ART DECO | PHAN

twenty four.

2/3/17

phil lester was kind of overwhelmed.

dan and katie had filled him in on what had been happening the day dan had showed up at his door, but apparently dan had taken a liking to the change in style, because he had started dressing like that often.

not all the time, but often.

and whenever he wore those types of clothes he seemed more confident, more bright, more flirty. phil couldn't know for sure, of course, but it felt like getting a watered down glimpse of what dan was like before the sickness had controlled him.

less meek, more snarky. a sweetheart, though, and not afraid to be one. and absolutely gorgeous.

phil looked up from his book when he saw someone come up, smiling when he saw dan.

"hey."

dan smiled back, pulling up a chair. "hi."

"what have you eaten today?"

phil didn't necessarily like asking that the second he saw him every time, but it had proved to be necessary. dan rolled his eyes.

"some toast, and katie made ramen."

phil nodded. "good."

"are we gonna start on the language?" dan asked, plopping his bag down on the table. "because i have an idea."

phil nodded, flipping his book over to rest it on the table and straightening his glasses. "yeah, tell me."

dan smiled. "okay, it might seem kinda weird, but i was thinking... what if our language was body language?"

phil raised his eyebrows curiously. "i'm listening."

"because, like, our whole place is really metaphorical, right? so... if people communicated in body language in this place where everyone's perfect... it's kind of cool, right?"

phil nodded slowly. "i like it."

dan beamed. "yeah?"

"yeah, a lot."

"good." dan bit his lip, his cheeks going rosy and his gaze falling to his hands. "i can do that if you finish the model."

phil nodded, smiling at him fondly. "perfect."

☞

now that phil wasn't with eva, he had a lot of free time. most of it was spent with dan, but he also hung out with katie and liam occasionally.

katie talked a lot, which phil didn't mind. she seemed really sweet, and genuinely into whatever she was saying.

"we should do something for him," she was saying. phil was sitting on the floor next to her bed, helping her clean out her closet (he assumed the extra things would be given to dan). "because he's trying, right?"

phil nodded. "i think he really is."

katie's hair fell in her eyes again and she huffed, pulling a hair tie off her wrist and tying up her hair is a messy ponytail. "exactly. so we should plan a surprise for him or something."

phil nodded, biting his lip, lost in thought. his feelings for dan confused him. he knew he liked him... he had to by how worried he had been for him. he cared about him, more than other people that he had known for longer...

katie was watching him. she moved over to him, sitting across from him.

"you like him, don't you?"

"w-what?"

she smiled, rolling her eyes. "you can tell me, i won't tell him. and you're single now, you're allowed to have a crush."

phil blushed, chewing on his lip. shit.

"a little..."

she beamed. "you should make a move!"

"no way." he shook his head. "he's too fragile for that." and i'm too scared.

katie huffed a laugh. "he's not as fragile as you think. i think he could handle it."

phil looked up, sighing. "do you really think he likes me?"

she nodded. "clearly. god, boys are so naive. he wants to be with you."

phil blinked. "did he tell you that?"

"no. it's obvious."

"how?"

she sighed as if he was being extremely difficult. "he looks at you like you hung the moon, phil."

"h-he does?"

"yes." she laughed. "you haven't noticed? you do know that his natural skin color isn't cherry red, right?"

phil blushed. "i h-hadn't noticed..."

"well, you should look more carefully."

phil licked his lips, thinking. was she serious? did dan really like him...?

he couldn't imagine dan would react well to him making a move. he already didn't like it when anyone touched him.

he sighed, playing with a piece of string that had come unattached from one of katie's sweaters. jesus...

maybe he should wait a bit.

"anyways," katie said, pushing herself back up. "i have an idea for something we can do for dan."

phil forced himself out of his thoughts, shaking his head to try and brush them away. 

"tell me."