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.
While Dan could relate to pessimistic Lylo, he politely declined, as he would much rather show Niall around himself. Lylo had shrugged at them as he mumbled, "Less work for me then."
First, they went around to the classic section, where Dan kept ranting about why powdered wigs should make a fashion comeback, and captioning famous conductors paintings like memes to make Niall laugh. Niall laughed so much indeed, that they were viscously shushed by a monitoring Lylo, who shook his head at them and mumbled something along the lines of, "Mozart does not look like a Walmart brand George Washington that was attacked by rolled joints that stuck to his head as cruel punishment for stoning too hard."
Dan pulled Niall in for a dance to the soft samples of classic music in the section, and Niall couldn't hold back his giggles as Dan swayed him around, and made a big show out of it.
"Hey, no dancing in the classic section, you'll ruin the merchandise!" Lylo said, shaking his head at them again. "Kids these days, can't keep their sinning hands to themselves."
"Sorry, sir," Naill and Dan said at the same time, laughing as Dan swept Niall through a country section, disco fever room, (lots of dancing and bants in this one) and eventually the Jazz section.
"Ya like jazz?"* Dan asked, leaning against a nearby rail as a ramp led down to the Jazz section.
"Yeah, I guess," Niall said, admiring all of the pictures of famous performers jamming it out on the walls.
"Me too," said Dan, "I mean, everybody likes jazz."**
"I think it's very calming," said Niall, "And I like how a lot of it is just freestyle, and it's so smooth. Anyone can get down to jazz."
"I agree," Dan said smiling, "I also like the story behind it, you know?"
"What's the story behind jazz?" Niall asked.
"Well, baby, let me just tell you," Dan said, "It's quite the inspiring one."
Dan told the story of Jazz, pointing to the items as references as he already knew the history behind each one by heart. The museum tells you all about where Jazz originated, which was down in Louisiana as Niall learned. (Which is also miles from where they were, a whole country away even, but still nice to know nevertheless.)
Niall seemed mesmerized by everything, and his excitement to learn made Dan telling it to him all the more fun for him. Dan had been down and over this section a million times, but Niall had never seen it before. And the intrigued and bright look in Niall's eyes, made Dan feel good. He felt like a successful teacher.
"Wow, Dan, you sure know a lot about jazz," Niall said, smiling at him.
"I know a lot about a lot," said Dan, "And that's why I love this place so much. I love to know music."
"Me too," Niall said, "Does this place have a classic rock section?"
Dan's eyes lit up, "Of course! Come on, it's my favorite one."
Dan took Niall to the Classic Rock section, where instantly your eyes are met with photos of the Beatles, Jimmy Hendrix and Elvis Presley. You know, all those classic rock gurus.
"Oh, wow," Niall exclaimed, staring at the gigantic area in wonder, "There's so much to learn."
"So much to do, so much to see," Dan muttered under his breath in whisper song.
"So what's wrong with taking the back streets," Niall finished, smiling as he somehow heard Dan's song.
Dan laughed, "Oh my god, marry me now."
Niall grinned wider, "I feel wrong singing that song here."
"Why?"
"I feel like it's a bit offensive to all the real rock artists in this room to be tainted with Smashmouth," Niall said, making Dan break out into an open mouthed laugh of surprise.
"Oh, damn, poor Smashmouth, you just roasted their asses," Dan said.
Niall shrugged, going back to admiring the objects and facts all over the giant domed room.
"It's so amazing," Niall said, Dan watching him read a plaque titled, 'Rock and Roll to Rock the Soul.'
"Yeah, it truly is," Dan said, "I can get lost in how an idea can become a history of entertainment, and just be something the world can enjoy forever."
"Yeah," Niall nodded, "And different types of music can start out so small, and then become a culture; something considered to be revolutionary."
Dan just stared at Niall, happy he was bonding with the younger boy so well. He wondered how many other things they had in common outside of music. Niall stared at him back, a dazed expression on his cute face.
"Hey, no staring at each other lovingly in my classic rock hall!" said Lylo, sweeping the floors at the entrance to the room and shaking his head disapprovingly.
Dan laughed as Niall blushed, "Oops, sorry, sir. Again."
Dan heard Lylo mumble something else under his breath as he left the section, something that was like, "Kids these days, having eye sex in my museum, mmmmm."
"Hey, you wanna get some icecream?" Dan asked suddenly, breaking the silence.
"Um, sure," Niall agreed.
"Great, because I want icecream and irregardless of if you wanted it or not, I was going to buy some," Dan said.
Niall laughed, "Wow, you're such a gentleman."
"I try," Dan said, leading them back out of the door they came through originally, and out onto the streets of their small town.
***
"Wait a minute, you've never played a videogame before?" Dan asked in surprise, staring at Niall in shock.
"No, my mum said that they'd make me ill minded," Niall said.
"Oh my god that's insane," Dan said, "On our next date, we're staying at mine and playing videogames the whole night."
Niall raised his eyebrows, "What makes you think that there's going to be a next date?"
"My good looks and charming personality, duh," Dan said sarcastically, making Niall laugh.
"Yeah, okay," Niall said.
"Is that a yes to another date?" Dan asked hopefully, licking his icecream.
Niall nodded, "Yeah, I'd really like that."
Dan grinned, "Amazing, how about next week on Sunday? I have to work hard hours these next weekdays if I want to have enough for rent at the end of this month, but I'm free for a bit of the weekend."
"Oh, I can't go that day," Niall said with a frown, "If I don't show up to church, my mum will kill me."
"Oh," Dan said, feeling sad too.
"I'm really sorry," Niall said apologetically, and Dan could tell he really was, "It's just, well, I have to show up or she'll yell at me and tell me that I'm disrespectful and abandoning the lord, and she won't acc-"
"It's okay, dude," Dan interrupted, smiling to ensure that it's alright, "I understand you completely."
Niall smiled back, seeming a little relived. Because he knew that Dan did understand him. Dan knew what it was like to have parents like Niall's, and that made Niall like him even more than he already did.
"Well, this is my place," Niall said as they stopped in front of the entry to his flat, which he shared with three other people to afford.
Dan nodded sadly, "Okay, I guess I'll see you then."
Niall nodded, knowing he made things awkward too fast when he stayed, and hurrying to the door that led to a bunch of stairs that eventually lead to his house.
"Hey, we'll figure it all out--about that second date, I mean," Dan assured, "And it's going to be amazing."
"How can you be so sure?" Niall teased.
"Because it's going to be another day I spend with you."
Heat rose to Niall's cheeks as it always did, and he smiled, "T-Thank you, Dan. I'll see you soon."
Dan walked up to Niall, and placed a light kiss on his pink cheeks, smiling as he pulled way and got a look at the pure shock on Niall's face.
"I'll be seeing you, Niall," Dan said softly, smiling as he walked away towards his own flat, thinking of how he was going to tell Phil every detail and how happy he'd be when he realized it went well.
It was a happy walk home, after all, he's opening the door to an angel.
-
AN: This only took a billion years. Sorry. I did work on something else tho, while I was gone. I also have no idea how I'm going to get rid of Niall, because I don't want to!! HE'S SO CUTE, BUT IT'S DAN AND PHIL, but like Niall and Dan getting upset with each other makes me so sad. AHHHH
*Bee movie reference
**La La Land flashbacks (I cried three times, fuck you)