Work Text:
It had been a grueling couple of months since Dan and Phil had hit the road for "The Amazing Tour Is Not On Fire." Who knew that spending extended periods time in a cramped bus could have negative effects on the human body? Phil had felt the side effects the worst, having to hold back bouts of nausea from the constant tossing and turning of the bus. Finally, however, he and Dan could have some time off the road, where they could rest in a place that wasn't moving all the time. They had booked a room with twin beds to avoid any suspicion from hotel staff and any stalkers. It should have been a relief. Finally, he could get some space from Dan after sleeping in the same bed for so long. Yet Phil felt a sinking pit in his stomach at the thought of Dan sleeping peacefully by his side, without being able to reach out to him. He shook his head, snapping himself out of his overthinking. He and Dan stood outside the door, as Dan turned the key in the lock and gently opened the door. The room was illuminated by dimly lit table lamps that engulfed the room in a yellowish hue. The beds had white blankets neatly tucked into the mattresses, with plush comforters draping over the frames. Phil stepped into the room, dropping his suitcases onto the floor before flopping onto the bed. He felt the tension in his muscles leave his body as he let himself sink into the soft mattress. Phil turned his head to the side to see Dan aggressively taking his shoes off, throwing them to the side.
Dan groaned. "Finally, I feel like I'm gonna enter a coma after today."
He flopped onto the bed beside Phil, letting himself sink into the mattress. For a moment, they both lay in silence. Suddenly, Dan plopped right back onto his feet with a disgusted expression on his face.
"Oh god, I almost forgot, the nasty ass hotel bedsheets!" Dan exclaimed.
He began frantically grabbing the pillowcase covers, blankets, and comforters that were neatly arranged on the bed, and throwing them off. Dan's hair strewed across his face, slightly curling at the tips after hours of not straightening it. He looked almost like a madman, wildly throwing the covers off the bed.
Phil giggled, failing to suppress his grin. Dan had been tense all day, and something about seeing him finally let loose and go wild had caused a warm feeling to settle in his stomach.
"What!?" Dan exclaimed, failing to suppress his laugh.
Phil wiped a tear that had formed in his eye. "Do you—" Phil burst out laughing again. "Do you know how crazy you look right now?! It's like some maniac broke into my room and is tearing apart my poor bed!"
Dan chuckled before sighing and running his hands over his face. "I'm sorry, Philly, it's been… it's been a rough day."
Phil's expression softened as he got up from the bed and headed towards Dan. He placed his arms on Dan's shoulder, shifting him towards himself. Phil leaned in closer to Dan's face, gently removing his hands from his face. Dan's eyes were downcast, avoiding Phil's gaze. He furrowed his brows, making the lines on his forehead more prominent than before. Phil's chest tightened seeing Dan look so downtrodden. He yearned to see Dan's dimples appear in his cheeks after so long. Dan bit his lip before Phil placed his fingers on them, ushering him to stop. Phil placed his forehead against Dan's, cupping his face in his hands. He nuzzled against his forehead, causing Dan to giggle.
Phil leaned back and tilted Dan's face towards him. "Hey, look at me bubby."
Dan's eyes lit up, a smile tugging at his lips. That nickname was something they only reserved for each other in private. It had been so long since either of them had heard it, with a limited amount of privacy restricting them from showing much they loved each other.
Finally, Dan looked into Phil's eyes, his gaze soft and tired.
Phil chuckled. "There he is." Phil leaned his forehead against Dan's. "How about you take a shower and freshen up a bit? I'll take care of everything else."
Dan smiled, his eyes brimming with adoration. He took Phil's hand off his face and pressed a light kiss onto his wrist. Dan said nothing, but Phil knew this was his own silent way of saying "Thank you."
"Alright, I'll take a shower." Dan turned to take some clothes from his suitcase, before throwing a towel over his shoulder and making his way to the bathroom. "Don't burn the place down while I'm gone."
Phil scoffed, rolling his eyes. "I'll try not to."
Dan laughed as he shut the bathroom door behind him. Phil sighed before taking off his shoes. He began slowly unpacking important things out of their suitcase and sorting through clothes they needed to wear tomorrow. Eventually, he saw no point in continuing sorting through their clothes, so he stopped and quickly changed into his pajamas. He threw the hotel covers off the mattress and flopped himself onto the bed. Phil removed his phone from his pocket and began doom-scrolling through Twitter. He went through posts talking about their new tour, most of them being overwhelmingly positive. He smiled as he went through all the posts on his feed. Maybe the tour had been stressful for both him and Dan, but at least it was paying off. Seeing all their fans so excitedly watch their show and rave about it online quelled any worries Phil had about not making a good enough impact. Soon he yawned and checked the time. 2:00 am.
They had been late coming to the hotel thanks to traffic, which explained Phil's sudden tiredness. He yawned as he put his phone into charging and turned off the lamp beside him before tucking himself into bed. Shortly after, Dan exited the bathroom in nothing but his boxers and tumbled into bed with a sigh.
Dan switched off his lamp and turned over to Phil. "Goodnight Phil."
Phil extended his hand. Dan reached out to hold it, letting his fingers run over Phil's knuckles.
"Goodnight Danny," cooed Phil.
Dan smiled and gently let go of his hand, before turning away and resting his head on the pillow. Phil turned onto his back and closed his eyes, trying to let the gentle hum of the air conditioner lull him to sleep. Yet still he lay there, unable to drift off. He tried focusing on his breathing. Despite that, nothing changed. He groaned as his head buzzed after a long day of conversing and performing on their tour. He sighed and reached to his side instinctively, trying to curl around Dan's warm body. That always soothed his nerves when he couldn't sleep. Yet his arm met nothing. Phil's chest ached as he stared at the back of Dan's head. They had spent months cramped next to each other in an uncomfortable tour bus. Yet now all he wanted to do was pull Dan close to his chest and wrap his arms around his broad shoulders. His chest ached with the absence of the familiar warmth beside him. It was almost taunting how close, yet so far Dan was from him. If he reached out, he could run his hands along the soft expanse of Dan's skin. He didn't know if he could take it anymore. There was no way he could fall asleep in this state.
"Dan?" Phil whispered.
For a moment, there was silence. "Yes?" Dan whispered.
Phil exhaled shakily, unable to hide the quiver in his voice. "Dan, I miss you."
Dan exhaled before turning to face Phil. "God, I miss you too. I wish…"
Phil smiled weakly. "Yeah, me too."
Dan's gaze softened. "I guess we're not really good at spending time apart, huh?"
"No, I don't think so," chuckled Phil.
They stared at each for what felt like ages, Dan's tired eyes looking at Phil with a gaze so full of longing that it made him want to cry. Phil's chest ached as he weakly gripped the bedsheets beneath him, imagining it was Dan's hand.
Suddenly, Dan's eyes lit up. He slowly got out of bed and sat with his legs crossed. "Phil, are you awake enough?"
Phil lifted his head from the pillow. "I guess so."
"Let's move the beds together Phil," said Dan.
Phil shook his head. "W-What?"
"If we push the beds together, then we can have enough room for both of us," Dan looked at him pleadingly. "Please?"
Phil smiled. "Of course, why didn't we think of that sooner?"
Soon both he and Dan were out of bed, grabbing the drawers and lamps beside them and putting them to the side. Slowly, they started pushing the beds together.
Dan let out a sound of disgust as he pushed. "Ew, it looks like there's a shit stain underneath this bed."
"Well, not many people move them so they can fall asleep next to another person."
"Well of course not, we're Dan and Phil. Not like most people now, are we?"
Phil smiled as the sides of the beds squished into each other. "No, we aren't."
Phil slowly crawled back into bed, draping the blanket around himself. Dan stood there for a moment, a warm smile on his face as he gazed at Phil curled up in his blanket.
"Are you coming or what?" giggled Phil.
Dan rolled his eyes. "So impatient."
Dan flopped down onto the bed, crushing Phil's torso underneath his weight.
Phil giggled as he gently slapped Dan's back. "Get off me, you oaf!"
Dan giggled as he crawled upwards, letting his nose burrow into Phil's shoulder. Phil sighed as he felt Dan's warmth enveloping him. He wrapped his arms around Dan and pulled him closer, squeezing as tight as he could. Dan pulled Phil in, leaving soft kisses on his neck. He inhaled the scent of Phil's skin, pressing his nose closer.
"I missed you so much," Dan said, his voice rough.
"Me too. God, I missed this so much," said Phil, his voice quivering.
Dan removed his head from Phil's shoulder and cupped his face in hands, slowly leaning forward.
"Hey, I'm here now. Not going anywhere, see?" said Dan.
Phil chuckled as he let his fingers run through Dan's now curly hair. "Yeah sorry. I just… It was so hard not to touch you at least once today. God, I wanted to so badly Dan."
Dan leaned in closer, their noses almost touching. His warm breath tickled Phil's skin. "What's stopping you from touching me right now?"
Phil stopped running his fingers through Dan's curls, his breath catching in his lungs. It was dark, yet he could see Dan gazing at him with desire in his eyes.
Phil grabbed his face and pressed his lips against his, slowly wrapping his arms around his neck and tangling his fingers in his hair. Dan kissed him even deeper, running his hands through Phil's hair as he pressed him deeper into the mattress. This was what Phil had wanted for so long. To get lost in the feeling of Dan's lips, to wrap him in his arms and engulf himself in his warmth. The buzzing in Phil's head slowly disappeared as he finally felt sleep catching up to him.
Dan let go of Phil's lips before trailing more kisses downwards towards his neck, and then to his chest.
Phil placed his hand in Dan's hair. "Wait, Dan…"
Dan stopped, lifting his lips off Phil's stomach. "Yes?"
"Not tonight. My head is feeling weird today, and I'm really tired. Plus, we have to get up early tomorrow."
Dan hummed as Phil continued to run his hands through his hair. "Alright, no problem."
Dan moved upwards and cupped Phil's face in his hands. He brushed strands of hair off his face. "Are you sure your head is going to be okay? Do you need some ibuprofen? I could give you a massage if it hurts too badly."
Phil smiled as he closed his eyes and leaned into Dan's palm. "It'd be so nice if someone could kiss it better…"
Dan chuckled as placed a soft kiss onto Phil's forehead. "Better?"
"Much better," giggled Phil.
Dan nuzzled his nose into the crook of Phil's neck, inhaling the scent of his skin. He sighed as Phil wrapped his arms back around him, pulling him closer. Phil kissed the top of Dan's head and laid his head back on the pillow. They had so many things to do tomorrow. More shows to perform, after show meet and greets, press tours. Yet none of that seemed to matter at the moment. Those worries could wait until another time. Right now, with Dan wrapped in his arms after so long, was all that Phil could focus on.
"Hey Dan?" asked Phil.
Dan groaned. "What?"
"I love you."
Dan grabbed one of Phil's hands and pressed a kiss onto his knuckles. "I love you too."
Soon, Dan softly snored into Phil's shoulder. Usually they hated falling asleep cuddling, not liking the aches they would have to deal with afterwards. But right now Phil couldn't bring himself to let go of Dan. So he closed his eyes and focused on the gentle rise and fall of Dan's breaths.
Finally, he slowly drifted off into a deep sleep, with the stress of the day off his mind.