Boys Your Age

29|Okay?

Dan entered his mothers car with nothing but his phone, and charger. He hoped that everything would go well enough to where he would be able to come back to Phil's. Sadly, he had a feeling that would be pretty hard to do, and he may be spending the rest of the summer at home.

But even this home has sad memories with Phil. He feels like he can't escape him as he runs his fingers over the stairway they used to slide down. Tears well in his eyes again.

He's interrupted from his nostalgia by his mother who has made tea. She looks at him sympathetically, and she can see it in his eyes that something has gone very wrong. Something she, even with her motherly powers, can't fix.

She hands him his tea, and they both go into the lounge where she sits close enough so he can cry in her arms if he needs too. She sets her tea down, and grabs his empty hand.

"You're probably swimming in questions right now." Dan says.

"Well, my not-yet-out-of-the-closet son just left his best friends house in tears saying that he was the reason for it. His best friend he's been madly in love with for years. His shirt is on backwards leaving me to believe he got dressed quickly. Which basically means he wasn't wearing clothes before that for whatever reason. His best friend wasn't there, so he had obviously left. His newspaper wasn't on the mat outside his door, so it couldn't be last night it had to be this morning. I have my own theories as to what could be going on, but I guess you could explain what really happened to me anyway." Dan's mum says shrugging.

Dan stared at her with one eyebrow raised in disbelief. "Mum, when did you become Sherlock?"

"Hey, I have my hobbies, and you have yours." she says.

Dan shakes his head. This is one of the many reasons Dan has never truly understood his mum. She was fantastic, and he couldn't ask for a better mother, but she was always doing something new. Like, joining multiple fandoms despite being in her forties. She was actually a fangirl, and she has shipped Dan and Phil longer than Dan and Phil. In fact, she has wanted a son since Phil's mom had Phil just so they could be in a relationship. She has shipped Phan before it was even a possibility.

So, Dan had no idea how she was going to react to this news. He decided to start it out with the obvious, and then fill in the blanks as he goes. He needed to hear someone's view on the whole thing anyway.

"Mom, I'm...I'm..." Dan didn't quite know how to finish this. He has never labeled himself before. What was he to say? Then, he decided that it didn't really matter.

"I'm a boy who loves another boy." He finishes.

His mom has joyful tears in her eyes almost immediately, "I fucking knew it. I've been waiting for this moment your whole life. Your dad owes me twenty bucks." she says happily.

Dan looks at her shocked, "You bet on me!?" he asks.

She laughs, "Well, yeah. He thought that you were gay, and I was like 'No, he's probably just gay enough to love Phil', and then he was like, 'No way, my son likes it up the ass I can tell', so then I said that we should bet on it."

Dan is laughing now, "Actually, I'm pretty sure you both won that bet."

Amelia's eyes widen, "Did you two have sex?" she asks curiously.

"MOM!" Dan says, "No, of course not."

Amelia shakes her head, "All of the sexual tension you two cause, and yet not once has Phil fucked you. We gave you two a month alone, and just nothing. I'm disappointed in you both."

Dan's eyes widen even more, "Mom! Me and Phil are just..." Dan trails off. What are they?

Before Dan can stop himself a tear rolls down his cheek. Phil had lied to him when he said he wanted to be with Dan. He called him Danny. He should have fucking known. Why didn't he notice? And now look at them. Phil has just left him alone with no explanation, and Dan was crying to his mother. Maybe Dan was too young for him.

"Dan?"

Dan broke out of his trance tears falling down his face. He looked at her feeling lost again. He loved someone who was just too old for him.

"Dan, are you okay? Have I triggered you, son?"

Dan shook his head, and said nothing for what seemed to last eons.

"Phil kissed me." he said finally, staring at the floor.

Dan's mum held his hand tighter stroking it gently, "It's okay, honey."

Dan shakes his head again as tears fall, "No, it's not. Phil kissed me, and then he told me he wanted to be with me. That was my first kiss. He told me that he loved me, and I believed him. Then, I let him touch me. That's when he decided he had made a mistake by being with me, and he left. He left me there all alone, because he thought I was too young."

Dan starts to cry more, "And I just don't know what I did wrong."

Dan's mum pulls him into a hug as he cries into her shoulder.

"Baby, you didn't do anything wrong, okay? Phil was just confused by everything that was happening. He'd never been with someone so young before. He loves you, Dan. He always has, and if he decided to change his mind, he's missing out. It didn't have anything to do with something you did. It's all Phil getting into his own head." Dan's mum says, stroking his back.

"Really?" Dan sniffles.

"Really." she says giving him a small smile.

Dan then frowns, "But what if this is the end of us forever?"

"Then you'll just have to see where time takes you. It's brought you this far. Just wait, and things will start to make sense, and come together."

Dan nods, "Okay."