Hide away; phan

•1•

It was the morning and Daniel was getting ready for school. He was stopped by his father at the bottom of the stair case.

"Daniel, can we talk?" his father asks.

Dans heart starts to pace. What if he found out some how? Dan just looks at his father for a good 3 seconds before speaking.

"Uh, yeah..? Why?" Dan tries to stay relaxed. He tightens the grip of his hands on his back pack straps on his shoulders.

"Are you ever gonna get a girlfriend?" His father asks. His tone of voice becoming more strong.

Dans mouth opens a bit as he tries to think of something to say. His anxiety starts to come on strong.

"You seem anxious." His dad adds on, immediately making Dan feel uncomfortable.

"Uh.. I- I don't know. I'm going to school now, goodbye." Dan replies, not even looking him in the eye right before passing by his father, shoving him a bit to get by. He opens the door and closes it without any hesitation. After so, his eyes start to water. He can't help but worry himself that his dad could've just got super suspicious. A tear rolls down his cheek.

He waits at the bus stop for the school bus to come. Nothing new. Usually he just sits and listens to Twenty One Pilots, Fall out boy, Panic! At the disco, and a few other random songs from random artists.

Five minutes later, the bus comes to Dan. He steps on the bus and doesn't bother to look at anyone on it. Socializing gives him small anxiety.

Dan sits down. His seat is at the back since he refused to be at the front. The thought of people staring at him without him knowing is terrifying, even though he knows people already do anyways. He puts his black earbuds in and listens to his fall out boy playlist.

10 minutes later he arrives at school. He decides to go inside to the vending machine to grab some orange juice because he almost never has breakfast or lunch. Dan digs through his pocket for a 2$ coin to put in the machine.

Right after putting the coin in, he sees a paper saying "out of order" at the top of the vending machine.

"It's broken?" Dan hears a voice from behind him, as if they are questioning Dan. He turns around and sees a boy that has similar hair to Dan. They both look at each other for a second.

"Y-yeah.." Dan scratches his head in nervousness while replying under his breath.

"Oh well. I guess I'll have to use the other vending machine even though there isn't apple juice in it." The other boy says with a disappointed face. He walks past Dan to the machine beside the broken one and pulls out his money for the machine.

Right as Dan is about to walk away to avoid contact, the young man interrupts him.

"Hey want me to buy you something from this vending machine?" He asks Dan as he slowly turns around. "Well?"

"N-no it's o-okay. I'm not worth your money." Dan says as he tries walking away again but the boy grabs his shoulder. Dan flinches and quickly turns around at the sudden touch.

"Wh-"

"No, you are. Please let me buy you something." The boy reassures Dan.

Dan stares at him again. Dan can't help but realize he is actually talking to someone. Someone actually wants to waste their money on him.

"A-are you su-"

"Yes!" The boy cuts Dan off and laughs a bit as he says so.

Dan grins a little bit, leading on the young man to grin even more.

The boy pats Dan on the shoulder before turning around to face the vending machine. As he puts the money in the machine for two orange juice bottles, he asks dan a question. "So, I'm Phil Lester, and you are?.."

Dan leans his body on the broken machine. "Dan, D-Daniel Howell." He answers. It's been a long time since Dan felt at least a little bit of genuine happiness. Finally he felt kind of comfortable talking to someone, even though it was still a tiny bit nerve racking for him.

Phil pulls the orange juice out of the bottom of the machine, then hands it to Dan. "Daniel, hm?"

"Yeah." Dan confirms as he fidgets with the bottle of orange juice.

"Alright, I like it. Its cu- I mean- I.. never mind." Phil says.

What? Was he gonna say... Dan starts to wonder what he was gonna say until he realizes he almost called his name cute.

No way...

"Well, I guess I'll see you later, okay? Bye Daniel!" Phil speaks right before turning around and walking away to class.

Not long after, Dan catches himself smiling. He tries too stop, but he smirks even more. He rubs his face with his hands and just stands there for a minute watching Phil walk away.

For the first time in a while he feels really happy.

Did I just make a friend?.. Dans mind says to himself.

He's still so shocked he even socialized even a little bit. He walks to class and hopes to see Phil Lester again.

All class Dan can't stop thinking about Phil. That's until he remembers the terrifying thought he has to keep to himself. Dan knows he can't get really close to Phil. It'll crush Dan. He can't fall in love with Phil...

But he needs to know Phil Lester more.

He has to. There's just something about
Him. Something different. Something most people don't have. He felt happy with him.