2009

Phil had no idea what was going on, he remembered going to bed last night in his London home that he shared with his best friend Dan Howell, but for some reason he woke up in his parent's home… in his old bedroom. He ran his hand through his short black hair and pulled his glasses onto his face. Gosh they where so weak, they must have been his younger selves glasses.

"Younger me? Are you kidding me this is clearly a dream… what are you even thinking Phil." He laughed lightly and sat up when he realised there was someone else in his bed. A small yelp passed his lips as he fell off the bed and onto the floor. Even though everything that had happened so far was pretty unrealistic, he was sure another person in his bed was also impossible.

"Phil?"

Phil looked over to notice the messy brown hair and deep brown eyes of his best friend, but unlike how he went to bed, Dan now had long brown hair and he looked exactly like he did back in 2009 when they got to meet for the first time.

"You are not Phil… " Dan mumbled and moved into the corner of the bed slightly, he had to admit he was confused who this man was but he was sure it wasn't his 22 year old friend… "Who are you and where is Phil?"

" I am Phil." Phil climbed out of bed and walked over to the calendar… October 2009… "This can not be right." He muttered softly before walking back over to his bed and sitting down. "This is really wrong."

-

2015

Dan stood in Phil's doorway, his eyes wide and his mouth dropped, either his friend was wearing a wig and shrunk, or something really wrong had happened. "P…Phil?" He stuttered lightly before walking in fully and placing his hand on the boys shoulders.

A small groan escaped the others lips as he pulled himself up from the bed. "Dan?" he yawned lightly. "Wait who are you?"

"This can not be happening." Dan walked out of the room before walking back in, this was Phil, of course he would never forget what Phil looked like but… this was not his Phil…"

"Where the hell am I… did you kidnap me?" Phil jumped up and moved back against the wall where he noticed Lion, and loads of pictures and other things with his name on it. "Wait… this is… me?" he picked up the photo of older Phil and tilted his head. " I look pretty hot... " he laughed lightly and placed it back down on the side. " You … must be Dan then…" he walked over to him and tilted his head to the side.

"You are a lot taller than I remember… and since I was just in bed with you… I remember you pretty well…" He laughed lightly. It did look pretty funny, sure they had both grown over the years but now Phil was about shoulder height in-comparison to Dan's 6 foot 3.

"I have no idea what is going on… but can you disappear and bring my Phil back, we have radio in 4 hours and I do not want to explain the sudden change." He crossed his arms over his chest and chewed his lip lightly, he had to admit seeing Phil like this again reminded him of the days he spend all night dreaming about meeting Phil and now they lived together.

"Wait so are you telling me we live together now? Like me and you?"

"Well observed Phil nothing gets passed you, this is our home in London." Dan went to turn to walk away but he couldn't because Phil had his arms around him and nuzzled into his chest. "W…. what are you doing?"

"Oh come on please tell me that we still hug when we are that old." He waved his finger at Dan. He wasn't really sure how old Dan was now.

"I'm 23 Phil… and no we don't hug… well not as much anyways." He shifted nervously; he wasn't really ready for a million questions thrown at him by Phil right now.

2009

"Can you put a t-shirt on?" Dan mumbled softly as he watched the older man walk around, he couldn't believe that Phil would grow up to look that hot, sure Phil looked hot to him now, but this older Phil was extremely hot. His eyes scanned down Phil's body, over his chest down to his thin legs…

Phil shrugged and walked to the closet and shoved on one of his shirts, he knew they would fit since he still owned many of them. "Can you remind younger me to not drink so much milk, he doesn't know it yet but he is lactose intolerant and his belly will play up terribly.

"What do I look like?" Dan asked tilting his head to the side.

Phil thought for a moment, if he had to describe to someone what Dan looked like how would be do it? The first thing he would say was that he looked like him with brown hair, but that wasn't true, that didn't show the true beauty of Dan Howell.

"Well, he has short hair, a little like mine I suppose but a bit longer? He is taller than me, the fans love reminding us of that." He laughed lightly. " He is really skinny and has pretty muscular arms." He shrugged slightly. "It's hard to define Dan, but a lot of people love him, some have even asked him if he would model for them."

"So I grow up to be hot too?" Dan laughed lightly and then covered his mouth; he just called Phil, possibly a more famous Phil to his Phil, hot.

"Well I guess so, you do gain 6 million subscribers…" without really realising the younger boy had said 'too' he was too busy thinking of Dan.

Dan jumped back, "What! 6 million people like my work?" his eyes were so wide he was sure they may fall out of the socket at any time. He was sure Phil was lying, why would 6 million people want to watch him.

"Well you help a lot of people Dan, of course people are going to admire that." He smiled softly and sat back down on the bed, it was true, Dan did help a lot of people and people really did admire him… Phil admired him more than anyone.

"Do I have a girlfriend?"

Phil jumped up at this one, Did Dan have a girlfriend? When was the last time he did? "No, you are single… by choice. A lot of people want to date you but you say you are waiting for the right person."

Dan looked down at his lap and sighed softly, it wasn't Phil's fault, it was just learning that the boy was still single upset him a little. "So after all those years and he still don't like me? … or don't realise…" he mumbled more to himself than anyone else, but right now he didn't care if older Phil heard him… what would it matter.

"W… well you move to London so maybe that's a reason why?" he bit his lip lightly, he really did wonder who Dan was on about, since the boy was usual quiet about relationships other than when he had told Phil he wanted to wait for the right person.

"I still see you right?" he asked softly looking up at him.

"Of course you do, every day all day… we live together." Phil placed a hand on his Dan's shoulders trying to sooth him, he could tell something was wrong with the brunette but he didn't really want to push it in fear it would effect his future relationship with the boy.

"Are you single?"

Phil laughed lightly, of course the boy would be curious, it was only human nature after all. "Yes, I am still single too."

"Then why didn't you date me…" the younger one mumbled softly. This caused Phil to freeze up, did Dan like him? Was Dan in love with him? Was he the one Dan always went on about 'liking but the feelings weren't returned.'?

2015

Dan still couldn't believe he was seeing 2009 Phil again, even though they had been best friends for 6 years now, 2009 was the year he met him, the year they became best friends. It reminded him of the time he would sit in his own home in Reading and hope that the older one would release a video soon. Phil was still holding him, and even though the boy was significantly shorter… it felt nice being in his bear arms once again. He hated how he and Phil hardly touched any more but he knew it was his fault. He acted so homophobic when the fans pushed their relationship, he acted like an asshole and he didn't want to do that to Phil but it had happened. He did the only thing that Dan knew to do, and that was turn around and wrap his arms back around Phil and placing his head on his shoulder.

"I miss this… " he whispered truthfully, he knew in 6 years, this Phil may face what they are now, he may end up back in time with younger Dan… and the conversations he and little Phil had today would probably be forgotten due to the drama and their rise in fame.

"Then why don't you hug me more? I am sure I will still always love hugs no matter how old I get." The younger one spoke softly as he rubbed Dan's back, he could tell he needed it, he could tell Dan looked stressed and awkward and he wanted the boy to feel more at home with himself.

"it's not you, it's me… I guess when I grow up I get more scared of how the world sees me. I know you know I was bullied as a kid… and all the way through school too, and I guess the fear never leaves me…" he answered truthfully. He knew that was true, the reason he pushed his and Phils relationship away in the beginning was because of how scared he was that people would start calling him gay as an insult again. He knew being called gay wasn't bad, but he had always associated it with the time he was bullied in school, being pushed around and yelled at and it did scare him.

"It's just me though, no-one can see when we are alone." His voice was soft yet so northern and Dan loved it. He had fallen in love with Phils accent very early on, so he really did love it when Phil would talk to his parents on skype, or go back home for a bit because his accent would always return.

Dan laughed and nodded lightly, that was true, no-one would see them but it still scared him a little. "I like how you get older, but your mind does not." He teased and ruffled Phil's hair, still as soft as ever.

"Who needs to grow up, you need to learn to love and live a little." He slowly pulled away from Dan and looked up at his face, he did grow up to be beautiful and he was really looking forward to see how he ages over time. "You should tell him… well me, but him." He mumbled softly. He was always aware of Dan's feelings for him, but he didn't want to take advantage of his best friend, but if they grew up and was still this strong, maybe they where ment to be.

"What?" Dan asked moving back, " I really have no idea what you are on about." He crossed his arms over his chest, he had no idea what Phil was accusing him of, though he knew he could guess and probably get it right.

"What are you scared of? Him saying no? him rejecting you?" he asked softly as he sat down on the edge of the bed again. "Dan I may be younger right now, and I may have come from 6 years in the past…. But I am still Phil. I may not know how he feels right now, or how he looks or acts or even how his brain works… but I do trust in my ability to know myself." He sighed softly and looked up into Dan's eyes. "When you were 18 you told me you had a crush on someone but you were scared to persue that relationship because of you're family and your friends. You confided in me and told me you had feelings for guys…"

"I don't…. "

"Stop hiding it! Even though you are 6 years older now and I am still a 22 year old boy who has no idea why I am here? But even I can tell you are lieing not only to yourself but to me." He stood up again and bit his lip lightly. "What do you want Dan? Tell me? Why would it matter if you do? When you're Phil comes back here he wont remember anything you tell me now."

"I love him!" he slammed his hand into the door, it was true, he did love Phil, he had loved him for 6 years, from the minute he layed eyes on him when he got off the train in Manchester, all the way through until last night when he went to bed before him and curled up but still calling out to say goodnight.

"And 6 years ago?" He asked softly… did his Dan love him…

"He loves you, and for record… he never stopped." He walked out of the room and slammed his bedroom door, he wanted that little shit gone now.. his Phil wouldn't push him like that. "what if I never see him again… " he pulled his knees to his chest and rest his head on his head before falling asleep.

Around 6 am there was a light knock on the door, Dan was going to ignore it, but a deeper sigh came from behind him. "Dan?"

Dan opened the door and starred into the eyes of his now taller best friend, he was back... and he wasn't going to let him disappear again. "Oh god Phil you are back!"

Phil laughed lightly and leaned on the door slightly, "I am, I guess you had a younger me to deal with huh?" he asked softly, hoping he wasn't he only one who had faced what ever it was they just faced.

Dan nodded softly, "Yea, I forgot how much of a shit you were at that age." He teased lightly and moved his hair out of his face, was little Phil right, did his Phil really know when he was lieing… could he see right through him.

"We need to talk… " Phil mumbled and looked down at his feet. "May I come in?" he looked nervous and this scared Dan, was Phil going to kick him out…

Dan moved to the side and let Phil walk in and take a seat on his bed. A low sigh passed by his own lips before he joined him, sitting down near his pillows and pulling one onto his lap for comfort.

"I spoke to younger you, he said some things that made me question a lot of things." He leaned back on the bed and looked up at the ceiling. "He asked me... Why I wasn't dating you…?" he looked over at Dan know and bit his lip. "I couldn't answer him… because I don't know the answer."

Dan looked over at Phil and sighed softly, it was obvious he knew about his feelings now, he was going to speak but was soon silenced by the boy speaking once again. "I don't know why we aren't already dating… it has been 6 years and my feelings for you never changed. I don't care about the fans.. or my family… I care about you." His voice broke slightly and tears made his way down his cheek.

Dan leaned forward and rubbed at Phil's eyes, he hated to see him cry, whether it was happy crying, or sad… he never wanted to see Phil cry. "I… "

"Let me finish… " Phil mumbled sitting up and taking Dan's hands in his own. "We have been best friend for 6 years, we have never dated anyone since we met. I have only had eyes for you and I know you have only ever looked at me in a special way. I can't live a lie any more Dan, I love you and even though I tried to push those feelings aside because of the fans and how we were treated… but I cant do that any more, I want to wake up like we did in 2009 in each others arms. I want to be able to hug you when I want to without being scared someone will see and start spreading rumours about us. I want to be able to nibble on your skin when you aren't looking just to see your face flush and that adorable giggle pass your lips. I want to be able to kiss you and call you my boyfriend, take you out to our favourite restaurants and show you that love does exist… but we were both to scared to see it." He looked down at his hands. "Please say something… " he let the tears fall more but right now he didn't really care.

Dan didn't have to say anything, he took Phil's face and tilted his head up towards him before slowly leaning in and doing the one thing he had dreamt of doing for such a long time, he placed his lips on Phil's and smiled softly before parting and deepening it. After a moment or two he slowly pulled away. "It really would mean a lot to me if I could call you my boyfriend… Phil… please be my boyfriend?"

"I thought you would never ask." Phil smiled softly and wrapped his arm around Dan's back and pulled him close to his body. "I would be honoured to be you're boyfriend Dan Howell."

2009

Dan smiled and looked up, he was glad he had his lion back, sure older Phil was fun, but he wasn't his Phil, they would grow up to that. "Do you think we will be okay in the future?"

Phil nodded and smiled softly before wrapping his arms around Dan and pulling him to his chest. "In the end? I think we end up with a story and a life that people could only ever dream to achieve."

"A fairy-tale ending?" Dan mumbled.

"With a beautiful beginning." Phil pressed his lips to the top of the boys head, he was sure there would be bumps a long the way, but he knew by 2015 and he would have the life he dreamt of, and the boy he had always loved.