hopeless || phan [complete]

"erm. hi."

pj and dan took no notice. no one ever talked to them, unless it was a question about classwork. it was lunch time.

"hi?"

dan looked up before pj.

"yes?"

it was a black haired boy with blue eyes and pale skin. dan was taken aback by the intensity of the blue eyes at first, then felt a weird tug of nerves in his stomach. dan realized it was the other boy who was feeling very nervous, by the way he fiddled with his hair and the way his eyes darted from disinterested pj and slightly-less-disinterested dan.

"yes?" dan asked, gentler this time.

"are you two... dating?"

pj looked up at this, frowning. dan felt two types of confusion- one was defensive, the other tentative.

"no," pj said. "where'd you get that idea?"

the boy swallowed. to his credit, he didn't blush.

"er-"

"because that's a very straightforward question right there."

the boy looked to dan appealingly, hopefully, fearfully. dan shrugged.

"we're not," dan supplied.

the boy looked at both of them.

"oh."

pj snorted. "i'm straight. i'm not dating my best friend."

"oh," the boy said again. he looked at dan curiously.

"bi," dan said.

his face fell. "right, i'm sorry, i'll leave-"

"no, you idiot, dan's saying his bi, as in bisexual," pj cut in exasperatedly. "although i am rather tempted to say goodbye and good riddance to you-"

the boy held up his hands. "i'm sorry! i was just- i saw you in the morning, it's your birthday right? happy birthday, but you were hugging, so-"

"oh ho! god forbid we hug, or we might be gay," pj sneered.

dan felt frustration and slipping hope.

"sit down," he told the boy. "what's your name?"

"phil. lester." he cringed slightly at the pointlessness of saying his last name.

"dan howell," dan returned smoothly. "why exactly did you want to know if we were dating?"

"erm-"

"very eloquent," pj cut in.

phil glared. "i just... i didn't want to be the only gay person in this school, alright?"

curiosity.

"hm," dan said dispassionately, and went back to his lunch.

"oh, forget it," grumbled phil, and got up. dan looked up at him, at his flushed face and angry blue eyes bordering on a stormy grey, hands balled into fists. he looked humiliated.

shame.

"i knew you guys were weird. i don't know why i bothered." phil marched away, back to his friends who immediately accosted him, asking what business he had with the curly haired wierdos. dan watched him shake his head and shake them all away with an unconcerned smile.

pj chuckled, himself actually unconcerned. "popular people, huh?"

"he's not popular," dan found himself saying. "he just has friends."

"more popular than us, either way," pj shrugged, and took a bite out of his pizza. dan was no longer interested in lunch, and was trying to shake away the buzz of emotions that usually came with sitting in a room full of people with racing minds. 

he stared at phil, and remembered his angry eyes, his sudden change in temper.

emotions are strange, dan thought. his stomach protested, whereupon he returned his interest to lunch.