non-binary → phan (on hold)

17. double date

the waiter's voiced seemed to rise as he spoke, almost as if nervous being around our table. i felt bad for him. i would be nervous also if i had to serve a very public couple, a very awkward child disguised as a man, and a very tired gender-neutral black hole. "so, uh, hi? i'm your waiter. obviously. okay, i- what would you like to eat? i mean, you clearly want pizza. we're a pizza restaurant. what i want to know is the kind of pizza you want, though. sorry, i'm very- never mind. what kind of pepperoni- i mean, pizza. what kind of pizza would you want?"

"to make it easy for you, we'd like two with pepperoni," troye responded, taking a sip of his drink.

the waiter nodded, scribbling down something on the notepad before quickly rushing off.

"so," connor said, smirking as he played with his straw, "when are you and phil gonna stop messing around and just make it official? we're all waiting."

troye choked on his drink, the straw falling from his lips as i quickly lifted my head from my hand and phil hid his blush with his hands. "i-it's not like that," phil stated, sinking further into his seat. "we just...we're close friends.

"ah, i see. very close friends. close enough to kiss each other."

"connor," troye mumbled, running his finger along the condensation of his glass. "they're clearly uncomfortable. how about we take it down a notch, hm?"

connor frowned, tapping his finger gently on the table. "i was just stating my opinion. it's not like it was a bad opinion―i bet a lot of people that know dan and phil probably agree with me. i mean, just in case if you haven't noticed, they literally act so much like a couple that they're practically dating."

"friends can act like couples and not be dating. that's a thing that can happen, connor," troye stated, lifting an eyebrow at connor. "you and i both know how that is."

connor looked down at the table, eyebrows knitted together in frustration. phil shuffled in his seat to next me. "how about we talk about something other than dating? some of us are clearly very uncomfortable."

connor and i nodded in agreement, troye humming in approval. thankfully, the pizza arrived shortly after. after that, none of us found a reason to talk.

⌲

"i can't believe connor refused to give us a ride. seriously, what's his problem?"

phil leaned back on the bench, pulling out his phone to check the time once again. "i don't know. let's not think about too hard. what i'm concerned about is how we're going to get home. it's been half an hour and the bus still hasn't come. there's really no point in taking a train, also, since we live pretty close."

"why don't we just walk? it shouldn't be that far to at least one of our places, and it's fairly nice out for once. i mean, it's not hot as hell for once and i don't think doing some walking would hurt us. although it might make me sad," i said, pressing my shoulder against phil's.

phil shrugged. "my house is fairly close, so i guess we could walk there. and you're right," phil smiled, "it is a nice night out. the moon is really bright."

he tugged me along the pavement (dan's american accent: sIDewALk), occasionally stopping to point out 'constellations' (they were basically just stars that phil thought made a shape. i wouldn't admit it, but it was adorable and made my heart soft). a few streets later, i came to a stop under a streetlight that had gone out, bathing phil and i in pale moonlight.

phil slowly came to a stop, turning to face me with a small frown on his face. i let my eyes drift to the stars. i wanted to avoid being awkward as much as i could. "dan? let's go. my house is just a street away."

"wait, phil," i said. my eyes flitted in his direction for a second before lifting to the moon again. i sighed, gently tugging his hand twice as an indication for him to walk closer to me. he complied, slowly stepping in my direction. "i've been thinking about what connor said. did you really mean it when you said we were just friends?"

"yes. as much as i wish i could say differently, it's currently the truth. we did kiss but there was really nothing else we did about the situation."

"would you-" i paused, taking a deep and shaky breath. "would you maybe want us to do something? you know...about it." phil let go of my hand. he took a step back, but quickly stepped towards me again, rocking back and forth on his feet. "you don't have to answer that. we can just go to your place and forget about it."

"no, dan, i'm sorry. i didn't know what to say." i shifted my head so that i was looking at phil. "i just- the answer is yes, okay? i wanted to say something else so that it didn't seem so..y'know? but i didn't know how to word it. i really like you, dan―like really like you. but i'm going to let this decision be up to you."

"okay, phil. i'll figure it out. i just have one question, though, and it's fairly simple," i said. i itched the back of my neck, growing nervous. phil nodded, smiling assuredly, mumbling that i could ask him anything.

"will you be my boyfriend?"

⌲

author's note! yo enjoy this shitty update with a lot of cringe
-di