Dedicated to alastairjpeg for the fanart above

There are so many ways that Daniel could be spending his Friday nights. And home alone watching re-runs of 'The Big Bang Theory' would admittedly not be his top choice. Not that it's a bad night in, it's just that Daniel is feeling restless and right now he just wants company, even if there's nothing in particular that he wants to say to them.

When Daniel hears a knock on the door he's surprised to say the least. It's nearly nine in the evening and as such, visitors aren't exactly expected. But Daniel goes down to answer the door none the less, clutching a remote in his hand just in case.

Jonah is drenched through when Daniel flings the door open. For a few moments Daniel can do nothing but stare open mouthed.

"You're soaked."

"Thank you Captain Obvious."

"You're going to get cold."

"No shit Sherlock."

"Hey no need to be sarky," Daniel says.

"Well are you going to let me in or not because I'm kind of freezing my ass off out here," Jonah tells Daniel.

"Not like you've got much to lose."

"Hey!"

Daniel moves back into the corridor so that Jonah can shuffle past him, and isn't entirely pleased when Jonah proceeds to shake his hair in a dog like manner in order to try and dry his hair. Jonah's attempts are unsuccessful and he still looks as wet as he did before, only this time, there are droplets of water on Daniel too.

"Would you like a towel?"

"Please."

"And a change of clothes?"

"Well they'd certainly be much appreciated."

When Jonah steps out of the bathroom a few moments later, Daniel tries to divert his gaze away. Aware that staring at Jonah too long can only lead to a situation far too awkward for their newly redefined friendship to handle.

"I hate rain," Jonah mutters as he hangs the towel where Daniel indicates.

"Well then why did you walk here in it? It's tipping it down outside."

"Because I wanted to see you of course."

Daniel knows those words shouldn't affect him but they do, he can feel the blood rush to his cheeks and when a smirk crosses Jonah's face, Daniel knows his cheeks are red.

"You look so cute when you blush," Jonah mutters.

Somehow Daniel's cheeks get redder.

"Shut up."

"Can't deny the truth."

"So why did you come round anyway?" Daniel asks, desperate to divert the conversation to a more suitable topic.

"I missed you."

"Seriously Jonah."

"Well I heard from our favourite non-present friend not including Liam that you were home alone and I thought you might like some company."

Daniel raises an unimpressed eyebrow; he can't show Jonah how happy he really is to see him.

"Plus," Jonah continues, "I brought a fuckload of snacks."

Almost instantly Daniel's mood brightens and he offers Jonah a wide smile.

"Well why didn't you mention that earlier."

Jonah rolls his eyes but Daniel doesn't miss the fact that a smile slips onto Jonah's face as well.

"I brought ice cream, popcorn, chocolate, pop tarts."

"I feel like we're about to have a slumber party," Daniel says.

"Well I can stay the night if you want me to?"

Daniel almost thinks he imagines the suggestiveness in Jonah's tone, but after a moment of consideration realises that it's definitely there, no doubt about it.

"Feel free," Daniel tries to keep his voice calm, "I mean I'm not expecting my parents back till tomorrow evening."

"Don't tempt me," Jonah replies jokingly, "else you might not get rid of me till then."

"Fine by me," Daniel murmurs, hoping Jonah won't hear him.

"Me too."

Daniel feels his breath catch but decides to focus on the food instead. Decides that that's the best way forward. Focus on the food, forget about the feelings he can't get rid of, no matter how much he wants to.

"So I brought the food and the life of the party," Jonah says, "so what do you have?"

"The life of the party?" Daniel repeats questioningly. "Is Liam just getting something out of the boot or?"

"I'm not sure I've ever been more insulted."

"Are you sure about that? Are you really sure?"

"I don't even know why I'm friends with you," Jonah says, "you just ruin my self esteem."

"You're friends with me because I'm fucking awesome."

"That you are. I mean you're Daniel Evans, how could you be anything but? I mean you're just a bundle of sarcasm and good music taste, that makes you pretty awesome in my book."

"Aw thanks."

"No problem."

Conversation quietens after that with the two of them busying themselves sorting the food out.

"You didn't get pecan ice cream?" Daniel asks teasingly, trying to sound disappointed.

"We've discussed this before," Jonah replies, "I'm not that kinky."

"I find that difficult to believe."

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

Daniel isn't entirely sure whether he should voice his reasoning aloud. After all referring to anything that happened before Daniel's confession seems dangerous, especially something like this. It's a lot easier to be friends if they pretend that's what they've always been, and talking about the two of them kissing doesn't exactly meet that criteria.

"Let's just say that you never seemed vanilla."

"Vanilla?"

"Hell no," Daniel says, "I'm not being the one to explain that phrase to you."

"But I don't know what it means."

"I refuse to believe you're that innocent."

"Seriously Daniel, what the hell are you going on about?"

"One day you'll find out," Daniel replies.

"And what if I want that one day to be today."

"Then you're gonna need to call up Liam and ask him because I'm not gonna tell you."

"Meanie."

"Dickhead."

"Hey!" Jonah says. "That's not very nice."

"I never claimed to be nice," Daniel tells Jonah, "I claimed to be funny and sexy."

"Well you certainly lived up to that."

Daniel tries to hide the blush that rises to his cheeks. Tries to pretend that Jonah didn't mean what he just said.

Tries, and promptly fails.

xxx

Somehow over the course of two movies Jonah has shifted from lying on the sofa to being spread out on the floor, neck bent at an awkward angle.

"That looks comfy," Daniel mutters.

"So comfy."

The credits begin to roll but neither Jonah nor Daniel make any effort to move, they're too full of food, too tired and so the film continues to play and they both just let it.

Jonah rolls over so that he's looking up at the ceiling, thoughts drifting but not staying anywhere for too long. He's restless and exhausted all at once, he doesn't want to move but he still feels bored. As if there's something specific that is going to grab his attention, Jonah has no idea what that something is though.

"Hey Jonah," Daniel's voice is quiet, tentative and Jonah tilts his head slightly so that he can look at Daniel, "do you ever think about what life would be like if we weren't friends?"

"It'd be fucking shit," Jonah says honestly, "I mean can you imagine how boring your life would be without me in it?"

"At least I might not have to put up with surprise visits on Friday nights."

"Please you love the fact that I'm here."

"I do."

Silence settles once again after that and Jonah finds his thoughts straying. Now that he's admitted his feelings to himself, Jonah is finding it a lot more difficult to stop himself from leaning over and kissing Daniel, to stop himself from reaching out just to touch the other boy. It's becoming increasingly difficult for Jonah to ensure that there's enough distance between the two of them. Jonah has no idea what he'll do if Daniel gets too close, but he's pretty sure that all his resolve will crumble.

"Hey Jonah," Daniel says for the second time.

This time he's quiet until Jonah replies and Jonah gets the feeling that Daniel is nervous about whatever he's about to say. Something drops in Jonah's stomach then, apprehension growing, because surely if Daniel is nervous then surely Jonah should be too.

"Yeah?" Jonah replies.

"Who's Elle?"

"I already told you," Jonah can't stop himself from snapping.

"It was just that that was a pretty vague answer," Daniel's tone is apologetic, which instantly makes Jonah feel terrible, "and I was just curious."

"There's not much of a story to tell."

"Somehow I don't believe that."

Jonah has been dreading Daniel asking about this ever since Jonah first mentioned it. Has regretted bringing her up, but the words are impossible to take back now and Jonah supposes he has to face the consequences of his actions.

It's not so much that he's still hung up over anything that happened but that doesn't mean that the hurt has faded entirely. It still lingers, like a scar after the wound has long since gone. And admitting all this to Daniel means Jonah has to risk Daniel realising that Elle had the right idea all along.

"Elle was the typical girl next door," Jonah begins, "except she actually lived across the road. She was the same age as me and when we first moved in I was invited to go over and play at their house. Elle and I were inseparable after that. We grew up together and even though we went to different schools, we were still best friends. I ended up crushing on her, majorly. And I told her so and I guess things changed between us. We started kissing and pretty much dating. So I was telling all my friends about how great my girlfriend was and basically bragging to anyone who would listen and then I turn up at her school to surprise her, and she's there, kissing another guy. It turns out when I thought we were dating, she thought we were just messing around. We basically had a major fallout about it, and she told me that fine, we could become exclusive but a few months later I found out she'd been dating around five other guys behind my back. So yeah, we fell out, haven't talked since, well until she called me a while back, just before the party."

"Oh," Daniel says.

"Yeah, I tried to stay in contact but she just never replied to my messages."

"Oh," Daniel repeats.

"I know it's stupid that it still bothers me, but I can't help but wonder if I did something wrong, if I was too invested or I took things too seriously or if I said something. Ridiculous I know, but I guess it's always stuck with me."

"What do you mean?"

"I know I wasn't in love with her, I mean I was fifteen for god's sake, but I was pretty sure back then that I was. And after that things seemed to fall apart. So I guess that's probably why I can't commit to anyone, I'm scared that as soon as I tell them I'm in love with them they're going to change their mind, decide I'm not worth it."

The room falls silent for a few moments and Jonah desperately tries to repair the chaos he's caused.

"So that got really deep," Jonah says, "I don't know why I told you all that. It's not important."

Daniel doesn't reply, and Jonah is convinced that Daniel too has given up on him.

"You'll always be worth it," Daniel murmurs eventually, "trust me on that one."

Jonah isn't sure how to reply to that, his mouth opens and closes repeatedly for a few seconds.

"Don't say that. You might end up changing your mind."

Daniel is not dissuaded by Jonah's warning though, instead he turns so that the pair's gazes are locked and refuses to look away.

"I promise you that you're always going to be worth it."

"Well I'm glad that someone thinks so."

It would be so easy for Jonah to move across the room and take Daniel's hand in his but he stops himself. Because Daniel can say all these things, can promise Jonah everything and it will never quite be enough. Jonah is terrified of telling Daniel that his feelings are reciprocated, is terrifying of admitting that the feelings are mutual. And it's not just about the labels and the strangeness of it all, because Jonah is beginning not to care about that.

Jonah is terrified that one of them is going to end up hurting each other. Jonah can't tell if he's going to hurt Daniel or if Daniel is going to hurt him. And right now, Jonah isn't sure which one would be worse.

xxx

Daniel isn't sure exactly at which point Jonah moved back onto the sofa, or at which point their legs became tangled but somehow the pair of them are sat facing each other, legs intertwined and Daniel is making no efforts to untangle himself.

They're walking on thin ice and both of them know it. And with every lingering touch and every small comment it feels like the ice is wearing thinner, Daniel is just wondering how long they've got left until it cracks entirely.

Of course Daniel knows that they're supposed to be trying the whole 'best friends' thing but it's difficult when Jonah is looking at him like he's never looked at him before, it difficult when there seems to have been a shift in attitude. Before Jonah was trying to keep his distance and now they're in such close proximity that Daniel can feel Jonah's heat radiating off of him. Jonah still seems like he's pulling back slightly, but the pair are closer than they have been in a while.

"You know, I had this really weird dream last night," Daniel says.

"Do tell me more."

"So me and Isaac are at school, and Isaac starts telling me that his wife is really excited to meet me. So I'm hella confused, because we're seventeen, why the hell is Isaac married. But I went along with it and then when Isaac's wife walks in it's Liam and I'm so confused."

"Wait what?"

"I don't know, they seemed very happy together though. So I just remember them being like we've got some exciting news and telling me that Liam was pregnant, but apparently time flew by because he starts giving birth right in the middle of the classroom and suddenly out you pop, like Liam has literally given birth to a fully grown boy and everyone seemed to think this was completely normal."

"Your dreams are fucking weird," Jonah tells Daniel, "so what happened then?"

"I woke up. I just remembering sitting up and wondering what the hell just happened."

"You certainly have a very active imagination."

"They say that your dreams are based on your brain remembering things that have actually happened."

"What the hell has been happening to you? Cause I sure as hell don't remember Liam giving birth to me."

"I'm just saying," Daniel says defensively, "maybe something's going on between Liam and Isaac."

Daniel quirks his eyebrows up repeatedly in a suggestive manner and Jonah sighs.

"Liam is in a very happy relationship," Jonah points out, "and hey, I thought we were team Via and Isaac round here!"

"I'm team whoever makes Isaac happy."

"To be honest that seems like the best team to be on."

"Whichever team I'm on is always the best team to be on," Daniel replies as if it should be obvious, "I mean this is me we're talking about."

"Conceited much?"

"Nah, I just know how awesome I am."

"That's true," Jonah says, "I mean your awesome levels are through the roof."

"I'm glad you can finally admit that aloud."

"I guess I must have been living in denial before."

"Why do I feel like you're being sarcastic," Daniel says.

"Wow Daniel, way to make a guy feel bad. Why can't I just be being nice?"

Daniel raises an eyebrow disbelievingly and watches as Jonah's face begins to fall. Jonah knocks their knees together.

"You're always mean to me," Daniel says.

"Exactly; I thought you'd be used to it by now."

"God knows why I'm friends with you."

"Because I'm a lovable, friendly, hilarious, witty, kind person."

"Oh and don't forget modest," Daniel tells Jonah teasingly.

"Would it be paradoxical of me to say that I don't think I am?" Jonah asks.

"Jonah it's two in the morning, it's far too late for you to be using words longer than three syllables," Daniel sighs.

"Is it not technically too early?"

"Stop trying to be a smart arse."

"You love me being a smart arse," Jonah says, "I mean surely that's the reason you're friends with me."

Daniel doesn't even bother dignifying Jonah's comment with a response and instead focuses on where their legs are pressed against each other's. It's strange really, that Daniel can feel the light pressure of their skin touching even through his jeans, that it's like an electric current, making its way through his veins. It's strange and unusual and different, and Daniel loves it.

Jonah is only half awake; his head tilting to the side to the point where for a brief moment Daniel thinks that he might actually be asleep.

"You tired?"

"I've had a long day," Jonah comments, his voice soft.

"You had frees all afternoon."

"And it turns out doing nothing is surprisingly tiring."

Daniel lets out a laugh at that, he tries to keep it quiet as he gets the feeling that noise is not going to be appreciated by Jonah then.

"Do you want to head up to bed then?" Daniel asks softly.

Usually he'd be disappointed about going to bed this early during a sleepover but he can see the bags under Jonah's eyes and recognises the traces of tiredness. If Jonah needs to sleep then who is Daniel to deprive him of that privilege.

"That could sound very suggestive."

"It's not."

"Are you sure about that?" Jonah asks teasingly before continuing. "Fine, but can we not stay up and gossip for like two hours after we say we're going to bed like most girls at slumber parties seem to do."

"How do you know what girls at slumber parties do?"

"I have a sister," Jonah explains, "and the wall between our bedrooms are nowhere near thick enough."

"You know I feel sorrier for Ruth than you in this situation."

"Why?"

"I know the sort of things you get up to in that bedroom of yours, and nobody, let alone your sister, should be forced to listen to that."

xxx

Once Jonah has brushed his teeth and is into his makeshift pyjamas, a problem quickly becomes it clear.

Neither Jonah nor Daniel seems to have thought about the logistics of Jonah sleeping over. After all Daniel only has a single bed, and his floor doesn't look particularly comfortable. Jonah knows what he has to do though, the boundaries have already been pushed far enough tonight, edging them further seems like it can only be a bad idea.

As Jonah begins to settle down on the floor Daniel looks at him with an expression of utter confusion on his face.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"Going to sleep?"

"Why are you going to sleep on the floor?"

"Well where else am I going to go?"

Daniel's brow furrows slightly as he thinks about the issue and Jonah waits patiently for Daniel to come up with an answer.

"I suppose we could sleep on the sofas downstairs."

"Daniel I can't fit on the sofa, it's going to be comfier for me to sleep on the floor."

"But then I feel bad."

"Don't."

"Well you take the bed," Daniel suggests, "you need your sleep more."

"Is that your way of telling me I need my beauty sleep."

"No," Daniel quickly says, "I'm just saying you look tired."

"Yeah but this is your house so you should take the bed."

"Exactly, you're the guest, so you should have the bed."

"Honestly," Jonah says, "at