Set Up •●• phan

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Dan padded up the stairs to the roof. Phil hadn't said he was up there yet but Dan thought he may as well go up early, so he could surprise Phil when he came up.

When he opened the door, he immediately noticed a faint light coming from their usual bench. He walked over, curious to see who it was, but stopped short when he saw Phil, holding a bag and sitting on the bench, staring blankly over the edge of the roof.

"Phil?" he called quietly. "Phil?"

Phil's head jerked and he looked over at Dan. His expression reminded him of a rabbit caught in headlights.

"Phil, are you OK?"

"I'm fine," Phil said quickly, blinking.

"No you're not. What's wrong? Why are you up here all on your own?"

"I was about to ring you and tell you to come up but... I guess I got distracted," Phil explained quickly. Dan didn't press him for more answers.

"What's in the bag?" he asked, hoping this was something Phil wanted to talk about.

Phil gave him a faint smile. He unzipped the bag to show Dan paper bags and boxes of food.

"This is why I told you not to eat dinner," he said.

"What's even in here?" Dan asked.

Phil started talking, unpacking the bag as he went. "Cold pizza, veggie Indian stuff, ice cream, maltesers and a flask of hot chocolate."

"These are basically all my favourite things," Dan said with a smile. "How did you know?"

"I did a bit of research," Phil told him, starting to relax. "I thought it might be cool to come up here for a picnic...?"

"Well, you were right," Dan said, a smile playing around his lips.

Phil laughed, and spread out the food on the bench. "Enjoy."

Dan laughed more during that meal than he thought he had during his entire life. He and Phil got along better than he had with anyone else, and he actually loved every moment he spent talking and laughing with Phil.

"This was an amazing idea," Dan said, once they'd finished eating. Phil started packing the boxes into his bag.

"I enjoyed it myself, actually," Phil said. "It's been good." His strange mood from earlier seemed to have vanished and Dan felt a surge of pride that he had managed to make Phil feel better.

Dan checked his watch. "It's quarter to one?!" he exclaimed. "We've been up here for hours!"

"Well, time flies when you're having fun," Phil said with a wink. Dan laughed.

"We should go in, anyway," he said reluctantly.

They headed over to the door, Dan trying harder with every step to pluck up the courage to say something.

"Phil?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for... all this. You didn't have to."

"I wanted to," Phil answered sincerely.

Dan felt himself struggling internally. He didn't want to just walk away now - this would be the perfect opportunity for him to tell Phil how he felt - but he didn't want to spoil the happiness they'd just had, and most of all, he didn't want to lose Phil. He shouldn't. He knew he shouldn't.

Dan leaned forward and softly kissed Phil on the mouth.

"Goodnight, Phil."