Not On Fire (Phan AU)

34 | the last day

Dan wakes up to the sound of snoring and the warm embrace of a still sleeping Phil, who had stayed over the night before after a long night of them hanging out, leading both of them to lose track of the time. Not ready to wake up completely and face the day, he rolls over and presses his face into the crook of Phil's neck and closes his eyes, feels Phil's arms tighten around him, keeping him in place. If there is one thing that he hates just as much as the thought of his friends leaving him in a few days to go off to college and start their new lives, it's the thought of waking up early during break, when he can see the darkness at the end of the sunny day and feel the freedom slipping away. Even though he's not going to college--he didn't have to check his mailbox to know that he had lost the chance of getting out of here anytime soon when he decided to set the world on fire--he knows once break is over and his friends go off to college, he'll need to find something productive to do with his life. Like get a job. And finish writing Not On Fire. Generally just do things he won't ever finish if he lets himself slip away into sleep every chance he gets.

    There's no off button, unfortunately, to Phil's snoring, which now that he's awake, he can't help but notice, so he's stuck in between wanting so desperately to fall asleep and knowing that it's not going to happen anytime soon. And shoving his face right next to the source of the problem definitely isn't making it any better.

    "Dan, you need to get up," his mother says, knocking at the door. "Your friends are here."

    A year ago he would have said he didn't care, but today, he finds himself saying, "Tell them I'll be down in a second. I need to wake up Phil first."

    His mom doesn't bother to open the door to check to make sure he's going to do what he says he is, and Dan can just lightly hear the soft sound of retreating footsteps, signalling that his mom has left.

    He pauses for a moment, unsure of what to do. Phil's grip around him is vice-like, unbreakable, arms wrapped around him so tight like Phil's afraid he's going to lose him. His arms are wrapped around Phil, making it almost impossible for him to pull away to shake him due to their proximity.

    But when he gets the idea, his body moves on autopilot, bringing his lips to Phil's for a quick kiss, a stereotypical-romantic-as-fuck way to wake someone up, and yet, here he is. And it's not working. Phil continues to snore, tighten his hold on Dan, unaware of the world around him that is awake and alive and moving, not bothering to wait for him at all.

    "Wake up!" he shouts, doing his best to shake Phil (which isn't that good, admittedly) in the position that they're in, but Phil is dead to the world, eyes sealed shut, mind locked in the middle of a dream he's not ready to leave. "Come on, Phil. Wake up! Louise and PJ and Chris are all here!"

    "Shh," Phil mumbles, but the soft tone in which their spoken makes it clear that they are not a conscious person's words, but those of someone too tired to leave the grasps of sleep's comforting cradle. "Sleep."

    This isn't the first time Phil's slept over at Dan's, so Dan's no stranger to how much of deep sleeper Phil is, but he's also never had the misfortune of trying to wake him up. He asked one time how to do it, and Phil only pretended to seal his lips shut as he smile as if he knew what Dan was getting for Christmas and could only just keep himself from spilling the details. Yet no tickling would ever replace the key that Phil threw away, even if he looked like he was about to burst, with the taste of a secret on the tip of his tongue, torn between wanting to share it and savor it all by himself.

    He tries pulling away again, but Phil's grip becomes stronger somehow, leaving their chests pressed up against each other as close as humanly possible with not even a sliver of a gap between the two. Which makes breathing interestly, to say the least.