In Your Dreams // phan

t w e n t y f o u r

"Seriously though, how did you get your hands on tickets to Muse?" I asked for perhaps the hundredth time. I had been given answers such as 'I know a guy', 'If I told you I'd have to kill you' and 'They're fake. I made them myself. I'm just hoping they'll hold up.'

Phil sighed, setting his knife and fork down together on his plate. "Okay, okay. They're scalper tickets. I bought them off Ebay. The mystery is gone now, are you happy?"

"I'm very happy," I responded with sincerity. I wasn't talking about the revelation regarding the tickets' origins, but just in general. Phil seemingly understood and beamed brilliantly at me.

"Then I'm happy too." Phil checked his watch and added, "Speaking of the concert, we should probably think about making our way there. Are you finished?"

I nodded and watched as Phil took my plate and stacked it on top of his own to make it easier for the waiter to collect. "No dessert?" I asked, with an exaggerated pout.

Phil chuckled. "Patience, Daniel. All in good time."

The concert was loud and crowded and Phil and I were wildly overdressed compared to everyone else. But to quote Phil: "You have to dress fancy on a first date. It's the law, you know."

I had never been to a concert before as it seemed like an anxiety attack waiting to happen. But I wasn't too concerned going with Phil because he was my antidote. If something were to happen I knew I'd be okay because I had him by my side.

Plus... it's Muse. Like I would pass up that opportunity.

Phil and I sung along very loudly, and sometimes very badly, to every song. It was entertaining to watch Phil struggle to reach all the high notes. He failed horribly every time but always attempted it anyway. Partly because he was determined to hit them and partly because he knew I found it amusing.

By the end of the concert our voices were hoarse and I was more than ready for bed. I yawned and leant my head back against the seat as we drove away. Heading home I assumed, where I was hoping Phil would spend the night again. A perfect end to a perfect date.

"Hey, hey, hey. Don't go falling asleep on me. We still have dessert, remember?"

I nodded silently and decided against letting my eyes rest, because I knew that'd make me even sleepier and I wanted to stay awake for whatever Phil had planned.

"Why are we at the library? I thought we were getting dessert?" I asked a few moments later, as Phil pulled up in front of the familiar building.

"We are," he replied unhelpfully. He hopped out of the car and ran to open my door and offer his hand to me.

I took it quizzically and stepped out of the car. "The library doesn't stay open past six," I told him. He should have already known that but he was still leading me to the locked front doors so I thought I'd remind him.

Phil smirked and retrieved a key out of the pocket of his dinner jacket, using it to unlock the doors. "How did you – " I began to ask but the end of my sentence got lost in awe.

Phil shrugged, clearly pleased with himself. "I know a guy," he answered, and I rolled my eyes at his reuse of that phrase. "Now close your eyes, okay?"

I was confused but I trusted Phil, so I immediately listened. "You're not peeking?" I shook my head. "How many fingers am I holding up?" he asked skeptically.

"None. Both of your hands are holding mine, you goose," I replied amused.

Phil laughed at his own idiocy. "Right, I forgot about that."

He led me deeper into the library and as my curiosity grew my tiredness faded. After a minute Phil stopped, dropped my hands, and angled my shoulders so that I was facing the right direction. "Okay... open."

I did as he said and blinked in shock. "Phil, how did... what did you do?" We were standing at the entrance to one of the aisles of books. Between the towering shelves, above eye level, hung rows and rows of golden fairy lights, warmly illuminating the surrounding books and the picnic set out below.

In my state of utter shock I allowed Phil to lead me deeper into the aisle and down onto the picnic blanket. From here, the lights above us looked reminiscent of stars. They didn't twinkle, but they glowed enchantingly in a seemingly endless expanse of darkness.

Phil snapped me out of my trance by pulling a box of maltesers out of a picnic basket and offering them to me. "Dessert?" I asked with eyebrows raised and he nodded with a cheeky grin. I laughed and happily accepted them.

"And..." Phil said, reaching back into the basket and retrieving a single dandelion, "for you."

I took the dandelion from his hand, confused. "Wow, what a beautiful bouquet of flowers you've brought me."

"It's symbolic. I'm being romantic, okay?" Of course he was; I expected nothing else. I shut up to let him explain while I absent-mindedly twirled the dandelion in my fingers.

"The reason we're here," Phil gestured to the bookshelves around us, "is not only because I know this is one of your favourite places and it's where we met and everything. It's because I love reading. Romance novels, to be exact."

"I know. It was one of the first things you told me," I interrupted before I could stop myself.

"Hush," Phil scolded me. "Let me be romantic. As I was saying, there's one romance novel in particular that will always hold a special place in my heart... because it was my first. It was my gateway drug into the wonderful world of romance and heartache and clichés." Phil reach into the picnic basket once more to pull out a book. It was an old, tattered looking thing, obviously re-read a number of times. If You Could See Me Now it was titled, by Cecelia Ahern. And its cover featured a solitary dandelion. "I want you to have my copy."

"If it weren't for this book I wouldn't have gotten into reading, I wouldn't have been in the library that day, and I wouldn't have bumped into you," Phil said. "Or... the other way around I guess. If we're taking that literally."

"Phil..." I whispered. My heart felt like it had inflated in my chest and rather than pumping blood around my body it seemed to be pumping a new, glorious substance that filled me with warmth and excitement. It caused my skin to tingle and breath to hitch, and made me feel lighter than air.

"Did the hopeless romantic do well?" Phil asked with a slight smile. He knew the answer was yes. I could see how proud he was of himself and it was adorable. And because he already anticipated my words I let my actions speak in place of them, and leant in to kiss him instead.