E D I T E D

IM BACK AFTER LIKE HALF A YEAR DID'YA MISS ME sorry for lack of everything i'm not dead i promise.

we're at 60k already? tHaNK yOu sO fUcKIng mUcH (i meant for this to go up at 50k but problems came up jfc) YOU ARE TOO NICE TO ME I CANT EVEN AHHHHHHHHHHHHH thankthankthankthank (i'm really crap at writing? and i never update? thank you so much whatt)

i really wanted to upload this but i really wanted to make it not short and shitty and stuff so it took a while :// i'm so bad at writing and editing and publishing and stuff :( i'm struggling a little in life and stuff so yeah that's great cool fun cry (also can we talk about fucking Jacksepticeye man)(i wanna squeeze him)(omg and Markimoo)(cOot fLooFS)(septiplier man)(lol i ship Ryatt too)(help me)(so many new fandoms)(it's ridiculous)

I USED TO HAVE LIKE ALMOST WAIST LENGTH HAIR BUT I GOT MY HAIR CUT RLLY SHORT AND I HAVE THE URGE TO COSPLAY FRISK FROM UNDERTALE AGHHHHHHHHH fite me

this was supposed to go up wayyyy earlier but it deleted the whole fucking 3,000 word chapter i was writing hahahhahahahahahahahahahhahahhaa i was so demotivated bloody hell -_- *a wild Frisk appears hahahahahahaha stop* my internet and everything went down for a while and i've been stressed as hell sorryryryryyyry

this one-shot is quite long (as shown on the word count below) so get ready for that. get comfy. i wanted it to be a good one so yeah. it's long. yay, finally some quality content (i'm kidding, i'm just really bad at progressing stories and stuff so yeah. sorry if you get bored. it drags on a little.)

ALSO we got us pastel!hufflepuff!dan and punk!gryffindor!phil bc y not. Phil's also gonna be the 'new boy at school' so i mean. yeah, cliche. they're like 16 or something idk. cliche af :) (i do love me some pastelxpunk AU ya feel)

also lots of other youtubers. Fun.

(i know nothing about tattoo parlours or the steps of getting a tattoo or the technical terms or how long it takes or how much it is or the technicalities so no yelling thnxx)( pétal de fleur means flower petal in French, according to Google translate thnx googs)

(this hasn't been concisely proof read so i apologise in advance :'))(super-duper long blabby sincere thank you note at the very end of this chapter if you have time to read it :))(so many brackets used in this chapter jfc)

warnings: nuttin rlly :))) this one is really fluff all the fluff literal pure fluff you're welcome <3 (fluff is always a good)

words: 9,696 (WOAHHHHHHHHHHH)(I feel so accomplished I spent ages on this lOvE ME)(if that's what you wanna do)(ooOO)

~Dan's POV~

"Hey Chris, Peej," I grinned, walking through the library door and most probably annoying Mrs. Pine, the librarian with my loud and cheery voice.

"Heya Danny boy," Chris said, sticking his tongue out at me.

"Hey, Dan. I like your flower crown today." PJ said, pointing at my pink, purple and blue crown.

I smiled warmly and sat down on a beanbag opposite them.

"I made this one!" I whispered excitedly, trying not to annoy Mrs Pine further. She was nice to me. "I bought the flowers from that cute flower shop down the road, pétale de fleur, and glazed modge-podge over them to make them not go weird or rotten and stuff (idk if that actually works, oops). I posted it on tumblr this morning, actually. It got 1,000 notes already! I'm getting into the hang of making flower crowns instead of buying them, which is good, right?"

I run a pastel aesthetics blog, all the pictures taken by me, of course, on tumblr. It's my pride and joy. My literal child. My smol bean.

"Aww, cute. Hey, talking about tumblr, there's a new boy in our year."

"Hmm? What's that got to do with tumblr?" I asked, fiddling with my pale pink fluffy ass jumper.

"Does the username imsonotpunk ring any bells?" I looked at Chris in confusion. "Punk blog? Black emo hair? Snake bites and smol ear gauges? Nose and eyebrow piercing? Tattoos of things? Nothing?"

I shook my head lightly. "I urr, don't really think so? How do you know that he's the one in our school anyway? How do you know that that's his blog and stuff? Have you been stalking him? What have I told you about stalking people?"

"No lectures please, mother. Yes, I have been stalking him," I rolled my eyes, "His name is Phil Lester, bisexual, almost 6 feet tall, wears nothing but black, Gryffindor and Potter trash and would probably bang you."

"Chris!" I whisper-yelled, going bright red in the face. "You can't just say something like that! I don't - I don't even know him!"

"Yeah but he knows you."

"What do you mean he knows me!?"

"He likes all of your pictures on instagram, favourites the majority of your tweets, likes all of your tumblr posts and comments and reblogs them every once in a while. You're his Senpai. I can't believe that you haven't noticed him yet, really. Meet him and fall in love."

I blinked furiously. What the fuck. "I always knew that you were a creepy stalker dude." I narrowed my eyes and crossed my arms. "And I bet PJ helped. Of course he did. Computer genius nerd person. Ugh."

"Yeah yeah, whatever dansflowercrownzz," Chris replied flippantly causing PJ to erupt into a mountain of giggles.

"Don't usernames in real life," I mumbled, shoving my face into my hands, "They sound stupid. I'm so much cooler on the internet."

The bell rang out, startling me, causing me to poke myself in the eye. "Fucks s-"

"No swearing, Dan." PJ said, pulling me up with the hand that wasn't covering my watery eye.

"Ooh, sorry mum. What do we have first?"

"You two have English. I have Maths. See you next class. Bye Dan, bye Chrissy." He kissed Chris on the cheek lightly and turned to walk away. "I expect you to be talking to Mr Lester."

"You sound like a teacher. Kinky."

"Shuddup Chris."

***

I hissed, my eye still watering from when I poked it. I inspected my fingernails. They weren't even long.

"Your eye still stinging?" Chris asked, chuckling slightly.

"Hmmph? Ye," I mumbled, adjusting the way my flower crown sat on top of my head.

"Heya Dan, you alright there? Are you hurt? Did someone hurt you?" A familiar feminine voice said beside me.

"No. I'm fine, don't worry 'bout it." I yawned suddenly making both of my eyes water. She gently removed my hands away from my eyes and looked at me.

"Danny. Dan you've ruined your mascara." Dodie sighed.

"What? Oh, dammit." I blinked several times, my vision clearing up slightly. The pain was going away, at least.

"Good morning, class! Back to your respective seats, please." Miss Roberts called out.

Dodie handed me some tissues, make-up wipes, a little chocolate and whispered "Clean up a little," before sliding into her seat directly behind me.

"Open up your books and write the date and title please, class. We will be continuing our analysis on A Midsummer Night's Dream today. We are expecting a new boy in our class so don't be rude, for the love of all things living." She instructed, sighing at the end.

Right. New boy. 'Phil.'

I dabbed my eyes with the extremely soft tissues then viciously scrubbed the mascara residue off of my face. I was incredibly thankful that I didn't put any other make-up items on, such as foundation or concealer. I would've looked a sight, my face one colour and a space around my eyes another. Ugh, no thanks. Thank God my skin was nice to me today.

I discreetly pulled out my mirror and quickly re-applied my eyelashes. First impressions are very important.

Honestly, I have no idea how Chris could have found out that it was 'Phil'.

I put my mirror back inside of my bag and grabbed a piece of paper out and wrote on it, in my curly handwriting, 'how did you even know that the new guy's called Phil? forgot to ask'

I scrunched it up into a ball and threw it at his head when Miss wasn't looking. We sat in tables of two, facing the front. He was on the table to the left of me. It wasn't a hard throw but I almost missed. He opened it up quietly, read it, rolled his eyes and started writing.

A small slightly crumpled paper airplane glided onto my desk and I frowned at it. I looked over to Chris. He shrugged. I opened it.

'He posted about it on his tumblr. honestly, don't you catch up on the latest news?!'

'no'

'Here he comes. Don't drool, darling.'

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. Miss then proceeded to introduce the newcomer.

"Class. Stop what you are doing, please, and face the front." 27 heads trailed up to the front of the class, away from their books. They all focused on the new boy. 'Phil'.

"This is Philip Lester. Phil, we're currently learning about Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Have you done this before in your old school?" Miss Roberts queried gently to Phil. She turned her body away from us slightly giving 'Phil' her full attention.

I like Miss. She's nice.

At this point, many students' attention drifted away from Phil and back towards their books. Some people were furiously writing. I was looking at Phil.

Chris' description of him was rather accurate, actually. He was tall. Very tall. He did have black 'emo' looking hair. Almost identical to mine, actually. Except flipped the other way and darker. He did have snake bites and he did have small ear gauges. He did have a lip piercing and an eyebrow piercing and he did have tattoos of stuff and things.

And he was rather attractive.

Chris started to snigger.

I whipped my head towards him and glared. I huffed. I crossed my arms. I continued writing.

'shut up'

'He is attractive, isn't he'

'don't let PJ hear that m8888'

'He's cool with it. Peej finds him attractive too. And, by default, you should find him attractive. We're all basically the same person. Apart from the fact that you're single. He's single too. Get some boiiii.'

I blushed deeply and the guy next to Chris, Jack (or Sean, his real name. But he prefers Jack) started sniggering too. He poked the red-head in the seat in front of his and whispered something. They both started giggling and grinning widely.

"Mr McLoughlin, Mr Fischbach. Care to share?" Miss asked coolly.

"Ahh, no Miss! We were just wondering where Phil would sit, see!" Mark replied smoothly. He had a very nice voice.

"Talking about new students behind people's backs? Not off to a great start, boys," Miss raised an eyebrow and I heard someone, my bet's on Matt and Ryan, go 'o shit waddup'.

"No, no! We meant that in the most sincere way possible, Miss." Mark replied back.

"Mmhmm! He could sit next to Dan, see. Wouldn't want Phil at the back by himself." Jack grinned, his loud Irish accent ringing in my ears.

"Plus," Chris piped up, "Dan's a nice person. They'd totally get along well."

Fucks sake.

Miss Roberts looked at me questioningly. I smiled and nodded slightly. I done fucked.

Phil walked over, pulled the chair out that was next to me to the right and sat down. He took out his books. He started writing in an untidy scrawl.

I looked over at his upper arm. A beautiful dragon curled around his arm, breathing out fire downwards, eyes glinting, scales shining.

"I like your tattoo," I whispered in awe.

Shit. He looked at me. Shit. He had really bright blue eyes. Shit. He smiled a little at me. Shit. "Thanks. I drew it myself." He looked away. Shit.

I rapidly blinked. I turned my attention back to my work.

"I like your flowers," he mumbled at me. I started blinking again. I turned my head towards him. He smiled at me. I smiled back. "Thanks. I made it myself."

I blushed. He smiled at me again.

We both turned back to our work.

And I was pretty certain that a certain brown haired boy, a certain green haired boy and a certain red haired boy high-fived incredibly loudly beside me.

But maybe that was just me.

***

The end of the day couldn't come soon enough, geez. Peej and Chris wouldn't stop talking about me and Phil. It was rather entertaining though.

Aside from the fact that they abruptly stopped speaking whenever 'he' walked past. Then they erupted into giggles the second he was out of ear-shot. Fucking hell.

"Hey mum." I mumbled as I walked through the door.

"Hello darling. How was your day?" she replied. She was carving something out of wood. It vaguely looked like a flower at the moment. Cute.

"Okay, I guess. Nothing really happened. Peej and Chris are doing well, if you were going to ask. New boy in my class too."

"That's good to hear. Is Mr new boy good looking? Would you like some cookies? I made them for you in case you wanted some, they're on the counter." She put down her carving knife, stood up, brushed herself down and grinned at me.

"I don't judge people by their looks mum. Though he looks nice. He has cool tattoos," I looked over to the counter and walked towards it. "Thanks mum, you're the best." I smiled and grabbed a cookie, devouring it in three bites. "How's work with Molly? She good?"

"Ahh, work's a little rough, dear." She poured herself a cup of coffee and continued, "money's tight and not many customers are wanting to buy our carvings now, y'know. I was thinking of looking for another part-time job. Not really sure what to do though."

Hmm. Not many customers. Money's tight. Fuck. "How's dad's job going then? Good? Bad?"

"Not so great. They're thinking of shutting his coffee shop down if they don't receive enough income within the next couple of months." Mum rubbed her temples and closed her eyes. "We'll hold up though. We'll be fine, just as we always are."

Fuck. I don't want this family falling apart because of money issues again. I don't see my dad enough as it is.

But what if ... "Mum, what if I like ... like show my friends on the internet and stuff your work and promote dad's coffee shop." I was getting really excited now, "Loads of people live around here and you do shipping and stuff too, don't you? Pretty sure your company does shipping. If you don't, you should totally consider. Like, your carvings are fucking amazing. You're so incredibly really super-duper talented! I've posted a few of the ones I really liked before on my blog and loads of people said that they really liked them!"

"Danny, that might be a bit too much dear. God, if that worked. Bless you, dear, but I don't think that-"

"And-and I could totally get a job too! So that I can buy my own things instead of taking yours and dad's money! I could save up money to help you too! Why on earth didn't I think of this before? That would be totally awesome, right?" I paused.

My eyes gleamed and I started bouncing up and down in excitement, "There's a flower shop down the road, pétal de fleur, I think that they're looking for workers. I could totally do a few hours or something after school every day? It's not like I'm behind in any classes too so that wouldn't be any problem at all! I can't believe we didn't think of this earlier I'm sure I've told you before that I wanted to work at the flower shop, I do love flowers!" I aggressively pointed at the flower crown on top of my head. "I made this with their flowers. I could take pictures and post them on my blog too, ooooo, wouldn't that be so cool?"

"Hey, hey Dan. Calm down a little, yeah?" Mum laughed, a hope lighting up in her eyes, my excitement infectious, "The job idea is good. We just need to make sure that you won't tire yourself out too much, yeah? School and studying and friends and taking care of yourself is important too, yeah?" I nodded furiously. Anything to help mum. "I think that we could keep the promoting thing on your blog at bay for a bit. We don't need to make a fuss."

"Yeah, okay. D'you think I can apply for the job now?"

"Sure, why not. Let's go." She drank the rest of her coffee and I munched down another cookie. I jumped up and down, earlier worries completely forgotten.

***

My first day at work was pretty simple. The old lady who ran the shop sat in the back room and let me do all the work, which was fine by me. I like being in control of my actions. I cleared up the shop as it was incredibly messy; smashed pots, dirt on the floor, flowers that were not in a good place. Everything was a mess, but it was understandable. The old lady could barely lift a small flower pot as it is.

I colour-coded each flower and put them in rainbow order, reds first. Then oranges, yellows, greens, blues, purples, pinks, whites then blacks (I was rather fond of the black ones, they were rather majestic and pretty). I smiled at my handiwork and made a mental note to make sure to bring in little chalkboard signs for tomorrow so that I can name all the flowers, along with the prices.

I adjusted the flowers hanging from the ceiling, also putting them in their respective colour group. I sorted out the seeds and tools and guides and all the stuff. I swept the floor clean of any dust and dirt and polished the counter. Everything was perfect.

I waited until closing time for someone, anyone, to walk into the shop. Maybe even to just peer in to take at the beautifully cared for flowers and to admire them the way I did? To step inside and live in the calming atmosphere? I waited and waited and waited.

But nobody came.

***

"How was work yesterday Danny?" Chris asked, nudging my arm.

"Hmm? Oh yeah, good actually," I smiled lightly, continuing to empty my books and folders and shit into my bag from my locker.

"Oh? And umm, did anyone come inside? At all?"

I locked my locker and zipped up my bag. I stood up properly and looked at Chris and Peej. I furrowed my eyebrows. "Umm, no? I cleaned the whole shop for a good few hours. It was rather quiet, come to think of it. Why do you ask?"

PJ smirked slightly. "No reason." The bell rang. "Got geography, second floor. Good luck in English guys."

He walked off leaving me in a confused state. "Chris? Chris, what was that abo-"

"Nothing, c'mon let's go. Miss'll get really angry if we're late. She's 5 months pregnant y'know."

"What? Really?" I asked, earlier suspicion and confusion gone.

I sat down and adjusted the pale yellow and black flower crown on my head so that my fringe fell into my face properly. I shuffled a little so that my pale yellow shorts didn't ride up my thighs too much and pulled my short black shirt down. Yes, I am very much Hufflepuff today and forever.

I scribbled down the date and title in a hurry then wrote to Chris 'Stop looking at me weird' I threw it at him.

He rolled his eyes, again. 'I better see some flirting action up in here, stg if I don't m8'

I snickered. 'You'll what? hmm? Whatcha gonna do m88? You wanna go?'

I threw it and a chair beside me scraped against the floor loudly. I flinched a little.

"Sorry," he mumbled. I looked over at him. He had started to write.

I looked over at Chris. He raised an eyebrow. I looked back to Phil. My confidence began to shine through a little. "It's okay, don't worry! I haven't properly introduced myself, really. I'm Dan Howell," I beamed at him. He gave me a small smile and a nod.

"Phil Lester."

We worked in silence for the rest of class, Chris shooting me dirty looks every 2 seconds. A ball hit the left side of my head.

'Why aren't you flirting?'

'e'scuse me? I never said I was going to. shuddup.'

'Hell will rain down on you, I stg Howell.'

I scoffed lightly. 'shuddup kendall.'

'Did no-one tell you to capitalize names? Or capitalize in general?'

'Oh. I Am Sorry Christopher Kendall. It Shall Never Happen Again. i'm lying.

'Shuddup and pay attention to the task at hand Howell.'

I glared at Chris and he shrugged. The bell went off.

I started to shove everything into my bag quickly. I swung it onto my back and speed-walked out of the class, ready to run into Chris at the door so that we could get in the line for food as quickly as possible. Somebody stopped me.

"Oooff." I mumbled, blinking rapidly. "I'm so sorry, are you alright? It's my fault, I was technically running into you, apologies, are you hurt at ... all ..." I looked up and blushed.

Phil Lester.

"You, urr, forgot your pencil case on the desk?" he scratched the back of his neck slightly. "So I just wanted to bring it to you. Teachers in the school are demons," he quickly checked behind him to see if Miss heard. She didn't. He continued "They'd probably give you hell if you didn't have the right equipment for class so, urr. Here go." He gingerly handed me my soft totoro pencil case.

I looked up him. I look down at the pencil case. I grabbed it from him slowly. Our hands had almost touched. I blushed.

I cleared my throat slightly. "Thanks."

I looked up to see him grinning widely. He was immensely cute. "No problem. Hope we can talk more often, you seem really nice."

I blushed more. "Yeah, um. You too, Phil."

He started to walk out of the class. He turned around and said one last thing before disappearing. "Personally, I'm a Gryffindor. Hufflepuffs are said to be cute as all hell and, well. I guess that's true." he paused for a second. "Really adorable flower crown by the way. Nice face too, it's very pretty."

I stood there clutching my totoro pencil case for dear life.

I think I'm going to faint.

Chris came charging in through the door.

"DAN OH MY GOD DID YOU SEE THAT? THAT WAS AMAZING OHMYGOD THIS IS PERFECT SCREW FOOD WE GOTTA FIND PEEJ FAST C'MON DAN HURRYHURRYHURRY DAN DAN DAN DAN D-"

"Mr Kendall."

"-AN, yes miss?" Chris abruptly stopped aggressively chanting my name.

"If you would kindly continue your conversation elsewhere?"

"Oh. Of course Miss. Have a nice day, miss!"

He dragged me out of the room by my left elbow and ran down the hall, down two flights of stairs and stumbled to a halt outside of PJ's classroom. My flower crown almost fell off.

"What the fecking flick Chris?"

"Gotta tell Peej gottatellpeejgottatellpeejgottate - PEEJ!" He screamed rather loudly, causing all of the other students who started filing out of the class to turn and stare bemusedly at us.

"Peej oh my God you'll never guess what just happened like five seconds ago I had to drag Danny down all the way here I think I knocked into Felix and his girlfriend when they were having a moment but it's cool my goodness I have a fucking story to tell you here one moment let me catch my breath," Chris sucked in a huge gulp of air and -

"Hush," PJ put his finger to Chris's lips, causing Chris to have puffed out cheeks. He looks like a fish.

PJ turned to look at me with an arched eyebrow. "What happened?"

"Umm, so aha, basically what ... happened was that. Y'know. Um." I blushed like crazy. Dammit.

Chris blew a raspberry on PJ's finger. PJ said ew. I laughed.

"It's about Phan."

I got dragged down the stairs again by two babbling, bumbling baboons.

***

The rest of the day passed without incident (aside from the fact that Chris got a detention for speaking to PJ) so I skipped to the flower shop and walked up to the counter. The old lady smiled. I smiled back.

I wrote on the little chalkboard signs I had with chalk and carefully placed them into their respective pots.

When I was placing sign into a Chrysanthemum pot, the bell at the door chimed and I hopped up excitedly. I almost sprinted to the counter.

I patiently stood behind the counter as the person disappeared from my view. Man, I'm so goddamn excited.

A shoot of jet black hair popped up from behind the gardening tools display. My breath caught in my throat.

Phil Lester.

I blushed (already? Goddammit blood circulation and emotions) and fiddled with the plastic bags under the counter.

"Urr, hi Dan. Didn't know you worked here," Phil smiled a little as I snapped my head up. I grinned in return.

"I just started yesterday, actually! It's really cute here I love it." I tried to relax a little. This was too much for me to handle. Help.

"Heh, cool." He scratched the back of his neck. "So, urr, I just wanted to buy these flowers, if that's okay." He handed me 10 black pansies.

"Sure!" I gently took the flowers from him and tied them together with a black bow. "That'd be £5 please."

He handed me the money. I put it in the till. I smiled. "Have a nice day, Phil!"

"Heh, you too flower. See ya tomorrow."

He walked out of the door with a wave and a confident smile. I stood there frozen in shock.

'Flower.'

Did that count as flirting? Oh my gosh that totally counted as flirting right? Or was he just being funny? I give people weird nicknames all the time. That's totally normal, right? Flower. Oh my god that's so frikking adorable.

"You alright there Mr Howell?" Ms Marlow asked. I was still standing in a frozen state. Oops.

"Umm, Dan, please?" She nodded. "And I'm fine, thank you very much for your concern." I smiled warmly.

"Okay. It's time to pack up for the day, now. Off you trot."

"See you tomorrow Ms Marlow!" I grabbed my bags and headed towards the door.

"Amy, please."

"Oh, goodbye Amy."

"Goodbye Dan."

Man I gotta tell Chris and Peej about him. Tomorrow. Face to face. Gotta see their reactions.

I really like this guy.

Phil Lester.

***

"So then he called me flower and left oh my god and he smiled, right, and it was a very pretty smile I love his smile oh my god his smile though his lil' face when he smiles oh my god you know what he should smile more I really love his smile it's very cu-"

"Ahem, Lester alert," PJ warned, looking over his shoulder.

"Oh." I blushed, coughed then continued going through my phone. I was looking through a tattoo page on tumblr. Damn, I really wanted a tattoo. Probably a small flower one. On the inside of my wrist.

Too bad I can't deal with any type of pain at all what-so-ever.

I saw Phil walk over to Connor Franta and Carrie Fletcher. They sat down at a table together and immediately engaged in conversation. Cool, he was friends with two CF's. I ... didn't realise that before.

"GUYS I REALLY WANT A TATTOO," I sighed heavily. A couple tables surrounding us looked at me. Including Phil.

"Geez Danny, we know that you're completely and hopelessly in love with Phil, but that doesn't mean that he's gonna give you a tattoo," Chris winked.

I frowned at him. "What do you mean give me a tattoo?"

PJ rolled his eyes, "Honestly Dan, you gotta brush up on your non-existent stalker skills. You know that small tattoo parlour down the road from where your flower shop is?"

I thought hard. Tattoo parlour? Oh he means ... "The Painted Addiction, right? (it's not a real place, as far as my knowledge goes, btw) It's a pretty cool name, got to admit. What about it?"

"He works there. Duh."

Silence. "And?"

"We could totally get you two to hook up when you get a tattoo next week."

Silence again. "Excuse me? Who said I was getting a tattoo next week?"

"Me," said Chris. "And PJ. We're all getting tattoos together. They don't have to be matching, obviously. Maybe we'll all want to kill each other by next month. Still, I booked in for next week. I'm getting a guy called Connor, PJ is getting a girl called Carrie and guess who you're getting,"

Fuck's sake. "Please tell me it's Obama."

"Of course darling."

Guess I'll get that flower I wanted.

"Umm, wait wait wait. Don't we need parent's permission? I mean, we're 16 as far as I'm concerned." I mumbled, taking a bite out of my sandwich. "We can't just hop in and get a tattoo."

"Oh, I know. Our parents are fine with it." PJ smiled. "Just tell your mum tonight. She'll be more than happy, to be honest. Just don't get a dick on your arm or something."

"Yeah, because out of the three of us, I would get a dick."

Chris smirked. "Yeah well, you're the gayest soooo ..."

"Shuddup."

***

The week passed by quicker than I would have liked it to. I was very nervous.

I mean, yeah, I really really really want a fucking tattoo. But. I'm super duper scared.

I'm not scared that Phil would mess the design up, god no. He's great with artsy stuff. I've looked through his sketchbook, with his permission of course, and it's so beautiful. Super duper detailed. It's amazing. Actually, he drew a bouquet of pansies, much like the ones I sold him last week.

But no, I'm most definitely not scared that he'll mess the design up. I'm scared of the pain.

I'm getting a pansy, stem and all, on my inner wrist, trailing down until about a quarter of my forearm. So, yeah, it's going to be absolutely tiny, but t was going to be wispy and floaty and pretty and dainty and perfect.

Phil drew it.

It looks nice.

Now it's going to be on my flesh for the rest of my life.

I'm probably going to bleed, aren't I. Oh god I hate blood. It's not nice. Doesn't look nice. Doesn't smell nice. Doesn't feel nice. Ew ew ew.

The bell rang. I gathered my bags. I waited at the door for Chris, blushing and timidly smiling when Phil passed me. We walked to PJ's class after. We went to my house. We got a snack and talked for a while before we had to go to our appointment.

"What'cha thinking of getting Chris?" I asked, taking a sip of Fanta.

"I was thinking of getting like a Libra symbol on my wrist. Or something." He blushed a little. "I dunno, I just am really into star sign things and astronomy and stuff and I thought it'd look nice."

"Awwwww that's adorable." I beamed at him and grabbed some cookies. "PJ? What about you?"

"Maybe a little dust mite and totoro. I do love my totoro." PJ smiled and took a massive bite out of his cookie. "I drew it and everything so. Yeah." He took a sip of his juice. "Waddabout you Danny Boy?"

"A flower on the inside of my wrist." I smiled, blushing slightly. "A pansy. Maybe with some shading, if I'm not a wuss. Apparently shading hurts more."

"Aww, that's cute. Maybe Phil will hold your hand." Chris winked slyly. I scoffed.

"Hardly. He's gonna be the one doing the tattoo. You doof."

"I guess." He shrugged and downed a bottle of Fanta. "Who's up for some movies?"

After watching My Neighbour Totoro (PJ's request) and Coraline (Chris's request), we had finished multiple bottles of energy and fizzy drinks, many trays of cookies, multiple bags of crisps and way too much popcorn.

But we felt pretty ready for the tattoos.

"Hello there! We booked an appointment for three people under the name of 'Your Squad Goals'?"

The young guy with black hair and amazing eyebrows behind the counter gave us a chuckle and a grin. "Yes, if you guys could go through to the room over there please? Just a small forewarning, you guys may needle to take some painkillers after the tattoo has been finished. I ask for you not to eat or drink whilst you're in the studio and to take care of yourself as best you can, thank you."

I snorted. "Those puns were inkcredible."

"Thank you." He gave another laugh and led us to the room.

We all walked in. It was very spacey, unlike many other tattoo parlours I've seen before, with 5 chairs and tables. The inks and needles and all of the equipment were lined up on black shelves against white walls. Chairs of soft looking leather were lined up facing a mirror, accompanied by a table with various items on them.

"Hey guys!" Connor called out from behind a chair. He gave us all a massive grin and pushed his hair out of his eyes. "Come on in. We're just setting up all of the equipment then we'll be ready for you to show us your designs."

Carrie made an appearance along with Phil. They were talking about something to do with needles and blood. Okay then.

"Thank you for bringing them in, Ben J!" Carried smiled, tying her frizzy, curly hair up into a ponytail.

"That's okay. Have fun, good luck guys!" Ben walked out of the room leaving the six of us on our own.

We all took a seat in a chair each. I started to nervously tap on my knee and biting my lip..

"Heya Dan." I looked up from behind my hair. I smiled weakly.

"Hiya Phil."

"You alright?" He carefully brought a gloved hand up to my face and gingerly brushed my fringe away so I could see properly.

"Mmmhmm, thank you." I blushed and fiddled with the bag at my feet. I brought out a piece of paper. I gave it to Phil.

"You ... you want to get this done?" His cheek dusted a rather pleasant pink which contrasted beautifully against his pale skin.

"Yeah. It, um, looked really nice and I really like it so, sure. Why not."

"Okay. Okay cool. You want this on your inner forearm, yes?"

"Yes please." I rubbed my thumbs together in nervous anticipation.

"You'll be fine. It won't hurt as much as you think. Maybe annoying pin-pricks or cat scratches. The design is simplistic so it would take a short time meaning that it won't hurt for long."

"Okay. Okay cool."

"You ready to go?"

I bit my lip a little and tucked my fringe inside of my flower crown. "Okay yeah. Let's do this."

***

"So what do you do in your spare time?" Phil asked, scrunching up his eyebrows slightly in concentration. I've noticed he does that a lot when he wants to get something perfect. Not that I stare at him when he's doing things.

I tried to relax my muscles as I spoke, "I usually take a lot of pictures of pretty things and stuff, usually flowers actually because I love flowers, which is kinda why I'm getting a flower tattoo, honestly. My mum's name is a flower my mum's called Rose I do love my mum. Oh right so I take pictures and I usually upload them to the internet because you know, why the hell not, people like it so I mean sure, I also read a lot I really love Harry Potter, I've told you that, haven't I? I got sorted into Hufflepuff and-"

"Daniel, you're rambling." Phil smirked a little.

"Oh. Oh yeah. Sorry. It distracted me from the pain, really. I don't do well with pain. I have a rather low pain tolerance, really. I'm not good with many things.

"Oh my goodness, this one time, Chris, Pj and I went to the park and we climbed this absolutely massive tree and this 5 year old, or something I don't know, girl came over to the tree we were climbing but she tripped on one of the branches and started crying so I jumped down from the tree to help her but then I landed on my leg and then I started crying with her because I thought I totally broke my leg, but I didn't, which is lucky, although I've never actually broken a bone, have you?" I blinked rapidly, as if I were coming out of a daze.

"Yes. I have broken quite a few bones."

"Oh! How? What does it feel like?"

"It feels ... weird. Because something inside of you is literally breaking, and the pain is immense. Hurts a massively. I've actually got an interpretive drawing of breaking a bone or something in my sketchbook, come to think of it," he paused for a minute, "Well, I've got interpretive drawings of a lot of weird things."

"Oooooohh that's really cool. D'you think that I cou- ow! Ow ow ow ow wow ouch." I gasped clenching my fists.

"Try and relax your muscles, please? I'm sorry I hurt you." He glanced up at my face and paused for a millisecond. Then he went back to the task at hand.

"No, no. It's okay. You're doing your job. It's fine." I grit my teeth and took deep breaths. "How you guys doing, Chris, PJ?" I called over, tilting my head slightly so that I could see them.

"Mine is almost done!" Chris replied.

"Yep, me too. I just need mine coloured!" Peej smiled back.

"What?" I gasped, "You're getting yours coloured? Bloody hell."

"Well, you could too, if you'd like? It wouldn't take that long." Phil asked, wiping a little bit of blood away.

"Oh, um." I got slightly jittery. "I mean, I'm not sure, will it hurt? Will it hurt more or less because I'm in some pain right now, though it's not unbearable or anything, oh no, you're doing a great job. It just kinda hurts."

"The shading may hurt more or less, it really kind of depends, I guess. I would be repeatedly packing ink onto the same spot over and over again, however this tattoo is rather small and won't need too much shading. It would feel more uncomfortable than painful."

I hesitated a little. Phil spoke up again, "I'm almost finished with the outline."

I bit my lip once more. "Sure, I'll do it."

The tattoo was perfect.

Phil didn't mess up. Not even once, not even a little.

He said that I was really brave and that I did a really good job. I smiled shakily. He gave me his number 'in case you want advice about taking care of your tattoo or if you wanted to ask questions. I was super giddy the whole time. He even took a photo of himself for his contact picture. He's so fucking adorable.

"Make sure to wash it very very gently, treat it like an open wound. It will heal in about a month, depending on how well you take care of it and whether you pick or itch at it or not. I suggest not doing that," Carrie explained.

"No swimming, long hot baths or exposure to extreme elements. Try to wear loose clothing around it if possible for the first couple days or so," Connor continued.

"Thank you so much!" I grinned, looking at my tattoo for the hundredth time today, "I absolutely love it."

We said our farewells and Ben made another pun.

PJ, Chris and I went back to my house to talk about random nonsense. They had to leave within half an hour though, because their families wanted to see the tattoos.

I gazed at my tattoo again, admiring the gracefulness of it. My phone was buzzing frequently from my Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter and Tumblr notifications. I smiled gently.

I picked my phone up and went to messages. Should I make the first move? Just as I was pondering on what to do, I received a text notification. From Phil. Of course.

(They are texting below :))

Phil: Heya, how's the tattoo looking?

Dan: it still looks pretty much like it did when you did it. The ink looks thicker and more bled out I suppose.

Phil: You can probs wash it in an hour or so :p wuu2

Dan: I was reading fanfic, nm

Phil: Oooo, what ship?

Dan: drarry lol

Phil: Ayyyyy, I ship that sm omg

Dan: omg thank you, everyone says that it's weird and I'm all 'bish whet?'

Phil: Am I friends with a meme

Dan: ...

Dan: yes

Phil: ...

Dan: ...

Phil: ...

Dan: it's not a phase mom, don't judge me

Phil: Omg

Phil: Ttyl, customer approaching

Dan: you're saying it as if they're scary

Phil: But they are. They're big and bulky and manly and bald

Dan: so bald people are scary? I could be wearing a wig. I could be bald. does that mean that I'm scary?

Phil: Hush, no, you're adorable. Gtg, ttyl :))

Dan: have fun :))

(End of texting happiness)

***

(A couple days later or smth idk)

I checked the time to see that I should head down to the flower shop to get some work down.

I approached pétale de fleur and stumbled on the doorstep.

"Are you alright there Daniel, dear?" Amy's warm voice asked.

"Quite alright, thank you Amy. Feeling a little light-headed and out of the weather today." I replied, straightening myself and smiling, "I got a tattoo a couple days ago, you see. Still stings a bit, I'm not really one for pain."

"Oh! How brave of you, would you mind if I see it?"

I extended my arm out towards her fragile frame and she examined it with a deep curiosity.

"Absolutely beautiful. I recognise this art work from somewhere? Might I ask where you got this darling?"

"Oh, The Painted Addiction, right down the road. My friend Phil Lester drew it for me. He's incredibly talented at art and stuff."

"Ah, Philip Lester. Such a gentle soul for a rough looking boy." Amy gazed at my arm, her eyes going misty and soft.

"You know him?" I whispered, trying to not break this gentle, nostalgic-feeling mood.

"Yes, yes I do. I was once his art teacher way back when." She chuckled fondly. "I'm incredibly happy to see that he's on his way to achieving his dream of being an artist. Very proud."

"That's absolutely amazing. Would you like to see him again? I see that you were rather fond of him."

"Yes. I would like to see the boy again, bless his soul. Indeed I am rather fond of him, I really am. Such a lovely ray of sunshine."

I giggled a small bit and looked into her wise eyes, "I'm rather fond of him too, Amy."

She squeezed my hand and we straightened up. She held my wrist for a moment then said, "I'm not surprised. Don't let him go. He's a unique one, full of passion and pride. Good boy, he is."

I squeezed her hand back, "I won't let him go, don't you worry Amy. I could call him soon to ask him to come visit you."

She smiled wistfully then retreated back into the room behind the counter, the faint click of the telly being turned on followed by the hum of a programme starting.

I gently placed my fingertips to the tattoo. The quiet creak of the door alerted me that someone had come into the shop, quickly snapping me out of my quiet and calm reverie.

I returned to my post behind the counter and grinned as a little girl skipped up to me, handing me a large bundle of soft white and blue lilies.

She looked up at me with striking blue eyes holding confidence and determination. Her curly, fiery ginger hair bounced around her petite face as she hopped up and down to reach the counter.

"May I have these, please!" she giggled as locks of her hair fell into her face.

"Of course, that would be 5 pounds and 50p, please," I replied, not able to help the grin that emerged onto my face.

I took the flowers from her small hands and tied them up with a dark blue ribbon as she got out a Hello Kitty purse and counted the money.

"Here you go!" She grinned up at me, slight dimples forming in the sides of her cheeks.

I scanned the shops but couldn't find an adult or anyone of the sort. I looked back at her. She reminded me of a young Lily Potter. "Thank you very much! But, if you don't mind me asking, where are your parents or carers, dear?"

"My brother's just down the road. I think." She smiled.

"Oh," I hesitated before speaking again, "Would you like me to walk you there? I don't want you getting lost."

She puffed up her cheeks in thought. "It's okay. I think I know where I'm going. Just down the road, cross the street and left."

"Hmm. I'll walk you." I don't want this girl getting run over or anything. She was someone's child. I don't want them to grieve, not because of my ignorance and laziness. "Amy?"

Amy walked out of the room at the back and said, "Yes, dear?"

"Do you think you could watch over the shop for a few minutes? I need to walk this little girl back to her brother."

"Oh, of course Dan, such a kind soul."

I stepped out from behind the counter, passed Lily-Potter-lookalike her flowers and held her hand.

"I won't be too long, Amy!"

She skipped out of the shop slightly in front of me, flowers in one hand and my hand in the other.

"What's your name? Mine's Lily." She giggled as she hopped over a ladybird.

"Oh, it suits you very much, Lily. I'm Dan."

"Are you the Dan that my brother keeps on talking about? Dan Hooweell?

I chuckled a little, "If your brother's name is Phil Lester, then yes, I am Dan Howell.

"Woahhhhh, I thought he was exaggerating when he said that you were pretty. He doesn't call people pretty. You're gorgeous."

I blushed deeply, "O-oh, really? Thank you. He talks about me a lot?"

"Of course he does. You're boyfriend and boyfriend, aren't you?"

"No." I gently smiled, "No, not yet."

***

We arrived at The Painted Addiction and walked in, greeting Ben J briefly. We spotted Phil with a big burly guy with tattoos all up and down his arms.

"These may take a while to heal as you got big tattoos at the same time, but you don't need to worry, you can probably take the cling film off after a couple hours so that you can wash it. If you have any other questions or concerns, you can ring the reception at any time." Phil explained, a slightly tired look in eyes, which brightened considerably when he spotted us.

"Thanks mate, see you 'round."

"See ya."

The guy walked past us, giving me a strange look, and disappeared through the doors.

Phil put the equipment to the side and Lily jumped onto him and hugged him.

"Heya Lils, you 'kay?"

"Mmmhmm! Look Philly, I found Danny! The boy you keep talking about. He's very pretty, just like you said!" She giggled, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear.

"Heya Dan, what brings you here?" A light blush dusted his cheeks and I couldn't help but smile.

"Lily said that she was going to walk back," Phil opened his mouth to speak. I shushed him and raised an eyebrow, "alone? I think not Lester."

He closed his mouth. "Hey, I was busy. That guy was pretty intimidating. He could probably strangle a bull and a bear at the same time with one hand in 30 seconds."

I furrowed my eyebrows. "Unusually descriptive. You could've sent me a text or called me or something to make sure she made it back safely or something. You never even told me how adorable she is."

"Um ... sorry?"

Lily giggled a bit. I said, "I have to go back to work now, see you later then! And, please, don't let Lily go anywhere on her own again?"

He smiled, "Of course Danny. See you!"

"Bye!"

I made my way outside, into the chilly autumn weather and travelled back to the flower shop. I received a text.

(Texty Tooxty)

Phil: I don't think that I properly said thank you. For bringing Lily back safely, I mean. I was being stupid.

Dan: it's okay, really. no need to thank me.

Phil: :)

Phil: I was wondering if you'd like to get some coffee or something later? I'm sending Lily back home to mum soon :)

Dan: yeah, sure. any place in mind?

Phil: Um.

Phil: No, not really. I haven't thought that far ahead.

Dan: I know a place not too far from here. it's called 'The Little Coffee Cup' (again, this isn't real :)) my dad works there. 10 min walk?

Phil: Yeah, sure. I'll come get you. It's gonna rain soon, I think. Don't want you getting ill <33

Dan: no, it's fine, I could meet you there, really. I don't want to inconvenience you or anything. I have a pretty strong immune system. I'll be fine, promise :))

Dan: thank you for offering though x

Phil: I'll meet you there in 10. No moving. I'll take all your flower crowns and wear them myself. None for you.

Phil: Lils is getting tired and impatient, I'll see you in 10, don't leave xxx

Dan: okay :) xx

(The end of the Texty Tooxty)

Holy shit I have a date with Phil Lester.

Would it be bad if I told PJ and Chris? Nah. They need to know this.

Group chat: bootches t(-_-t)

Dan: OI HOES GUESS WHAT JUST HAPPENED

Chris: OI HOE WHAT

PJ: I bet it's another update about Phil.

PJ: 'Today he looked at me omg'

Chris: 'He gave me a pencil guys omg'

PJ: 'Phil brushed against my hand in lesson today I'm never washing it omg'

Chris: 'Omg Phil is so sexy I would bang him omg'

PJ: Omg

Chris: oMg

PJ: oH MY gOd

Chris: OH mY gOD

Dan: HE ASKED ME ON A DATE

Dan: TODAY

Dan: IN TEN MINUTRES

Dan: ANF HUS LITLE SISTWR US SO CYTE GIYS OMFGG

Chris: You're fucking joking

PJ: No way

Dan: yes bitches

Dan: yes

Chris: Well I guess you're getting laid tonight

PJ: Use protection

Chris: Don't come too soon

Dan: wTF gUyS IM gOInG oN a dAte wITh pHILL

Chris: Okay, okay. I'm not gonna be a dick now, where you going?

Dan: dad's coffee shop :))

PJ: When you guys getting there? Are you pRePAreD?!?!!112!?!1?//

Dan: he's picking me up in like 5 bc he doesn't want me to get ill in the rain isn't he adorable omg he's so sweet help

Chris: MY SWEET LIL BOY HAS GROWN UP SO FAST

Chris: *wipes tear*

Dan: I'm like a month younger than you (ikikik he's not)

Chris: SWEET LITTE CHILD

PJ: PRECIOUS LITTLE ROLL OF THE CINNAMON

Chris: SO INNOCENT

PJ: SO PURE

Dan: guYS HE'S HERE GOTTSA BLAAST

PJ: HAVE FUN CHILD

Chris: BE RESPONIBLE

Dan: YES FATHERSDF

I hurriedly put my phone in my pocket and told Amy "Have a lovely day, Amy! I'm going now, see you tomorrow!"

"Goodbye Daniel, have a lovely rest of your day."

"You too!" I replied with a giddy smile on my face.

I walked out of the door and grinned at Phil. "Hey!"

"Hey there."

"Thank you for walking with me. You really didn't have to though."

"Of course I did." He flashed me a toothy grin, taking my wrist and pulling me gently under a black umbrella.

And we walked down the street, close together, hands almost touching under the thin black umbrella. The rain pattered slowly, steadily. There wasn't much traffic; it was quiet, the occasional car making a splashing sound, the occasional bicycle pedalling into a puddle close by.

The sound of our breaths mingled together in tranquil conversation, feet slipping in puddles, muffled giggles behind cold hands, a reassuring pat on the back, a nudge with his hip. The rain pattered on and on and we drew closer to the coffee shop, edging closer to one other still, relishing each other's presences and company.

I pulled my thin cardigan closer to me, wanting it's warmth to protect me from the harsh wind. He looked at me for a moment and put his arm around my waist and leant closer. The thin black umbrella shielded us.

And we arrived at The Little Coffee Cup, bodies close. The warm smell of coffee hit us like a wave and engulfed us, welcomed us into the small little coffee shop that I visited so frequently.

Phil ordered a black coffee for himself and a hot chocolate for me along with a cake and a cookie. I offered to pay him back, but he insisted.

We sat down in the corner of the café with big, soft bean-bag type chairs and chatted about random stuff, topical stuff, important stuff, silly stuff. The outside world dimmed as the fairy lights inside brightened, giving the whole café a warm, comforting, relaxed feeling.

We were calm and we were happy and we were contented and blissful.

The fairy lights slowly flickered off, replaces by much brighter lights above us. Phil got up, holding a hand out to help me. I smiled gently and thanked him.

We left a tip on the counter and walked out into the dark, hand in hand under the black umbrella, shielding us from not only the cold and rain, but also from stranger's prying eyes.

The stars above greatly reflected my feelings for Phil; burning and beautiful and clear and gentle.

So walked all the way to my house in blissful quietness, mumbling random things that popped into our heads causing the other to giggle quietly, holding onto the others hand just a little tighter.

And he kissed me on the cheek just before I stepped inside the warmth of my house. It wasn't demanding or powerful or forceful, but cautious and gentle and so full of care. I got on my tiptoes and kissed his nose in return causing him to laugh and to take me in to his warm, strong arms.

And he waved and smiled a bright smile then disappeared into the weary darkness of the night, clutching his black umbrella.

***

was that cute enough god i hope so i liked this actually coooool okay okay calm down jfc @ mE.

okay, okay, big author's note coming up. if the story i wrote wasn't sappy and cheesy enough, then here's some more to add to that. i'm sorry in advance.

i just wanted to say to all of you, thank you from the bottom of my heart. thank you so much for the endless support and thank you for sticking with me and this story until now. i went through and did a lot of shit in the last 5-ish months and i'm still kinda unstable at the moment but things have gotten better and i'm just feeling over-all okay. now, i'm not saying that because i'm attention seeking, i just feel like i should give you a reason for my almost-half-a-year absence (again, i apologise for that :/)

even though i'm still probably going to get negative thoughts from people (which is completely fine, you can think whatever you want to think, I'm not gonna force you to like me or anything)(then again, if ya don't like me then gtfo lmao), i would rather you keep your thoughts to yourself :))

everyone has been endlessly lovely to me and so supportive in the comments and votes and messages and it really does make me happy and i can't thank you enough because i really really do genuinely appreciate everything. thank you, so much for the happiness and support you guys have given me. thank you.

so, rant almost over, there's a couple of things i would like to say before we wrap this up. i don't know when my next update will be, however, i do have a couple ideas for upcoming one-shots. i'm thinking of finishing off 'I Don't Know Who I Am Anymore' (which isn't even that good, idk what i was thinking, why'd i put up 2 short chapters when it could've been one? bAd dEcIsIonS) and a lot of you guys wanted a part two of 'I Hurt You' so maybe i could do that? if you guys wan to read it, of course, so please leave me a comment on whether you would like to see any continuations of any previous one-shots i've written :))

i'm pretty sure that's everything i have to say! so thank you for reading this far and thank you for sticking with me and this story. i will see all you guys in the next one-shot, bye everyone!!