In Your Dreams // phan

t w e n t y t h r e e

It was amazing how quickly the week passed when I was with Dan. I thought his parents would be a little hesitant about Dan taking off the week, but they just seemed to be excited to see him so happy. And they adored me, much to Dan's embarrassment. They were constantly asking me about my life and my family and where I was from. And I babbled on as much as I could before Dan would moan and pull me away to his room, where we would remain until his parents came up and invited me to stay for dinner. I loved it. It made me feel like I had a real family. And I loved being able to sit next to Dan and hold his hand. Since he was left handed and I used my right, we intertwined our fingers and still ate.

Dan had managed to beat me at so many video games that my head still swam with all the "P1 win"s. I didn't mind at all. In fact, even when I was obviously better than him at one, I would "accidentally" fall off a cliff or drive into a corner just to watch the way his eyes lit up and his face split into a grin when he won, and he'd hit me on the arm and say that I had let him win and I'd deny it and he'd just smile knowingly, leaning his head on my shoulder.

Neither of us said anything about my confession that first night. And I certainly wasn't going to start the conversation. I wasn't about to take it back either- I had meant it. It just hadn't come at the right time. I knew Dan wanted to talk about it, I knew he had questions. But I was too selfish to answer them. It didn't affect how much time we spent together, however, as I had practically lived at his house over the week. I constantly invited him to mine but he kept denying, saying he was much more comfortable at his place.

He finally took me up on the offer on Thursday, saying he should meet my mother and see my room. I was fine with the latter, but the former concerned me. How would my mum react to meeting my soulmate when she still wasn't over her own?

Remarkably, I discovered. She actually rose from her permanent spot on her recliner, shaking his hand with slight tears in her eyes. He grinned warmly, and I suddenly realised why he was so embarrassed when his parents talked to me like she did then.  She wasn't just examining her son's soulmate. She was interviewing her son-in-law.

And that thought terrified me. So I grabbed his arm and pulled him upstairs to my room.

He grinned, running his hand along my bed sheets and looking around, his eyes wide. He smiled at my posters and collections of various nick-knacks, then finally plopped down on my bed as if he owned the place. He looked up at me.

"You look like your mum." I sat next to him, wrapping my arm around his waist and leaning my head on his shoulder. He planted a kiss on the top of my head.

"I don't have a TV in here." I sighed, realising that our time together mostly consisted of movies and video games, both of which were impossible without a TV. He pulled away and looked at me, crossing his legs.

"That's okay." I mirrored him, and he took a deep breath. "So, Philip Lester. When did you realise you were a hopeless romantic?"

I had sent him home that night, even though I really, really wanted him to stay. I had big plans for the next day, and those plans involved him being home. I smoothed down the button up shirt I had laid on my dresser for the next day, went through my written plan one more time, then tucked myself into bed, shutting my eyes.

The dreams that week weren't so bad. They were of after Dan had quit going to school, so the anxiety backlash didn't affect me as much. And when I woke up in the morning, I knew I had Dan to see that day, so all the pain washed away. He would tell me about the dream he had and I would briefly summarise mine, making him pout and pull me into a tight hug. I didn't know why he felt so bad for me. He was the one who went through them in the first place.

At eight o'clock pm on Friday, I straightened my tie, loosened my sweaty fists, and cleared my throat. Dan knew I was coming, or knew that we were going out, at least, because I had texted him to "put on his best". He had replied with a few questions, but I brushed them away, saying all would be explained at eight.

His mum answered the door after I had knocked gently, and immediately covered her mouth with her hands. She mumbled something but I couldn't make it out, so I just grinned awkwardly.

"Dan around?" I asked, swallowing. I was nervous. But who wouldn't be on a first date with their soulmate? Especially a soulmate as perfect as Dan. Only the best for him. And I had it all planned out.

"Yes, yes, of course. Oh, you look so lovely, Phil." She sighed, clasping her hands together. "Come in, please." I bowed through the doorway as she called upstairs for Dan, who I heard seconds later. He spotted me and paused, taking it in. I watched him take the rest of the steps slowly, admiring him. Dan was always beautiful. But today he had left his hair slightly curly and had donned a white dress shirt adorned with little black birds swooping around, the sleeves buttoned at his wrists. Little black circles clung to the lobes of his ears, and his smile was as radiant as ever. He clutched the banister and came, at last, to the bottom, where he eyed me up and down, quickly.

"I feel under-dressed." He mumbled. I looked down, smiling, running my hands down the front of my buttoned dinner jacket.

"You look amazing." I sighed.

"Well, don't wait up!" His mum squealed, almost shoving us out the door. "Consider curfew canceled. Just no grand babies." She sighed and he blushed furiously.

"Mum," he complained. She just smiled, wrapping her arm around her husband, who came to join her at the door, waving us to my car. I opened the door for him and he sat with a smile at me. We both couldn't stop smiling. The excitement, mixed with the fondness, was eating us away.

I sat on the driver's side and started the car, pulling away and driving down the street. Dan was quiet for a few seconds, but then burst.

"Are you going to tell me what we're doing?" He asked quickly, turning in his seat to look intently at me. I hummed softly but realised I couldn't hold the secret in much longer.

"Well, only the best for my soulmate," I started. He was almost shaking with anticipation. "So I was thinking we could start with a nice dinner. As long as we're quick, because I know a certain someone whose favourite band may or may not be playing a sold-out concert tonight..."

"No. Way." Dan said, leaning forward. "No way you got tickets to Muse." I stopped at a red light and reached into my back pocket, producing two white slips, each stamped with four large black letters. M U S E. "Phil Lester, what did I ever do to deserve you?" He sighed, pulling the tickets from my hand and examining them closely.

"You existed." I said seriously, turning and pulling into the parking lot of the softly-lit restaurant I had chosen.