Hello Internet... Time for the Truth
A/N: I tried so hard to not get sucked into shipping Phan, or reading/writing phanfiction... now look at what has happened. LOOK. Haha, anyway, enjoy this one-shot fluff.
Dan sat down on his bed opposite the camera, ready to record his next video.
Or was he ready?
His hands started to shake, but he clenched them into fists, willing them to stop. He took a couple of deep breaths. Earlier, Dan had been fine with the thought of recording this video, as he knew that most of his fanbase would enjoy hearing the news, but now his stomach was churning with his increasing nervousness. He wasn't scared of what his fans would say, because quite frankly he could rather easily choose not to care. What he was scared of was just the act of admitting what had happened earlier that day to everyone. It was sure to attract some unwanted attention, as well as change things forever, especially amongst his fans, friends and family.
Dan spent a few moments attempting to steady his heart rate before he finally started with a cheerful, "Hello internet! So today I have something rather serious to tell you guys about... um, er..."
He scratched the back of his head, messing his brown hair up a bit, his nervousness returning. That's it. He couldn't do this by himself.
"Hey Phil!" Dan shouted in the direction of his bedroom door.
He heard a bit of shuffling until finally, Phil appeared in the doorway, a bit of a smile on his face, "Can't do it alone, can you?"
"Nope. Get your ass in here." Dan motioned for Phil to take a seat next to him on top of the duvet.
"I can't do it either," Phil replied as he took his seat next to Dan, a little closer than usual. Dan bit his lip.
"How far have you gotten?" Phil asked Dan, glancing at the camera.
Dan sighed resting his cheek on his hand, "Not very far at all. All I've really said is 'Hello internet' and that I need to say something kind of serious."
"Kind of?" Phil laughed, using his hands to support his weight as he leaned back on them and made eye contact with Dan.
A small amount of heat rose into Dan's face as he turned his gaze away from Phil and back to the camera, "Yeah..."
Phil smiled and sat forward again, carefully taking Dan's hand in his own, "Relax, Dan. You know it'll be just fine. How about you start again?"
Dan nodded slowly to the floor, clenching his jaw for a second and then looked back up at the camera, still holding onto Phil's hand which was out of the frame, "Hello internet! I'm here with Amazing Phil-"
"Hello!" Phil interjected cheerfully, waving his free hand at the camera.
"-and, well, there's something... important that we felt like you all should know... since you're our lovely fans and all," Dan's speech slowed the closer he got to saying what he needed to say. He looked over at Phil, who returned his gaze with a reassuring smile. How is he so calm? Dan thought as he stared at his best friend in the whole world. I guess I should be too.
Just then, Phil turned away from Dan and back to the camera to continue the recording, "Basically, Dan and I were tagged in that crazy challenge going around for couples to do, probably because everyone ships us-"
"Yeah it's crazy, I mean the amount of phanfiction out there is staggering," Dan added, smiling now.
"Right? And then, on videos with you and me in them, do you get the billions of 'omg Phan is real!' comments?"
"Oh my God all the bloody time."
"Yeah"
"It's ridiculous."
"Anyway, Dan and I were tagged by a rather smaller YouTuber, so we thought we could just kind of ignore it, but then Tyler Oakley tagged us after his challenge-" continued Phil.
"And then Pewdiepie, fucking PEWDIEPIE tagged us, so once that happened of course there was no getting out of it." Dan gestured with his free hand while he spoke.
"Yeah, otherwise we would've had both phangirls AND YouTubers screaming at us," Phil said smiling. Dan laughed.
After that though, they became silent again, the laughter dying away to be replaced with an uncomfortable sense of fear. Dan squeezed Phil's hand tightly, causing Phil's attention to turn to Dan.
"I thought you were the confident one here." Dan remarked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, more confident than you at least..." Phil replied, grinning sheepishly.
Dan smiled and rolled his eyes, but the smile soon faded as he gazed back into the camera lens, "Maybe this was a bad idea. Maybe we shouldn't tell them."
Phil let go of Dan's hand and grasped him by the shoulders, "Come on, Dan. They're our fans. They have a right to know. Besides, we couldn't keep this a secret for very long anyway, knowing them."
"Maybe they don't have a right," Dan replied, staring into Phil's soft blue eyes, "This is about our personal lives. We have a right to our privacy."
"True," Phil nodded in agreement, "but wouldn't it feel better just to tell them? They wouldn't be obnoxiously speculative anymore. We could be open about it and not have to constantly worry about doing something that gives it away. I think there are more positives than negatives if we just tell them."
Dan bit his lip again, causing a half smile to creep onto Phil's face, who then blushed, "Sorry..."
Dan relaxed a bit and smiled at that, "You really do day sorry to just about everything."
"I do! I really do. It's a problem." Phil answered back, grinning as he let go of Dan's shoulders.
"Okay, let's keep going..." Dan said after taking a deep breath and starting again, "Well, basically, the challenge was uncomfortable and weird and we actually ran into a phangirl while we were filming it and she just kind of screamed-"
"Yeah it was so scary, it was just out of nowhere-" Phil interrupted.
"It scared the shit out of me! Anyway, that was an interesting adventure. But uh... you know what, we'll just show the challenge video and you'll get what we're trying to tell you."
"Have you edited that bit yet, Dan?" Phil asked him, running his thumb over the back of Dan's hand. Dan felt his face heat up again.
"N-not yet," he stuttered slightly, "Should we do that before recording the rest?"
"Sure."
Dan got up so that he could turn off the camera while they edited the couple challenge footage while Phil walked over to Dan's computer which had all of the video files stored on it, taking a seat on one of the two chairs pulled up to the desk it was sitting on. Dan soon joined him on the other chair.
"Okay..." Dan clicked on the first clip, which was at the beginning of the challenge before the first task. He clicked play.
"Hello internet, so Phil and I-"
"Hi guys!"
"- got tagged in this crazy challenge going around in the month of February by Tyler Oakley AND Pewdiepie, so now we have to do it I guess. It's called the couple challenge and basically what you have to do is complete these three tasks with the person you were tagged with that all have to do with stuff that couples would do-"
"I can hear the phangirls screaming already."
The Dan in the video laughed, "-Yeah well, I haven't actually seen any of the challenge videos yet so I have no idea what we're getting ourselves into but hey! Why not?"
"What's the first challenge, Dan?"
"Okay, let's see, the first challenge iiiis..." video Dan looks at his laptop screen and muttered "Oh God..."
"What? What is it?" video Phil asked, looking over Dan's shoulder at the screen.
"We have to go on a walk through London while holding hands and we're not allowed to let go."
"Great."
"Well then, let's go."
There was some extra footage at the end that Dan decided to delete. While doing so, he noticed Phil grinning and asked, "What?"
"We had no idea. No idea." Phil said, his eyes sparkling with laughter.
Dan grinned too, "Yeahhhh."
He played the next video and leaned back against Phil's shoulder, blushing slightly. Phil fidgeted with his hands, his stomach fluttering.
The next video began with Phil and Dan walking through downtown London, just talking normally about how awkward the situation was but agreeing it was fine as it was just a challenge.
Just a challenge, Phil thought, amused as he watched the video clip continue.
"Anyway, as you can see, Phil and I are actually holding hands," the camera that was once trained on Dan's face shifted down to reveal Dan and Phil's hands clasped together between their slightly chilly bodies, "How does this make you feel Phil?"
The camera quickly panned up to Phil's face, "Strange. I mean, it's fine because we're friends and all, but-"
"Yeah, I know."
Later in the video, a scream jolted both video Dan and Phil and the Dan and Phil watching the video, and then they all laughed simultaneously.
"That has to go in the video," Phil said as the video continued to reveal a girl wearing a danisnotonfire and Amazing Phil T-shirt staring at them, wide-eyed.
"Of course it's going in the video!" Dan smiled, shifting his head against Phil's neck so that he was more comfortable. He could feel Phil shiver at the movement.
After cutting some more footage, they moved on to the next clip; the second challenge.
"Okay, okay Phil are you ready for this next one?" The Dan in the video asked with his phone out so that he could read the next challenge.
"Yes! Let's do it!" Phil cheered, doing a little dance with his arms.
Dan smiled and shook his head, looking down at his phone, "Are you serious? Oh my God, okay so for this one, we have to go into a flower shop, and one of us has to go up to the counter and ask the person working there for roses, and we have to explicitly say 'for my boyfriend' and point to the other one who has to wait by the door."
"Are you serious? I don't want to pay for that, or do that I'm so awkward!"
"You're awkward? I make videos where I literally make fun of how much of a failure and an awkward person I am!"
"I do that too!"
"You know what? Flip a coin for it."
The Phil watching the video slowly leaned against Dan's head, "Should we cut the bit of us deciding who should go to ask for the roses?"
"Hmmm yeah it's a bit long." Dan replied, editing that part out.
The video resumed after the whole debate which ended up with Phil having to ask for the flowers. Dan had the camera trained on him, and was grinning like crazy, then turned the camera to follow Phil's shuffling towards the desk. Even from that distance, the camera picked up on the conversation.
"Excuse me?" Phil asked the lady working at the counter.
The lady working there looked up from underneath the counter, "Yes? Would you like to place an order sir?"
"Um, yeah can I get a bouquet of roses for my... boyfriend there?" Phil pointed back at Dan.
Dan giggled quietly so that only the camera picked up on it as the lady looked over at him. He trained the camera at himself quickly and smiled, doing a little wave to milk Phil's embarrassment.
He turned the camera back to Phil and the lady at the counter, and she went and got his order. Phil glanced back at Dan and the camera as Dan tried to stifle his laughter, while the lady brought the roses for Phil.
He paid for them, muttered "Thank you"and walked over to Dan and the camera.
As they exited the store, Dan let out the laughter he had been trying to suppress.
"Shut up, Dan! That was so awkward!" Phil said, but he was smiling, "Here are your flowers."
Dan took them from Phil, still laughing as he said, "Thanks honey, they're really lovely."
"Dan!"
As they finished the video clip, Dan and Phil were laughing too.
"Where did you put those flowers again?" Dan asked Phil, clicking the last video they had to edit with the final challenge.
"I put them in a vase on the kitchen counter," Phil answered, tensing up at the sight of the next video that Dan was going to play. The task that changed everything. Would change everything.
"Of course you did..." Dan bantered half-heartedly as the next video began to play on the screen with Dan and Phil back at the flat.
"All right, well that was fun!" Dan started, getting his phone out to look up the last task of the couple challenge.
"Yeah, for you!" Phil replied, nudging Dan's shoulder with his own shoulder.
Instead of doing anything back to Phil, Dan stared at his phone, a look of shock mixed with disbelief.
"What? Is it the next challenge?" Phil asked Dan.
Dan nodded and showed the phone to Phil, "What?!"
"Well, this one says we have to kiss each other," Dan clarified to the camera.
Watching the video, Phil shifted a little bit, as did Dan.
"Okayyy, well I mean, obviously Pewdiepie and Marzia kissed because they're actually a couple but what about the other YouTubers?" video Dan asked, still looking at his phone, a bit of redness creeping into his cheeks.
"I dunno. Let's look some challenge videos up."
After watching a few, Dan and Phil realized all the other YouTubers who had done the challenge who were not couples still kissed each other for the third challenge.
"Umm..." Dan started, looking over at Phil.
"I mean, it's just a challenge right?" Phil reasoned, meeting Dan's gaze.
"Yeah... I guess so. Are you cool with it?" Dan asked uncomfortably.
"I'm cool with it... are you?" Phil returned.
"Yeah, sure... Just a challenge..." Dan dropped the phone on his bed and looked back over at Phil, who scooted a little closer to him.
Slowly, they started to lean in, getting closer and closer to each other, when Dan smiled slightly, "The phangirls are gonna have a field day."
"Y-yeah..." Phil replied, quietly, only half smiling as he concentrated on Dan's lips moving closer to his.
They closed their eyes, and soon their lips met, softly. It was meant to be rather quick, so as to not make it awkward, but they both lingered for a bit, and when they both just barely pulled away, Phil kissed Dan again, reaching slowly for Dan's waist. Dan, slightly surprised, pulled back a bit, but thought better of it and kissed Phil back, holding Phil's face gently with both of his hands. Phil's arms wrapped around Dan properly, and they stayed like that for a while.
The Dan and Phil observing the video both felt their faces flush.
"We should probably skip a little bit... I didn't realize how long this was..." Dan breathed softly.
Phil just nodded as the video continued until Phil and Dan finally broke apart and just sat on Dan's bed staring at each other, stunned.
They stayed like that for some time, till video Dan looked away awkwardly, running a hand through his hair, "W-well um...that was..."
"...unexpected..." Phil replied, looking at the floor as he pressed his hands against the duvet, "but... k-kind of... good, I think..."
Dan just nodded.
"...we should probably stop recording now..." Phil suggested, still staring at the floor.
"Y-yeah..." Dan answered, very slowly leaving the bed and turning off the camera, ending the video clip.
Dan hadn't noticed it until now, but he had been clutching Phil's hand, and Phil clutching his.
"Okay..." Phil breathed, standing up from his chair, still holding onto Dan's hand.
"It's just as scary watching it happen as it was when it actually happened." Dan remarked, standing up as well.
"Actually, I think it's more terrifying to watch it happen." Phil said, guiding Dan back to the bed to record the last bit of video for their coming out video.
"Yeah? Why's that?" Dan asked, turning on the camera again and taking a seat very close to Phil on the bed.
Phil met Dan's eyes, "Because I had the relief of you... kissing me back, which kind of got rid of my nervousness. Now that footage is going to be all over the internet and it's like... I dunno it's just scarier."
"See that's what I was talking about before..." Dan mumbled, looking down at his hand in Phil's.
"...do you still want to do this?" Phil asked him cautiously.
Slowly, Dan nodded, "Do you?"
"Yes, I think."
"Right..." Dan breathed out before looking back at the camera for what seemed like the five hundredth time that day, "So... that happened."
"I'm sure the phangirls are out there crying- er, crafting really hard right now." Phil joked, slightly nervously.
Dan laughed a bit, "Yeah just a bit. So, yeah, this was an interesting turn of events that I don't think either of us saw coming, but apparently you all did."
"Yup, tada!" Phil lifted his hand that was holding onto Dan's into the camera shot, causing Dan's face to go a little red as he smiled to the camera.
"Right, I'm sure they needed even more confirmation that Phan is real after seeing footage of us kissing, Phil."
"I dunno, I thought it would be nice." Phil shrugged, smiling as he dropped their hands again.
"Well, that's it, then. The truth is revealed! If you think Phan is adorable click on my face to subscribe to my channel or Phil's face to subscribe to his channel, or click the link below to subscribe to our gaming channel.-"
"Bye guys!"
"-Bye! Oh, God this is going to be terrifying." Dan stood up and stopped recording, picking up the camera filled with the beginning and end of their next video.
"Let's go edit it." Phil motioned Dan back to the chairs at the desk.
Right, here we go...
Later in the night, Dan and Phil's YouTube channels, Tumblr accounts, Favebook feeds and Twitter notifications were exploding after the posting of their couple challenge video, which they titled "Hello Internet... Time for the Truth". They were sitting on the couch together, Phil leaning on Dan's shoulder when they checked the video view count and were surprised to find that the video already had almost one million views after posting it just an hour and fifteen minutes ago. The word was spreading like wild fire that Dan and Phil were in a relationship, not just amongst the phans, but other YouTubers, their friends and their families. Most were very supportive, but of course there were some douche bags, but Dan and Phil just ignored them.
"I'm glad that's over with." Dan sighed into Phil's dark hair.
"Me too," Phil added, sitting up straight, much to the dismay of Dan, "but our news feeds are going to be insane for a while."
"More like forever." Dan laughed.
Phil smiled and stared into Dan's captivating brown eyes. The moment just felt so right, so Phil kissed Dan lightly, catching him off guard.
Dan's face flushed with red and he bit his lip. God, Phil loved it when he did that.
"Phil?"
"Yeah?"
Dan kissed Phil, in the exact way Phil had just kissed him a moment ago, and crept into the gap between Phil's legs, leaning back against Phil's chest. He could feel Phil's heart pounding as he wrapped his arms around Dan's waist, and Dan smiled.
"I love you, Phil."
"I love you too."