. He waited for his friend to move away first, but until then he held his body close, "Two weeks, huh?" he chuckled.

"Our beds are doubles," Dan stated, his eyes still gently closed.

Phil stopped tracing the circles as he mumbled in surprise, "Small doubles."

"But doubles." Dan giggled, finally pulling away from the embrace.

Phil nodded, his lips turned upwards as he stared at the brown spheres gazing up at him. He loved those eyes almost as much as he liked the boy stood in front of him.

"Do you want to get a film from downstairs and watch it in my room?" Dan asked the blue-eyed boy.

"Okay." Phil smiled, nodding as he opened the door handle and wandered down the stairs. Dan kicked his suitcases out of the way, pushing them to the side and sitting on his bed in a fort of cushions.

"Phil Lester." he whispered to himself with a chuckle, pulling his knees to his chest, "Philip fucking Lester. Who'd have guessed that?"