Heaven On Earth

Fifteen|Secular

Dan waited by the coffee shop he worked at, anxious because he knew Niall would be here any minute. He had checked his appearance multiple times, and he was chewing his lip so much it was close to bleeding, and he'd only been waiting for three minutes.

And then he saw Niall. Niall was a bit shorter than Dan, but he wasn't that tiny, and he seemed very nervous as he made his way down the street. He was wearing a flannel type shirt and khaki jeans along with adidas hightops. He looked great.

"Hey," Niall said with a shy smile.

"Hello, baby blues," Dan greeted, smiling brightly at the blonde haired boy.

"Why do you call me that?" Niall asked, blushing wildly.

"Because of your eyes," Dan said, "I like them, they sort of remind me of an angels."

Niall seemed to turn the brightest shade of red at this, and little did he know that Dan was talking about an actual angel, but it made Dan amused at how easily embarrassed he is anyway.

"Thank you," Niall said, "I-I like your eyes too."

Dan nodded and grinned, "That's very sweet. Now, come along, we have a date to persue!"

"Okay," Niall said, laughing as Dan started to skip away.

"Where are we going?" Niall asked, after they had walked for a while.

"A museum of music," Dan said, "Have you ever been to the one in town?"

"No," Niall said, "My mum never let me go to places that influenced secular artistic impressions."

Dan laughed at this, his eyes crinkling in the corners as he clapped his hands, something he did when he was laughing very hard. It made Niall smile at how happy he looked.

"Secular artistic impressions," Dan repeated, "No way, dude, my mum did the same thing. She forced me to learn piano so I could learn hymns, and luckily I didn't hate the instrument. I wasn't allowed to listen to anything else but Christian music. But, I was a savage and did whatever the fuck I wanted, so I listened to a lot of punk rock to prove she didn't control me."

Niall laughed, "I wish I had your confidence. It's admirable."

Dan shrugged, "The only way to get my parents attention was to stand out, and I did such a good job at doing that naturally, that I became confident in being the center of attention."

"I wish I could be like you," Niall said, looking up at Dan with shining eyes.

"No, you don't," Dan said, shaking his head, "I'm a mess."

"I think you're cool," Niall said.

"Really?" Dan asked.

Niall nodded, smiling widely.

"You're so nice," Dan said, "Such a cutie."

Niall tried to hide his embarrassment by turning away, "I only said you were cool because I like your shirt."

Dan laughed, "Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah, other than that you're lame," Niall joked.

"You got a good taste in music, Niall," Dan said, "But you're quite the meanie."

"You just said that I was nice!"

"Well, I lied."

"Lying is for sinners."

"Who do you think you're talking to?"

***

When Dan entered the museum with Niall, they were greeted by a man named Lylo, who offered to tour them around the place. Lylo was an older man, who was balding and seemed generally annoyed with life. He gave the impression of regret and loneliness, but gave them an awkward smile when he asked.