Dan Howell sighed as he stood in the kitchen of his apartment. It was 3 o'clock in the morning and Dan had been woken up for a third time by his son crying. Dan never thought that this was how his life would turn out. He was only 20 years old and he was already a parent. Of course, he loved his son and he would do anything for his son. But, it was tiring. Dan hadn't slept properly in two months. Having a son was definitely affecting his Youtube career. He couldn't make as much videos as he used to which meant that he didn't get the money he needed to pay for the apartment rent. It was stressful, to say the least.
Dan grabbed the milk from the fridge and poured the milk into the baby bottle. He put everything away and grabbed the baby bottle, putting the lid on it. He walked out of the kitchen and made his way towards his son's bedroom. Dan walked over to the crib. He looked down and frowned when he saw the tears that were pouring out of Benjamin's face.
Dan didn't know he had a son until two weeks after he was born. The girl he used to date had just dropped him off at his apartment without any explanation. Dan hadn't even known that he had gotten his ex-girlfriend pregnant. It was a complete shock to him. Dan had always wanted to be a father. He wanted two or three kids and he was going to be the best parent that ever existed. He just didn't think that he would be a parent so young. He had just gotten out of his teens. Dan had dated his ex-girlfriend for three years. They were completely head over heels for each other. He started dating her when he was 17 years old. He thought that she would be the one. But then he found out that she had cheated on him and broke up with her.
But now, it was two months later and things were harder than Dan thought they would be. Benjamin was three months old. He was the spitting image of Dan. Dan loved everything about Benjamin or 'Benny' as he liked to call him. Dan loved having his son around. He liked caring for him. But, now Dan needed to start looking for another job. Making Youtube videos was not enough for paying the rent for his little apartment. He was going to need a lot more money now that he had a son.
"Come here, Benny." Dan whispered. He reached down and picked Benny up. He grabbed the little blanket out of the crib and wrapped it around Benny. Benny almost immediately stopped crying once he was in Dan's arms. Dan walked out of the baby's bedroom and went back to his own bedroom. It was going to be another night of sharing a bed with Benjamin, and most likely another night with no sleep. He was used to getting no sleep by now though. Dan turned on the TV but kept the volume down low. He walked over to the bed and sat down, leaning against the headboard. Dan held Benjamin in his arms. He smiled as he put the bottle in Benjamin's mouth. Benjamin just stared up at him, as he drank the milk. "I love you." Dan whispered. He took a deep breath as he stared at Benjamin. His eyes began to water up and he didn't even try to stop the tears from falling out of his eyes. He'd been holding everything in for almost three months now.
It was two days later when Dan was going to Starbucks for his new job. Starbucks was only 15 minutes away from his apartment and Dan always came to Starbucks anyways. It was the perfect job for him.
It was a Monday afternoon when Dan walked in. Dan took a deep breath as he walked over to the counter. There was a boy with black haired and the brightest blue eyes that Dan had ever seen. Dan looked up at him. The nametag said 'Phil'.
"Excuse me?" Dan asked nervously. The boy immediately looked over at Dan and smiled.
"Hello. How can I help you?" He asked. Dan bit his lip.
"It depends. You might be able to." The boy raised his eyebrows as he stared at Dan. "Well, I saw a sign on the window the other day that said that you were hiring. It's not there anymore but I was hoping that the job was available still?" Dan asked nervously. His heart was pounding against his chest. The boy frowned and shook his head.
"I'm sorry. We already gave the job to someone else." He said. Dan sighed.
"Please. Is there anything I can do here? Anything?" Dan begged. He hated begging like this. But, he needed this job.
"I'm sorry. There's nothing I can do for you." The boy said.
"No, please, you don't understand. I've looked everywhere for a job. This is my last chance. I need this. I have a son. He's three months old and I can barely pay the rent. My only other job is making bloody Youtube videos. My son needs me. He depends on me to take care of him. Please." Dan begged as his eyes began to water up. There was no way that Dan was going to allow himself to cry in front of a stranger. But, he couldn't help it. He's been holding in so much emotion lately.
"Wait a minute, hold on…" Dan raised his eyebrows. "Did you say that you make Youtube videos?" The boy asked. Dan slowly nodded. "Oh! I knew you looked familiar somewhere. I've seen a couple of your videos, and not to mention…I see gifs of you all the time on my tumblr dashboard, Mr. Danisnotonfire." Dan blushed.
"Sorry about that." He mumbled. "My followers can get a bit crazy."
"Don't be sorry. I also make Youtube videos. I know how it feels. My name's Phil. Yours?" Phil asked.
"Dan." Dan said. They shook his hands with each other. "I'm really sorry for begging but this my last chance for a job."
"I'll tell you what; let me talk to my manager real fast and see if we can work something out." Phil said. Dan smiled and nodded.
"Thank you so much." Dan said. Phil returned the smile. He turned around.
"Bethany! Can you cover for me for a couple of minutes!?" Phil shouted. He walked into the back. Dan nervously walked over to one of the tables and sat down. Dan pulled out his phone and sighed as he stared at his background; which was a picture of him and Benjamin. Benjamin was the only reason why he needed this job. Dan would do anything for his son.
Dan sat at the table for about 15 minutes before he looked over and immediately stood up when he saw Phil. Phil motioned him to come over to him. Dan took a deep breath and walked up to the counter.
"Sorry it took so long but I've got some good news for you." Phil said. Dan stared at him. "You're hired!" Phil yelled. Dan sighed in relief. Phil smiled when he saw the look on Dan's face.
"Thank you so much. You have no idea how much this means to me." Dan said. Phil shook his head.
"No worries. I totally understand what you're going through. Sure, Youtube pays you money to keep you going but it's really not a lot. That's why I have this as my main job so I can have a little more extra money. It's always better to have a second job, just in case." Phil said. Dan nodded. He was glad that Phil understood him. It was nice.
"So, when do I start my job then?" Dan asked. Phil smiled.
"Can you start tomorrow?" Phil asked. Dan nodded again.
"Yeah. I just have to ask my mum if she'll be okay with watching my son." Dan told him.
"Hey, can I have your number?" Phil asked. Dan blinked a few times.
"Really?" Dan asked. Phil nodded and pulled out his phone, Dan did the same.
"You seem like a cool guy. I'd like to get to know you better." Phil said. Dan blushed.
"Yeah, same here. It'll be nice to get to know each other since we're going to be working together." Dan said.
"Exactly." Phil agreed. Dan and Phil exchanged numbers.
"I have to get going, unfortunately. My son is waiting for me at home." Dan said. He sighed.
"See you tomorrow." Phil said. Dan smiled. He looked at Phil once more before finally walking out of Starbucks.
Dan smiled as he walked into his apartment. It had been a long time since he properly smiled like this. He was relieved that he finally gotten a job. A job that would actually help and make his life a little easier. Sure, it wasn't the best job but it was a job that would pay him a lot more than Youtube was paying him. Dan would have extra money for himself and for his son and that's all that he really cared about. He just wanted to keep his son happy and healthy.
Dan walked into the living room, where his mum was sitting on the couch with Benjamin.
"Ah, there's my boy." Dan said as he walked into the living room. Dan's mum, Diana, looked up and smiled when she saw Dan.
"Hey." Diana greeted. "You look happy. Did you get the job?" She asked.
"After I practically begged for it." Dan said. He nodded. "But, yeah…They gave me the job and I start tomorrow. Do you think you'll be able to watch Benjamin? I know it's a lot of work and everything…" Dan began to say.
"Oh, stop it. You know that I don't mind watching Benny. I love spending time with my grandson." Diana assured him.
"You're seriously the best mum ever." Dan said. He sat down on the couch. "Let me see him!" Diana laughed. She carefully handed Benjamin over to Dan. Dan smiled as he took Benjamin in his arms. He sighed. "Having another job means that I won't be able to see him as much." Dan mumbled. "It kills me to leave him." Diana frowned.
"Don't think about it like that, Dan. You're doing this because you care about him. You'll still get to see him every single day, just not as much as you used to." Diana told him. Dan slowly nodded.
"I guess you're right." Dan said. He bit his lip as he stared down at Benjamin.
Two months have now passed since Dan started working at his new job at Starbucks. Things were easy for him the first couple weeks but now things were going downhill again. Dan wasn't happy at all. He was trying his best to do everything he could for his son. He was trying to balance filming videos for Youtube; he filmed and edited for hours. Then he had to work at Starbucks which slowed him down. It's not that he was bad at working at Starbucks, it was just that there were more hours put into it than Dan thought there would be. He tried to spend time with his son but things were getting hard.
Dan hadn't slept properly in two days now. He had been working nonstop on a Youtube video that needed to be uploaded as it had been almost two weeks since his last upload. Dan was getting frustrated and annoyed with himself.
It was now a Friday evening. Dan had two hours to go until he could go home. He had been at work since 1 o'clock. Dan was now taking a quick break. He was sitting at a table. He was resting his head in his arms and was very close to falling asleep.
It's been about 15 minutes now since Dan had been on his break. Phil was just walking from the back to the counter. He looked over and frowned when he saw that Dan was asleep at one of the tables.
"Oh, Dan." Phil whispered. Dan and Phil had gotten to know each other very well the past two months. They were practically best friends now. They knew everything about each other. They never kept secrets from each other. They had the same common interests and loved all the same things. Dan felt like Phil was his soul mate. Dan had never really had a best friend in his life before and he's only known Phil for about two months but he would definitely call Phil his best friend. Phil knew how hard Dan had it at home, with raising Benjamin and balancing work. Phil walked over to Dan. Phil shook him a few times. Dan immediately shot up. He looked up at Phil and groaned. He hid his face in his hands. "Are you okay, Dan?" Phil asked.
"I'm sorry." Dan mumbled. He shook his head. "I've never fallen asleep like this at work before." He sighed and stood up from the table. Phil frowned as he watched Dan. Dan rubbed his eyes a couple of times.
"How much sleep did you get last night? I know you said you were working on a new video." Phil said.
"I haven't slept in two days." Dan told him. Phil stared at him in shock.
"What the hell, Dan?" Phil asked. He sighed. "What are you doing here at work?" Dan blinked a few times as he stared at him, a little surprised that Phil raised his voice like that. Phil never raised his voice. "You need your sleep. Two days without sleep? Jesus! I can see why you've fallen asleep at work." Phil said. "Go home. I'll take over your shift for you. Go get some sleep." Phil commanded gently. Dan shook his head. "Dan." Phil warned.
"I'm fine, Phil. Okay? I can last two more hours. Not a big deal." Dan mumbled.
"It is a big deal." Phil said. "Dan, I want you to go home and get some sleep."
"It's not like I'd be able to get sleep anyways. Benjamin wakes me up at least three times a night." Dan said. His eyes began to water up. "I haven't slept properly for the past five months. I love Benjamin with all my heart and soul but…I-I just can't take it anymore. I'm falling apart. I'm trying to be strong for Benjamin. He's all I care about." Dan said as his voice began to break.
"How about this…I go home with you tonight. You go straight to bed and I'll look after Benjamin for you." Phil suggested.
"Have you ever looked after a baby before?" Dan asked. "He's a handful." Phil shrugged his shoulders.
"I've been around kids before, yeah. My brother has a son and I get to see him every once in a while. I say I'm pretty good with him. He never cries when I pick him up." Phil told him. Dan laughed. "I'm sure I'll be able to handle it. I just…I want you to get some sleep. Two days without any sleep must be driving you crazy." Dan nodded.
"Have I ever mentioned that I love you and that you're the best friend I've ever had?" Dan asked. Phil laughed.
"No, but you can mention it as much as you like." Phil said. Dan also laughed and pushed Phil playfully.
Two hours later; Dan was finally back at his apartment again, with Phil. It was a little strange having Phil over. Phil had never been over to Dan's apartment. It was just small and sometimes it was dirty as Dan was too lazy to clean anything. He didn't want Phil to think that he was a slob or anything. But, it was also nice having Phil over.
"Sorry about the apartment being so messy. I never have time to clean anything." Dan said.
"No, it's fine. Don't apologize." Phil assured him. Dan smiled and then he led the way up to the living room, where his mom was at with Benjamin. Phil bit his lip nervously as he looked around.
"Hey mum." Dan said. He looked down at the floor and smiled when he saw Benjamin lying on his blanket, drinking from his bottle. "How was he today?" Dan asked as he looked back at his mum.
"A little fuzzy but I think he was just tired. He's always a good little boy." Diana said. Dan smiled proudly.
"Oh, mum…This is Phil. He works at Starbucks with me." Dan said. Diana stood up from the couch.
"It's nice to meet you, Phil." She said, shaking his hand. Phil nodded.
"You too." Phil said. Dan smiled as he looked at them back and forth.
A little while later, Dan's mom finally left which meant Dan and Phil alone with Benjamin.
"Dan, go to sleep. Everything will be fine." Phil warned. "You've told me where everything is about 10 times now. I promise when you wake up…You will still have a baby." He said. Dan laughed.
"God, Phil! I better still have my baby when I wake up!" He warned. Phil also laughed at him. He bit his lip nervously as he stared at Dan. Dan stared right back at him. "You know, I-I really do appreciate you for doing this." Dan whispered. He took a deep breath. "No one else would have done this for me." He mumbled. Phil frowned and shook his head.
"You're my best friend, Dan. I care about you and I want you to be happy." Phil whispered back. Dan smiled and wrapped his arms around Phil, hugging him tightly. Phil smiled and immediately hugged him back. Phil pulled him closer as they hugged each other. Dan closed his eyes as they hugged. They usually never had moments like this but Dan had so much to thank Phil for. Dan finally pulled away from the hug a few seconds later. He took a deep breath.
"Um, well…I-I should probably get to bed then." Dan mumbled. Phil nodded. Dan went to walk out of the lounge but Phil quickly turned around and pulled Dan back. Dan gasped and looked over at Phil. "Phil?" Dan asked. Phil stared at him.
"I love you, Dan." Phil whispered. Dan's eyes went wide with shock as he stared at Phil. "I know we've only known each other for two months but I've gotten to know you in those two months. I fall in love easily." Dan couldn't believe what his ears were hearing. "I-I didn't want to tell you so soon because our friendship is important to me." Dan's eyes began to water up. He walked up to Phil and kissed him. Phil didn't hesitate to kiss him back. Dan slowly wrapped his arms around Phil's neck as they continued to kiss each other. Phil smiled into the kiss. He finally pulled away a few seconds later.
"Yeah, I love you too." Dan whispered, looking Phil directly in the eye.
"Go get some sleep. We'll talk later." Phil whispered. Dan slowly nodded.
"Take care of my son." Dan warned playfully. He let go of Phil. Phil smiled as he watched Dan walk out of the living room.