Dirty Little Secret
Dan could hear Phil typing through the bedroom wall and hoped he was settled in for the night. Before he found out he was lactose intolerant this would be the moment Phil went to get himself a glass of milk and dan did not want to be caught with his dirty little secret. He tilted his laptop screen forward so he could close it quickly and pretend to be asleep if he had to. The faint glow of the AO3 page illuminated his features in his otherwise dark room. It was about 2 AM so Dan was pretty sure he was safe, unless Phil decided they should play Mario Kart like he did last night—God he is such a child—when Dan had been trying to work. He hears the typing in Phil's room stop and holds his breath and grips the top of his computer ready to slam it shut, but then he hears Phil's steady breathing and realizes he's safe.
He opens his computer all the way up and stares at the paragraph he was working on getting just right. Phil blinked down at the shorter boy, shocked. "You… you love he?" well there's one thing he can fix, damn typos. "You… you love me?" he gulped "Well, of course I do you idiot, you're Phil and I'm Dan" Dan smiles at his computer screen, it was so cheesy but in just the right way. He knew if either of them ever really fell in love that would be exactly how it would happen. Phil's bed creaked in the other room. Dan nearly had a heart attack. God, he would absolutely die if Phil knew that he did this in his free time. Sure, they read the crack fics together but that's just fucking around, and when they read the less creepy ones it's still just to have a laugh. Dan was the one who wasn't creeped out by the people writing about them. It made him feel famous, like people cared about his life. Of course, he never imagined he would be the one writing fics about him and his BEST FRIEND. Then again, he never really was good at the writing, he just did it for a little while so that he would be a better beta. Betaing he was good at. He loved making sure all the plot points lined up with life just right and that Phil sounded adorable and innocent but just snarky enough, you know, like Phil. He especially loved all the crazy AU's that people came up with, hell someone wrote the most amazing fan fiction about him as a florist a fucking florist. It was possibly the best fic Dan had read and somehow captured the essence of him and Phil with barely any basis in their real life stories. AU's made him feel less awkward about it too, it wasn't really about him and Phil if it was about two actors who started out hating each other.
He turns back to the fic he's editing, it seems like it has a lot of potential, it's a chaptered one that's about halfway through and really starting to get intense. "I'm sorry Dan, I just don't think I feel the same way. I, I just want to stay friends with you." Cunt. Dan had not been expecting that, the author had basically promised that this chapter would be the one where the boys started dating but then this happened. He had to admit that it was clever, and it really fit in with the side of Phil the story was showing off but, but, they had to get together. This is the problem with betaing for really good fics, you start to get way to invested and Dan only betaed the good fics. Once he started betaing people began to realize that he was really good at getting the voices just so and making the fic seem super realistic even if it was like a space AU or some shit. Of course, unlike on every other website Dan didn't have the same user name for fan fiction sites, for fan fiction he blended in nice and anonymous, nerd4Lyfe23 could have been anyone but as far as the rest of the world was concerned, he wasn't. He finished reading the chapter and sent the ok to the writer excited for the reviews that would come pouring in when the chapter went live tomorrow morning. Sometimes, he would try and get Phil to read the fics he had betaed claiming that a fan had suggested they read it, this particular fic Home on Sunday was one of the ones where he had succeeded. They read the newest chapter out loud to each other every Wednesday morning over their cereal and coffee. He couldn't wait to see what Phil thought of this chapter, he thought it was particularly brilliant.
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Phil couldn't wait, today was the new chapter of Home On Sunday and like always he and Dan were going to read it over their breakfast. He secretly loved reading fan fiction with Dan, he couldn't help it, it was this weird guilty pleasure of his. He knew that Dan just thought it was funny but to Phil it was sweet, fan fiction was people who cared about their lives. Home on Sunday was something totally different though, they had never read a chaptered fic together and they usually just read AU stuff so that it didn't feel awkward. HOS was in the canonverse and was set at their current ages, it was so close to real. For some reason though, it never made things awkward between them. The two boys could read the romantic scenes out loud to each other and it never felt weird, it just felt like two friends having fun and enjoying their fandom.
Today was Phil's turn to read aloud so when Dan plops down Phil snatches his laptop, sticking his tongue out at Dan's half hearted attempts to hold onto it. He laughs as he places the computer down and taps the cat sticker that Dan could never get off.
"This laptop is basically 50% mine stop being such a baby." At this Dan pouted and took an angry chomp at his cereal.
"Just read the damn fanfic, I know you want to," he said tauntingly. Phil makes a point of opening Dan's mac as slowly as possible.
"It was midnight, technically Monday, Phil had to be nearly home now. Like always Dan lay sprawled on the couch waiting up for his best friend, however tonight wouldn't be like always. Tonight would be the night Dan finally admitted what he had known for the last 6 months. Tonight would be the night he would tell Phil he was in love. Suddenly there was a ruckus at the door, Phil had never learned how to come in quietly and tripped over the pile of shoes at the front of the flat."
"How realistic", Dan interrupted breaking out into laughter when Phil glared at him with his iciest blue eyed stare. "Although you would probably break something too."
"Shut up butterfingers, drop any young children lately?" Phil quipped, looking triumphant. "May I continue, or are you not finished?" He takes Dan's quite grumbling as a yes and continues reading. "'Dan you up?' Phil whispers, as if the loud crashing wouldn't have woke the brunette up anyway. 'When am I not up you turnip? Besides you could have woken the whole bloody city with that entrance.' Phil can't help but giggle at that but it turns into a hiccup and Dan realizes Phil is just a little tipsy…" The chapter heats up from there and Phil gets so caught up in reading it he almost forgets that he is supposed to be eating breakfast, he looks down at his bowl to see what once was frosted shreddies that is now nothing more than a pile of soggy mush. He pushes on anyway, coming to the end of the chapter. "'So, I can't tell how drunk you are right now so maybe this will just be a dress rehearsal, but I have something to say' Dan stumbles over his words, rushing to spit them out. 'Fire' Phil says chuckling to himself and swaying just the tiniest bit. 'I think I've fallen in love with you Phil' 'You… you love me?' Phil gulped 'Well, of course I do you idiot, you're Phil and I'm Dan' 'I'm sorry Dan, I just don't think I feel the same way. I, I just want to stay friends with you.' Phil didn't even look sorry and that's what hit Dan like a canon ball to the stomach. Phil didn't even care that he was standing there smashing Dan's hopes against the wall. 'Dan, I have a girlfriend, I thought you knew, where did you think I went every Sunday?'" Phil shut the computer and smiled at his roommate. "Not a bad chapter."
"Not bad? Not bad? Are you mad? That was brilliant! And that twist? That was crazy I never saw that coming! What do you mean not bad?" Dan shouted incredulously. Phil tried to hide his smirk. Of course it had been a great chapter, maybe the best so far, but he didn't have to tell Dan that. Especially considering his dirty little secret.