It was the middle of Christmas break, a few days after Xmas. I had a whole 2 weeks to dedicate my time to absolutely nothing... Well, at least, that's what my Mum always says.

"Daniel you do nothing at all productive, go outside and make some friends", is one of her favourite accusations.

She didn't know that I fully immersed myself each day into some Crash Bandicoot. That's how I liked to spend my time, alone with my games.

I hate it how people try to persuade me to think my life isn't OK. It's not like I have an illness and I'm slowly dying. I just like to stay inside. My room is where I'm most at peace. My room, on my own.

I was sat on my bed, propped up against a pillow just casually texting my mate PJ.

Yes, I do have friends, don't be so surprised.

No, I don't tend to hang out with them because, let's be honest, who has time to make pointless conversation?

Exactly.

Anyway.

Suddenly, my Mum burst into the room as if her head were on fire.

"Daniel please can you go to the post office and send off this parcel", she blurted, finally relieved that she found an excuse to get me out of the house.

"How about no?", I retaliated, hiding under the duvet.

"Get off your lazy bum and go drop this off. It'll only take 20 minutes", she shouted sternly, flapping her arms like the fool she was.

I didn't have time to respond as she viciously threw my coat at my face, followed by a large parcel, which quite frankly could've knocked me out.

"Twat", I mumbled under my breath as she unconsciously left the room.

I reluctantly put on my oversized coat and tucked the parcel under my arm whilst I put my phone in my pocket. I tripped down the stairs, landing clumsily at the bottom before I flopped out the front door, shutting it behind me. Bloody hell, it was freezing outside. The bitter winter chill prickled my skin. I shuddered in self pity and dragged myself along the frosted pavement, staring soullessly at my feet.

It only took about 10 minutes to walk to the post office but by the time I was there, I was already half asleep. Lazily, I flung myself through the doors of the post office and went to the counter to drop off the parcel. Heck, I didn't even know what was in the parcel but to be fair, I couldn't care less.

Once I had dropped off the mystery parcel, I decided that I might as well go into Top Man since I was already in town and probably wouldn't be back in a few weeks because I didn't get out much.

So I strolled along until I got to Top Man and was immediately greeted by the most beautiful T-shirt I'd ever seen. I wasn't one for colour so I usually tended to buy clothes with a darker appearance and this T-shirt really fit the bill. It was basic yet intriguing. The T-shirt was entirely black with a white circle on the front, resembling the image of an eclipse. I was just in love with this garment that I felt like I could buy at least 5 of it. Regardless of not checking the price, I immediately picked it up and hung it proudly across my arm.

I began walking toward the shoe section until I saw a little plush lion lying on the floor by a sticker label machine. Inquisitively, I picked up the creature and examined it. It appeared to be quite old, as it had slightly rough fur due to a seemingly vigorous amount of cuddles. It was also quite small, perfectly sized to be able to carry around with you anywhere. I decided that I'd hand the little fella in at the till once I'd paid. I hated the thought of a child not having their beloved toy. It saddened me immensely.

I ended up with only the T-shirt after endlessly scanning through the stock. I turned to the tills and waited patiently to be serviced. Once it was finally my turn, I approached the till worker. He looked quite decent to be honest. He had thick black hair swept to the side which contrasted vastly with his beaming turquoise eyes. He had a slim face which was very pale in colour yet seemed to light up when I came to pay.

"Nice choice", he approved as I awkwardly handed him the t-shirt.

"Uh thanks", I smiled shyly, admiring his bright eyes as I quickly looked at his staff tag. It read 'Philip Lester'.

"That'll be £16.50", Philip grinned.

I clumsily rustled around in my wallet for a £20 note before tugging out two tenners.

I put the money in his hand and watched admiringly as he put the money in the counter.

"Oh--", I interrupted, nearly forgetting about the lion, "I wondered if I could hand this in to the... uh... lost and found?", I mumbled, showing him the little plush.

"Oh my god...", he said as he looked at the lion contently, "I knew someone would find him!", he grinned. A smile was plastered across his face.

"Oh, he's yours?", I inquired. I for one loved to keep my stuffed toys from my childhood, so I guess he wasn't too different.

"He's handsome", I said, laughing. A subtle shade of red spread across my cheeks.

"Yeah, I love him to bits!", he giggled, gently picking up the lion from my palms and pushing it against his cheek as it turned red.

"I can see", I replied, noticing him blushing.

"Thank you so much. I'm so forgetful sometimes that one day I'd probably leave my pants behind before leaving the house", he laughed, keenly keeping eye contact.

"It's fine. You're lucky I spotted him though because the t-shirt was so stunning that I nearly couldn't keep my eyes off it", I said, pleased that I brought such joy to this person.

"Haha well I know something else I can't keep my eyes o-", he started but then cut himself off as he realised what he nearly said.

His cheeks were now an aggressive shade of scarlet.

He awkwardly handed me the receipt and the bag with my t-shirt in as he managed to mutter a, "See you soon". You could see the embarrassment on his face. Aww, poor thing.

"Thanks, you too", I replied, shoving the receipt in my pocket and scuttling off.

Wait... See you soon? What was I committing to? O_O

Eh... I probably wouldn't see him again, I'll be too busy admiring my t-shirt whilst scoffing some maltesers and playing Donkey Kong. Ahhh, what a life.

I sighed as I left the store.

I quickly glanced around to see Phil waving at me. I waved back, disturbed by the pleasant expression still on his face.

Nevertheless, I continued to plod home as it begun to lightly snow.

I stuck out my tongue childishly as a snowflake delicately landed on my tongue, melting as it came into contact with the temperature of my flesh.

I smiled gently, I felt like such a 5 year old.

I looked up at the sky as I noticed the clouds were extremely thick and dark.

"Snow clouds", I muttered to myself, "Nice".

*

I was now home but it had been a good 6 hours since I arrived back. The time was 10:14 pm and I decided to go to sleep as I was feeling extremely tired due to staying up for the previous night, leaving me with 0% energy. As I got changed into my Pyjamas, I decided I needed to put my jeans in the wash as they had mud patches all along the bottom of their legs. I emptied out the pockets to find the receipt from my trip earlier. I flattened it out just before I was about to throw it into my bin until I saw a number written at the bottom of it.

"What the hell?", I mumbled to myself.

Why would Phil write a number on there? Was it the helpline for the store or something?

I decided to add the number to my phone. I was going to call it in the morning, if I managed to wake up before midday that was.

*

I was woken by the violent breeze that seemed to be swiftly drifting in through my open window. The chill made me shake viciously until I stumbled to my feet and slammed the window shut.

I hate that feeling in the morning, when you're all cozy in your bed but you have to get up to do something and your faced with the unforgiving cold depths of your room. Thank god for duvets.

I picked up my phone as I hastily slid back into my comfy bed, pulling the covers over my head so I was sealed in a little tomb of sheets.

I pulled out the receipt from under my pillow, before going to the 'add contact' section on my phone.

I pressed in the number and saved it under the title 'Phil from TopMan'. So original, I know.

I stupidly called the number, knowing that nobody would answer. I left a text:

"Hi, y did u add ur number on2 my receipt? Not that it was an issue, I was just wondering."

Within 4 minutes I got a reply:

"You seemed like a nice guy, wanna chat? What's your name by the way, I'm Phil. :] x"

"Why did he use a kiss?", I wondered, a little bemused.

"My name's Dan and thanks I guess? :/ Why the x?"

"Bcus u deserve one Dan? o_o x"

"Y? I didn't do anything?"

"Yeh, u found Lion! :]] xx"

"Haha OK then. What's your favourite band?"

I waited patiently for a reply, hoping for Muse or at least Fall Out Boy.

"Hmmm... 100% Muse! :D x"

"I love you already! xO"

I couldn't believe it, maybe I could make another friend for once, that would be amazing!

"Me too but calm down lad hehe xx"

I was a little stunned by his response... Did he mean it that way orrr... Yeah, I think I'll just pretend he meant it in a friendly way, however the kisses are a little odd.

"Right. Best friends we shall be, haha!"

"Aww... :["

"What's wrong?"

"I wanted to be... nvm xx"

"Oh god, don't leave me on a cliff hanger m8"

"Haha m8, wow nice xD xx"

"Ikr, soz, I couldn't hold back, haha :P x"

Oh my, now I was using kisses... Oh well, it didn't mean anything... Did it? :T

"I gtg now for my shift @ the store, come round later if u wanna talk, bye xx :]"

He seemed decent. Maybe I should go into town again later, I had nothing better to do.

I decided to go downstairs and have something to eat to pass the time. I grabbed my cereal and poured some into a bowl before adding some milk and ravenously scoffing the lot within seconds. I put the bowl in the sink and went and slumped into the sofa, pulling out my phone again as I had forgotten to reply to Phil.

"Sounds great, I'll be there! xx"

I didn't specify a time as I wanted it to be a surprise.

*

It was now 1:36 pm and I had been playing on my DS for 3 straight hours so I decided it was time to go and visit Phil.

I got changed out of my pyjamas which I was lazily still wearing and I slipped on my new favourite shirt I had bought yesterday with a pair of black skinny jeans and black converses. As I was about to head out the door, I grabbed my wallet and my thick black winter coat and hurled myself outside once more.

I strolled along whilst playing Plants VS Zombies on my phone, casually glancing up now and then to cross the road. I wanted to send Phil a confirmation text that I was on my way but I decided against it as I wanted to make it more of a random appearance.

As I finally got into town, I plodded along to TopMan and entered to the shop, immediately making my way to the till where Phil was stood. There was no queue and Phil looked extremely bored until I approached him. His eyes lit up.

"Heyyy!", he cheered, opening his arms for a hug. I hardly knew him but he seemed quite friendly.

"Hellooo", I laughed, savouring our embrace until he pulled away and enthusiastically flapped his arms.

"Oh my glob, you won't believe what I have to show you!", he squeeled, like a 6 year old child on Christmas morning.

He then pulled out an awesome t-shirt which was pure black except for little groups of stars speckled across it. It was one of the most stunning t-shirts I'd ever laid my eyes on.

"Holy moly, it's great!", I said, holding it in my arms.

"C'mon you can try it on now since there's no queue", he said as he called one of his co-workers to manage the till whilst he was gone. He then dragged me by my arm to the changing rooms before escorting me to one of the cubicles.

"Thanks", I said, closing the curtain behind me.

The cubicle was quite small, there was hardly any room to move so it took a while to get my t-shirt off.

As I put the t-shirt on, I found it exceedingly hard to get over my head. I kept pulling and pulling for it to come off but it wouldn't budge. I desperately tugged at it harder and harder but I knew I would need help.

I really didn't want to do this to him, poor thing.

"Phil... Uh I'm kinda stuck", I awkwardly blurted out, "Some help would be nice... Sorry for being weird but I can't really move".

Without a word, Phil pulled open the curtain and let himself into the already packed cubicle. I could see his cheeks flush red as he saw me without my top on.

"Silly Daniel", he muttered as he successfully helped me pull off the shirt yet the force of the removal of the garment made me collapse into him, accidentally pinning him against the cubicle wall with my shirtless body.

I stared into his eyes and he stared into mine, flickering his view between my each of my eyes. His irises were such a piercing blue, they sent tingles throughout my body. I felt myself slip my hands around his waist as he put his hands to my face and pulled my face to his.

We closed our eyes and our lips collided. Our tongues tangling with each others gently, making me smile and blush. I could feel him moan a little into the kiss as he put his hands onto my hips and pulled my body closer to his as our torsos brushed against each other. The kiss felt like it when on for ages and I didn't feel like I could stop. As we eventually pulled away, we sat down on the compacted floor of the cubicle. I was lying on Phil's lap as he stroked my hair.

I never knew it was possible to fall in love with someone so quickly in such little time.

We lay there for ages, smiling away contently until Phil perked up.

"So I guess you'll be wanting a bigger size then?", he said, still grinning.

"Nah, I think it's perfect", I said, smiling.

"You know what else I think is perfect?", he giggled.

"Go on... Spread the cheesiness", I sniggered.

"I was gonna say Lion but OK fine I guess you're equally as perfect", he laughed, poking me on the nose.

We eventually fell asleep in the cubicle. Thankfully nobody had checked on us so we managed to sneak out unnoticed.

As Phil regained his position on the till and I was about to say goodbye, Phil suddenly said to me, "Dan?".

"Yeah?", I replied, inquisitively.

"I'm glad that you were the boy that found my Lion otherwise we wouldn't have met".

"Well, you should be glad you work at TopMan, otherwise I wouldn't have fallen in love...", I paused a moment as his eyes melted, "with this t-shirt", I said, pointing to my black shirt with the white eclipse. "Ohh yeah... And I wouldn't have fallen in love with that cute dopey guy at the counter who happened to own an adorable and dorky Lion toy", I teased, kissing him on the cheek.

"Haha, nice", he laughed, "See you around then!", he waved.

"Bye Phil!", I grinned as I left the store.

Phil from TopMan.

I needed to change that contact name. A few 'xxx's would do. x :]

The End. <3