A/N: I hope this chapter isn’t too long! I was thinking about splitting it into two separate chapters, but I figured the storyline would be moving too slowly if I did that, so here. I hope you guys like this, and I hope it gives you an idea of San Diego, and Dan’s background :3 

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. Contains mild smut references.

“Here it is.” I broke an anxious silence, stopping the cab driver. He parked the car beside the sidewalk, and I let Phil climb out while I paid.
“You okay with carrying all that? Here, I’ll help.” I took a bag off of Phil, although his luggage was presumably a whole lot lighter than mine was.
“You don’t have to, Dan!”
“Well, it’s my turn to look after you.” I grinned, hauling his suitcase upright. “My er- my house is just down this road, here.” I indicated the direction we had to walk, as the cab drove off once we were sorted with our bags.
We began walking in near-silence, but Phil broke it before I had time to agonize over something positive to say.
“God, it’s hot here, isn’t it?” Phil blew a puff of air up to his forehead in an attempt to cool himself down.
“Compared to the Arctic circle you call Manchester, yeah I guess!” I chuckled. The heat didn’t really bother me, obviously. I was used to it, spending 18 years here against my will.
“I like San Diego.” Phil gazed over the city overlooking the road we were walking along. “It makes Manchester look like a toy town!”
“Pfft, I’d rather live there than here.” I mumbled, so quietly Phil barely heard me. It wasn’t something I particularly wanted him to hear me say, anyway.
I think he heard me anyway, as he seemed to understand. Without words, and even though we were carrying a substantial amount of baggage, he managed to slip his hand into mine, his grip full of support.
“Everything will be fine.” He whispered, as if my mind was literally made of glass and he could see straight through me. It was still absolutely crazy that we had known each other less than two weeks, and he already knew everything about me, inside and out. It was also crazy that I trusted him with everything about me, in contrary to the bonding anxiety I had whenever meeting new people. Phil was definitely an exception though. The only one.
“Phil…” I began, although I wasn’t exactly sure what I was going to say. I just found comfort in saying his name, knowing that he was beside me. I needed his support right now.
After a few minutes of quietly walking hand-in-hand, easing my nerves, I stopped by a wide driveway.
“Here we are.” I sighed, tightening my grip on the suitcase.
“Wow…” Phil’s eyes glittered as he took in the sight of the house standing in front of us. “Your house is really nice!”
“Really?” I raised my eyebrow skeptically at him, watching him nod eagerly.
“Thanks, I guess.” I chuckled. “Well we, erm, we’d better go in. I have a key.” I quickly added, somehow hoping on the offchance that my family might be out.
We paced up the gravel of the driveway, until we had reached the door. Taking a deep breath, I stuck the key into the lock, and turned it agonizingly slowly.
With an audible click, the door unlocked, letting us both in.
“Here we are…” I muttered forebodingly, taking Phil’s bags and putting them down at the side of the hall.
“Wow…” Phil gasped. “Are all houses like this in San Diego?”
“Er, yeah. Pretty much.” Seeing him in complete awe put a grin on my face, although in the situation we were in, I didn’t feel in much of a grinning mood. “You like it?”
“I love it!” Phil chuckled softly. “Will you give me a tour later?”
“I will, Mr. Lester.” I responded in mock-British accent, earning a playful nudge from him. I’d forgotten how beautiful he really looked, as I could finally appreciate his face in higher definition than through pixels on a laptop screen, and in all honesty, I wanted nothing more than to just push him up against the wall and start kissing him.
Although I knew this wasn’t exactly an option right now.
“Right, okay, first we’ll take your bags upstairs.” I took two of the heaviest, although I didn’t want to admit I wasn’t exactly strong, and as soon as I went for the first step, I tripped, and fell backwards.
“Whoa, you klutz!” Phil giggled as he luckily caught me.
“Shut up.” I chuckled, although he kept hold of me, as I turned round to face him. I could suddenly see the mood alter in his eyes, as he deepened the gaze with his beautifully blue coloured eyes. My breathing slowed, as I at my lower lip. I felt the intense attraction between use began leaning in, as I reciprocated, until our lips were very nearly touching, and…
*CLICK*
We ripped apart, jumping violently at the sudden movement breaking the mood completely.
My parents came through the door, my mom’s face falling when she caught sight of us.
“Why didn’t you text me that you were there?” she frowned, jumping into argument immediately.
My face flushed with second-hand embarrassment. He had barely gotten into the house, and already my parents had interrupted our almost-moment, and starting an argument without even welcoming him into our house.
“I… I forgot.”
“You ‘forgot’? That’s not good enough. You’re always forgetting everything, aren‘t you?!” She sighed exasperatedly, rolling her eyes and walking towards the kitchen. I shot Phil an apologetic look.
“Didn’t you think to say hello to Phil? Remember, our exchange we’re looking after for the next week?” I reminded her in a loud voice, my voice coloured with biting sarcasm.
“Sorry about this. I believe you’re Phil Lester?” My father turned to greet Phil, holding out his hand for Phil to shake.
“Hello, Mr. Howell.” Phil replied in a timid, polite voice. I gave my mom a hard stare behind her back, until she finally left the kitchen to acknowledge the boy she had so warmly welcomed.
“Hello. You’re Philip, aren’t you?” She nodded towards him as she walked back into the hall, forming a small cluster of us before my dad made his way upstairs, avoiding the awkward atmosphere.
“Er, it’s just Phil.” He gave a nervous smile, and nod.
“Very well. Dan, take his cases up.”
“Wow, alright then.” I rolled my eyes at her, remembering how Phil’s mum had offered me food, drink, and helped with the heavy baggage up the many stairs of Phil’s house. This must be such a contrast to him, and I already felt guilty.
Soon enough, we reached the guest room, that I had decorated with the only teddies I had, although there were nowhere near as much as Phil had given me. I put it down to YouTube fame, which I secretly so badly wanted.
“Here’s the guest room.” I nudged the door open with my hip, pulling his cases in and letting him take in his surroundings .
“I like it.” He observed, sitting down on the edge of the bed and admiring the Totoro, Pikachu, and small family of bears I had arranged carefully.
“Yeah, I thought I’d return the favour.” I forced a chuckle, sitting down beside him. “Would you like some space to unpack, and stuff?”
“I need to unpack, yeah. But can you stay with me?” Phil asked, his eyes bright.
“Of course! I was just saying that, in case you wanted some time alone, or something.” I explained, keeping my eyes to the floor. I didn’t really know how I was feeling. It almost felt as if Phil and I were strangers again, completely thrown into a new environment. It just wasn’t the same atmosphere as Manchester. We had to rebuild the passion that we so suddenly lost.
“I’ll help you unpack. Do you want any food, or something? A drink?” I stood up off the bed, manoeuvring his suitcases, as he helped me.
“Dan, you’re too nice. You don’t have to, you know.” He answered in a soft voice, folding his shirts and placing them in the closet.
“No, Phil. I want to. I want you to have exactly the same treatment as I did round yours. And that’s exactly what you’re going to get.” I told him in a slightly firm voice. “I’m really, really sorry about my parents. They’re probably just… tired, or something. Don’t worry about them.” I added quickly.
“It’s fine, Dan.” Phil reassured me in a sincere tone, and I could sense that he really meant it. But I was still annoyed with my parents for the way they had almost completely ignored him. In fact, if it wasn’t for me, they’d probably have ignored him altogether.
After a lot of folding and tidying, we had finally unpacked all of Phil’s clothes and essentials, and by this point I was hoping my family had gone somewhere that wasn’t home.
“Want something to eat, now? You must be starving.” I brushed my hand up his arm sympathetically.
“Yes please.” Phil nodded, and I led him downstairs to the kitchen. Probably the best feature of the house.
“Sit.” I playfully ordered, pointing to the breakfast bar stool in the middle of the kitchen.
“Yes sir.” Phil saluted, sitting in the designated spot.
“Twat.” I jokingly giggled, rummaging round the cupboards for something edible. By the looks of it, my family were probably out after all, which was a bonus.
I ended up making waffles for both of us, with maple syrup and coffee.
“Welcome to America, Phil!” I placed the food down in front of him once it was finished.
“Oh my god Dan, this is so nice of you. Thank you!” Phil beamed.
“It’s the least I could do! And I wanted to test out our new waffle maker.” I added, chuckling.
“You’re the best.” Phil grinned, placing a shy kiss on my cheek. My heart flipped, as I responded with an appreciative smile, familiarizing myself with his blissful touch.
After we had finished the food, I took the plates, and lazily put them in the washing-up bowl.
“So… do you want that tour?” I asked, gesturing over-dramatically to the surroundings.
“Sure!” Phil followed me, as I turned round to face him, looking back on the wide, marble surfaced kitchen.
“Yeah, er- this is the kitchen. Obviously.” I giggled.
“You have such a nice kitchen, Dan. I wish I had one as big as this.”
“Psh.” I scoffed jokingly.
“You have a breakfast bar, though!” Phil pointed to the bar he had just been sitting at.
“Yep, because every house needs a breakfast bar.” I rolled my eyes fondly, leading him onto the lounge.
“This is our lounge area, complete with an xbox, PS3 and a Wii. Because every house needs gaming equipment.” I mocked a formal voice, as he had already found my spinning cuddle-chair.
“Yeah, that’s what I sit on every day!” I laughed, sitting beside him and spinning us around playfully, until we were helpless with dizziness and laughter. I stopped the spinning, laughing harder until my head was resting on his chest.
“Oh Dan, I’ve missed you.” Phil hugged me against him, as a wide smile grew on my face.
“I’ve missed you too. So much.” I rolled over off his chest, and stared up at him, my head now lying on his lap as I gazed up at him through the wisps of brown hair in my fringe.
I would’ve been perfectly content laying like this forever with him, but we had to fit in the rest of this unofficial tour before my parents returned and ruined everything again.
“Wanna go see the rest of the house before my parents get back?” I asked, bringing my hand up and lightly running my fingers along his pale cheek, making him shiver slightly.
He nodded slowly, as I rolled completely off him, and stood up, being met with a sudden dizziness from the impact of spinning.
“Whoa, headrush!” I stumbled, as Phil caught me again.
“Shit!” He giggled.
“I’ve been doing this far too much today, oh god.” I chuckled. “Anyway, yeah, the lounge. That’s my piano, over there.” I indicated to a small, electric piano in the corner, complete with headphones plugged in, and sheets of music propped up in the stands.
“And this is kind of the dining room area, where no-one eats.” I nodded over to a room, decorated with a grandfather clock, large dining table and chandelier.
“Wow…” Phil breathed, his eyes glittering in the reflection of the light.
“Psh, we only ever use it at Christmas. It just gets ignored every other day of the year.” I shrugged, looking around it myself before guiding him out. “We can eat in there one day if you really want to.”
I was joking, but Phil seemed to appeal to the idea quite enthusiastically.
“Anyway, that’s all that’s downstairs.” I beckoned him up the stairs, wondering where to start. I’ll only briefly show him around here. It was a dangerous area.
“Right, this is, er, my parents room.” I gestured quickly, giving him a small glance before walking out again. I felt too uncomfortable in there.
“This is where the magic happens.” I introduced jokingly, pushing open my bedroom door and showing him the distinctive brown-ness of my room.
“Wow, it’s just like it is on skype!” Phil giggled, sitting himself down on the bed and staring around my room in awe. If I was honest, it wasn’t that nice. It was… uninteresting, apart from the second piano and guitar hero controllers I had stowed away in the corner of the room. I figured we’d probably end up playing then at some point during Phil’s visit.
“You’re bed’s really comfy.” He commented, bouncing up and down slightly on the edge.
“I know, right?” I raised my eyebrow, as he seemed to know what I was getting at almost immediately.
“Oh, Dan.” He smirked, as I growled playfully, and pretended to tackle him down on my bed. I wished I could let all my self-control go around him, like we probably would have done in Manchester by now, but I just couldn’t right now. Everything was so tense, and besides, this was only just first day. He was most probably still very jetlagged.
I fiddled with my sheets thoughtfully as he lay down, his head on my pillow, completely outstretched in front of me, and I couldn’t actually believe what was happening. Phil Lester, was lying in my bed. And he looked irresistible.
“Phil…” I whined, because he knew perfectly well what he was doing to me. “Not now.”
He flashed me a sexy smirk, sitting upright again, much to my disappointment.
“Okay, maybe another night.” He joked, although I was pretty pissed off with him, as he has left me half-hard against my will. Although I didn’t want to admit it to him.
We hadn’t really done… anything like that… yet, not even at his place after having a few too many drinks in his kitchen. We’d gone pretty far for two guys who had known each other for less than two weeks, just not… that far. I couldn’t tell him outright why we couldn’t do it in my house, though. I just hoped it wouldn’t go there. We’d have to be so careful.
I rolled my eyes, holding his hand and helping him upright. “Come on, before we do something we’d regret.”
“Who said anything about regretting it?” He joked.
“Oh shut up, you.” I quickly twisted around, and gave him a soft kiss, much to his surprise. He smiled, before I led him to the bathroom.
“Bathroom.” I gestured, nudging the door open. “It’s er…. It’s a bathroom.”
“Well observed.” He giggled, studying the tiled walls and rubber ducks.
“Hey Dan… what’s this room?” Phil curiously stared at a door I had avoided.
“That’s, um, that’s my brother’s room…” I trailed off, desperately finding something to change the subject.
“Can’t we go in?” He put his head to one side, approaching the door carefully as if some rabid dog was lurking behind the door.
“I don’t know if he’s in…” I excused, although if he was, we’d probably be able to hear his music from a mile off.
“Oh, okay.” Phil luckily dropped the subject of going into his room, which I was thankful for. “What’s your brother’s name, again?”
It occurred to me that I hadn’t even told him his name. I tried to avoid talking about him at all costs. We weren’t close, at all, unlike Phil and his brother.
“Adam.” I muttered.
“Ah, okay. Do you think I’ll get to meet him?”
Phil’s friendly nature had really got the better of him situations such as this.
“Probably, I don’t know. How about we go watch a movie or something?”
“Have you got The Shining?” Phil asked, a smile growing on his face.
“Let’s go check!” I guided him down the stairs, and into the lounge, sitting him down on the cuddle chair, as I sat beside him. I was making the most of our quality close-time while I possibly could, resting my head on his chest like we had done previously, breathing in his addictive scent, and snaking my arms around his perfectly defined body, as we tried to concentrate on the movie, but I was concentrating on something a lot more important than the movie right now.