By: GoatOrchestra on ao3
Word count: 1,590
Summary: Dan's neighbour, Phil, is perfect. He's also a brave knight in shining armour. Obviously.
•
•
•
It had started to get dark by the time Dan's shift ended at the gaming shop he worked at and he was ready to head out the door. It was only half 3, but it was also December, so the days were short and getting a lot colder than he would like. He shoved his earphones in, turned his music up and set off down the road with his hands in his pockets.
Ten minutes later, he was outside a little coffee shop he'd taken to passing on his way home. If anyone asked him, he would say that he'd found that walking this way made the journey back to his apartment shorter. If they looked it up on Google maps, he'd be screwed. This route took significantly longer...
As he passed the coffee shop, he took his phone out, looking at the time. There was 10 minutes left. He turned around and walked back the way he came, turning back a few minutes later and walking back towards the coffee shop. He stood just around the corner for about a minute, so that when he saw Phil walk out the door at almost exactly 4 PM on the dot, as he did every day, he could turn the corner and pretend that it was totally a coincidence that he was there, and wow, since we live in the same block of apartments, we might as well walk home together!
Dan knew this was creepy. He honestly did. He would stop doing it, too, if not for how absolutely in love he was with Phil. God, it was kind of pathetic. He had only known the guy since he'd moved in next door to Phil three months ago. But come on! It wasn't fair to throw such a beautiful, perfect, smart, creative, funny guy at him AND make him like everything Dan does and expect him not to melt a little every time he smiled!
Just as he was starting to get distracted by his thoughts, he heard the tell-tale sound of the bell above the coffee shop door ringing, and Phil saying bye to his co-workers. Dan straightened his jacket, turned the corner and started walking.
"Hey, Dan!" Score. He'd been noticed. He turned around, faux look of surprise on his face.
"Oh, hey Phil! I didn't know you were working today."
Phil laughed. What a sweet noise that was. Angels singing could never compare. "You saw me leaving for work this morning, Dan. Anyway, do you wanna walk with me? You know, so I can protect you, m'lady. It's dark and scary out at night, you know."
"Oi, you spork," Dan said, slapping Phil lightly in the arm while trying not to laugh himself. "If anyone needs protecting, it's you. Your dopey ass is likely to attract some weirdo with a pet pigeon or something and I'll find your body on my way to the shop tomorrow."
Phil's smile grew at this, both of them knowing how prone he was to finding the strangest people and ending up talking to them.
Dan, still shaking a bit from silent laughter, sighed. "Still. Come on. You can walk me home and pretend to be a big strong knight. I'll even let you kiss my hand when we get home as a reward."
As they both set off towards their apartments, chatting away about how their days had gone, Phil enthusiastically telling Dan about the old man who had brought in his dog, at which time Phil promptly took his break and sat petting the dog for almost half an hour, and Dan telling Phil about the kids who came in, bought a cards against humanity pack and sat picking out the dirtiest combinations they could.
"I mean, I'm all for the dirty jokes, and I'm glad they bought the box before taking them all out, but some woman came in, heard what they were saying and gave ME a death glare? How's that fair?" Dan huffed.
Phil grinned. "Too bad your knight in shining armour wasn't there to save you. I could have shielded you with board games."
A few minutes later, they were stood outside Dan's apartment, Dan trying furiously to think of some way to keep talking to Phil. "Um, so..."
"Hey, Dan, do you wanna come watch TV with me? I mean, You know, if you want to."
Dan looked up, shocked. He had not expected that. "Oh. Oh! Sure! I mean, we're always walking home together and stuff, we should hang out. Yeah. Um. I'll just put my jacket away and head over, okay?"
"Yeah, okay. I'll leave the door open. Just come in when you're ready."
Opening his door and walking through, Dan was sure his face must be glowing red. He had been invited to hang out with Phil! Outside of their almost daily walks from work, they hadn't interacted much other than saying hi in the hall every morning. He leaned against the wall as he willed his heart to slow down and his face to stop being such an embarrassing mess. After a few minutes, he threw his jacket and bag onto his sofa, going into his bedroom to change into sweatpants and a clean shirt. He slipped his shoes back on and headed out the door.
As he got to Phil's front door, he slowed down, coming to a halt just as his hand rested on the handle. 'Oh god, what am I doing, maybe he didn't mean actually just come in. Maybe I should have brought over some snacks or something. Jesus, what if he thinks I'm rude just barging in with nothing to show? I mean I am rude but not to-"
His inner monologue, he had assumed, was cut off when the door swung open, scaring the hell out of him, to show Phil standing there, giggling.
"Dan, why are you talking to yourself outside my door? I have enough snacks for both of us. You're not being rude."
Dan's felt the blood rush to his face. Why did he have to start talking to himself now? Of all times. "Uh..."
"Come on. We can find some really bad anime to watch or something" Phil said, grabbing Dan's wrist and dragging him into what looked like a room full of Phil Lester's personality as interior decoration. There were plush toys sitting alongside toys and DVDs on a shelf in the corner, Pokemon and other video game characters staring at him everywhere. Under the TV sat different consoles with piles of games. Phil threw himself down on the sofa, patting the seat beside him. "Sit, sit! What do you wanna watch? Something serious? Silly? Creepy?"
"Oh, um, since we've both been working all day, do you want to watch something stupid silly? You know, so we don't have to think too much."
Phil laughed. Dan was loving how much he was hearing that sound today. "Sure. If you want later we could order pizza, too."
Dan smiled softly, looking down at his hands. "Yeah, I'd like that."
They settled in, barely paying attention to what was on the screen, conversation flowing between them easily, anything fair game for conversation.
After three, maybe four episodes, he wasn't quite sure, Phil got up to go order pizza, which came after the next episode, so they sat in comfortable silence while they filled up with their food.
A few hours later, their food long gone and both of them stretched out from either end of the sofa, knees beside each others in the middle, the show they were watching running in the background as they switched between talking and companionable quiet, Dan leaned his his head back and let out a yawn. Damn he was tired, but he didn't want to go... But he had work in the morning.
He sighed. "I guess I should get going. Work tomorrow, y'know. I should let you sleep."
Phil looked at him, slight pout on his lips. "I guess so. We can do this again though, right? I mean you literally walk home with me every day. I should just buy you a key and let you live here."
Dan laughed quietly as he pulled his shoes on. "Yeah, probably. I'll see you tomorrow then. Bye, Phil" He headed to the door, turning and giving Phil a little wave as he returned Dan's goodbye."
He shut Phil's front door, leaning against it for a moment before heading down the hallway to his own door. Just before he reached it, he heard Phil's door open back up behind him, and Phil calling out.
"Dan wait!" I forgot something!"
"What?" Dan asked, confused. They'd been at Phil's house. What could he have forgotten?
His confusion only increased when Phil grabbed his hand and it turned into embarrassment when he kneeled down in front of Dan.
"Uh, Phil. I know it was fun, but surely my company wasn't that amazi-"
All thoughts flew out of his head when Phil kissed the back of the hand he held in his.
"You said I could kiss your hand as a reward for protecting you on our walk home." Phil said, cheeky smile on his face. "Maybe next time you'll allow me a proper kiss."
He got up, smiling at Dan as he spluttered, trying to get his brain and mouth to work together.
"Well, g'night, Dan! I'll see you tomorrow!"
"Phil, you damn spoon, get back here and do it properly!"
And obviously, Phil wasn't going to deny him that.