Phil sighed as he leaned his head against the trunk of the tree. The sky was overcast, and the air damp and heavy. He loosened his tie and undid the first two buttons of his stupid shirt. He hated these school uniforms. Checking his phone, Phil shook his head in frustration. Dan was always late; their bitch of an English teacher probably tried to give him detention again. Phil had decided he didn't feel like going to seventh period, so he had texted Dan to meet him at their usual spot, an enormous weeping willow that rested on the crest of a hill behind the school.

Sighing again, he closed his eyes and tried to clear his mind. He tried as hard as he could not to think about the way his mother had screamed at him that morning. She had seen his cuts, noticed the way his clothes were getting baggy again, and had flown off the handle. Luckily Phil had escape before things could get too violent. But now, sitting alone and no longer surrounded by the noise of his classmates, his mind wandered back to his mother's shrill voice. His little sister had been sitting at the kitchen table, and had witnessed the whole thing. Phil couldn't stand the way she had looked. Tears had welled in her eyes and she had looked at Phil like he was the scariest monster in the world.

"Wake up, you lazy fuck."

Phil opened one eye and glanced up at Dan. An unlit cigarette dangled from his smirking lips, and /god/, he was beautiful. The tie of his uniform was loosened as well, and his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows. Phil had both eyes open now, and he straightened, flipping Dan off. Rolling his eyes, Dan grinned and said "Let me see your lighter, I'm dying over here." Phil reached into his pocket and pulled out his Zippo, instead stretching his arm to just light the cigarette for Dan. But he had misjudged the distance; he ended up having to stretch his arm so far that it pulled the sleeve of his uniform down, exposing his wrist. Phil panicked; he dropped the lighter, the flame nipping the edge of his thumb.

Hurriedly gathering the lighter, he scrambled to adjust his sleeve. But it was too late. Phil didn't dare look at Dan, but he heard Dan's intake of breath. For a heartbeat everything was still, and then Dan gently lowered himself to sit next to Phil, their shoulders pressed tight against each other. Dan didn't say anything, simply took Phil's hand while taking a long drag of his cigarette. They sat like this for a while, Dan smoking and occasionally moving his hand to soothingly stroke Phil's wrist. After taking the final drag and stamping out his cigarette, Dan turned toward Phil and took Phil's face in his free hand and moving it until their foreheads were resting against each other. Still he did not say anything, only ran his thumb over Phil's cheek.

Phil was grateful for the silence. He didn't know if he would have been able to speak past the giant lump in his throat. Dan knew about his problems, he knew everything. He accepted Phil, and sometimes, when they were sitting in his car past midnight talking about nothing, or watching an entire season of Game of Thrones in a day, Phil thought that maybe, just maybe, Dan loved him. Phil would often catch Dan staring at him. He had never thought anything of it, of course. Dan would usually crack a joke and Phil would try to forget the look he had probably just imagined on Dan's face, a look of complete adoration and love.

But there were no jokes now. Dan leaned away and a determined expression flashed across his face. He suddenly grabbed the front of Phil's shirt with both hands and crushed their lips together. Phil's eyes widened in surprise, but after a moment he closed them and returned the kiss. He raised his hands to twine his fingers into Dan's hair, pulling him close. Dan tasted of smoke and something sweet and /fuck/ if Phil didn't let out a whimper when Dan wrapped his arms around Phil and pulled him even closer, practically into his lap. Dan responded by biting gently on Phil's lower lip and digging his fingers into Phil's back. Phil could feel the heat between them growing and knew if they continued it could turn into something that would be hard to explain to anyone that found them. But then Dan was pushing Phil onto his back and pecking kisses on to his neck and collarbones and any exposed skin he could find and Phil decided he didn't care if anyone found them.

Not one bit.