Heyo!

Word count: 5621

Summary: Phil has been blind since he was five years old, but somewhere along the line he met Dan, and everything was okay.

Warnings: none, other than some sadness at the beginning because blindness.

"I'm scared" Phil admitted shakily "what if it doesn't work?"

Dan placed his hands on Phil's shoulders in reassurance. "You don't have to worry about that right now - this is just an appointment, right?"

"Just an appointment" Phil repeated in a whisper.

Dan pressed a kiss lightly to Phil's forehead and linked their arms as Phil got out his cane. "You're going to be fine, I promise" Dan told him determinedly.

Phil nodded nervously and they continued walking.

Retinal detachment

That's what they told him when he was about five years old. He had a tear in his eye and soon they weren't going to work anymore.

That had terrified him.

He couldn't imagine not being able to see.

The doctor told his parents he was too young to have the operation, and by the time he was old enough, it would be too late.*

So sure enough, by the time he was six years old, he was blind.

Life had become so much harder for him then - he had just learnt how to read, and yet he now had to forget everything about that, he had to learn a new way of reading, he kept stumbling into things and no one wanted to be his friend because they thought he was weird.

After all, what kind of person can't see?

By the time Phil started high school, he was a recluse. He barely talked to anyone, let alone his parents. He decided that he was just going to stay out of everyone's way, keep his head down and study, just like his parents told him to.

Except… that plan kind of backfired.

He was walking down the hallway, trying to rush to his next class so he wouldn't be late when someone bumped into him, and they both fell down

"Oof! Oh wow, I'm so sorry I wasn't looking where I was going!" Apologised the person.

The voice was distinctly male, roughly Phil's age, if he had to guess.

Phil just nodded, to show he understood. He was just starting to get up when a hand grasped his, helping up the rest of the way.

"Hey, cool John Lennon glasses… oh wait" the voice took on an embarrassed edge and Phil heard his palm coming up to meet his face "you're blind. Oh god why did I say that. I'm an idiot. Sorry."

Phil giggled slightly.

"Um-yea-s-sorry for knocking you down, maybe I'll see you around?" He proposed, and Phil raised an eyebrow - he wasn't seeing anything anytime soon.

"Oh god" he cringed "I'm just going to leave before I make an even bigger idiot of myself. I'm so sorry."

Phil giggled again and waved as he heard footsteps rush past him. He had found the boy's awkwardness strangely heartwarming, and he was glad that he actually stopped to apologise rather than just walking past him.

Phil pressed the button on his phone, playing the track with his timetable for the day on it.

"…Monday, week A" the automated voice relayed "first period: science. Room 23."

Crap! I'm going the wrong way!

Phil turned around and ran back along the corridor, cane sweeping a wide berth in front of him.

He felt the number plates beside the doors, his fingers searching for the braille lettering; 21…22… 23!

He popped open the face of his watch and felt where the hands were pointing. So he wasn't late. Good.

Turning the handle slowly, Phil opened the door and stepped inside, his cane mapping out what was in front of him.

Tap

Tap tap tap

Tap tap

The only sound in the room was his cane bouncing on the floor as he tried to find an empty seat. After several awkward touches and tense exchanges, he found a free seat up the back.

Phil slumped down with a sigh, and the conversations slowly started up again, to his relief. Feeling as though the zipper on his schoolbag was much too loud, he got out his laptop.

He felt weird and awkward, having to use a laptop with braille keys instead of paper and pen like everyone else, but he didn't have any other option.

About halfway through the lesson, Phil heard someone tapping on their desk, but it wasn't the normal kind of tapping.

Someone was tapping out a message in morse code.

Bored, bored, bored, bored…

Phil giggled slightly to himself, of course that's the only thing anyone would tap out in this class.

When will we ever need to know what kind of waves move faster? The person tapped.

Phil hesitated slightly before drumming his fingers on the table.

I don't know

There was no reply for a while, and Phil worried that he had scared the person off - who even knows morse code in high school anyway?!

Well, the answer is never.

Phil smiled.

You'll need it for the test.

Oh shut up.

Still smiling, Phil turned his attention back to what the teacher was saying and started typing down what she was saying.

Who are you?

He stopped typing, and looked down slowly at the question.

The blind kid in the corner

You're the one I ran into in the corridor

Phil stopped tapping and brought his head back up, smiling slightly.

Hi again he greeted.

"Daniel Howell and Phillip Lester, would you two mind horribly if you stopped that heinous tapping so I could get on with my lesson?" The teacher snapped. Phil smirked at the annoyed edge in her voice and put his fingers back to the keys, not moving them.

Hi

"Howell I swear if you do that one more time-"

—

"Hey Phil!" Dan called "come over here!"

"What?" Phil asked.

"Oh stop being so grumpy, it's the last day of high school, be happy!" Dan chided playfully, shaking Phil's shoulders.

"Dan" Phil laughed. "anyway, what is it?"

Dan smirked and pecked Phil's cheek. "Can't I kiss my boyfriend without having an ulterior motive?" he asked innocently.

"You're an idiot" Phil giggled. Dan laughed, cupped his cheek and pressed their lips together softly.

"Get a room!" a girl yelled at them, Phil flipped her off and kissed back.

They parted, breathing slightly heavier than usual. Phil smiled as Dan kissed him quickly before placing some oversized sunglasses on Phil's face.

"Dan," Phil laughed, bringing his hand up to trace the outrageous accessory.

"You love it."

The pair linked arms as the bell rang, and made their way to first period. Phil had abandoned the cane long ago, opting instead to hold onto Dan's arm and have him lead.

"What are you doing on the weekend?" Dan asked "anything interesting?"

Phil shook his head. "I don't think so. Probably celebrating."

"Well then, would you like to come to the park with me?" Dan proposed.

"Will there be pop tarts?"

"When are there not pop tarts?"

Phil laughed and they entered the classroom. Smirking, Phil exchanged the silly oversized glasses for some smaller, round ones.

"Noooo keep them ooooooon" Dan whined.

"Are you kidding? No" Phil retorted.

There were footsteps coming into the room, and everyone silenced. Phil frowned, these were definitely not the sneaker-type shoes of Mr. Wills - they sounded like business shoes, the kind that clicked when you walked.

"Oh shit. Substitute" Dan whispered to him.

"My name is Mr. Smith, and I will be taking over this class today" He introduced "I was told there was a person here with a visual impairment. Could that student please raise their hand?"

Phil hesitantly brought his arm up and the footsteps started walking towards his desk.

"Right, I assume you have someone to take down all your notes? Do I need to talk slowly so you can understand what I'm teaching?" he asked with an almost condescending tone.

"Phil's not dumb, Sir" Dan stated "and he takes his own notes down, he has his laptop."

"Of course he can't, he's blind" Mr. Smith stated "how can he type if he can't see?"

"My laptop has braille keys, Sir" Phil pointed out meekly.

"Even then, you's probably to slow at typing or make too many errors"

"Mr. Smith" Dan cut in "are you aware that what you're saying is discrimination against blind people?"

"No, I'm stating the facts" Mr. Smith told him pretentiously.

"You're saying that Phil is dumb and helpless, which files under discrimination Sir, and that's illegal" Dan quipped, smirking.

Mr. Smith stared at Dan for a while, red-faced with anger, before turning and walking back to the front of the classroom.

"I told you law would be a good elective" Phil smirked.

"Yes you did" Dan laughed "and I still hate it but man, his face. It was all red and splotchy, as if he couldn't believe someone would talk back to him."

Phil hi-fived Dan and turned back to his desk.

"Hey Dan?" Phil murmured "thanks."

Dan smiled and tapped his pen against the table.

I love you

He stared up at the teacher innocently and repeated the pattern.

I love you, I love you, I love you-

Phil slammed his hand down in the desk and Dan looked over at him, laughing victoriously.

Little bit red?

Shut up.

Phil turned his head to where he knew Dan was and stuck his tongue out.

I hate you

nah

Dan lightly bumped Phil on the shoulder and smiled before getting on with the work.

"I'm so done with this" Dan sighed as he dropped his pen on the table "I swear, if we had to go through just one more day of this I would literally die."

"No you wouldn't" Phil sang.

"Phil this is the last day of school. I really don't care about the proper use of the word 'literally.'"

"Tell me what you look like," Phil asked softly as they were walking down the street, high school officially done and dusted.

"I have brown hair that's naturally curly but I straighten it because it looks horrible, brown eyes, I'm almost as tall as you and I have dimples when I smile," Dan recited, giving the same answer he always gave.

"Come on Dan," Phil pleaded.

"What else do you want me to say? I'm not particularly interesting," Dan told him.

"I don't know, but the image I have now is rather a disturbing one."

Dan thought for a moment before taking Phil's hands. "Here," he whispered, and placed Phil's palms on his cheeks, "you said you see better by touching things, right?"

Phil nodded and brought one of his hands into Dan's hair, ruffling the carefully straightened tresses just to spite him.

He trailed his palms down prominent cheekbones and ghosted his fingertips over delicate eyelids, before tracing around the lips he already knew so well.

"Ok, I think I know… well, as much as I can," Phil kissed Dan on the cheek and took a step back, keeping their hands joined, "and I think you're beautiful."

"Faggots!" Someone yelled from behind them. Phil knew this voice… it was Chase, a boy who was so eager to please his father he agreed with everything he said. Especially about same-sex attracted people.

"Oh take your head out of your arse and run back to daddy" Dan shouted back.

Phil burst into laughter at the stunned silence that followed.

An arm looped around his shoulders. "Run" Dan whispered in his ear excitedly.

Of course they were chasing us, Phil thought. Nonetheless, he put one foot in front of the other and followed Dan's lead as they sprinted away from everything.

—

"I hate law," Dan grumbled as Phil heard the creaking of bedsprings, indicating that Dan had flopped down onto his bed in exasperation.

"If you loathe it so much, why don't you switch majors?" Phil proposed.

"You heard what mum sounded like when I told her what I was doing, Dad too," Dan lamented, "and what would I change it too anyway?"

Phil shrugged and continued to run his fingers over the small bumps in his book. "It's kind of ironic how I'm doing English Lit in braille," Phil mused, "I wonder what calligraphy looks like…"

"It's weird and loopy and no one can read it," Dan deadpanned.

"Guess I'm not missing out then."

"You're really not."

Phil closed his books, put them down and held his arms out in Dan's general direction, making grabby motions. He heard his boyfriend chuckle softly, then the creaking of bedsprings, footsteps, and then there was Dan's warmth in his arms. Phil smiled and kissed the top of Dan's head.

"You'll get through this," He murmured softly.

Phil checked the clock. They still had time before Phil had to go to his lecture, so he leaned back and pulled Dan down so they were both lying down.

"I wish the beds were big enough to do this more often," Dan whispered.

"We can push them together tomorrow," Phil promised, "sleep now, re-decorating later."

Beep beep beep beep beep be-

Dan's hand retreated under the covers before it could get cold, and Phil let out a grunt of reluctance, knowing that he had to get to his lecture.

"Dan," Phil roused his sleeping boyfriend, "Dan I have to get to my lecture."

Dan pouted but shuffled over so Phil could get out of the bed.

"Be careful," he called sleepily as Phil reached for his cane under his bed.

"I always am," Phil replied, reaching out fro Dan's head and kissing him on the forehead.

"Phil you almost kissed my eye," Dan laughed.

"The key word being almost."

"Just go to your lecture you loser."

Phil laughed. "Love you," he called over his shoulder as he picked up his cane and walked out the door.

"Love you too," was the sleepy response.

Phil still felt slightly weird without Dan's presence next to him and their arms linked. Six years of constantly being around each other will do that too you, I guess, Phil thought.

He and Dan had already familiarised themselves with the campus, as they both knew Phil would need to know his way around to be able to get to his classes.

Just as he was turning the corner, he bumped into someone and they both fell down.

"Sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going," he apologised. His voice was nice and it had an edge to it that made it sound like he didn't know how to turn his sarcasm off.

"Oh, and neither were you by the looks of it," he joked.

Well, that was unexpected. Usually people start apologising profusely and checking to see if he was hurt in any way, before guiding him to where he was going.

"Sorry, was that insensitive?" He asked, "I can't tell if you're going to laugh or storm off… well, as best as you can-sorry I'm just going to shut up."

Phil giggled. "No, it was funny," he promised.

"That's good then," his voice had perked up, "where're you off to then?"

"English lit, you?" Phil asked, trying to put a personality to the voice.

"Same. Well, I'm also doing theatre, but my parents told me I had to do something 'serious' if I chose theatre."

Silence fell for a brief moment, before-

"There was air quotations around the word serious."

"Oh, I heard them."

The pair started walking down the hallway, chatting like they already knew each other.

Phil had found it incredibly difficult typing up his notes with Chris whispering things like 'his toupee is literally about to fall off' in his ear the entire time.

"What's up?" Chris asked when Phil didn't move away from the hallway, "being dismissed means you're meant to move away from the classroom."

Phil laughed. "Yes, I'm aware, my boyfriend's picking me up… if he can be bothered to get out of bed, that is."

"Doesn't sound like much of a boyfriend if he keeps you waiting," Chris joked.

"He won't," Phil shrugged, "and besides, I'm pretty sure I'm a bit more of an annoyance to him, so I can afford to wait a bit."

"Now who said you're an annoyance, Phillip."

"Dan," Phil smiled and turned towards his voice, "you're getting better at creeping up on me."

"It's good to see you too," Dan drawled sarcastically.

Phil held out his arms, pouting and Dan just laughed and hugged him, like he always does.

"Who's this?" he asked when he realised it wasn't just the two of them.

"This is Chris," Phil introduced, "he bumped into me and cracked jokes the entire lecture and now I think we're friends."

Chris chuckled. "Yeah, that's pretty accurate."

"Chris, this is Dan. My boyfriend for about four years now and we met when Dan ran into me then started tapping on a table."

Dan laughed at Phil's description and waved at Chris.

"Here," Phil said, pulling his phone out of his pocket, "put your number in."

Chris did, and gasped when he realised what time it was. "Oh crap, hey it's been really nice meeting you and I'll see you in English Phil but I really gotta go - bye!"

"Well he seemed nice," Dan commented.

"He is," Phil agreed.

"You know we still have to push the beds together," Dan reminded.

"You're not going to make a poor disabled blind person move furniture, are you?"

"You better believe I am."

—

"Oh yea? Well I hate it, Dan. I hate it and I hate you."

Phil had regretted the words as soon as he said them.

The silence was palpable, Phil could hear Dan's heavy breathing and his footsteps moving past him, he could hear his voice when he said "I'm going out."

He heard the door slam angrily and he heard the silence that followed.

Tears were pooling in his eyes and falling down his cheeks as the cane dropped from his grasp and he sunk down to the ground.

Couples fought. Phil knew this and they were no exception, but this was a whole new level of argument.

"I'm sorry," Phil whispered to to empty space around him. Their college dorm was small, box-like really, but Phil had never felt more out in the open, more exposed.

More alone.

What were they even arguing about? Something stupid, like Dan being too protective or Phil forgetting to close the cupboards again. Some stupid little thing that just got blown out of proportion as the argument went on.

Suddenly, it was about every little thing about Dan that annoyed Phil and he just couldn't keep his mouth shut.

For half an hour, Phil sat slumped against the wall with his head in his hands, cursing at the empty room around him.

Click.

Phil's head perked up - that was the sound of a key being turned in the lock.

Thump.

The door being opened.

R-r-r-r…

The squeak that they never got round to fixing.

"Dan?" Phil whispered cautiously.

"It's me," was the reply.

"I- um- I just," there was a lump in Phil's throat and he couldn't get the words out, "Dan I…"

"Yea," Dan said as he padded up to Phil's curled form, "me too."

Phil heard Dan sit down behind him and turned around, palms outstretched. Dan guided Phi's hands to his face, smiling softly.

"You've been crying," Phil whispered.

"So have you."

Slowly, carefully, Phil pulled him into an embrace. Dan pressed Phil closer to him and the only thing he could hear was Dan's laboured breathing.

"You ran," Phil guessed, "you ran all the way back here."

Dan pulled away. "I didn't want you to be alone," he replied softly as he cupped Phil's cheek.

"I am so, so sorry Dan," Phil whimpered, a tear rolling down his face.

"I'm sorry too," Dan apologised, wiping away the tear, "next time you start to feel like that though - tell me?"

Phil nodded and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend once again, smiling softly.

—

"What about this place?" Dan suggested, "it's in a nice place and it looks pretty cool."

"How much is it?"

Dan flipped a couple of pages over in the magazine. "Too much," he sighed.

"We're never gonna find a place!" Phil moaned dramatically, sliding down the couch and landing hard on the floor.

Dan laughed and sat down next to him, looping an arm around Phil's shoulders. "Yes we will, just you wait," he promised.

Phil smiled and leant into Dan. "If you say so," he conceded, "just promise you won't make the room look like it crawled out of a 2005 mysapce page…that's the really cringy one you won't talk about, right?"

"It is, and I am offended by that accusation" Dan gasped in mock hurt.

"Shut up Daniel," Phil shot back, grinning playfully.

"Well, there's a viewing for a couple of apartments soon," Dan commented, "if we leave now we'll make it."

Phil smiled and stuck his arms out. "Help me up?" he asked innocently.

"Calm down Phil, I haven't even gotten up yet," Dan chuckled.

Phil heard Dan's socks swish against the carpet and his knee click as he rose, before tugging on Phil's arms and bringing him in close.

"Well hello there," Dan greeted cheekily, his breath warm against Phil's skin.

"Hi," Phil giggled, looping his arms around his boyfriend's neck, "remember when you were shorter than me?"

"Hmmm…. nope," Dan dismissed before pressing his lips against Phil's and linking their arms.

"Ah, could you pass me my glasses please?" Phil asked, "they should be on the table somewhere…"

"Here you go," Dan chirped as he placed something plastic in Phil upturned palm.

"I said my glasses Dan, not your glasses."

Phil felt the familiar wire in his hand and he put them on.

"One day, I will fool you into putting something stupid on," Dan promised, opening the door and pulling Phil through before locking it again.

"I've got something stupid on my arm," he quipped, giggling as he felt Dan bump his shoulder slightly but tighten his grip on Phil's arm to make sure he didn't fall over.

They stepped outside and Phil smiled as he breathed in the smell of coffee, warmth and Dan's aftershave.

"It's really sunny out today, right?" he asked, turning his face up to the sky.

"It is," Dan confirmed, "which is strange for England."

"And we're going to spend the entire day inside looking at apartments."

"Yes."

Apartment number one was a weird shape, according to Dan, and the carpet felt odd, according to Phil.

Definite no.

Phil liked apartment number two, but Dan said that was only because he couldn't see.

A no for that one as well.

Apartment number three was nice, it had a circular lounge and a nice view, but there were floor-to-ceiling windows everywhere. Phil had felt around the apartment and told Dan it was 90% windows and 10% wall.

Apartment number three was a reluctant no.

Phil had a good feeling about number four, and even though he could hear sirens about every five minutes, he liked it. Dan was wary about the abundance of stairs, and knew those stairs would be his only source of exercise.

"I like it," Phil smiled, leaning into Dan.

"Me too."

They had been saving up for a while now, and they were just able to pay for the apartment. After signing the necessary papers, talking about rent due dates and how to manage the place, it was theirs.

Theirs.

—

"Phil!" Dan called, and Phil heard his heavy footsteps rushing from their bedroom. Judging from his tone, there was either something immensely exciting or horribly awful going on.

"Phil Phil Phil Phil Phil," Dan exclaimed, "you won't believe what I just found!"

"Do tell," he replied, still running his fingertips over the small bumps in his book.

"New technology makes retinal reattachment a commercially available surgery," Dan's voice was monotonous, so Phil could tell he was reading something off his computer.

Then the words sunk in.

"R-Retinal reattachment?" he whispered, hardly daring to let himself say those words, "are you sure?"

"I have never been more sure of anything in my life," Dan confirmed, pressing kisses to Phil's face, "just say the word and I can make an appointment."

"You're sure though, right?" Phil repeated, not wanting any form of false hope after all these years.

"Phil," Dan cupped Phil cheek and pressed a soft kiss to the corner of his mouth, "I'm sure, and it's entirely up to you if you want to do it."

"What's the success rate?" he asked nervously.

"Hold on a second.." Dan trailed off and Phil could hear the clicking of his keyboard keys.

"Success rate is 98.2 percent."

The next week, Dan and Phil were walking towards the hospital. Phil felt like he was going to explode.

"I'm scared" he admitted shakily "what if it doesn't work?"

Dan placed his hands on Phil's shoulders in reassurance. "You don't have to worry about that right now - this is just an appointment, right?"

"Just an appointment" he repeated in a whisper.

Dan pressed a kiss lightly to Phil's forehead and linked their arms as Phil got out his cane. "You're going to be fine, I promise" Dan told him determinedly.

Phil nodded nervously and they continued walking.

"Turn left," Dan whispered in his ear, putting a small amount of pressure on Phil's arm to make sre he didn't bump into any door frames.

"Just an appointment," Phil muttered to himself.

"Stop," Dan told him, and Phil heard a wheelchair roll past, followed by footsteps.

Phil wrinkled his nose. "I don't like the smell of this place," he mumbled distastefully, "smells too clean and weird."

Dan chuckled softly. "Nothing you can do about that I'm afraid Lion, it's a hospital."

Phil zoned out as Dan talked to the person at the front desk, both voices slightly blurry.

He felt Dan tugging on his arm gently, leading him down an echoing hallway and into a quiet room.

"Hello Phil, I'm Doctor Milah," a light, female voice introduced.

"Nice to meet you," he greeted, tightening his grip on their linked arms.

"And you must be Dan," she continued, "today will be just a few questions then an exam to see how much damage there is, ok?"

Phil gulped and nodded.

Dan guided him to a hard hospital bed. "I'm just going to sit down, don't worry I'm still here," Dan whispered in his ear.

"I'll be back shortly, ok boys?" the doctor told them, and Phil heard the squeaky hospital door swing open, the click shut.

They kept their hands joined as Dan plonked down into a chair, and Phil felt a rush of gratitude for the man who had stayed by him all these years.

"Thank you," Phil whispered, afraid that saying any more would make him cry or jump up and down in excitement, "for everything."

There was a soft, comforting weight pressed against his hand. Dan had kissed him.

"You don't need to thank me for anything."

The squeak of the door, then it clicked shut.

Footsteps made their way up to Phil and stopped just to the side of him. He head something being placed on the bed next to him.

"Alright Phil, I'm just going to shine this light in your eyes," Doctor Milah told him.

Phil heard the clicking of the button as she turned it on, but nothing else.

She asked him some questions and turned his head every which way. He then had to lie down and close his eyes as something cold was smeared on his eyelids.

Phil shivered uncomfortably.

"This is so I can scan your eye," she explained, "it's an ultrasound."

After several minutes, she carefully wiped the coldness off his eyelids and sat him back up.

There was a weight on the bed next to him, and an arm was placed around his shoulders. Phil leaned into Dan and leant his head on his chest.

"Alright, now all we need to do is make another appointment… if you still want to go through with it?" the doctor asked.

Phil nodded.

"Cool, so this is how it's going to work," she started cheerily, "you'll come here and we'll perform a

Photocoagulation** on you - that's a type of laser surgery - after that we'll wrap your eyes up to protect them from the light for about a week. You'll probably stay here for that week, ok?"

"Ok."

"That's all then, I'll see you next Monday?" she prompted.

"Monday works. same time?" Dan asked.

The doctor must have nodded, because Dan thanked her and got off the bed. Phil held his hands out and Dan wrapped his arms around him before lifting him off and placing his feet on the floor.

"You can get out of a bed yourself, you know that right?" Dan asked sarcastically as they exited the building.

"Yes, but I like it when you do it."

"Dork."

—

"This is so surreal," Phil whispered as he sat on the hospital bed a week later, "I can't believe this is actually happening."

Dan let out a soft chuckle. "You better believe it, because it's happening right now," he stage-whispered. They were waiting for the machine to get set up, and Phil's heart rate elevated when he heard Doctor Milah's shoes clicking towards him.

"Alright, we're ready for you now," she chirped, "come with me."

Dan took his arm and squeezed it gently as they walked. Phil heard the door open and they went into the room.

"Now Phil, just lie down here and I'll tell you what's going to happen," she instructed.

After being guided to the bed, Phil got on and laid down.

"You're going to be put under for the entirety of the week, to help your eyes heal and null any pain you might feel after the operation."

"I'll see you on the flip side," Dan promised as he pulled Phil into an embrace, before walking out the door.

I'm scared.

What if it doesn't work?

What if my eyes become worse?

Something cold and plastic was put on his face, elastic bands placed around his head.

What if Dan…

What if I…

I'm…. scared….

Phil fell into unconsciousness.

—

"Phi-il," a blurry voice sang, "Phi-il, it's time to wake up now."

He brought his hands up to his face but his fingertips only touched rough gauze.

"Phil?"

It was Dan's voice.

"Dan?" Phil asked, his voice raspy from disuse, "how long has it been?"

"A week," came the answer, "a doctor's going to come in soon to take the gauze and eye pads off."

Phil reached out a hand and Dan's warmth ran through him as he took it.

"You have no idea how weird it's been at home without you," Dan chuckled, "I was so excited to see you every day that the week seemed to crawl by."

There were footsteps coming up to Phil's bed.

"Hello Phil," a deep voice greeted, "my name is Doctor Simons, shall we take that gauze off?"

Phil guled and nodded.

Leathered fingers felt around his cheekbones for the end of the bandaging. When he found it the doctor started unwinding it, the pressure around his head becoming less and less.

Soon, all that was left were two thick pads on his eyes.

"Now Phil, the lights are all off so it won't hurt as much but still exercise caution," the doctor warned.

Trembling, Phil took away the soft material. and opened his eyes.

Light.

This was… light.

Eyes wide, Phil gaped as he took in the shining whiteness.

Splotches of things started appearing.

These are… colours?

I can see colours?!

"Dan, Dan," Phil babbled, "I can see colours!"

He reached his arm out to touch one of the colours. It was lighter than the darkness he was used to and happiness welled inside him when he felt the tresses of Dan's hair curl around his fingertips.

"That's me," Dan giggled.

Slowly but surely, Phil's gaze sharpened, details coming into more effect and Phil thought there was nothing more beautiful in the entire world than the blurry hospital room.

He focused on the lighter-than-dark-but-slightly-strange splodge that Dan said was him.

The picture in front of him became detailed.. more detailed… Phil couldn't breathe.

Dan was amazing.

Sod the hospital room, Dan was the most beautiful thing.

"D-dan?" Phil whispered, reaching out to stroke his face, tears welling up in his eyes, "I can see you."

He felt a tear rolling down Dan's face, then he saw the tear rolling down Dan's face.

"This is amazing," he whispered, bottom lip trembling, "I can't believe it I…"

Tears streamed from his eyes.

"I can see."

Dan moved closer to him and drew him into a tight embrace. "I love you so, so much, Phil," he whispered.

Shaking, Phil brought his arms up to squeeze Dan back.

He drew away and placed both hands on Dan's face, studying the blurry detail. His eyes were the same as his hair and his skin was the most amazing colour Phil never thought was possible.

"I love you too," he replied.

He felt something well up in his chest and stick to his throat, words on the tip of his tongue.

"I love you more than you can imagine."

This took so long you can't even imagine.

I'm late for school because I wanted to finish this first… oops

Please tell me what you think!

thornsword.