Phan One Shots - jilliancares

A Small Problem

Dan Howell had a problem. Naturally, many sixteen year olds didn't live their lives without problems, but Dan had a feeling that his problem was unlike those of most other boys his age.

At the ripe age of twelve, Dan's friends had started talking about masturbation. Dan, being relatively innocent in the ways of life and without any older siblings, had had no idea what they were talking about.

"What's masturbating?" Dan had asked his seemingly infinitely-more knowledgeable friends. His friends had all gaped at him, mouths hanging open with wry looks on their faces.

"You don't... know?" Jason had finally answered, his face a mask of amusement. Jason was thirteen at the time, and he'd seemed cooler because of this to Dan. There was also the fact that he'd been six inches taller as well, which for some reason, Dan had always equated to coolness.

"Know what?"

"You know," another boy, Charles, had piped up. When met with no response from Dan, he'd curled his hand into a fist and moved it through the air a couple times in what was thought to be a known gesture.

"What?" Dan had asked in confusion, his friends seeming gleeful at his lack of knowledge.

"It's when you touch yourself down there," Jason had finally clarified. "It feels good."

Dan's face had immediately flushed red at the prospect of doing that. "Why would anyone... do that?" he'd questioned, eyes wide in a face of innocence. His friends had shared knowing looks.

"Trust us," Mark, another friend, had said. "Once you do it, you'll know."

Dan, not liking being out of the loop, had resigned to find out what all the fuss was about that night. He'd done as instructed late into the night, until his body was drenched in sweat and his arm was aching. Not to mention his... equipment... being sore. Dan had tried to achieve what his friends had explained as an orgasm, but he'd been unsuccessful. In the end he simply gave up, worn out and bored.

After that first unsuccessful attempt, Dan had tried again a couple days later, to the same results. He was perplexed, wondering what he was doing differently compared to his friends. He wasn't about to ask them for help either, already embarrassed enough about not having even known about masturbation in the first place. He kept trying, but nothing ever came of it, and eventually he decided that he didn't care. He rarely tried to masturbate anymore, knowing that getting the end results were for some reason impossible for him.

—

When Dan was fourteen, Phil Lester moved in next door. It was that very day, coincidentally, that Dan realized he was gay. And very much so.

The first day Dan ever interacted with the other boy was when his parents went to greet the new neighbors. Dan went with them, and it was then that he saw the disastrously cute boy. Phil had had a glare on his face at the time, and he opened the door just wide enough to stick his face through when Dan's parents knocked.

"Can I help you?" he barked, glowering. Dan's parents looked taken aback, though they obviously fought past it.

"Hello, are your parents home?" Dan's mum said politely. "We just wanted to welcome the new neighbors," she informed, before holding up a plate of cookies, as if it were proof.

Phil grunted in response, but swung the door open fully and stepped back.

"Mum!" he yelled, and his mother appeared from a doorway that led to the kitchen, if this house was designed anything like Dan's.

"What is it Phil?"

Phil simply jerked his head backwards, and his mother's eyes widened as she took in the company. "Oh, hello!" she greeted. Phil rolled his eyes, and slumped to the stairs, which he disappeared up. Dan was busy watching the cute boy walk away, and barely noticed when the new neighbor's mum addressed him.