You're The Straw To My Berry (Phan)

Part five

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine; I'll get up in the minute."

"I'll get you some paracetamol for your headache, get dressed!"

"Yes mum," he laughed and left me alone. Dragging myself up, I wandered over to my drawers and threw on the first shirt and jeans I got my hands on, not really caring about what I looked like.

Phil came back with tablets and a glass of water and I took them gratefully. I ran a hand through my hair to try to untangle the knots with not much luck and after frowning at it in the mirror, Phil took my hands to restrict me from trying to fix it again.

"You're beautiful Dan," he whispered before kissing me on the forehead. I smiled at him, slinking my arms around his waist and bringing him closer to me. He returned the hug and then released me and poked my cheeks again. "Come on, letâs get going."

We walked out of the building and darkness surrounded us, giving us little ability to see. My breathing got deeper and more frequent the further we walked as I began to panic. Phil was a little ahead of me and I ran to him, gripping his arm tightly so I wouldn't lose him.

"Dan?" I flinched at the sound that pierced the silence. "Dan, are you scared of the dark?"

"N-no, don't be silly..." I looked Phil quickly after trying to keep a straight face, but he could see through the mask after the years of knowing me and I could feel my phobia being written all over my face.

"You are, aren't you? Why didn't you say so? We didn't have to come out if you didn't want to."

"Well, you wanted to... and I thought I'd be okay if you were here," I mumbled. I felt myself heat up from embarrassment and started chewing on my lip.

"Do you want to go home? Or there's a fountain with loads of lights about 5 minutes away?"

"Letâs go there! I don't want to go home yet," although it was partly a lie, it meant I would have an excuse to keep clinging onto Phil, and I think he enjoyed feeling protective of me since I didn't let my guard down often.

                                                            * * * 

We got to the fountain which was surprisingly deserted, our ears only being filled with the sound of distant passing cars and the pouring water.

We sat down on a bench and Phil put his arm around my shoulders. Deciding to take advantage of my weaker status, I pulled my knees up to my chest, resting my head on his shoulder. The warmth from his body seeped through our clothing so I had a constant source of heat to keep me warm.

Despite being scared of the dark, I felt safe with Phil with me, the wind sometimes passing through our embrace, sending me wafts of his familiar scent which was comforting.

I didn't feel the hours slip past us as we ignored them with endless conversation, talking about anything and everything with ease. I just enjoyed spending time with him, and I couldn't remember how I lived without his musical laugh and sparkling blue eyes.

Eventually I stifled a yawn and snuggled in closer to Phil, putting an arm around his stomach as he pulled me closer to him.

"You're tired, do you want to go home?" Phil asked me.

"Not yet, just a few more minutes," I could hear my voice getting croaky which was an obvious sign that I was tired, but I was far too comfortable to want to go anywhere. My phobia of the dark had lifted slightly and now I could see how different everything looked in the dead of the night.

I took my gaze up to the sky to see stars, looking like pin-pricks on a dark canvas. The pollution of London minimised the number of stars we could see, but it was still beautiful.

"Dan?" His voice broke me out of my trance and my eyes flickered to his.

"Yeah?"

"Can we go home? I'm freezing."

"Sure," I stood up and stretched and my hand frantically found his.

The walk home felt both claustrophobic and isolating. The darkness suffocated me but the contact I had with Phil didn't level it out and I started to hyperventilate in reaction to my panicking. Phil heard me struggling and pulled me to a stop. 

"Dan? Dan! Stop it, calm down, nothing's going to hurt you, I'm here," he sighed when he could see I was still fretting and hugged me tightly. I wrapped my arms around him almost immediately, his warm embrace soothing me until I got my breathing back under control. 

I felt like such an idiot, I was 21 who couldn't even walk a few minutes in the dark. I buried my head into Phil's chest, not from fear, but from embarrassment and shame. 

"I'm sorry," I heard my voice croak and could feel myself go even redder. 

"It's okay Dan, we're all scared of something," he kissed me on the forehead and pulled away. "Look, home is just about 2 minute walk, how about we skip it instead?" 

"Skip?" I questioned him, raising an eyebrow. 

"Yeah, come on!" He took hold of my hand and started skipping, and joined in with him, both of us laughing hysterically. How we managed to skip down the streets of London at midnight and not get stabbed was a miracle. 

Even though the skipping made me forget my fears for a few minutes, I was glad to be back in the glare of bright lights of our apartment. I turned and smiled at Phil who returned it. 

"Feeling better?" He was smiling but I could tell he was still worried. 

"Yeah, although no one has to hear about skipping part," I grinned at him and slipped my arms around his waist which I don't think was something I could ever get bored of doing. "Thank you Phil." 

"For what?" 

"Protecting me, and for not laughing at the fact that I'm scared of the dark." 

"It's okay, I like protecting you. I love you Dan." 

"I love you too Phil," I kissed him and I felt his lips smile against mine. "I'm tired," I commented when we pulled apart.

"How can you be tired when you slept until 12 then had another seven hour sleep?" 

"I... I don't know... Want to watch a film?" 

"Yeah, you choose something and I'll put the kettle on and put in a pizza." 

"Okay," I wandered over to the TV and picked out a comedy after feeling like I had already been freaked out enough tonight to watch a horror. 

We watched the film in the position we slept in the other night with Phil's back to me and my arm laced around his waist. 

"Phil?" I mumbled, sleep almost completely overtaking me. 

"Yeah?" 

"Will you be my boyfriend?" 

"Yes! I mean, yeah," I smiled at his response and my eyes were closed but I could feel him flipping sides so he was facing me. He pressed his lips to my own and I managed to say another 'I love you' before tiredness took its toll on me.