In Your Dreams // phan

t h i r t y t h r e e

"Come on Dan, you know this," I prodded my soulmate, sitting on the floor of my room. This was the third night I was pushing him to finish his homework, forgetting about my own, forgetting about everything, friends, family, even food when he begged me to help him, not really explaining why. I didn't need an explanation, of course. If Dan needed my help, I would help.

"No I don't," he grumbled, throwing his pencil to the ground in frustration. "I'm just stupid."

"No you're not." I picked up the pencil and gave it back to him, pointing to the equation. "What's the total number of radians in one unit circle?"

He thought for a second. "2?"

"You're close." He groaned, and I tapped his temples with my fingers, making him chuckle.

"2... pi?" He asked tentatively, eyes shut in anticipation.

"Yes!" I replied, hitting my fist against the ground. He smiled and wrote his sloppy 2  and then the Greek letter pi, then paused. I opened my mouth to explain what was next, but he held up a finger. "Let me get it," he mumbled. He tapped his pencil quickly against the ground, focusing hard. I just watched. I loved this new side of Dan. The focused side. The intelligent side. The side that would rather sit here on my bedroom floor doing homework than go to the cinema as I had suggested.

He gasped, and finished the equation quickly. "16 degrees!" He said breathlessly, pointing at his answer for emphasis. He pursed his lips and shut his eyes expectantly, but I hummed softly in question.

I had promised him before we started that he'd get a kiss for every right answer, my version of the gummy-bear-a-line reward. He seemed really excited for it, and looked very upset when I didn't kiss him. He opened his eyes and glanced over the equation.

"Oh. Negative 16." I grinned and leaned in, closing the gap between our mouths. I was planning on it being a quick peck, but I immediately got lost in the taste of him, opening my mouth under his and letting him lace his fingers in my hair. He was being sweet, slow, but I was having none of that. I wrapped my hands around his waist and pulled him toward me, his homework forgotten.

Our chests touching now, he lowered his hands to the back of my neck, tracing along my hairline, making a sound deep in his throat. He made to climb on my lap, but paused when he heard my door open.

"Phil? Hey, your mum-" but Adam cut short at the sight of Dan and me tangled together, taking a step back in the doorframe. Dan pulled away quickly, his cheeks turning a deep red as he refused to look up at the intruder. But Adam just chuckled.

"Sorry, do you want me to come back?" I grinned up at him, unashamed. If anyone would understand what just happened, it would be Adam, another person who crossed the country just to be with his soulmate. I wasn't ashamed to admit it; I would do anything for Dan. But if he was embarrassed of people seeing us kissing, even if that people was Adam, my best friend and someone who has been featured in his dreams at least once, then I wasn't going to push him. I just loved the taste of him, the feel. The way our bodies locked together like puzzle pieces. I couldn't help it when I was with him. I just needed to touch him, to kiss him, to be close to him in any way possible because he was my soulmate.

"No, it's okay, come in," I said, gesturing Adam inside. But he shook his head.

"I was texting you but you didn't respond. I wanted to catch up. I was wondering if you wanted to come to my housewarming party. I live a few blocks away, so we could walk." He turned to Dan. "You're invited too, of course." I nodded enthusiastically, looking to Dan, but he was shaking his head.

"Oh, sorry, Adam, but Dan and I-"

"No, Phil, it's fine," he interjected, resting a hand on my arm. I suspected he had a similar lack of control around me, though he was able to break apart. I would just kiss him for the rest of my life. "You deserve a break. You've been helping me for so long. Catch up with your friend." I looked him deep in his eyes and saw he was being sincere, so I smiled. "I'm not going anywhere." I didn't want to leave him alone, but I really wanted to catch up with Adam. And he was right, his homework was pretty boring. The only exciting part was when he allowed himself to be kissed.

I tapped his phone that he had taken out to use as a calculator, the brand-new screen already cracked at the top. "I'll text you, okay? I shouldn't be too long." He leaned in quickly, and I thought he was going to kiss me goodbye. But he just brought his lips to my ear, and began to whisper.

"You better make up for all the kisses I miss." I swallowed, grinning, and pecked him on his cheek, rising, gesturing to my outfit.

"Is this fine?" I asked Adam, who watched our exchange with quizzical eyes.

"What? Oh, yeah." He grinned. "It's just a barbecue." I patted Dan on his head and he looked up to me with a slight smile.

"I love you," I whispered to him.

"I love you, too, Phil." I tapped his nose and checked to make sure I still had my phone in my pocket, and followed Adam out, turning to Dan and blowing a kiss. He chuckled and pretended to catch it. The second I got out of the house I texted him.

I miss you already. I glanced up at my window but he wasn't there waving me away with a handkerchief.

You're a spork. He responded. I grinned and tucked my phone away as Adam began to speak.

"Your mum's already there, I think." He said, hooking his thumbs on his belt loops. I raised my eyebrows.

"I didn't even realise she was gone." I chuckled.

Dan stopped texting me back after a while, and I suspected that he had fallen asleep. He had been so exhausted recently, working so hard to catch up on school work, and it was adorable.

The party wasn't so great, a lot of people I didn't know from a neighbourhood I didn't even know existed, so I went home after about an hour, avoiding Adam. Besides, I wanted to see Dan. I didn't care about Adam anymore. I didn't care about anything anymore. Dan was my everything. I wanted to be with him when he fell asleep, I wanted to be with him when he woke up.

Nothing else, but Dan, mattered.