stage one: petals.

dan howell walked into school, a confident aura radiating off him. stepping into the compound with his earpieces in his ears, he darted to his classroom immediately, and made his way to his seat, his tired eyes wandering around the desks and chairs of his classroom before his body walked to his seat in autopilot mode. he threw his bag down, and proceeded to lean on the table and fall asleep.

or at least, attempt to fall asleep.

as he closed his eyes, his varsity jacket covering his head entirely in order to block out the bright lights, he wondered back to that friday night, when the petals had sat on his palm, the petals that he had coughed out from his own mouth.

he shuddered, and whether it was because of his wild imagination or the fact that he had felt the brush of a leaf in his lungs, he wasn't so sure anymore. was that why he felt unwell, and that he felt a tingling sensation of softness inside his throat?

could you imagine: a fucking plant, growing in his system?

dan felt mildly disgusted yet amazed at the same time, feeling himself cringe at the thought of swallowing an entire plant. it was as if the myth of swallowing apple seeds had been true, except that, it was.

what dan couldn't comprehend was how fast the three months had been up. he had been keeping track of his crushes, making sure that they never went longer than three months, or god forbid, two and a half months. he even had a calendar with crossed out dates, and he clearly remember that his crush on phil had only lasted for two months.

well, two months in his record, but not the universe's apparently.

a slam on his table abruptly pulled him back from his headspace, and he looked up, holding up his jacket slightly in order to peek at whoever had the guts to interrupt his beauty sleep, even though he had endured this treatment for two years straight.

chris, also known as, his best friend.

"what's new, lover boy?"

dan let out a frustrated groan. "chris, we've talked about this. not that nickname. anything but that."

"what do you want then, i'm-too-cool-for-anything-but-black boy?"

it took all of dan's control to not smack him on his head, but he still managed to make a go for his shoulder, making the other boy wince in mocked pain.

"alright alright, i'll cut the crap. how's lester? you over him yet?"

dan rolled his eyes, letting the jacket drop onto his head again to signal the end of their conversation, darkness covering him once again.

and, as soon as the dark came, the light took over, chris' trademarked smirk pasted onto his face and the glint in his eyes returned.

chris never knew about this, but everytime phil came up in words and sentences, dan could feel a little shiver at the end of his spine, and the drop of his stomach as he controlled his blush that dusted his cheeks slightly. the little stutters he tried to conceal and the quick darts of his eyes to anywhere but him. feelings that were hidden and pushed to the back by jokes and brotherly insults that was returned with the same quick wit that the other possessed.

"so, i assume no?"

which leaded to another point. the petals. how was he supposed to convey the message to chris? sure,  a quick 'hey i have hanahaki's disease' would work, but it would freak his friend out, and that was the last thing he wanted to add onto chris' plate along with schoolwork and end of years examination stress. maybe he could sit him down during recess and talk to him, but dan was as awkward as a tree and along the way he would mumble out the words and knowing chris (god bless him he's half deaf), he wouldn't get a single word into that boy's mind.

before he could say something, a cough overtook him, and he stood up and stumbled outside of class, chris following close behind with concern laced into his features. dan wheezed, trying to catch his breath before the next wave of coughs overtook him. he gulped, and felt something at his throat, lodging his airway.

oh fuck no.

after two harsh coughs, he finally felt better, and the hacking stopped. without even opening his eyes, dan knew what was cupped between his hand and his mouth. chris stood beside him, a hand on dan's back, eyeing him with concern and a 'are you okay' at the corner of his mouth.

still holding his palm to his hand, dan mumbled something that chris couldn't comprehend, seemingly only able to make out words as 'something' and 'you'.

"you know i'm partially deaf, howell. if you have to spit something out, go to the toilet. you don't have to ask permission from me," chris joked, and dan responded by only rolling his eyes.

dan pulled chris into the toilet with him, trying his best not to panic.

"what, are you going to make out with me next? jeez howell, i know you're gay and all, but i-"

dan silenced him by pushing his palm, that was previously covering his mouth, to chris, his eyes anywhere but chris' face. chris stared at the red petals, his mind taking two seconds before registering what dan wanted to tell him, the playful mood dissipating into the air, which was replaced by a strong wave of seriousness.

"dan, what the..."

dan responded by shoving his hands into his pockets, his head lowered as if he had done something wrong. it seemed as if all hope had escaped the boy.

"when did you find out?"

"last friday," dan winced.

"what, at the party? that's a great timing."

"i didn't know it would come by that fast!" dan retorted, his eyes conveying a message that was a mix of helplessness and despair.

both boys then stood in front of the sink, silence hanging in between them, only the occasional rush of water filling in the emptiness that was never experienced by both.

"so... what do you do now?"

"i don't know, i dragged you in here just so that i could ask you for advice."

"it's so sudden! you need to give me at least three working days in order to come up with a not so shitty solution!"

before dan could say anything else, the bell cut him off, signaling the end of the boys' talk, and the start of morning assembly.

as they shuffled out, chris suddenly turned around, causing dan to almost knock into him. he stepped back, gaining some personal space between them.

"why don't you start by making friends with him?"

*
hello it's your girl abby here

sorry for the slow updates. i'm trying my best to squeeze them out but i have a very important exam coming up at the end of the years and i have to revise as much as possible

adding on to that workload, i take art, which means i have to do a lot of artworks to submit for said exam, which kind of leaves me little time.

but, i'm trying my best, and i hope you remain patient. sorry about that.

i hope you enjoyed this chapter though! have a nice day!

~abby