Imagine Living Like A King Someday
prompt: Southview Boarding School isn’t a castle and Phil Lester isn’t royalty, but he has everything. His father owns the school, he’s popular, has the best room, gets all the best treatment – there are very few things that aren’t handed to him on a platter. Dan is a cleaner/Phil’s personal maid there, and he isn’t as lucky. Everyone seems to take an aversion to the outsider, including Phil (at first).
[CHAPTER MASTERPOST]
I’ve made one of my new year’s resolutions to put this thing back onto some kind of updating schedule. I don’t know what it’s going to be yet or whether I’m going to stick to it, but I’ll give it a shot :)
Update: im so sorry I wrote that note on the 3rd of January it’s now the 24th and im a mess but ill still try my best hAha
warnings: smoking, mentions of violence
Twenty-Two
“Just like the old days, this is,” Freddie grins, gazing up at the sky. Clouds part every now and then, giving way to idle twinkles of light against the blackness. “Us lot, out here, hiding from the cameras. It’s almost as if this year hasn’t happened, isn’t it?”
Phil gulps, the taste of tobacco souring in his mouth a little. The idea of smoking to relieve his stress suddenly doesn’t seem so smart anymore.
“Except we’re missing someone, aren’t we?” Violet chimes in, feigning sickly innocence. “Where’s your best friend, Phil? Too bad he couldn’t join us.”
“He’s not my best friend,” Phil mutters bitterly.
“Must be a real bummer being cooped up inside on your own when everyone else is free, mustn’t it?” Freddie comments.
“Good,” Phil bites back. “The further he is away from me, the better.”
“Someone’s touchy,” Violet comments. “I never remembered you being so scathing, Phil.”
“I do,” Freddie comments. “You were probably thrilled when his tag got extended.”
“Yeah; it’s such a travesty my father actually gave him the punishment he deserved,” Phil puts his hand on his heart in mock-sorrow and fuck, why can’t he just keep his mouth shut?
“You’re saying it’s justified to give him a three month tag extension for something out of his control?” Freddie raises his eyebrows, huffing out a surprised breath. “Wow. I guess being a self-righteous wanker really does run in the family.”
“Look, if you’re here to lecture me on my gene pool, I want nothing to do with it,” Phil rolls his eyes.
“God, since when did you get so cocky?” Violet eyes him carefully.
“Round about the time I befriended some decent people and realised how shitty you guys actually were.”
“Oh that’s very rich,” Freddie laughs, and it resounds bitterly through the atmosphere. “Shitty? Coming from he who hasn’t said anything truthful since he was about twelve years old? I’d say that’s quite a shitty attribute, if you ask me.”
“Well no-one is asking you, so if you don’t mind, I think I’ll-“
“Woah, not yet,” Violet grabs him. “’Decent people’? Like who? Because as far as I’m aware, the only person you’ve befriended as soon as we cleared off was your cleaner. Not what I would really call a social climb, but-”
“I don’t need to give you a fucking report of my social life,” Phil snaps.
“Well, at least we know for a fact Liam won’t be on there,” Freddie says. “It’s just such a shame you two don’t see much of each other anymore, isn’t it?”
“Not as far as I’m concerned,” Phil. “I’m sick of him. If I ever see him again it’ll be a million years too soon.”
“Well I don’t think he particularly wants to see you either,” Violet says, “and to be perfectly honest, I don’t blame him. If my best friend alienated me for the best part of a year for no good reason, I certainly wouldn’t be best pleased.”
“For no good-” Phil blanches, shaking his head in disbelief. “What the fuck, Violet? You think I did this without reason?”
“Well I can’t see one. And we know for a fact that he can’t either,” she inspects her nails, feigning nonchalance.
“I have my reasons,” Phil says defensively. “Not that it’s remotely any of your business, of course.”
“Oh, but I think it is,” Freddie says. “He’s our friend too, y’know.”
“He’s not fucking mine anymore, though,” Phil says.
“You wouldn’t be saying that this time last year,” Violet narrows her eyes. “What’s changed, eh? What’s gotten into you?”
“Some fucking sense,” Phil fires back.
“More like that cleaner’s dick,” Freddie mutters, and they both roar with laughter.
Phil clenches his jaw, a hot surge of anger jolting through his veins.
“If you fucking dare talk about Dan like that again, I’ll-“
“Oh, so that’s his name, is it?” Violet raises an eyebrow. “Sounds like you and him are getting to know each other. This is all moving so quickly.”
“Keep up then,” Phil snaps.
“He’s still fuming with him, you know,” Freddie comments. “Even more so now he’d found out you got let off the hook earlier than all of us. Oh, and that you lied to him. He didn’t appreciate that too much. Christ knows what he’s planning.”
Phil sees red. He grabs Freddie’s collar and they both slam into the nearest wall.
“You let him so much as touch Dan, and my dad will end your fucking educational life faster than Liam can throw a punch.”
“Oh, that’s very characteristic of you, Phil,” Violet snaps back immediately, but Freddie stays cool, eyeing up Phil. He’s so close he can smell the cigarette on his breath and the aftershave around his collar. “Sitting back and letting Daddy do all the dirty work.”
“Oh, do one, Violet.” Phil mutters to her without turning around.
“Fair enough,” Freddie shrugs.
Phil stops at that, loosening his grip. “What?”
“I said fair enough,” he repeats, before grinning. “Your dad can do what he likes to us. But it’s not like we don’t have anything to use back against you.”
Phil’s stomach swirls. “What do you mean?”
“Well, I imagine if King Lester knew you were out here doing that,” he points to the cigarette still lit between Phil’s fingers, “he wouldn’t be best pleased with you, either, would he? Especially after all the fucking drama you’ve caused this year, what with the security tags and that.”
Phil gulps. Shit, he didn’t think of that.
There’s a long, drawn-out silence. Phil swallows, letting Freddie go. He rubs his neck a little but doesn’t take his back from against the wall.
“Just-… don’t hurt him,” Phil sighs, suddenly quieter. “Please. He doesn’t deserve it.”
Violet narrows her eyes, almost considering what Phil had said, but Freddie just says, “we’ll see.”
“Freddie-“
“We didn’t deserve to be treated like fucking prisoners for three months because of him, but we did it. And now Liam has another three months, and-“
“Please, just-“ Phil pleads, not wanting to hear any more. “You can do whatever you want, but- just don’t hurt him. Don’t let Liam hurt him. Please. I’m begging you.”
“You don’t want us to let Liam hurt him? Fine. We won’t,” Freddie agrees, walking away from the wall, but his tone is clipped and there’s something about the glitter in his eye that doesn’t sit well with Phil at all.
“I fucking hope you mean that,” Phil frowns. “Because if you let him do anyth-“
“I literally just made it explicit that we won’t. What else do you want us to do? Sign a fucking contract?”
That would help, actually, Phil thinks. Anything to put his mind at rest.
He doesn’t say this out loud, though, and lets another silence creep in.
“What?” Freddie breaks it, and it’s only then Phil realises he’s been frowning. “Don’t you trust us?”
“Why should I?” Phil mumbles. “Like, seriously. Give me one reason why I should trust you.”
Freddie thinks for a moment, and then sighs.
“You want a reason?” he raises his eyebrows.
“Well- yeah, considering I literally just asked for one.”
“Cut the arrogance, Lester,” Violet lights up another cigarette. “It never looked good on you.”
Phil glares at her, but remains silent.
“Because,” Freddie continues, “when we found out about you and Dan, we kept it quiet. Kept it from Liam.”
Phil’s stomach drops like a stone.
“When you found out what?!”
“When we found out you two are together. I mean- or just fucking. Whatever it is you’re doing,” Freddie shrugs.
“But- how did you- why-“
“That’s not the point,” Violet chips in. “The point is, we kept it from Liam because we knew how he’d react.”
“So we are capable of keeping things,” Freddie finishes decidedly.
“Wait- rewind a second,” Phil shuts his eyes, his brain trying desperately to wrap itself around all of this. “How did you find out that me and Dan are-“
“I’m in English with Lia. Lives in your boarding house,” Violet says. “Got talking to her. Nice girl, she is.”
Phil feels sick. Oh god.
It’s not as if they were making it completely apparent, of course, but it’s just- their housemates have probably put two and two together by now. It’s not as if they don’t sometimes hold hands in the kitchen. And steal a few kisses in the corridor, or when they’re all downstairs watching something on the telly. And they’ve definitely fallen asleep cuddling under a duvet on the sofa in the lounge a few times; Phil’s sure of that.
“Great, so you were discussing my love life, were you?” Phil snaps back. “Who do you take me for; fucking Taylor Swift?”
“Don’t flatter yourself, sweetie,” Violet scoffs. “It just came up in conversation, that’s all.”
“Why were you talking about it?” Phil demands.
“Like I said; it came up in conversation. There’s a difference.”
“Oh, do enlighten me,” Phil says.
“Well, we were talking about Shakespeare, and she says there’s someone in her house who’s fucking crazy about it. I asked who, and she was like ‘Dan. You know, the one Phil’s seeing at the moment’.”
Phil draws in a breath, ready to retaliate, but stops. Oh.
“And she was like, super apologetic when she found out I didn’t know, though, so don’t you dare take it out on her,” she adds.
“But the point is,” Freddie chips in. “We didn’t tell Liam about it.”
“We’re dickheads, Phil,” Violet says, breathing smoke into his face. “But we’re not stupid.”
This is ridiculous. He has no reason to believe this, no reason whatsoever, but he finds his stomach begin to unwind a little.
“Oh,” he gulps, caught somewhere between relieved, confused and actually quite pissed off. “Well, I er- okay-“
“You know something?” Violet says.
“What?” Phil asks, not really wanting to hear it.
“Between us three, I think you two make quite a cute couple,” she grins, but Phil has no telling of how genuine her smile is.
“Um- thanks?” he says a little uneasily. He’s already feeling an itch for another cigarette but he does his best to ignore it – despite not having a curfew anymore it’s getting cold and late and he really has to get back to his dorm.
“Don’t thank me,” Violet rejects his civility. “You’re still a twat, I hope you realise.”
“Just a twat with a cute boyfriend,” Freddie adds, and Phil would grin but there’s still a pinch of discomfort in his stomach about this, about this entire thing.
“Yeah, I um-“ he shrugs. “Well. Thanks for keeping your mouths shut, I guess.”
“It’s our pleasure,” Violet says, her voice a little bitter. “As long as you keep your mouth shut about us being out here, we’re good.”
“Yeah,“ he swallows. “I will.”
“You’d better,” Violet warns.
There’s a silence. Phil sighs, throwing a glance at Freddie. “Sorry. I know we’ve um- drifted apart and stuff, and-“
“Oh, give it a rest Phil,” Freddie interrupts. “We know you can’t stand us. And quite frankly, we’re not your biggest fans at the moment either. So let’s not pretend to patch things up, yeah?”
Phil frowns, a little taken aback. Sure, he hadn’t exactly been expecting them to join hands and skip off into the sunset, but couldn’t they at least be civil?
“Well excuse me for trying.”
“He has a point though,” Violet says.
“Whatever,” Phil rolls his eyes, trying to pretend he isn’t a bit disappointed. “I’d better be heading back now, anyway.”
“Off you go then,” Violet dismisses him coldly.
“Alright then,” Phil widens his eyes.
“Say hi to Dan for us,” Freddie says.
Yeah, Phil scoffs. Like fuck will he tell Dan about any of this.
He leaves them both with a careful glare before turning his back to the forest, and-
“Oh, before I forget,” he digs in his pocket and pulls out something small, cold and hard. It glitters for a few seconds in the soft twinkle of the moonlight, but then he opens out his hand and lets it fall to the concrete with a clatter. “Give that back to Liam on your way in.”
And just like that, with thudding in his ears and adrenaline pooling in the pit of his stomach, he breezes out of the forest and back to the fences, back to buildings and blocks and amber lights.
The air is cold and his head aches and his chest is burning a little, and he’s trying to bury the feeling that begins to nag the pit of his stomach, the voice in the back of his mind suggesting he might have just made a big, big mistake.
-
“Have you been smoking?” is the first thing Dan asks him when he slides through the door. He’s wrapped up in bed, voice muffled by the pillow.
Phil gulps, sniffing his collar. Fuck, he was certain he put enough deodorant on.
“Yeah, I um-“ he gulps, not really seeing any lie he can spin to get out of this. “I was a bit stressed. Sorry.”
“Don’t apologise, I’m not your mum,” Dan huffs out a sleepy laugh. “Just make sure you brush your teeth for an extra minute before you get into bed. I’m not kissing an ashtray.”
Phil grins, putting down his bag and shrugging off his jacket, leaving it in a denim heap on the floor. “It was a one-off, though. I’m not like- addicted.”
Not true. His cravings are going to drive him up the wall tomorrow, but he’ll live. He’s sure he must still has some nicotine gum somewhere.
“I’m glad to hear it,” Dan says. “You reek.”
Phil throws him an apologetic glance and heads over to the bathroom, not really wanting to taint the sweet spicy scent of Dan’s room with his stale tobacco any longer. He takes his time with the toothbrush and swills around three capfuls of mouthwash and washes his face with a splash of cold water before heading back into the room. His heart sighs a little at the sight of Dan all curled up beneath cotton and memory foam, and he gives him a soft little smile before shouldering out of his uniform and into something comfier.
“Where have you been, anyway?” Dan mumbles when he slides under the duvet and into the space beside him. “I’ve missed you.”
“Hanging out with a few people from Maths,” the lie rolls a little too easily off of Phil’s tongue. “They were having a movie night at Jonathan’s, and- you know.”
“That’s nice,” Dan smiles to himself, sidling up to Phil under the covers. “What did you watch?”
“Deadpool,” is the first movie that comes into Phil’s mind.
“I’ve never seen it,” Dan says. “We’ll have to watch it sometime.”
“Yeah, we will,” Phil agrees, his fingers finding Dan’s hair. It’s still a little damp from the shower. “What have you been up to, then?”
“Nothing much,” Dan shrugs. “Cleaned your room a little bit. Talked to Mark about the keys. He’s impressed you’ve made it this far without losing another one, but I didn’t have the heart to tell him it’s only because you’ve been spending so much time in my room instead of your own.”
Phil chuckles. “I imagine my room’s a lot easier to clean too. You know, without me in it all the time.”
“Who would have thought dating you would come with so many benefits?” Dan smiles, and leans up to press a gentle kiss to Phil’s cheek.
Phil’s heart leaps at that word. Dating.
“That’s what you get with dating me,” Phil says, testing out the word again and loving the way it falls off of his tongue. “The whole package.”
“Kinky,” Dan quips.
“Shut up,” Phil nudges him with his free elbow, and Dan giggles, his eyes fluttering shut.
“Play with my hair more,” Dan tells him. “I love it when you do that.”
So Phil does. His hands massage soft chestnut locks, his fingers curling around the longer, wavier parts of his fringe and around his ears.
He pulls Dan’s fringe back a little too far, and exposes a blotch of purple. Shit, he’d forgotten about the bruise there.
He gulps, feeling his stomach twist, and does his best to pretend he hasn’t seen it, gently brushing strands of brown back over to cover it. He doesn’t know if Dan notices, but if he does, he doesn’t say anything.
They lie there in a comfortable silence, Phil’s fingers in Dan’s hair and Dan’s hands tracing the sliver of exposed skin just above Phil’s waistband, just listening to each other’s breathing, before Phil’s grip on his thought filter begins to loosen and he lets something slip
“I gave the ring back to Liam today.”
The second the words pass his lips, he regrets it. He can almost hear the break of the mood, shattering like glass as it goes.
Dan stiffens beside him. “Really?”
“Not directly, of course,” Phil reassures desperately. “I did it through someone.”
“Noah?”
It’s easier just to say “yeah.”
“Fair enough.”
“I just- yeah. I wanted rid of it. I hated the feeling of knowing I still had a piece of him hanging around in my room, y’know?” he shudders.
“Yeah, definitely.” Dan says, still a little wooden. “Well. I’m, um- glad you got rid of it, anyway.”
“So am I,” Phil says, and they descend into another silence and fuck, despite the gentle softness of the sheets and pillows, this is really quite uncomfortable.
“Sorry I just-“ Phil begins after a while. “I didn’t want to- you know, ruin the mood or anything. I just thought you ought to know.”
“You haven’t ruined anything,” Dan reassures him, but there’s a little tremor in his tone. “Thanks for letting me know. I appreciate it.”
Phil sighs out a smile and rolls over until they’re nose-to-nose. He lies there for a second, taking a moment to drink in his appearance – the tanned curves of his features, the delicate point of his nose, his soft, plump lips and those big brown eyes that have seen far too much darkness. He leans over and presses his lips to Dan’s in a gentle kiss.
Dan pulls away after a few seconds. “I’m impressed.”
“With what?”
“I can’t taste a trace of smoke on you,” he says, pecking Phil’s lips again. “You really did listen to me.”
“Of course I did,” Phil mumbles between kisses. “You’d better appreciate it. I did mouthwash and all.”
“Brilliant,” Dan smirks, sliding his thigh over and shifting his weight until he’s lying on top of Phil. “And I do appreciate it, dickhead.”
“Then shut up and kiss me.”
So he does.
They lie there, Dan on top of Phil and Phil underneath Dan, their lips along with just about every inch of exposed skin locked together, intertwined underneath cotton and feathers. Phil combs his fingers through Dan’s curls and Dan’s fingers trace the soft curves of Phil’s sides.
Phil pulls him forward and presses a kiss to Dan’s neck, grinning when he hears the other boy gasp against his skin.
-
They lie there in a tangle of limbs, cotton and heavy breaths. A blotch of purple stains Dan’s collarbones. Phil’s hair is everywhere; crazy black tufts sprawled out over his forehead and his fringe and he’s pretty sure he looks an utter mess right now, but Dan’s been spending the past half hour looking at him as if he’s the most beautiful person he’d ever laid eyes on. He’d told him this multiple times too, albeit through ragged breaths and soft moans, and Phil had kissed him and stopped just short of letting three words slip past his lips.
“You’re the best,” Dan mumbles into Phil’s chest, swaying in and out of consciousness. The way he does this, the way he always croaks out sleepy mumbles right before he drops off, his guards down and his inhibitions invisible, makes Phil kind of want to cry. Not because of how adorable he sounds when he’s sleepy (although okay, that too), but because of the truth behind anything he says when he’s in this state. Whatever he says, he means.
“You are too,” Phil whispers, pressing kisses across Dan’s forehead in miniature pecks. “You really are.”
“You-…” he’s interrupted by his own yawn, “you… you’re so good to me.”
Phil finds himself giggling. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“No one else was,” Dan mumbles against his shoulder.
Phil’s fingers find Dan’s hair. “Don’t think about that now.”
“You’re the first person who wasn’t a dick to me,” he mumbles. “Apart from Abbie.”
There’s a silence.
Phil frowns. “Who’s Abbie?”
“Doesn’t matter,” Dan murmurs, but Phil feels him gulp.
“Right- erm…” Phil chews on his lower lip, studying the ceiling.
He doesn’t care to push the subject any further. Discussing the past with Dan is already risky enough, and Phil still feels eggshells cracking beneath his feet every time any mention of his past slips into conversation. He doesn’t want to make this any more troubling than it already is, doesn’t want to break the soft serenity of Dan’s mood now; he hasn’t been this calm for weeks.
“You’re great,” Dan breaks Phil’s train of thought. “Did y’know that?”
Phil gives him a wry smile. “Nope.”
“Well, you are,” Dan continues. “You’re-… you’re the best. You’re so- you’re so great and-… lovely and- everyone likes you. I like you, I like you a lot, and-“
“Just a warning,” Phil begins. “As much as you and I both know I adore your compliments, I’m pretty sure my head’s going to explode in a minute with all this hot air,” he chuckles.
“I like your head too much to ruin it,” Dan smiles. “I’ll shut up.”
Phil’s not too sure what Dan means until he feels the soft touch of fingertips moving along his back, drawing little patterns into the skin.
“That’s better,” Phil mumbles, kissing Dan’s shoulder. He feels the familiar tickle against his skin, relishing in every gentle line, every shape the other boy traces beneath his t-shirt.
HI
Phil smiles. “Hi.”
HOW ARE U
“I’m good, funnily enough,” Phil grins. “What about you?”
BETTER
Phil feels his heartbeat in his ears.
“Really?”
NOT TOTALLY
“Oh,”
BUT BETTER.
“Well,” Phil gulps, smoothing over the cracks in his voice. “Well, um- that’s good, isn’t it?”
Dan nods, his finger motionless for a few seconds.
HANK YO
“Shit.”
Phil frowns. “What?”
“I fucked up,” Dan smirks. “Let me do that one again.”
THANK YOU
Phil feels a pinch in his heart. He rolls over until they’re facing each other, nose-to-nose, brown-to-blue, before leaning down and sealing their lips in a fervent kiss.
They lie like that for another handful of minutes, limbs and thoughts tangled together, a vacant stare towards the ceiling, until Dan’s breathing begins to steady and his hand movements slow down. The letters become sloppier, more indecipherable, but Phil still tries his best to make something of them. He gets I LIKE YOUR EYES, something about his nose and the way his hair sticks up in the morning, and then there’s a few almost motionless moments, Dan tipping into unconsciousness, his finger moving but barely writing.
And then Phil freezes, Dan’s gentle touch burning into his back like an iron rod. Shit.
His heart is racing in heavy thuds underneath his pyjama shirt and it takes every scrap of his self-control not to move, not to wake Dan up, not to do anything except lie like a stone and try to make sense of what the other boy had almost written.
He can’t be certain of course; it’s pushing three a.m. and his brain is a tangled, sleep-deprived mess, but he thinks Dan might have just fallen asleep in the middle of tracing three little words into the small of his back.
-
“You’re doing that grin again.”
Violet narrows her eyes. “What are you on about?”
“You know. That grin you always do when you have a good idea. You’re doing it now,” Freddie says, shuffling up the bed. They’re sprawled out on the mattress together, staring at the ceiling and making their way through a 6-pack of cider, discussing just how much of a dickhead Phil had become upon cutting ties with them all. “Come on, what have you thought of?”
“Well,” she smirks, a glint in her. “Just of ways we can teach that little shit a lesson.”
“Who; Phil?”
“No, actually,” she says.
“Who, then?”
“Dan,”
“Dan?”
“I’ve been thinking,” she begins.
“About what?”
“About how pretty much all of the shit that’s happened this year stems back to him. I mean, the tags for a start; that Liam’s still having to deal with. Poor sod’s got two and a half months left of it, still. That on top of the fact he essentially took Phil away from us.”
“How?” Freddie narrows his eyes.
“Oh, come on. Think back. When did Phil start being all off with us?”
“Er-…” Freddie tries to kick his tipsy brain into gear. “Like- half a year ago or something? I dunno, I can’t-“
“Exactly. Which was right around the time the two of them started getting cosy, right?”
“I- oh shit, yeah,” Freddie realises.
“I think a lot of it is to do with him, y’know. I don’t know what he’s been doing to Phil, but he’s not him anymore.”
“Maybe he wiped his brain and microchipped him,” Freddie mumbles.
“Probably,” Violet snorts. “But I have an idea.”
“There’s that grin again,” Freddie’s eyes light up and he rolls over on the mattress, facing her. “Speak, woman. What are you thinking?”
“Well,” Violet begins, fiddling with the ring pull on the cider can. “We promised to keep Liam away from him, didn’t we?”
“Yeah?” Freddie frowns.
She smiles. “But we never promised him anything about keeping ourselves away from him.”
Freddie hesitates for a moment. Then he grins.
Feedback is always appreciated!! i hope this is ok i promise the next chapter wont be as long-coming xxx
