A/n: This is a story about two YouTubers Danisnotonfire & AmazingPhil. It may include other Youtubers and I will cite them properly. Their life is their own privacy, I am just writing my own fiction for my own entertainment and for hopefully yours as well. Thank you for your time.
The bills had come in that morning and Phil couldn't help but feel a bit sad, trying to think of how to pay them this month. He did make a bit of money working for YouTube as well as having Dan Howell as a flat mate who helped pay rent, but lately that was not covering what they had to pay in order to keep living in this flat. Phil loved it here though. It was perfect for filming, for playing games late at night, for his job, for everything! His only choice would be to do the inevitable…make room for another person to live here.
The idea felt a bit odd at first. What if that person was uncomfortable with him or Dan filming videos sometimes at 1 or 2 am? Or even playing games at 4 am? They were just used to each other's company and not needing anyone else. Phil had to break the news to Dan first before he made any final decisions. Luckily Dan wasn't home so Phil could plan out how exactly he was going to say the extreme and life changing words to his best friend. For now, he could make a video for his channel.
"Hi Guys!" He started out and went into a small discussion on camera about the different scenarios of baristas he had come across over the past week. His mind kept fading off to thinking about the rent and the flat mate situation though. Trying to stay focused, he talked about his upcoming plans to try more new things and how he got a new game in the mail recently. However, that was his undoing. The topic of new led everything from doing fine to horribly wrong in milliseconds. Out of his mouth spilled the need for a new flat mate because of the rent rising and to email him at the link he would provide below if anyone was interested. His eyes opened wide as he realized shortly after what he had done. Dan was going to kill him. He quickly wrapped up the video with a 'draw Phil naked' and turned off the camera.
Debating whether to edit the advertisement out or not took some effort out of him. Phil paced back and forth in his room, almost as if waiting for the answer to come to him while he did so. It didn't. One look at the bills on the other side of his computer made up his mind for him and he pressed 'upload' and hoped for some sort of error that would cause the video to fail. The universe was against him today. The video uploaded perfectly and soon responses were pouring in to his 'ad'.
Dan came home to find Phil crashed in his bed, clothes still on and all as if he had been waiting up for him and had been unsuccessful. A smile crossed Dan's face at the thought and he closed the door to Phil's room, wandering over to his own room to retire for the night. After a quick change into his PJs, Dan decided to do a small scan in his email just before bed. He saw Phil's new video and clicked on it. At first, he listened half way, while getting ready for bed until he heard the words 'new flat mate' and 'link below'. Dan's teeth clinched together and he strode over to Phil's door, yanking it open and waking up his friend.
"Wake up! Wake up! Phil!"
Phil jolted awake, being shaken by Dan. His eyes searched around the room trying to make sense of what was going on until he met with the angry eyes of the person currently shaking him.
"What do you want?" He asked, moving to get out of Dan's grasp.
"What are you talking about in your video? New flat mate? Are you out of your mind?!" Dan yelled at Phil and raised his hands above his head to show his frustration. "We are going to get some FREAKS PHIL!"
"Have you looked at our bill, Dan? Yeah?" Phil retaliated. "We can't AFFORD it on our own. We need another flat mate."
"Wait….you mean you aren't kicking me out?" Dan shut up for a moment and contemplated what to say next to Phil. "You want someone else to live with us?"
"Well yeah. What did you think I meant?" Phil rolled his eyes and frowned. "Regardless, only fan girls who want our address to stalk us have applied. So don't worry about being replaced or nothing. I'm gonna get ready for bed. Have a good night Dan." He turned his head away and walked out the door to the bathroom. Dan was speechless. He had gone from angry to feeling rejected and hurt in just a few moments. He went to his own room and logged into their joint email, deciding to help Phil search through the applicants. Finding that Phil was right about the fan girls, it slightly annoyed him that there were no real serious people out there willing to help.
"One new message!"
Dan clicked on it, hoping it was not another exasperating 'I want to know exactly where you live Daniel!' Lucky for him it was an email from Google about a meeting tomorrow he and Phil needed to attend. A break from all this craziness was very welcome.
The next morning, Phil wakes up to the smell of a wonderful breakfast. He heads to the kitchen to find Dan finishing up food that looks amazing. He smiles but says nothing just yet as Dan is in his zone and Phil wouldn't do anything to disturb the cook in his wonderful environment. It isn't long before Dan notices Phil watching him though.
"Come out. I know you're there."
"I didn't want to disturb you. You looked so focused on what you were doing."
"Thanks." Dan puts the food on two plates and hands one to Phil. Phil smiles and looks down happily at it. "Look, Phil, I'm sorry about yesterday…"
"Don't worry about it. I didn't exactly explain myself and I should have. So…we good?"
"Of course." They shook hands and then went on doing nothing all morning until absolutely necessary time to leave for the Google meeting.
At Google, as promised, both Dan and Phil thoroughly loved the free food. The meeting was called together and in the room were youtubers they recognized, with the exception of a few new people in the room. After about a half hour of listening to someone talk about new updates coming to the Youtube website, a new face caught Phil's eye as she stood to walk to the front of the room. The room went silent, even the whisperers in the back became quiet.
"Hi everyone," she started off, looking a little nervous but refusing to let that break her. "I'm Alexis Brey. I know you are all Youtubers and you have all done an exceptional job getting as far as you have. For that, I applaud you." She paused to give everyone in the room a quick smile. "However, viewers have short attention spans, issues staying still, and need more visual stimulation than previous generations. It is unfortunate and it makes life harder on YouTubers. That's where I come in. I'm here to help you bring your viewers back." A hand went up in the back of the room and Alexis acknowledged it.
"What makes you think you can help us? Are you a Youtuber?"
"Good questions. First, no I am not a youtuber. I have been watching that website since it first went up and I am very familiar with the changes it has gone through over the years. I am camera shy, however, so I would rather be on the other side of the camera. As for why do I think I can help you? I want to bring all of your channels back into the light. I want you to communicate with me on your styles, the way you want to direct your message to your fans and perhaps together we can change a few things to make more viewers see how great you are. I know you are great or you wouldn't be here, right?" A genuine smile crossed her face for a brief few seconds. "I trust you because I know what you are capable of. Trust me and I'll show you what I'm capable of." With that, Alexis sat down back in her seat. A few more minutes of talking from the executives and the meeting was dismissed.
Phil was intrigued by Alexis to say the least. He wanted to meet her and ask her a few questions but before he could even get up to do so, he noticed that his thought was shared with the majority of the guys in the room. Perhaps he would have to wait until she contacted him about his channel then he would get a chance. Dan had gone off to chat with a friend so Phil just decided to wait in one of the side rooms until he was done.
Not long after he had gotten there, Phil dazed off thinking about new videos and ideas for games he could use. He barely noticed someone come in and join him, collapsing on the couch next to him. Apparently they didn't either because it was a few moments later before that person shot up and started apologizing profusely until they paused.
"Amazingphil?" Phil got a closer look at who it was with him.
"Alexis? Why are you…are you hiding in here?" She laughed and shook her head a little.
"No. Just catching my breath. I finally got through all the questions they asked me. It's going to take me hours to figure out who is who but I suppose I will soon enough. Why are you in here?"
"Waiting. You could say that I'm a bit antisocial."
"Wouldn't you say we all are?" Alexis smiled. "I know I am. So how goes it on your side of youtube Mister AmazingPhil?"
"Call me Phil. Things are good, working on my channel and mine and Dan's gaming channel."
"Nice to meet you Phil." She shook his outstretched hand and they laughed. "I've got to be honest. I'm very nervous about all of this. Google, Youtube, all of it."
"Don't be. You're going to do great here. You just have to get to know everyone and get started off right."
They chatted for a little while longer about Phil's videos and how he got started on the website. Alexis was instantly captivated by the innocence that was the essence of Phil but she was sure that there was more to him and she wanted to know what she could, especially if she was going to help him get more viewers to his channel. She asks to see his latest video out of habit, which is when Phil suddenly turned quiet. He pulled out his phone and showed her the email inbox that was growing in numbers as she even watched it.
"What did you do exactly?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.
Phil launched into an explanation about what he had done the night before and Alexis nearly laughed. She saw the expression of embarrassment on his face and fought the urge to give him a hug.
"So you need a flat mate, yeah?" Phil nodded. Her mind was spinning with ideas when someone walked in.
"Hey what's up?" Dan said, looking from one to the other. "Ready to go Phil?"
"Yeah. Will I see you around, Alexis?" Alexis grinned and shook her head in affirmation.