I sat on our couch, scrolling on Tumblr. I was waiting for Phil to come home. Even when he went just down the road, I missed him. I was scrolling past yet another edited photo of us in flower crowns when Phil walked in. He had five white plastic bags, and while he was struggling to close the door, I took the bags from Phil.
"Hey Phil," I said to him. I put the groceries on the counter.
He took a look at my running computer.
"Really Dan, the #phan tag again?" He ignored my greeting.
"Yes. I want people to know about us. I want the world to know, I love Philip Lester!" I put a tub of chocolate ice cream in the freezer.
"I do too. Why are we even waiting? I mean, when we first started dating in 2009, It probably wasn't the right time to say we were dating. But times have changed! We should tell our subscribers. What's the worst that could happen?" Phil started. We go through this every week. I scroll through the phan tag. Phil notices. We agree we should tell our subscribers. We never do. It was a vicious cycle. I wanted out. We wanted to get married in Japan, but we wanted our subscribers to know about us first.
"We could make a video. I think that would be the best way to tell them," I suggested, putting away a box of maltesers.
"We could do a "Dan and Phil react to Phan proof" video! We could just confirm or deny the proof, and then at the end, say that phan is real, and that we are sorry for keeping it for so long. Please Dan! Can we go film it!?" Phil was really excited.
"Fine. But we should probably put our groceries away," I said.
"Can you do it? I want to go get the cameras set up. We should film in your room," Phil started.
"Fine. I'll be there in a moment." I continued to put stuff away. Phil took my laptop into my room.
"Dan! Your room is a mess!" I heard Dan from the other room.
"Sorry. Just push everything under the bed!" I call back, taking a sip of coffee that I had left out from this morning. Finally I put the orange juice away, put the plastic bags in the bin, and joined Phil in my room. He had a video all queued up, and was playing a game on his phone. He didn't notice I had come in, so I snuck up behind him, very quietly. He was still playing on his phone. I was right behind the chair he was seated in. Then, I jumped over him and screamed. He dropped his phone and screamed. I hopped off the chair. Phil caught his breath.
"Dan! Don't scare me like that!" he said.
"I couldn't resist," I said, giving him a small kiss on his lips. He kissed back, harder. Soon we were on my bed, making out. It was so passionate, I just wanted to take him right then and there. Suddenly, Phil kissed me gently on the nose.
"Daniel, love, we have to go tell the world what we actually do on the weekends.
"Each other," I said. Phil gave me a light smack on my upper arm.
"Come on, we should record this video," Phil got off my bed, fixed his raven black hair, and sat down on the chair. I got up, got another chair, and set it right next to Phil's. The video up on my laptop was "Phan- A compilation of proof" by RealPhanCharlie. The camera was set right on our faces. I pressed the play button, and the video started.
"Hello, Internet! I am here with AmazingPhil, also my… friend," I started the video. Phil looked over at me. He noticed the catch in my speech when I said friend. Phil looked directly at the camera.
"Hey guys. So today, we will be reacting to the Phan proof on the internet. We will also be giving you stuff like, what really happened behind this proof stuff." Phil and I stared at each other for less than a moment. I could read his ice blue eyes. They were positively dancing with excitement. I looked away and pressed play on the video. It started with a few 2009 tweets. Then a photo of us "making out." We were actually dancing. I paused the video. Phil looked questioningly. We weren't going to reveal our relationship until the end of the video. I looked into that camera.
"Well, we weren't going to reveal this until the end of the video. But I personally have waited long enough. Phil, can I go ahead?" I asked my boyfriend.
"Of course."
"We have actually been dating since 2009," I said.
"We're actually engaged," Phil chimed in.
"Phil, we weren't gonna tell them about that! We were gonna wait!" I chastised Phil.
"Sorry," Phil said to the camera, half smirk on his face.
"Do you wanna watch the rest of the video now, Darling?" I said.
"Daniel Love, I would enjoy nothing better," We cuddled up and watch the rest of the video.
At the end of the video, we apologized for not telling our audience sooner. We signed off, edited it, and then put it on the internet. That night, we watched Doctor Who on television, while eating out of the ice cream tub. We fell asleep that night, Phil's head on my soldier, my head on his head, and an empty ice cream tub and two spoons on the floor.
The next morning, I woke up. Phil had already woken up and was in the kitchen. I sat up, groggily.
"Good morning sunshine," Phil greeted me.
"Hello love. What are you making?" I asked.
"Your favorite."
"Delia Smith pancakes."
I stood up, accidently tripped over the ice cream tub, and walked over to Phil. I wrapped my arms around his waist as he made me the most delicious pancakes the world has ever known. He finished, and we ate breakfast together.
"You know, we could do it right now," Phil suggested through a bite of pancakes.
"Oh, you naughty boy," I teased.
"Dan, that's not what I meant."
"Then what did you mean?"
"Get married."
"Well, we have been engaged for six months. I do think we should wait though, just to see the initial reaction from our fans. Then we can talk," I finished my pancakes and brought my dish to the sink.
"Fine, but I don't think I can hold off any longer."
"I'm going to check out our fan's reactions," I said, heading in my bedroom.
"Okay!" As soon as I had sat on my bed and turned on my computer, Phil barged into my room with his computer.
"I want to see what they think. Also, do you think I should unprivate my videos to you?" He asked me. I could tell he wanted to.
"Fine, but only if the reaction is good." I logged into Google and looked at my notifications. The video already had seven million views. Phil and I had received thirty new subscribers between the two of us. Only seven people had unsubscribed from me. I decided to look at the comments. The majority of comments were shippers. Some were the overly obsessed phangirls, with the "OMG ITS REAL" shit that tested my relationship with Phil. I love my fans and all, but this was a bit much. There were the comments such as "I'm so happy for you." Finally, there were the hater comments, such as "You're going to hell", and "KYS Fgt"
Overall the reactions were great. Phil had gone over to my bedside table and pulled out two golden rings. They weren't anything special, just two gold bands. Our engagement rings. I had kept them hidden after we bought them. Phil slipped one ring on my ring finger. I slipped the other one on Phil's. We looked at them.
"Philip. I love you," I said to him, my head on his chest, my eyes admiring the ring on my left hand.
"Daniel, I love you too. One second. Remember that song we danced to at the Brit Awards?"
I sat up. "Thinking Out Loud by Ed Sheeran?"
"That's the one. We never got to finish the dance, because you froze like a deer in headlights. We could dance now," Phil suggested.
"Alright. Okay," I said as Phil took my laptop and typed in the song.
The song started to play. It was a very nice song. I stood up.
"May I have this dance Mr. Lester?" I offered, in my best phony French accent.
"It would be an honor, Mr. Howell." Phil stood up. We shuffled around my bedroom, heads on each other's shoulders.
When your legs don't work like they used to before
And I can't sweep you off of your feet
Will your mouth still remember the taste of my love?
Will your eyes still smile from your cheeks?
And, darling, I will be loving you 'til we're 70
And, baby, my heart could still fall as hard at 23
And I'm thinking 'bout how people fall in love in mysterious ways
Maybe just the touch of a hand
Well, me - I fall in love with you every single day
And I just wanna tell you I am
So honey now
Take me into your loving arms
Kiss me under the light of a thousand stars
Place your head on my beating heart
I'm thinking out loud
Maybe we found love right where we are
When my hair's all but gone and my memory fades
And the crowds don't remember my name
When my hands don't play the strings the same way
I know you will still love me the same
'Cause honey your soul could never grow old, it's evergreen
And, baby, your smile's forever in my mind and memory
I'm thinking 'bout how people fall in love in mysterious ways
Maybe it's all part of a plan
Well, I'll just keep on making the same mistakes
Hoping that you'll understand
That, baby, now
Take me into your loving arms
Kiss me under the light of a thousand stars
Place your head on my beating heart
Thinking out loud
Maybe we found love right where we are
La la la la la la la la
So, baby, now
Take me into your loving arms
Kiss me under the light of a thousand stars
Oh, darling, place your head on my beating heart
I'm thinking out loud
Maybe we found love right where we are
Oh, baby, we found love right where we are
And we found love right where we are
The song ended. Phil let go, and sat down on the bed.
"How about this Saturday?" I knew what he was asking. To get married. Butterflies swelling in my chest, I said only one word.
"Yes."