Dan ran around his hotel room, frantically chucking his phone,  along with his wallet into his bag and running from the building. The chances are, he had forgotten something he wanted but, at that point, he was in too much of a rush to care. He practically sprinted along the path towards the underground, eager not to be late to meet his parents for lunch, worried they'd get the wrong impression. He swiped his card across the scanner and clambered into the train, sitting down next to some random stranger.

"Good morning!" The oddly chirpy stranger exclaimed, looking at Dan with a wide grin. His accent was thick and Northern, probably because he wasn't from around here, he sounded like he was from up North, possibly Manchester, like Dan. Dan grumbled back something incoherent and sighed, leaning back in the uncomfortable chair. He was exhausted from staying up so late, trying to keep himself up to date with his latest studies and he could literally feel his eyes drooping.

Soon enough, Dan's eyes were closed and he was lightly snoring.

None of the other passengers paid much attention as Dan's head went limp and flopped onto the stranger's shoulder; they were too engrossed in their own things.

The stranger smiled to himself at the sight of the clearly worn out boy, who had his mouth slightly agape, tiny, adorable growls-similar-to-snores escaping. The stranger, when he really should be creeped out by someone unknown using his shoulder as a cushion, found himself watching him, figuring he was pretty adorable.

Once he realised he had absolutely no idea where the boy was meant to be stopping, he knew his only choice was the wake the sleeping stranger. He hesitantly brought a hand to the younger kid's shoulder, placing it down and freezing at the heat which suddenly ran through his hand. He gently shook him, watching as the boy's eyes jutted open, full of surprise yet still lingering with exhaustion.

"You fell asleep." The stranger told Dan and he gasped, glancing down at his watch in sheer anxiety.

"What stop are we at?!" Dan frantically asked, rummaging through his rucksack for his map. The stranger leaned over, his shoulder pressing into Dan's as he pointed at one particular station. "Oh okay, thanks." Turned out, he still had a couple of stops to go.

"I'm Phil. I kind of felt the need to introduce myself to the adorable kid who was sleeping on my shoulder."

"I was sleeping on your shoulder?!" Dan put his hands to his face, covering up the blush slowly expanding over each facial feature. "You could have woken me up, I'm sorry to bother you!"

"It's fine, as I said, you were adorable."

"So you just let random adorable strangers sleep on you? Okay.." Dan muttered, sighing to himself.

"I'd ask you out for a coffee but i have three reasons why I can't: 1. You're probably not gay."

"I am, though..." Dan whispered, surprising himself and also Phil, who just smiled at the response.

"2. I don't know your name."

"Dan."

"An adorable name for an adorable guy! And 3.  You seem like you don't have much time to."

"Pass me your phone." Dan expectantly held out his hand as Phil pulled out his iPhone.

"You're not going to steal it now, are you?" Dan shook his head, his brown fringe falling over his hazel eyes slightly. He brushed it away like it was nothing, taking the phone and adding himself as a contact. He handed the phone back to Phil and grinned.

"Hopefully we can meet up in the future."

"That would be nice." The train came to a halt and they both paused to listen to the announcer.

"This is my stop..." Dan shrugged, lugging his small bag over his shoulders and onto his back. "I'll see you round."

"Yeah, bye." Dan stepped out and watched Phil wave as the train doors shut, taking the stranger away from his new friend.

Dan was more than late to meet his parents and that was when he knew the whole meeting would end up in flames. When he stumbled to the tall house standing next to a patch of field, he realised just how much his parents had changed since he was a kid. When he was younger and shared a home with them, they were bright, loud and outgoing, happy, smily and kind.

Not anymore though, since Dan had moved out they had become dark, quiet and laid back, angry, frowny and nasty. It was like he was the switch to another person for the two; he could change their personalities completely.

As he was standing there, just gaping at the change of what used to be the family home or the childhood memory holder, his phone dinged, bringing him back to the edgy reality. He knocked, deciding his phone was less important than the people who watched over him as he grew up. The door opened to reveal a tall woman, with glasses high up her nose and a scowl permanently engraved in her face.

"Daniel, I thought we arranged for you to arrive at 11?" His mum explained, gesturing for him to come in.

"We did, I'm just running a little late, that's all."

"Come sit; you, your father and I need to have a chat." Dan frowned at the disapproving facial expression of his mum and sat down on the closest black, leather sofa.

"How are things in Manchester?" His dad asked straight away, not even mentioning anything even remotely like a greeting. He was holding a newspaper which he folded in half and placed on the table at the sight of his son.

"Alright." Dan simply responded, folding his arms.

"That's great, now, have you met anyone in particular?"

"Not really, I'm a lone man."

"You're 24, Daniel! You need to be thinking about your future! There's a lovely girl just down the street. Her name's Alyssa and she's beautiful."

"Dad, you know I don't... exactly... swing that way..." Dan squeaked, trying his best to avoid the hard gaze his dad was currently giving him.

"Yes, I know, but you're no longer a teenager! You're through that phase and you need to think about settling down with a girl."

"It was never a phase, I'm just as gay as I've always been."

"If you say so. Just don't come running to me when everyone starts making fun of you for being out of the ordinary."

"I won't, don't worry."

"Anyways," Dan's mum spoke up, rolling her eyes. "How's university going?"

-

When it was finally time for Dan to escape, he was too knackered to even consider being relieved. He didn't even bother waving to his parents as he lazily stumbled down the road to his station. Half asleep, he swiped his card and got onto the train. The whole train journey, Dan was dosing off, drowsy from his preoccupied day. He came to his stop and finally made his way to the hotel. When he got to his room, he collapsed onto his bed, thoughts overrun with somnolence. Just as his eyes closed to drift into the deep abyss of sleep, his phone started to ring from inside his backpack. He groaned, reaching out and grabbing it, mumbling a minute greeting.

"Is this Dan? The adorable kid from the train?" A Northern accent asked and Dan recognised it straight away.

"It is," Dan let out a tiny yawn and Phil let out a tiny chuckle. "Get to the point because I'd like to get some sleep."

"I just wanted to know if you wanted to get some coffee tomorrow or something?"

"Sorry, I'm actually leaving tomorrow to go back to Manchester."

"MANCHESTER?!" Phil gasped, letting out a little squeal. "I'm from Manchester too! What are the odds?!"

"Where abouts?" Phil described where he was from and Dan couldn't help but let out a tiny gasp.

"That's about half an hour from where I live!" He squealed into the phone, his smile almost reaching his eyes.

"WE NEED TO MEET UP WHEN I'M BACK IN MANCHESTER!"

"That would be cool!"

"Then, maybe, you could fall asleep on me again."

"That wouldn't be as cool."

"For you."

-

Almost a week later, both of the boys had returned to Manchester and they were just about getting used to their old routines. They went without contact for a few days until Dan received a call while he was playing the Xbox one day. "Hello?" He greeted, tucking the phone between his ear and his shoulder, holding it in place as he carried on the game.

"Dan, how do you feel about meeting up tomorrow?" It was Phil's voice which, in all honesty, he had missed over the last few days. Dan muttered some inaudible complaints- sent towards the game not Phil- and smiled a little.

"That would be great, where though?"

"Could I come to yours? You can always come to mine if you'd prefer?"

"You can come here if you want, my address is," he told Phil his address as he multitasked with his shooting game. Every so often he'd let out a small grunt or a few incoherent words which made him seem like he was talking to himself.

"What are you doing?" Phil wondered, furrowing his eyebrows as Dan gasped again.

"I'm just," Dan paused, staring at the screen in awe. "Shit, um," Dan lost all conversation for a few seconds before picking it back up. "Playing Halo, nothing different."

"Ah, makes sense. Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow?"

"See you tomorrow."

-

Dan paced around his bedroom, random thoughts swirling around his eccentric brain, playing tricks on him. He'd think he heard a knock when really it was wind against the door or something. He'd think he heard a voice when really it was his mind. It was driving him crazy. There was another knock, which, he honestly couldn't decipher to be real or not so he just opened the door, sighing to himself. "I can leave if you'd like?" Phil responded, noticing the look of sheer distress on Dan's face.

"No, no! It's fine!" Dan's eyes widened as Phil entered the apartment, looking around and searching for something he liked.

"Okay.. Oh my- IS THAT A MUSE POSTER!" Phil screeched, running towards Dan's framed Muse poster on the wall and grinning.

"Yeah, they're my favourite band." Dan blushed, immediately bringing his hands up to hide his red face.

"Aw, the adorable kid from the train keeps getting adorabler." Phil smirked when Dan covered his eyes, frowning.

"Stop it." He chuckled, glaring at the taller boy.

"I like seeing you blush; you're just so cute." Phil grabbed Dan by his shoulders and shook him. "STOP BEING SO DAMN CUTE!" Dan's eyes widened as his face was brought unbearably close to Phil's, it was uncomfortable for the already-flustered boy.

"I'm not!"

"You are! You keep blushing!" Phil brought his hand to Dan's cheek and he looked down at it with dark eyes.

"I'm sorry." Phil finally pulled Dan's face closer and attached their lips, fulfilling Dan's lust.

"I don't know what got over me!" Phil said, backing away and rubbing his neck. His face was even redder than Dan's ever was.

"Now who's blushing?"

Thank you for all the lovely messages, they made me smile so much. I love you all :")