Work Text:
The familiar deafening roar of the sea of fans on the other side of the set resonated throughout the stadium, working up a knot in Dan’s stomach that he always felt before a live show. He had felt that nerve-wracking performance anxiety ever since their first Radio One broadcast. He glanced over to Phil, who without fail reassured him that they would do great by just being themselves. He felt the knot loosen. The hardest part was showing that to the world without also showing that they were in love.
He was standing in his spot behind the curtain at the opposite side where he would enter the stage from. Even from fifteen meters away he knew Phil’s tongue would be poking out slightly, as he always did when concentrating. Dan gazed at him with pride a moment longer before smiling and dropping his gaze to his own feet.
After dozens of shows across two countries, they were finally Down Under for the last bout of meeting fans and making dreams come true. The fact that it was just their friendship that had built this still blew his mind. While they were both more comfortable with live performances now, the rush at the end when they could finally steal a kiss, only that thick curtain between them and their fans, was the same. In those moments, everything was right.
“Dan.”
He lifted his head and turned back to Phil, pulled out of his reverie. “Yeah?”
They had a rule: no kissing until after the show. It was what got them through the more tedious interviews. But Phil walked over to him, an eye on the countdown screen to when they’d be starting. He took Dan’s hand in his own and brought it to his cheek, closing the space left between them. “I love you,” he said quietly, only a breath away. Dan grinned and kissed him on the tip of the nose. “I love you, too.”
“That’s remarkably close to breaking our rule, Danny-boy,” Phil chuckled.
Dan smiled and planted another kiss on his nose. “I don’t care. I’m so happy to be here, with you, right now.”
They stood like that for only a moment, hand in hand and looking into each other's eyes with small brimming smiles, before a crew member gave the final call. “Alright, places, everybody! We’re starting in ten, nine, eight…”
Phil squeezed Dan’s hand and smiled wider, his eyes flicking down to Dan’s lips. “Gotta go.”
Dan glanced down to Phil’s collar and tugged his shirt up a bit. It might prove to be awkward if someone noticed the mark on his neck he had left the previous night. “Let’s do this.”
Phil crossed back to his spot as the voice in their headsets counted down, “two, one,” and once again they stepped into the light they had created together.