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Phil Lester awoke with a start as a loud crack of thunder erupted outside his window. Moments later the room lit up as lightning flashed. He sighed and turned over, and shivered; his whole room was freezing.
The space next to him in his bed felt painfully obvious; Dan had stayed the night at his house a few times before, and they were used to sleeping with their arms around each other. But this time, his parents were home, and Phil’s mum, not knowing their situation, had generously made Dan up a bed in their spare room. Him and Dan had both agreed that they weren’t ready to tell anyone that they were more than friends, so they decided that they just wouldn’t share a bed this time.
However, this was proving difficult for Phil to accept. Sleeping next to Dan was so much more comfortable than sleeping alone. When Dan was 200 miles away, Phil could accept not being able to be near him, but now, he knew Dan was only a few meters away, and the urge to get up and go next door to him was overtaking all of his other thoughts.
Another loud crack of lightning jolted him and he sighed before throwing off his blue and green covers and getting up. He shivered as the cool air hit his bare skin, and he slowly crept towards the door of his room. He crossed the dark hallway and knocked softly on the door of the spare bedroom a few times before turning the handle and going in.
Phil could barely make out anything in the room, as the curtains were drawn tightly and the lamp in the corner was switched off. He could hear rain hammering hard on the window, and the distant grumble of thunder.
“Dan,” Phil quietly called out. “Dan? Are you awake?”
There was no reply, but Phil couldn’t see a thing, and he didn’t trust himself to cross a pitch black room without tripping over anything. He knew there should be a lamp to the left of him, and he felt around until he found the switch.
The room flooded with a very dim light, and now Phil could see the old wooden bunk bed, a relic of his and his brother’s childhood. Dan was supposed to be on the bottom bunk, but all he could see was a lump, smothered by all the pillows and blankets his mother had left out.
“Dan…is that you?”
The lump moved, and Phil could make out a tuft of messed up brown hair belonging to Dan from beneath the pillows. A loud crack from came from outside and Dan quickly retreated back under.
Phil shuffled over to the bed and sat down next Dan, who he could now tell was was curled up in a ball, with his head under the pillows.
“Dan, are you alright?” Phil patted where he thought Dan’s shoulder was.
Dan shifted and uncurled his long limbs.
“Oi, that’s my foot you dick.”
Phil giggled, as Dan’s head emerged from between the pillows and he stretched out.
"Why were you all curled up like that?"
"Oh...I was just a bit cold. It's fucking freezing in here you know."
Phil thought it was a lot warmer in Dan's room than his own, but he didn’t say anything.
"Yeah, my house is always pretty cold. Can I get in?"
Dan nodded and Phil slipped his long legs under the covers, in parallel with Dan’s. He shuffled down and turned over, bumping his forehead into Dan’s. It was then he realised that trying to fit two six-foot-something boys into a single bed meant for a small child really wasn't practical.
"Hi Phil." Dan whispered as he gently brushed the tip of his nose against Phil's
"Hi Dan," he whispered back.
They were so close that even in the dull light of the lamp, Phil could see every minute detail of Dan's face. He made a point of studying them closely, the few rogue curls that were beginning to show themselves, the light spattering of freckles across his cheeks, the way his dimple dipped in and out as his smile changed. Phil reached a hand out and, barely making any contact, he brushed the rogue curls out of Dan's face. Dan's expression changed into one of questioning, and Phil answered by closing the small gap between them.
Feeling Dan's soft lips moving on his own never failed to muffle Phil's racing thoughts. Every time they kissed, Phil could almost take himself off to a different place; a place where only him and Dan existed, where no other feelings, thoughts or sounds could-
Dan jumped and buried his head in Phil's neck as a huge thunderclap sounded from outside. He tucked his knees up to his chin, and his hand found Phil's under the blanket, and he gripped hard. A moment later the lightning flashed, giving the room a brief white glow.
"You alright Dan?” Phil was startled at Dan’s sudden reaction.
Dan uncurled himself again, head still on Phil's shoulder, hand still holding Phil's.
"Of course. I just got a bit…jolted. That’s all. I’m fine. Not scared or anything”
His eyes were narrowed defensively, but Phil could have sworn he could hear Dan's heart pounding. He decided not to push it, and kissed the top of Dan's hair. Dan breathed out slowly, and they overlapped their legs under the covers. They only got to stay like that for a few moments before another thunderclap happened, closer and more jarring than before. Dan flinched again, now tucking his head under Phil's arm and cowering under the duvet. Phil didn't hesitate to check on him this time, and pulled the covers back down. Dan was frozen, the fear in his eyes reflected by the momentary lightning.
“Hey, hey. It’s okay Dan, it’s just the thunder.” Phil put an arm around Dan’s waist, and tried to find his hand.
“I’m not scared, I told you,” Dan grumbled.
Phil didn’t believe that for a moment, and he gently pulled Dan close, wrapping both arms tightly around him and resting his head into his shoulder.
“Okay then. Of course you’re not scared.” Phil smiled into the top of Dan’s head.
They stayed like that for a while, listening to the sound of the rain hitting the window. Every time there was a thunderclap, Phil held Dan a little tighter. After a particularly loud and sudden crash, Phil started to softly stroke the top of Dan’s head.
“Still not scared.” Dan mumbled sleepily into Phil’s chest.
“I know, I know.”
They lay still for a few more minutes. Phil could hear Dan breathing slowly and deeply, and he thought he was asleep. Phil began the drop off himself, the sound of the rain and the thunder and the creaks of his house blending into the background…
“Phil…Phil! Wake up! Come and look!”
Phil opened his eyes to see Dan standing over him, hair messed up, eyes wide and excited. He had no recollection of Dan getting up, and usually he would be annoyed to be woken up, especially still in the middle of the night. But Phil couldn’t help but smile at dan’s adorable eager expression.
“What is it?”
He sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. Dan had opened the curtains for some reason.
“Well, I got up to get a drink of water, and then when I came back in, I just peaked behind the curtains to see what it looked like out there, and then some lightning struck, and….well look!”
Phil couldn’t see anything especially remarkable, he was just looking out over the valley of Rossendale, a familiar view from almost every window in his house. The sky was still dark and stormy.
“What exactly am I looking at?”
“Just wait a minute, you’ll see.”
Phil stared out of the window with Dan, waiting. Thunder rumbled again, and Phil's hand found Dan's and squeezed tightly. Then, a huge bolt of lightning flashed, filling the entire sky with electric white cracks, as if it was being ripped apart.
"Isn't it amazing," whispered Dan. "I mean, I've obviously seen lightning before, but never that much all at once. It's beautiful."
"Yeah. It is," replied Phil.
Dan was so fascinated by the lightning, and although Phil was tired and just wanted to lay back down with Dan, he stayed were he was. A minute later, another huge crack of lightening illuminated the sky.
But it didn't disappear. It seemed to roll itself up, like a ball of wool, into this huge white orb, probably three or four meters wide. It trembled on the spot for a few moments, before beginning to float across the sky. It almost felt as if it was buzzing as it travelled. It convulsed more and more violently as it moved, and when it seemed as if it couldn't shake any faster, it exploded, shattering into a thousand tiny lightning bolts in the surrounding area. A few hit a distant tree, and it began to smoke.
Phil couldn't believe what he had just seen. He was really tired; it was probably about three in the morning, he knew he must have just drifted off and envisioned it in some weird half asleep state.
"What. The fuck. Was that." Dan's voice was as clear as anything.
"You saw that? That huge ball of...lightning?"
"That was incredible. I've never ever seen anything like that before."
Phil was astonished. It hadn't been a dream. Dan had seen that...thing too.
"I didn't know lightning did that. Maybe it's some kind of sign?" he suggested
"I'm sure there's some explanation for it. We can look it up in the morning. That was kind of spooky though."
"Really spooky," Phil agreed. "It feels like some kind of divine intervention." Another huge crash of thunder sounded.
Phil quickly wrapped his arm around Dan's shoulder, but for once, Dan didn't flinch at the sound.
"'Divine intervention.' Honestly Phil don't be stupid."
Dan turned towards Phil and smiled fondly. Lightening shone on their faces as Phil cupped Dan's cheek and kissed him.
October 2025
Dan turned to Phil as they left the studio where they had wrapped up the second episode of their podcast.
"You know, I hadn't thought of that ball lightning thing in ages."
"Me neither. I thought of it because you mention superstitions and I remember I said I thought it was divine intervention and you said that was stupid."
"Well it is. Like I said, we looked it up and it's science."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. You know, I also remember you being absolutely terrified of the storm. You flinched every single time there was thunder."
"Shut up! I was not scared!"
"Yeah you were!"
"Wasn't!"