(a/n: this was originally planned to be a full-length fic)

summary: dan and phil were the best of friends in high school until they go to different colleges. then one night they're drinking at the same bar.

tw// drinking, smoking

"Dan!"

Phil is the first to spot his best friend. Their hats are messily draped on their heads, gowns beginning to wrinkle. The newly young adults are shuffling out of the building, hugging their relatives and savoring their last minutes with old friends.

Dan turns around at the sound of Phil's voice, flashing him that dashing smile that Phil's never gotten tired of. His auburn hair is tucked under his hat, but his diploma is tucked tightly in his grip and a cigarette in the other hand. Phil is running right to him, and then finally their bodies collide and they're hugging tightly.

The shorter boy began to love his height when he realized how much taller Dan really was. It meant that when they hugged, it only felt safer. He felt protected, loved, and captivated by his touch. When he touched Daniel, he never wanted to stop.

Dan chuckled softly before pulling away, pushing strands of Phil's hair behind his ear.

"What now?" Dan asked, puffing out a breath of smoke, holding his cigarette away from them.

"Well, now you can stop smoking!" Phil told him sarcastically, shooting him a look. Dan rolled his eyes. "Hey, I'm kidding. But now? I don't really know. I've applied for tons of colleges but I don't know which one I'll get into or which one I want."

"Same with me," Dan responded, looking out in front of them, and Phil assumed he was looking for his parents. "How are you, Phil?"

Phil furrowed his eyebrows, gazing up at Dan from the corner of his eye. "What is in that cigarette?"

"No, I mean: I know you've had a tough year. . . I just want to make sure you're alright."

"Alright? Alright is an understatement. I'm finally done, Dan, we're finally done. Why don't you seem as happy as I am?"

"I just wasn't as ready as I thought I was."

"Ready for what?"

Daniel hesitates, but before he can reply, his parents are calling out his name from across the street. Dan looks at Phil, dropping his cigarette and stomping it out.

"I'm not ready to be alone."

And then he's walking away, and Phil watches him, then when he's gone he watches the lasting flames vanishing from Dan's fallen cigarette.

As much as he hated the fact that Dan was addicted to nicotine, Phil hated more that he was addicted to Dan as much as he was to those stupid cigarettes.

❥

"Martini, please."

The bartender eyes Phil. "I'm gonna need some ID."

Philip flashes a charming smile before pulling out his ID, shoving it in front of the man's face. "Just turned twenty-one; can't a man celebrate?"

"Right, sorry," the man chuckled, and then he was making his drink. Phil sits down and yawns, letting his blue eyes run over the unknown bodies at the club. Nobody grabs his attention, until a brunette is making his way towards him. Phil stiffens up, eyebrows raising.

"Why so alone, pretty boy?"

"I could say the same to you," Phil chuckled.

A lopsided grin creeps its way onto the lips of the stranger's. He then sits down next to Phil, leaning his elbows against the bar and resting his head back, letting his eyes fall shut before opening them to look at Phil again.

Phil swears he remember those eyes, those rich, toffee eyes that with every blink comes another dose of adoration for them. Those two freckles next to that crooked mouth, the big hands and dimples. Phil wants to reach out and brush the boy's leather jacket right off his shoulders, to feel every part of him if it meant he'd remember such a pretty face, but he can't.

"Do I know you from somewhere?" The boy in the front of him asks. Philip snaps out of his daze, licking his lips.

"No, I don't think so," Phil lies. The stranger moves closer, and the bartender slides Phil's drink right in between them. Philip takes it and sips on the straw, and suddenly the man pokes a straw into Phil's drink, sliding his tongue right up the material before drinking from his martini.

"Do you wanna get to know me?" His voice is different now, its quiet and suggestive, and Phil accidentally lets his breath hitch and nearly chokes on his drink. The stranger giggles and Phil is on cloud 9 at such a simple sound, and he finds himself nodding desperately. The boy reaches down and takes his hand, using his other to slap a tip on the table before taking Phil and the drink out of the building.

They stumble out of the building together, spilling some of the martini in the process, but they're too drunk and bubbly to whine. The boys find a cab and practically throw themselves into the vehicle, eager to get home and act on their fantasies.

The stranger mumbles an address but Phil's not paying attention, only staring at this blurry, beautiful guy sat right next to him, an eager smile plastered on his pursed lips as he looks out the window. Phil wishes to tell the man to stop driving, to stop the car and just wait so Phil could look at him a little longer and admire his flawless structure. But then before Phil can say anything, the driver parks and he's pulling the other out of the car.

Phil lets himself be dragged into the apartment, noticing that he lives in the same one but too excited to say anything. They make it to the elevator and as soon as his door opens, Phil is being slammed against the wall and then they're kissing. And Phil feels unreal. He feels like he's stopped breathing, and for a second there he forgets to breathe because this boy is just so pretty and he chose Phil to take home.

Philip never wants this kiss to end, but at the same time he does- he wants to stop everything just so he can open his eyes again and hear anything about everything that this stranger wants to talk about.

"I think we left your Martinti in the cab," He whispers against Phil's neck, pulling away to glance at him.

And then they're laughing.

❥

When Phil wakes up the next morning, he's naked and cuddling up against his one-night stand. They're tangled in the sheets together, his head atop the man's chest as it rises and falls. Phil blinks, letting his vision adjust. The man's head is turned away from him.

He cautiously climbs out of bed, slipping on his briefs and throwing on one of the stranger's astray shirts.

He tiptoes around, looking out the apartment window and admiring the view of the city beneath him. It's a cloudy day, and Phil wanders around the man's bedroom.

First he checks out his vinyl collection, grinning at the similarity in their music taste. Then he looks at his posters, nodding absentmindedly at the movies that were represented on them.

Finally, he sits back down on the edge of the bed, getting properly dressed. Then he notices the stranger's jeans on the floor, and the license peeking out of it. Out of pure curiosity, he leans down and picks up his waller with the license in it and reads the name.

Daniel James Howell.

Phil suddenly can't swallow, eyes going wide. He had just slept his high school crush- his long-time best friend. Were they both that drunk, that they couldn't make out each other's faces? Did Dan know who he really was?

"Trying to steal money?" Dan spoke up comically, his voice raspy and tired from just waking up.

"Dan Howell," Phil let his name roll off his tongue before turning around, and this time their figures weren't so blurry to each other. Dan tensed up.

"Phil Lester," the brunette choked out, grinning from ear to ear as he sat up. "It's been a year."

"It felt like longer."

Then they were hugging and nearly crying on each other's broad shoulders.

And at that point, they knew this was definitely not going to be a one-time thing.