Disclaimer: I don't own the History Boys, Alan Bennett does. If I did own it, Posner would have gotten more than a hug – which is the whole point of these.
This set: Mostly Dakin's POV

1 – Walking
Stuart was strolling through one of the many green spaces in London on his lunch break, with the general feeling of apathy he'd had since leaving Sheffield five years ago, when he tripped over a foot stuck in his path; normally he'd ignore this and continue, but the sheepish yet unrepentant expression on Posner's - and what was Posner doing there anyway - face made him pause...before smacking the other man on the shoulder and dragging him into an embrace.

2 – Waltz
Dakin wondered absently if Hector had been smoking something and the fumes had permeated the room, or if he was going mad, or if there had been something in the water at lunch, but Scripps was playing the piano and Crowther and Rudge were tapping out a drumbeat and Timms, Lockwood and Akthar were humming and it just seemed perfectly natural to turn to Posner and sweep him into a dance, and quite honestly, the shockedhopefulhappy expression on the younger boy's face was the prettiest thing he'd ever seen.

3 – Wishes
'If wishes were horses, then beggars would ride' Posner had said once, when the boys were talking about hopes and dreams and plans for the future, for Oxbridge, before pulling out his walkman and jamming the headphones on his head, and it's only later, when he's lying in bed after getting rat-arsed(1) with Rudge after Oxford creamed Cambridge at the boat race, when this memory floats across his conscious mind, and he realises that Posner stopped wishing a long time ago and it was all his fault.

4 – Wonder
Dakin would often wonder what it would be like to actually kiss Posner…but he would choose not to do anything in case it ruined everything.

5 – Worry
It was only when a puzzled looking Posner opened the door that Dakin really realised that he'd just got a train to Cambridge for no other reason than he hadn't seen the other boy in over a week and was going out of his mind imagining all the things that could have happened to him in that time while he wasn't there; the look on Posner's face when he told him this made it all worthwhile.

6 – Whimsy
On reflection, Dakin thought as he prodded the growing bruise on his jaw, telling the boy who was halfway in love with him that the only reason he'd kissed the boy was because of a flight of fancy was a bad idea; though it was a very enjoyable kiss, and maybe Posner would let him do it again..?

7 – Waste/Wasteland
It was upon remembering Hector's comment that they now have field trips to visit concentration camps that prompted the boys to go; the desolation combined with the still lingering despair got to them all, but it was Posner's whispered "my grandfather might be here" that caused Dakin's chest to ache.

8 – Whiskey and Rum
Posner was going to kill him in the morning, Dakin thought, but plying him with whiskey when they got home from the cinema in order to see who he'd impersonate was just too much fun, especially as he was currently staggering round the living room looking mournfully at an empty rum bottle he'd dug out from somewhere. (2)

9 – War
Stuart didn't know what was more poignant, the image of the wall coming down and the people of Germany celebrating, or David clutching his hand and muttering 'finally, finally it's over, they can rest now.'

10 – Weddings
Dakin was listening to Scripps ramble on about his engagement and what his fiancé was like and the plans for the wedding – Dakin had realised this would take a while so had managed to find a book – when Scripps suggested Dakin finally get married and settle down, as it was now only him and Posner left that weren't; Posner chose this moment to come in from the garden, and a mischievous grin spread across his face as he said "The only reason for that is because we can't decide which of us is wearing white," and Dakin cracked up at the expression on Scripps' face.

11 – Birthday
Dakin was going to kill Scripps for remembering Posner was gay and organising the party-thing at a pub that didn't care about preference, because Posner had spent the last hour and a half dancing with several different blokes and Dakin was not amused; at this point Lockwood rolled his eyes, dragged Dakin to the dance floor and shoved him at Posner, who looped an arm around his waist and dragged him close and Dakin couldn't find it in him to be pissed off at Lockwood.

12 – Blessing
Dakin had gone down to Cambridge for the weekend, and he and Posner were wandering round the park when they stumbled across Irwin on a break from filming (the film crew were eating fish and chips); Irwin took one look at them both, turned to Dakin and said "It took you long enough,", causing Dakin to groan and Posner to smile at their ex-teacher's odd way of approving.

13 – Bias
For a laugh, Timms decided to ask Posner which of the boys was the most good looking; Posner raised an eyebrow and said "It's no good asking me, I'm biased," which made Dakin oddly pleased.

14 – Burning
Dakin had been lying in bed for about 8 hours by the time Scripps ushered Posner in, along with the statement "he's driving us mad, you deal with him,"; Posner took one look at Dakin, placed a hand on his forehead, winced, left the room and came back with a cold compress and some paracetamol, causing Dakin to proclaim him an 'angel of mercy' and hug him.

15 – Breathing
Dakin was a perfectly normal teenage boy, he tolerated school and he liked hanging out with his friends and he liked girls – and, ok, he occasionally liked guys as well, but he never did anything and besides, all the ones that had caught his attention were older, so that was alright – and those moments where he forgot to breathe when Posner was laughing properly, or looked like his world was crumbling, or was looking at him so earnestly or....well, that was just coincidence and nothing to do with the boy himself.

16 – Breaking
Dakin had been bothered by the other boy for so long – not overtly, but he was always there, hovering, and it got really annoying – that he finally snapped and drove Posner off; he didn't expect the wrenching he felt in his chest as he watched the other boy run off after swearing to never see him again however.

17 – Belief
Dakin knew he was falling when he started spending his Saturday mornings sat outside the synagogue, waiting for Posner, and trying to pick his voice out of the many when the hymns were being sung; he knew he had fallen completely the first time he stuck around to actually greet Posner, instead of leaving when he came out, and did so in Hebrew.

18 – Balloon
The boys had gone to a fair, and immediately all the others had run off, not realising until lunchtime that they'd left Posner behind; it was Dakin that found him, curled up under a tree with a book of poetry he'd bought from a second-hand stall; Dakin hesitated, before plonking down next to Posner, shoving the balloon he'd won at him and mumbling out an apology.

19 – Balcony
Dakin wasn't quite sure whether to thank or hurt Hector for making them perform the Balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet; he'd been told to read Romeo and, as Posner was they only one consistently good at playing female roles (meaning he didn't burst into giggles every five minutes) he'd been cast as Juliet; which led to Dakin's dilemma – he was acting out a love scene with Posner, however, the other boy looked quite pretty when he was fluttering his eyelashes like that.

20 – Bane
Dungeons and Dragons, Dakin decided, could go jump off a cliff and die; Scripps finally persuaded him into inviting Posner out for a drink, and Posner turned him down as he'd already arranged to go to a role-playing session run by one of the boys from synagogue, maybe another time – Dakin was not used to being rejected, let alone by Posner, and he did not like it.

21 – Quiet
Dakin had learnt very early on to start worrying when Posner went quiet, as it meant he was thinking – and ok, sometimes he'd come out with something fun or profound, but generally it was just....weird.

22 – Quirks
Stuart had to have the bathroom shelf lined up a certain way, and David threw a fit if his books weren't in alphabetical chronological order; but despite their irritating little habits, they managed to live together quite well in Stuart's opinion, he knew that Jimmy at least had bet they'd have killed each other by now.

23 – Question
David was biting his lip and shifting from foot to foot and for all the world looking like the awkward 14 year old who confessed and confided in him before girls and exams and uni got in the way; and Stuart smiled and laughed and said "Why not?"

24 – Quarrel
They had been arguing for the last half hour, in the middle of the street, neither boy giving any ground to the other, and it was starting to annoy Dakin as they were right outside his window, which he couldn't close because then he would melt – Posner solved this problem by filling up a bucket of water and threatening to throw it at them if they didn't 'shut the fuck up now and take their gay domestic elsewhere' and really, Dakin had to laugh (even if it meant Posner threw the water at him instead).

25 – Quitting
Dakin stared, dumbfounded, before saying, "You can't just give up, if you give up I don't know what I'll do, I'm too used to you being there!"

26 – Jump
The most disconcerting thing about Posner, Dakin had found, was his tendency to climb high things like walls and trees and their ilk, with no thought as to the minor heart attacks he caused when he hurled himself off them with apparent disregard to his safety, and no warning.

27 – Jester
Dakin had organised a sleepover, one last night of being as childish as possible before going off into the big wild world of university, and, of course, the felt tips and camera had come out as soon as the first person dozed off, unfortunately, this happened to be Posner and Dakin himself; however, Dakin's appreciation for the smaller boy grew greatly when Posner woke him up in order to get their revenge with sharpie markers – it grew even more when he walked past a mirror and realised that he had 'property of Pos' written on his forehead, which Posner had failed to point out – so much, in fact, that he decided to leave it there.

28 – Jousting
David walked into the room just in time to see Stuart and Jimmy charge at each other with broom handles – needless to say, injuries ensued, and David had to patch them up; upon questioning, neither would admit to why they were trying to kill each other, but the smug look that crossed Stuart's face when David pressed a kiss to his hairline gave him an idea.

29 – Jewel
Stuart tossed the little plastic ring in his hand a little, before throwing at David's head, accompanied by "You're mine, remember that."

30 – Just
It figured, Stuart thought, walking down the street, that when he finally got over himself enough to give David a chance, the younger man had found someone else; but then he heard running behind him and there was a tugging on his arm and he turned round to be met with a searing kiss and "You didn't really think I'd pick someone over you, did you?"

31 – Smirk
Dakin gulped as a devious smirk crossed Posner's face, he had just enough time to blink a couple of times before his lap was filled with warm teenage boy – who was wiggling and that just wasn't fair – and Posner had the gall to look innocent about what he was doing while apologising but 'the ground's wet' – which it was not, it was mildly damp at most – and then he wiggled, again – and Dakin gave in and dropped his head on Posner's shoulder and put an arm round him and muttered 'you're an arsehole' and Posner laughed –and damn him for it – but Dakin couldn't help but grin.

32 – Sorrow
Posner stood there staring at them with a empty look on his face, and Dakin felt the first twistings of guilt inside his stomach and reached out to touch Posner's shoulder; but Posner twisted away – away from him, he'd never done that before – and walked off, away, to someone else that wasn't him or one of their group and it hurt, it hurt so much and it was all Dakin could do not to cry as he knew they'd fucked up so badly this time and they may not be able to set it right.

33 – Stupidity
They'd been dancing for about close to an hour by Dakin's reckoning – purely by the force of his glare scaring anyone else off – before either of them actually said anything; Dakin was prompted to do so when Posner raised an eyebrow, causing Dakin to sigh and drop his forehead to rest on Posner's, before muttering "I'm an idiot", which caused Posner to smile a slow, happy smile and whisper "Yeah, but you're mine" and really, Dakin couldn't disagree.

34 – Serenade
After Dakin had finally stopped being an ass and realised what had been in front of him all this time, he asked Posner if he'd sing 'Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered' for him again; Posner smacked him with a nearby pillow and told him he had no desire to relive one of the most mortifying moments of his existence and if he wanted it sung that badly, he could sing it himself...so Dakin did, looking at Posner the entire time.

35 – Sarcasm
For years, the general consensus was that Posner didn't have much in the way of a sense of humour, it's only with the combined benefit of hindsight and prolonged exposure that Dakin realised that this wasn't the case; Posner had a wickedly sharp wit which manifested itself in sarcasm – which Posner was very good at, so much so that you couldn't tell he was using it – which meant he was often in hysterics while everyone else was trying to work out what the hell the Jewish man just said that was so funny.

36 – Sordid
Akthar rolled his eyes at the others "Oh, leave them alone, if they want to be secretive let them; it's not like Dakin and Posner are having some sort of sordid affair..." he was interrupted by Posner and Dakin exchanging money while grinning "...you two are having a sordid affair, aren't you?"

37 – Soliloquy
Posner, when speaking on something he particularly enjoyed or was passionate about, would often begin rambling and go off on tangents until he'd forgotten what he was originally talking about and he'd trail off, embarrassed, which is when Dakin would nudge him with whichever body part was nearest (on one occasion this turned out to be his nose – Scripps still hasn't shut up about this), suggest a new topic, and watch it happen all over again because frankly, he found it adorable.

38 – Sojourn
Stuart lay staring at the ceiling for a while, before saying "You know, this was only meant to be temporary," before he was silenced with a kiss and a sleepy "I'm sure," from David.

39 – Share
Dakin stormed into Posner's flat (scaring the hell out of him) and demanded that the younger man stop going to 'those damn clubs and flirting'; when Posner manage to calm down enough to ask why, Dakin said "Because I never was any good at sharing," before pulling him into a bruising kiss.

40 – Solitary
The thing that had never occurred to Dakin was that they were doing the Oxbridge exams, not the Oxford or Cambridge exams; they'd been together as a group for so long, it had never occurred to him that they could be separated, so, after they'd all calmed down a bit post-acceptance party, he was sure that the status quo would be preserved as the call of 'Oxford!' went round the group...until it got to Posner, who said 'Cambridge' with this sad little half-smile, and Dakin felt something in his chest shatter completely.

41 – Nowhere
It was not the most romantic of moments – especially with 'Nowhere Man' by the Beatles playing in the background – but it was this moment, with Timms and Lockwood doing increasingly bad impressions, egged on by Crowther and Akthar, and with Posner in absolute hysterics next to him – to the point that the younger boy was clinging to his arm in order to keep from falling off his chair – that he realised that yes, he was in fact in love with David Posner; now all he had to do was tell him...

42 – Neutral
Dakin had been indifferent to Posner for so long – his opinion was that if the Jewish boy wanted to follow him, that was fine, as long as he wasn't annoying about it – therefore he was not prepared to bump into the man in a club, dressed in impossibly tight jeans, and apparently oblivious to his presence; but that was alright, he'd got Dakin's attention now, and he'd always liked a challenge.

43 – Nuance
Posner wasn't a touchy-feely person – most of the time, there were occasions where he just had to hug someone – but Dakin had become very good at reading the boy's body language, and so therefore knew exactly when the other boy needed a hand on his shoulder or a squeeze on the back of the neck or a hug or whatever, and he never failed to dispense them, regardless of where they were.

44 – Near
It was weird, Dakin decided, not having Posner randomly pop up at his back or side, and it shocked – and slightly shamed – him to realise how much of a part the younger boy had in his life, so, could he have him back please?

45 – Natural
Dakin liked a challenge – Fiona, she was the school secretary; Irwin, well he was a teacher, the ultimate prize really – so it was only natural that, when Posner finally gave up and started moving on, Dakin would choose to start chasing him.

46 – Horizon
Dakin had never really seen the appeal in sunsets – sunrises, yes, the beginning of a new day symbolising a new start, etcetera – but he couldn't understand why people made such a fuss about the sun going down; that is, he did until he saw the orange glow casting a halo around Posner's hair.

47 – Valiant
He'd put up a good fight, Dakin decided, rebuffing the younger man's advances, but there's only so many times you can say no to the kicked puppy look before giving in – which was why he was now curled up on a couch with Posner.

48 – Virtuous
The thing with Posner was, that because he'd been so hung up on Dakin for so long, he'd never really done anything before, which meant that when Dakin finally did deign to give him a chance, he had to pretty much start from scratch with the fair-haired boy – however, there was much to be said for enthusiasm.

49 – Victory
Dakin had come down to Cambridge with the other lads who had ended up at Oxford to celebrate Lockwood's birthday, where the boy in question pointed out 'Pos and his new bloke, he's not mooning over you anymore, great, hey?' Dakin did indeed toast this, but felt, on the whole, that it was a rather hollow victory.

50 – Defeat
Upon informing Scripps that he'd agreed to go out for a drink with Posner, the other man told him that it'd taken 3 years, 8 months, and 27 days to give in since the first time the Jewish man had asked, 'and you can add another 4 years or so on for from when he first confessed'; Dakin snorted, and replied with 'no, it took that long for my common sense to kick in...why were you counting that anyway?'

(1)One of many British slang words for 'drunk', and this author's particular favourite.
(2) Referencing Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean.