TAMPONS | PHAN

five; april

a p r i l;

The air was tainted with the smell of sweat and alcohol. Dan lounged against the wall as he watched the mass of people dancing in front of him, their bodies pressed so tightly together they almost seemed to move as one. Dan managed to pick out Phil who was dancing with a curly haired boy, his eyes closed, his head thrown back, a large smile stretched out over his lips. 

As if he could feel Dan's eyes on him, his sparkling blue eyes popped wide open and made contact with Dan's. Dan watched as Phil extracted himself from the curly-haired boy's grasp, and made his way towards Dan, two plastic cups sloshing with alcohol in each of his hands.

"Hey," said Phil, coming up to Dan and passing him a cup. Dan had to strain to hear Phil over the loud, upbeat music that was pumping through the room.

"Hi," replied Dan and Phil gave him a long searching gaze. He reached for Dan's cup, extracting it from his hand, before placing it down along with his own on a nearby table. 

"Let's get out of here." Phil whispered in Dan's ear. Dan's insides squirmed from the feeling on Phil's warm breath against his neck. Dan tried to push the thought away, thinking of Kate, his girlfriend. Kate, whose face had fallen when Dan had made a lame excuse to leave her house earlier that evening. 

Then Phil grabbed Dan's hand, and Kate... Kate was forgotten, and all Dan could think about was Phil's sweaty palm pressed against his own, his slender fingers that were intertwined Dan's, and Dan's heart pounded rapidly in his chest, fluttering like the wings of a hummingbird. 

They clambered out onto lit street, hand in hand. The streetlights above gave off an orange - fluorescent glow, bathing everything with an orange tint.

"Come on," urged Phil, tugging on Dan's arm, pulling him down the pavement with  firm grip.

"Where exactly are we going?" questioned Dan, feeling grateful for his slightly longer limbs which enabled him to keep up with Phil's brisk trot.

"Somewhere... somewhere that means a lot to me,"  replied Phil, taking a quick look across the road before he darted across, towing Dan along behind him. Dan remained silent, resolving to wait and see where Phil was taking him.

It was another five minutes before they reached the outskirts of town, near the edge of the highway that lead away from their seaside town, past fields of farmland to the big city of London. Dan followed as Phil lead him up the hill, Dan panting the whole while - even though their pace had slowed considerably.

They stood, hands still clasped together facing the sea. The cool breeze ruffled through Dan's damp fringe - damp from the sweat pouring off his forehead- and he shivered, wishing he had brought his coat or a light jacket along.

"I come here a lot," said Phil, and then as though realising they were still hand in hand, Phil let go on Dan's hand and stepped back, creating a space between them. Dan, suddenly missing the warmth of Phil's hand, shoved his hand into the pocket of his jeans, attempting to seek warmth. 

"It's not too noisy at night. It's my safe spot. Helps me think," continued Phil. He tore his gaze away from the sea to Dan. "That's why I brought you here. You looked like you needed to talk." Phil said, a tone of seriousness in his voice that Dan had never heard before.

"I was fine with staying at the party," Dan said, his voice slightly hoarse. "You seemed to be enjoying yourself."

"I'd rather talk to you," said Phil and Dan's cheeks flushed pink. "All I know about you Dan Howell," continued Phil, "Is that you come in to buy tampons once a month, you like a lot of bands that I like, and your first name might be Daniel. I don't even know your middle name, how old you are, your favourite colour, what your dreams are, what your family is like..." Phil trailed off. Dan remained silent, hoping for Phil to say something more.