Cat Whiskers

Words: 2440

Prompt: TooManyJalexPheels "So basically, everyone gets a tattoo when you turn a certain age, and the only person who has the same as you is your soulmate. Dan wakes up knowing he'll have gotten his overnight, only to be shocked because his tattoo is cat whiskers. On his face. Trying to cover them up for going out and to school, and trying to hide it from his family."

Dan's eyes shot open as his alarm blared in his ears. Groaning in annoyance, he rolled over and stabbed his finger against the snooze button. His birthday always had to be on a school day didn't it? He rubbed his eyes and swung his legs round the side of the mattress. 

After a groggy yawn he plodded to the bathroom, dreading the terrible Thursday that was to come. What even was Thursday? It was a day preventing him from a shorter day of school which prevented him from Saturday. Dan's mind worked in a weird way. 

With eyes half closed, he blindly fumbled for his toothbrush and the toothpaste before lifting it to his face. As he brushed his teeth he felt himself become more awake and slowly opened his eyes to look tiredly into the bathroom mirror.

He stopped.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" He shouted, spraying toothpaste spit all over the mirror in shock. He dropped his toothbrush in the sink and ripped some toilet paper from the roll. He thrust it under the tap - soaking it with water before wiping the mirror of spit to take another look at his face. 

He couldn't believe it. 

At the age of 18, everyone got their tattoo - one that matched their soulmate wherever they were in the world. Most people got small ones on their backs, wrists, shoulders, hips or arms but there had been a few odd cases around the world - Dan's being one of them.

On the tip of his nose was a large black dot accompanied by four black lines on either cheek. He had fucking cat whiskers. "Oh fucking fuck fuck mother-fucking fucktits on a fuckstick!" Dan cursed, clawing at the tattoo to make sure his brother hadn't played a trick on him and drawn them on with sharpie. His panic rose when it didn't smudge.  

With his mind on hyper drive, he ran to his parents' room, careful to check that it was empty. His parents usually left earlier for work so Dan was in luck. He bolted to his mum's dressing table and rifled through her make-up bag for something to cover it up. Finally he found a small tube of skin coloured liquid with 'concealer' across the label. "Concealer sounds promising." Dan thought.

He rushed back to the bathroom and wiped his still toothpaste mouth before desperately dabbing the concealer onto his face. He let out a relieved sigh as the black whiskers began to fade under the skin coloured liquid. 

By he time his cheeks and nose were properly covered, he had twenty minutes left before school starts. He ran around the room, pulling on whatever he could and chucking his things in his school bag. "Just my fucking luck!" Dan growled as he barged out his front door.

~

"Go on, what is it then?" PJ asked as he met Dan in the hallway during break. Dan swallowed anxiously. 

"I can't tell you." Dan muttered.

"What? Why not?" PJ frowned and Dan glared at PJ's normal rose tattoo on his neck. It matched his boyfriend Chris' who turned 18 two years ago and was in college. 

"It's ... intimate." Dan lied, hoping that would keep him at bay.

"Oh." PJ smirked, laughing a little. "Going to be quite hard to find your soulmate then right?" PJ chuckled. 

"You couldn't be more wrong." I internally complained. "S'pose." I shrugged, trying to look like the topic bored me.

"Well what is it?" PJ asked, still pressing the subject.

"Ugh ..." I trailed off, I needed to think of something. "A ... love heart?" I said, internally cursing myself as it was so commonly overused. 

However PJ seemed content with his answer. "I can see this conversation's making you uncomfortable so I'll move on for now. Anyway HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" He announced and Dan winced at his volume. 

"Thanks for that very loud announcement Peej." Dan rolled his eyes. 

"Your welcome." PJ smirked - seemingly pleased with himself. Sometimes Dan wanted to punch his best friend. 

Lunch time soon came as well as the endless questions from his other friends and classmates about his tattoo when they found out it was his 18th birthday. It seemed to be one of those things that people liked to gossip about - whether or not your tattoo was the coolest. 

Dan was sick of the topic. "So, got anything planned for tonight?" PJ asked.

"No, I'm going to have the party on the weekend." Dan answered, scrolling through his phone. 

"Sounds good, I think a movie marathon is in order." PJ said - probably appointing himself party-planner. 

"Sounds like my party." Dan chuckled. "There's no way I'm going out to a club with these wh-" Dan stopped mid-sentence.

"These what?" PJ frowned.

Dan panicked. "These ... social skills. I'm terrible with other human beings. Not to mention I can't hold my alcohol very well." Dan rambled.

"You don't have to be smart to work that out." PJ chuckled. We sat in silence for a little while, finishing what lunch we had. Suddenly Dan felt a droplet of water hit his head and he frowned up at the sky. One by one droplets of rain fell from the clouds and for a second he forgot about his cat whiskers. 

When it dawned on him his eyes went wide, "Shit!" He exclaimed and scrambled to grab his stuff.

"What's wrong? It's only a bit of rain." PJ frowned. 

"I-I have to go!" Dan stuttered and sprinted back to the school - feeling self conscious of his wet face and hoping his dark whiskers couldn't be seen through the concealer. He dashed into the men's toilets and dumped his bag on the floor, looking at his face in the mirror. "FUCK!" Dan exclaimed when he saw the faint outline of his whiskers. 

He grabbed his bag of the floor and almost ripped the zip off when opening it to get the concealer. He searched all the pockets in the front and back and as time went on his searching became more frantic. "I forgot the one fucking thing I needed? Did I lose it? Did it fall out? Where's the fucking concealer?" Dan thought in distress.

He heard the bathroom door open and his blood ran cold. He darted into the nearest stall, heart pounding. He'd be the laughing stock of the school if someone saw his face. He listened intensely to the movements of the second person as they did their stuff, washed their hands and finally left the toilets.

"There's no alternative. I'll have to ditch." Dan thought unhappily. He wasn't usually one to get in trouble but this called for desperate measures. Dan waited for the bell and as soon as he was absolutely certain everyone was in class, he sprinted down the corridor and out the building. 

It was still drizzling and Dan grit his teeth as he realized that his hair was starting to look ridiculous also. He hated it when it curled and straightened it every morning to make sure no one ever saw it that way - his hobbit hair. Now he was walking in the rain with a sodden curly mop on his head and ridiculous cat whiskers on his face. Why was the universe so mean?

The rain started to get heavier and Dan held a middle finger up to the sky. He was shivering a little from the cold and his house was at least twenty minutes away. He caught sight of a small cafe - if he waited maybe the rain would stop. 

He hurried through the small door and let out a small sigh as a cosy heat engulfed his shaky body. "Goodness." The girl behind the counter chuckled once she caught sight of Dan and he felt like going back outside and throwing himself in front of a bus. He hid behind his curly fringe and sunk into a booth in the most secluded part of the small room. 

With an exasperated sigh, his head dropped onto the wall next to him with a small thump. The day had not gone well at all. "Can I get you anything?" The woman asked, smiling softly. 

"Caramel macciato please." Dan grumbled, a rain drop falling from a curly lock. 

"You've had quite the day hm?" She asked sympathetically as she jotted his order down.

"Some birthday." Dan huffed bitterly.

"Happy birthday." She smiled before walking off. Dan only managed a small lift of the corner of his mouth but then went back to staring at the table in front of him. It was very quiet in the room as there was only one or two other people. The only sound was the soft hum of the coffee machine and mild chatter of the baristas. 

Dan closed his eyes and let his mind wonder - trying to think of anything but the situation he was in or what he had to do to resolve it. He heard the small chime of the bell which he hadn't noticed when he first barged in. He listened to the pad of wet and squeaky footsteps as they made their way to the counter.

"Hi, I'll have a latte please." A deep northern accent and a shiver ran down Dan's spine at the unexpected low tone. He didn't open his eyes however as he wanted to stay immersed in his little bubble. It didn't stay that way for long as the waitress soon came over to his table. He opened his eyes to see her lay down his drink, a blueberry muffin and a piece of paper on his table.

Dan frowned, he didn't order a muffin. "Um-" He began but she cut in.

"Compliments of the man with the black hair." She smiled brightly - much brighter than before. It was like she knew some precious secret Dan didn't know. Dan's eyes followed her point to see the black haired man with his back to Dan in a chair across the cafe. The waitress walked away without another word but cast glances at Dan over her shoulder.

Dan was so confused but he took a sip of his drink and eyed the piece of paper - picking it up. It was a scrappy piece of white paper with messy handwriting scrawled across it:

"I think your hair is cute. Have a muffin on me x"

Dan blushed at his comment - he thought Dan's mop was cute. He swallowed and subconsciously dragged a hand through the damp strands. Curiously, he turned back to the black haired man and froze in place when a pair of brilliant blue eyes stared back at him. However that wasn't what struck Dan the most.

On his face was a pair of black whiskers as well as a black dotted nose. The man smiled brightly at Dan and Dan couldn't help the grin that spread across his face and the blush on his whiskered cheeks. His heart thumped and he bit his lip as he saw the man stand up and make his way over. His soulmate.

The black haired man sat across from Dan with a friendly smile. "Hello." 

"H-hi." Dan stuttered back - feeling totally unprepared for what was happening. He sipped from his drink timidly. 

"Sorry let me introduce myself." The man chuckled and Dan nearly melted at the man's giggle. Everything seemed perfect about him and Dan was honestly overwhelmed by his presence. "I'm Phil."

"I'm Dan." Dan smiled and accepted Phil's hand as they shook over the table. 

"So ... I guess we're soulmates. Not that I'm complaining, you're gorgeous." Phil smirked a little bit and Dan's blush prickled his face.

"I'm not gorgeous." Dan batted off but the smile crept up on him.

"Liar." Phil grinned. "Sorry if I'm coming on too strong. I can go slow if you want?" Phil offered and Dan thought he was too sweet. To be honest he didn't really want to take it slow. After the day he had he needed a cure and the thought of sticking his tongue down Phil's throat seemed like a perfect cure to a teenage Dan. However he didn't voice that thought.

"I don't mind fast." Dan replied, his confidence slowly coming back. 

"Good to know." Phil grinned and took Dan's hand over the table. Dan felt electricity shoot up his arm. He gave Phil a once over - he was incredibly attractive and so Dan's type. He had broad shoulders, the slightest of stubble, pale skin and stark black hair. His gleaming blue eyes were a beautiful contrast with the dark hair. He looked a little older than Dan.

"How old are you?" Dan asked, hoping he wasn't too old. Although it shouldn't be a problem since Dan was technically legal from that day on. 

"I'm 21, how old are you?" Phil asked, stroking over Dan's knuckles.

"I'm 18 today." Dan grinned.

"Happy birthday." Phil grinned and brought Dan's hand up to kiss his knuckles.

"It's certainly happy now." Dan breathed.

They got into conversation - Dan was eager to know as much as possible about his soulmate to see what they had in common and Dan was pretty much in love by the end of the conversation due to how many movies, music and hobbies they had in common. Dan was practically leaning halfway across the table throughout Phil talking - hanging on to every syllable that left Phil's perfect lips. He was losing restraint - he wanted to kiss the one who he was meant to be with forever.

As the two packed up their things to leave the cafe, they kept stealing glances at each other. Unfortunately the rain hadn't stopped but it was only just a drizzle now. Dan had stopped caring about his hair because Phil thought it was cute. Also he was no longer ashamed of his whiskers as the man he adored bared the same ones which promised a long period of happiness.

Dan couldn't help himself. He grabbed Phil's collar and tugged him down to his lips - he tasted off coffee and dreams. Phil's hands slid around Dan's waist as Dan's encased Phil's neck. Both of them shared a meaningful embrace, their hearts beating wildly and lips moving swiftly in sync. They were both lost in their own world and Dan felt as though he could die happy. His cat whiskers brought him Phil. How bad could they honestly be?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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