ᵀᴿᵁᵀᴴ ᴼᴿ ᴰᴬᴿᴱ メ ᴾᴴᴬᴺ

-20-

{previously; dan gets mad at himself for telling phil he is gay}

dan followed marcus reluctantly into the room which he had apparently showed phil the night before. he agreed for the sole purpose of knowing that they were doing in there. 'not that i care' he thought to himself as marcus pushed open the door slowly, flicking on the light switch as dan took a moment to process the whole room. it was very large, with high ceilings and it seemed that the only purpose of this room was to be some form of gallery. except there were only two subjects. who were two men.

dan wandered over to the first few pictures, which seemed to be dates that the men had. the first, being in a small cafe which dan recognised but couldn't seem to quite put his finger on it. they were smiling at the camera, both happy cheesy smiles, one holding a coffee mug and the other holding a rather extragant milkshake. dan read the tiny engraving underneath the picture.

'first date'

the next was rather similar, except they were in an italian restaurant this time. one had king prawn spaghetti and the other had a meat feast pizza. they were once again happy, the older looking man having his arm around the shoulder of the younger boy as they smiled at the camera.

'data italiana'

it went on like this for a whole wall, and dan was confused as to why marcus would show him this. they all looked the same. the men looked happy. he gets it. but what was the point of this story that never seemed to end? literally, because the room was so big, and it seemed to dan there were still room for more memories for them to capture and frame.

when he finally got to the end of the wall, dan was lost. the two men were back at the coffee place where they had their first date. dan examined the picture, seeing the two men looking older, more masculine. they both ordered their same order, though dan noticed the milkshake size being slightly smaller. but as he analysed the picture, he crossed his arms, seeing the only difference that stood out.

one of them was wearing a ring.

"is there a reason you are showing me this?" dan asked, eyebrows raised as he turned to marcus who was carefully watching him as he looked at the pictures of his parents.

"yes," marcus replied, as dan walked over to the next wall, and couldn't help but smile at the picture of the two men on their wedding day. a moment that would be treasured for ever, them kissing and sealing their love and devotion for each other.

"why?" dan whispered, although already having an idea of what the answer was. he let his fringe fall, not wanting marcus to notice him smiling. he had seen the picnic picture, where he only rolled his eyes as he knew phil would do a better job at being cute.

wait what.

dan shook his head, a little confused by the sudden thought in his head as marcus put his arm around him.

"to show that those two people? they have the same connection you and phil do,"

dan was staring at the picture of marcus' parents and couldn't help but see their faces in it instead of the faces originally there. phil was the one building a sandcastle and he was the one looking lovingly at him. dan pressed his forehead, feeling a little headache, still not knowing what this fuzzy sensation was that he was currently feeling. he couldn't help but hope that one day he would have something like what he was seeing in the pictures, where he can be goofy around his partner, not having a damn of what people thought of them because all that mattered was the other half. dan felt that he would never have anything like that. he may have gone out with people but he's never had that feeling. well... not until phil came along. maybe he really did feel something for the sweet, innocent pastel kid who shared a room with him.