A/N: Okay so I’m sorry if things aren’t 100% in a few places, I’m so sleep deprived I’m not even sure what year it is anymore >< Anyway, I hope you like this, and things will begin to heat up in Chapter 14!

Dan is an American teenage boy living in San Diego, and goes on an exchange field trip to England. But who’s his exchange student? Read on to find out more!

DISCLAIMER: Obviously (and unfortunately) everything I have written is entirely fictional. I am not claiming Phan is real.

I stared at the clock on my laptop, waiting for it to strike midnight.
As soon as I saw the 00:00 strike up, I eagerly logged onto Skype, and waited.
Within not much longer than 2 minutes, I saw Phil’s name flash up, with an IM.
“Hello ^__^ <3”
I grinned, feeling a warmth in my heart. He felt so close to me, despite being halfway around the world.
“Hi Phil. Call, please? <3” I typed back, my hands still shaking slightly from the undying thrill of talking to him.
I sat in silence, biting my thumbnail anxiously, until the “Phil Lester calling” icon flashed up, along with the repetitive Skype tune.
I desperately checked my fringe in the mirror, making sure I looked as acceptable as I could for him, before taking a deep breath and clicking “Accept”. I didn’t quite know why this was deemed such a daunting task for me; I’d done it every single night for the past week.
“Good morning.” Phil yawned, his hair messed and ruffled, hanging lazily over his forehead. I felt my heart begin to ache at the flawless sight of him in my computer screen.
“It’s midnight here!” I whispered in an attempt to keep my voice down; although I didn’t really know why. My parents weren’t home yet, and Adam was asleep.
“Well, it’s still morning then, isn’t it?” Phil flicked his hair out of his eyes, smiling softly into the webcam.
“I miss you so bad.” I whispered in a sad tone.
“Hey, hey.” Phil stopped me. “Only one more night, Dan. In the morning, I’ll be in the same countr– no, the same CITY as you. We’ll be seeing each other, literally tomorrow. You survived 5 nights, I think you just might be okay with one more.”
“Oh, Phil.” I melted into a smile. “I can’t wait to see you.”
“That’s better.” Phil chuckled. “Me neither. Even my mum was talking about how quiet it was without you around!”
I felt a pang for Phil’s mom. “I miss her! Tell her I say hi.”
“Okay.” Phil replied, turning towards the door. “MUUUMM!” He called for her, much to my surprise. I wouldn’t have thought she would be awake, yet.
“She’s on her way.” He commented, hearing footsteps up to his room, before the door opened.
“Yes?” Phil’s mom walked into the blue-greenness of his room. The room that I would give up everything to be in right now.
“Dan’s here.” He turned the laptop to her, as I saw the familiar woman stare at the laptop, before breaking into a smile.
“Dan! Hello, sweetheart!” She waved, as I returned the gesture.
“Hi, Mrs. Lester!” I greeted, feeling my spirits lift as she engaged me in light conversation.
“How are you? Looking forward to seeing Phil again?”
“Very much.” I admitted. “What time are you leaving, Phil?”
“Erm…” Phil glanced down at his wristwatch. “About 2 hours. It’s like, 6 in the morning.” He yawned again, running his hands through his hair.
“You should’ve gone to bed earlier then!” Phil’s mom pretended to swat him with her dishcloth. “Anyway, I’ll leave you boys to it. I miss you, Dan!” She grinned at the webcam.
“I miss you too!” I grinned back, although deep inside I felt like crying. Why couldn’t I have a mom like Phil’s? Although even I hated to admit it, she probably cared about me more than my own.
**
“Dan, I have to go now. My flight’s leaving soon!”
I checked the clock. 2 hours had never gone so fast, ever.
“Oh, okay.” I nodded. I figured I should probably be getting some sleep too.
“I’ll see you in less than 7 hours. Besides, you still have to sleep.” He reassured.
“But I just want you now!” I whined reluctantly.
“Shh. Only 7 hours.” Phil gazed into the webcam screen.
“I love you.” I whispered, still finding the use of that word very overwhelming.
“I love you too.” He gestured a hand heart, before ending the call. It felt as if we had been cut off forever.
I shut my laptop, pushing it under the bed as I clasped my childhood bear, holding it against me and breathing in its soft, vanilla smell. I still hadn’t gotten myself used to sleeping alone, although before Phil it was literally all I used to do. Apart from a few nights with my girlfriend, although that was several years ago, and looked like nothing at all compared to nights with Phil.
Reflecting back on the previous Skype calls this week, and the hundreds of hours on the phone, I cuddled up to my pillow as a Phil substitute, and very gradually fell into an uneven sleep.
***
“Mom says get up.” Adam knocked loudly on my door, waking me the following morning.
I moaned exhaustedly, regretting spending half the night not sleeping. I shook out my hair and stood up, getting a headrush from nerves and fatigue, and stumbled into the bathroom.
The shower managed to calm my nerves, the hot water releasing the knots of tension in my muscles. It was only Phil. I repeated. Only Phil. It’s only Phil. It’s okay.
Once I finished showering, I slumped in my room in a towel, agonizing over what to wear. Would Phil prefer me in my hoodie, or printed shirt? What about the checked one he complimented last week?
I settled on wearing the same jumper as I did on the very first day we met; the black and white one, with horns on the hood. I hoped Phil would understand the significance.
I decided to skip breakfast; I was too worked up, and I wasn’t even hungry. I rushed downstairs to grab the flat irons, to be forced into stilted conversation with my Mom.
“When is Phil coming, then?” She glanced at the clock.
“I’m going to the airport to pick him up in about a half hour.” I mumbled in response.
“And how are you getting there? I’m not driving you.” She answered from the kitchen.
“Of course you aren’t.” I muttered sarcastically, before raising my voice to her audibility. “I’m getting a cab.”
“Oh. Okay. Text me when you’re there.” She mentioned, as I sprayed my hair into place, wanting to make sure I looked perfect.
“Bye.” I called, grabbing the keys and slamming the door behind me before she could respond. I just wanted an excuse to get out of the house.
I paced down the sidewalk, until I had reached the train station, where the cabs were parked. Taking a deep breath, feeling my heart jump to my throat at the thought of interaction with the driver, I swallowed my fears, and climbed in the back seat.
“Where to?” He asked, seemingly bored.
“S-San Diego International Airport, please.” I managed to stutter, shutting myself away from conversation with the help of my headphones.
I stared out the window, remembering doing the same action exactly a month ago, whilst I was in a city I actually wanted to be in, felt at home in, and liked a lot more than this.
I couldn’t stop thinking about Phil.
What if he’s changed his mind?
What if he sees me in real life and forgot that I wasn’t-
No. Shut up. This is Phil. The same Phil who left that note in your bag confessing his love for you. The other half of my brain scolded me, as I reached inside my bag, pulling out the note and stroking it thoughtfully, reading over the lettering again, although I already knew it word-for-word.
After what seemed like forever, I finally caught sight of the airport in the distance, willing the cab to approach it faster. In less than 10 minutes, I would finally be re-united with him. And I couldn’t wait a single moment longer.
Finally, we pulled up in the parking lot, as I fumbled in my wallet miscellaneous 10 dollar notes, most of which were the conversions of the leftover money I had from the £500 I was given to go to Manchester with. I was a money hoarder, to say the least.
“Thanks.” I handed him the money, before rushing out of the cab and almost falling over in the process. Clumsy shit.
I walked as quickly as I could to the airport, knowing I was already relatively late, although I had a text from Josh this morning telling me the flight was delayed by a few minutes, so I supposed it wouldn’t really be much of a deal.
I hated the feel of the hot, American sun beating down in the city. It felt like a lego model trapped in an oven. That’s what San Diego looked like, anyway. As false as Lego.
I entered the building, finding the International Arrivals section pretty quickly, and running along the escalator; even though I knew this would be a ridiculous idea after what happened last time I ran up an escalator. The scar’s still on my elbow.
“Dan!” I heard a voice call from behind me. I turned around, too see Josh beckoning me over to join him and Dennis.
“Hi, guys.” I grinned, trying to hide my nerves.
“They’re coming home today.” Dennis grinned, obviously proud that he’d managed to work at least something out.
“Yes they are. Well observed.” Josh joked, giving him a sarcastic clap.
“What time are they coming?” I asked, trying to find the flight from Manchester on the billboard.
“Well, they should have landed… oh. Now.” He peered at his watch, staring outside expectantly. “I think that’s their jet plane. The one getting the tunnel attached to it, now.”
“Ah. Right.” I gave out a small shiver of anxiety, my hands suddenly going a little stiff and numb.
“You alright?” Josh asked.
“Me? Oh yeah, fine. Just a little nervous.” I admitted truthfully.
“You’ll be fine. Only like 3 more minutes to go.” He glanced at his watch again.
“Good.” I mumbled, staring at the window as if Phil was to fly through the glass right now.

“It’s been over 5 minutes.” I complained, staring at the time.
“Just give them time. Maybe they’re still looking for their bags.”
“But their flight landed ages ago!” I groaned, beginning to get impatient. All I wanted to do was-
“RAWR!” A voice growled into my ear, as I felt two familiar hands begin to claw at me affectionately from behind. I swivelled around, and there he was. My Phil.
“PHIL!” I shrieked, throwing myself into his arms, and hugging him as tightly as I could, our arms completely wrapped around each other’s, and our bodies pressed tightly together. It felt as if I had been missing a whole piece of myself, that I’d just found again. For the first time in 5 days, I felt complete. I felt whole.
I nuzzled my face into the crook of his neck, wanting to cherish this moment forever.
“Oh Dan.” Phil whispered, and I could feel the smile in his voice. I pulled away from the hug, wanting to make this moment between us slightly more private. Preferably when we were back home.
After I had pulled away from Phil properly, I began to go round the crowd, hugging everyone else, and making small conversation with them all.
“Dan!” Charlie exclaimed, pulling me in for a tight hug.
“Hey.” I smiled, hugging him back. I’d missed Charlie, especially. Despite the blatantly obvious fact that was absolutely nothing compared to the traumatic experience of missing Phil.
After I had hugged and talked to everyone who I was friends with, they started dividing into their pairs. Oh god. Time to bring Phil home.
I thought about stopping off for a drink at Starbucks to postpone the dreaded experience, before I figured it would probably be best for Phil if we just returned home, so he could rest. He was still probably very jetlagged from the flight.
As the cab driver was listening to music through his headphones, the conversation between us was no longer limited. As soon as we were in the cab, I shuffled up closer to Phil, and slipped my hand into his, clasping it as if I could never bear to let him go. I felt as if at any moment, I could just wake up from a dream, in an alternate universe where none of this even existed.
Thankfully, however, this didn’t happen.
“So how are you? How was your flight?” I asked softly.
“It was… tiring.” Phil replied, beginning to yawn, before putting his arm discreetly around my waist. “I just wanted to get here.”
Phil stared out of the window, obviously impressed by what he saw.
“How can you not like it here, Dan?” He whispered, turning to me. “It’s beautiful.”
Well, I couldn’t exactly tell him that It wasn’t JUST the look of the place that didn’t exactly appeal to me. It was the memories it held, and the life I had here, from Childhood up until now.
“I don’t know.” I lied, shrugging. “Maybe it’s because I see stuff like this every day. You soon get bored of it, don’t you worry.” I smirked, taking in his expressions as my eyes studied the sheer beauty of his face. I was just so… lucky. So lucky to have someone like Phil in my life. So lucky to have Phil to care, and look out for me.
I let the tips of my thumb run over his skin on his hands affectionately, just appreciating his existence. Appreciating this small piece of quality time we could enjoy, before having to take him home to meet my family.
Although he didn’t, I could tell that he wanted to ask about where my family were. We didn’t have a cab when Phil picked me up in Manchester, although I quickly learnt they were called ‘Taxi’s’ over there. I didn’t want to mention that they were too busy to even care about their son’s exchange student who would be living with them for several days, being trusted with a sum of money and a cab to order, to travel there instead of them driving us back like every other normal parent.

I was terrified of Phil meeting my family. Absoutely terrified.