Chapter One

The man who'd just walked in immediately caught Dan's eye.

There was something about him that just seemed so... so interesting, Dan couldn't even quite name it, but he wasn't able to keep his eyes off the dark haired man.

Maybe it was that. The dark hair in combination with the stunning blue eyes and the pale skin. Or maybe it was just everything about him. His appearance seemed so unique, so special to Dan, and all of that made this man so... so beautiful, and Dan simply loved looking at beautiful people.

"Can I help you, Sir?" He'd finally walked over to his new customer, the typical smirk on his lips and asking the question he asked almost everyone finding their way into his little shop at the end of the street.

"Uh... No, I don't think so, thanks." The man smiled and Dan nodded. "Alright. You'll find me over there if you need anything." He pointed at the counter in the middle of the back wall with a quick movement of his head. The other man nodded and Dan smiled before he turned around to go back to his place behind the counter.

But he didn't quite reach it because his new customer spoke up again before he could do so. "Well, actually... maybe you can help me."

Dan turned around again, secretly happy to have an excuse to look at the blue-eyed guy with the interesting face again. "Of course. What are you looking for?"

The other man had a weird smile on his face and Dan wasn't really sure what it implied, but it was cute nonetheless. "A shirt." The guy smirked and Dan furrowed his eyebrows. "For what occasion, exactly?"

Dan turned to look around his shop. What pattern would be the best? Which colour suited the man's eyes the most? What colour would work well together with his skin tone?

"It's my grandma's birthday next week and we have this huge family gathering..." The guy looked kind of annoyed and exhausted while saying that. Dan wondered why, but of course, he didn't ask. The black haired man continued, "We'll meet in some fancy restaurant, so I'll need a nice shirt."

Dan nodded. He had several shirts in mind right now, and he already got excited. He loved to help his costumers find the right clothes, there was just something about it that was satisfying to him. Figuring out what other people's preferences were when it came to fashion and helping them to look as good as possible was what Dan liked doing.

With his eyes, he searched through the rail clothing racks until some specific shirts caught his eye. He walked over to them and rummaged through them with his hands until he found one he liked. The black haired man stood behind him, waiting.

"How about this one?" Dan asked and smiled while holding up a blue button up shirt.

Dan had chosen the pastel blue colour because he thought it would match the black haired man's eyes. White probably would have been too bright for his pale skin tone, while black seemed a bit too dark for his hair. What Dan liked about the shirt was that it had blue lace above the chest. It made the whole thing look special in a way. He actually owned the same shirt, but his was all black.

"I'm not sure," the man admitted, examining the shirt in Dan's hands. "Isn't it a bit too... I don't know, extraordinary for me?"

Dan smiled. That was the exact reaction he had expected. Judging by the clothes he wore right now, he didn't really want to stand out too much, even though he didn't want to be all basic either. It was an inner conflict he had, a conflict probably almost everyone has to deal with at some point, and the guy hasn't quite decided on what he prefers wearing yet.

"Extraordinary is good, trust me. Try it on, it will suit you." Dan gave him his best salesman smile and his customer eventually gave in.

"Okay, I'll see what it looks like."

Dan nodded and lead him to the changing rooms. He waited in front of it as the other man got changed. Dan couldn't wait to see what his choice looked like on him.

Just after a few seconds, the door was opened again.

He had been right. The guy looked absolutely stunning in that shirt, it brought out his bright blue eyes and the pretty pale skin in a perfect way.

"So? What do you think?" he asked, the smile still on his face.

The man with the blue eyes, now wearing a shirt matching those, looked at himself in the mirror. He smiled a bit. "I actually like it a lot. I didn't think it would suit me but I gotta admit I kind of like it."

"I think you look stunning," Dan complimented, being completely honest. He still had a silent fascination for the other guy's looks, and with the blue shirt, his eyes looked even prettier than before.

The man blushed a bit and looked at Dan. "Thank you."

"No, seriously, I'm being honest. The colour goes really well with your eyes and the lace looks great on your skin. Not everyone can pull that off."

The other guy's face turned even redder when he heard Dan's compliments. When Dan looked at him, he noticed a bit of red skin on his shoulder under the lace of the shirt. Probably a sunburn, he thought, and didn't say anything about it.

"I'll go for it then, I think. Or is it too much? I mean, it's my grandma's birthday."

Dan chuckled. "Well, I don't know your grandma, but if she has at least a little bit of a fashion sense, I'm sure she'll love it just as much as I do."

Again the black haired man blushed and Dan couldn't help but think how cute he looked.

"I guess," the man mumbled and nodded. "I'd like to pay, then."

Dan smiled. "You made the right choice."

His customer smiled a little bit and nodded slowly before he turned around to change again. Dan made his way back to the counter where he waited for the other man to get ready.

Just a few seconds later he walked around the corner, the blue shirt in his hands. He handed it to Dan.

When Dan looked at the man, he noticed that the sunburn wasn't just present on his shoulder but also the lower part of his neck. It wasn't that warm outside, so Dan wondered if the man in front of him travelled a lot.

Or maybe the guy in front of him just burned himself all the time with his sun-like smile.

Dan shook his head and cringed a bit when he noticed his ridiculous and cheesy thoughts.

The actual process of buying the shirt didn't take long, of course. Dan named the price and his customer handed him his credit card and right after the brunette put the shirt into one of the boutique's paper bags. "Enjoy the family gathering," Dan said and smiled, feeling good because he just managed to make another one of his customers happy.

"Thank you, have a nice day!" The man smiled at Dan. It seemed so genuine and cute that Dan felt the need to take a polaroid picture of it.

"Thanks, you too," Dan said and with that, his customer turned around and left the shop with quick steps.

It was moments like these in which Dan knew he'd made the right choices.

Dan Howell was 24 years old and the owner of a fashion boutique close to the centre of London. That had been the one thing he'd kind of always wanted, well not always, he had this dream of becoming a designer for some time but when he got older he realised that he probably won't get anywhere with his dreams, so he decided to be a boutique owner one day. When he found a flat with a little shop right underneath it close to the centre of London, he knew that his chance had arrived. He bought the flat as well as the shop and shortly after opened up the boutique.

It wasn't the most successful business, obviously, how would it be with thousands of people having the same dreams and ambitions as him, in literally the same city? But Dan made enough money to pay his bills, and the shop was what made him happy. So he knew all the hard work paid off and that all of it was worth it.

"Sorry, I'm late!"

Dan looked up from the counter when he heard Pauline, his employee and friend, once again making an excuse for why she was late for work.

He smiled to himself and looked at the notepad in his hand again. "What was it this time? Did you fall asleep in the library again?" he asked and Pauline sighed.

"Okay, you won't believe this. There was this old man on the bus and he wouldn't-"

Dan chuckled. "It's fine Pauline, just start working."

"But don't you wanna know-"

"Can you please do the inventory? You can tell me your story later." Dan still smiled and Pauline readjusted her glasses after she put her dark brown hair in a ponytail.

"It's such a good story, you would absolutely love it."

"Pauline, get to work."

She rolled her eyes and nodded. She took the list and a pen and started checking on the clothes in the shop's stock.

"Why are you smiling like that, by the way? Did something happen while I wasn't here?"

"What do you mean, 'smiling like that'? How am I smiling?"

"I don't know. You look so... inspired, in a way."

Dan looked up from his notepad and furrowed his eyebrows. He chuckled. "What?"

"Dunno." She remained silent for a few seconds. "So, what happened?"

Dan smiled to himself as he continued writing into his notebook. "Oh, it's nothing," he said, but of course he knew that wasn't true. He knew what smile Pauline was talking about, and he knew that it was beauty that always managed to make him smile like that.