Disclaimer (I'll do one for the hell of it): I do not own Dan, Phil, and every other YouTuber featured in the story. This is a work of fiction, and the only thing I own is the plot and a copy of TABINOF. Let's face it, I'd want Phan to be an RL ship screwing each other behind closed doors by now… I mean, holding hands and saying "I love you" to each other all the time. [This is one of the weirdest disclaimers to hit the internet. Do me a favor and just read the story.]
Haiku
The world is cruel
But I'm always here for you
So just take my hand
Chapter 1: Cupcakes and a Promise
Shouting. Screaming. Hate. The palms of a 7-year-old girl with long glossy raven-colored hair and ice blue eyes presses against her ears in an attempt to block the noise. But it's no use. The four white walls with chipped-off paint isn't enough to eliminate the agitation that pounds against her chest. Her eardrums can still hear the spiteful words spewing out of the adults' mouths.
"YOU DIDN'T PAY THE ELECTRIC BILLS AGAIN?"
"It was supposed to be your turn! And now you're blaming me again?"
"I didn't have time! You know that if I can't take care of it, you have to."
"No, that's your bullshit excuse for forgetting the deadline!"
She whimpers, pressing her face against the pillow. Her breaths are raspy. She feels as if someone's foot is stepping harshly against her chest. The uncomfortable sensation catches her off guard, only occurring on the nights when her parents are fighting.
"Shhh…" a gentle male voice soothes. The heat from another body makes contact with the bare skin of her forearms. She sits up, then leans her head against her brother's shoulder. Shallow breaths slowly start to return to normal breaths. The simple presence of her brother helps to draw her panic attacks away. When she's by herself, it takes minutes, maybe even hours, for her to recover from her panic attacks. She dislikes hearing her mom and dad fight. When they are mad at each other, she's terrified that their anger will literally bring the house down. She's scared that one day, their anger will reach a peak that will force her and her brother apart.
"Don't mind them, Fi. They're adults. They can handle this on their own."
She lifts her head, looking at his concerned blue eyes. His consistent calmness never ceases to amaze her. She knows that her brother is just as affected by their parents' constant fighting as she is, yet he doesn't have panic attacks like she does. "How do you do it, Phil? How are you not bothered by them?"
His arms wraps around her slim body, pulling her closer to him. "I hate it too. But remember what Martyn told us? 'Be strong. Suck it up.'"
"That's Martyn. He's an idiot." Her lip trembles. Her mind surfaces a scenario of her dad telling her that they are divorcing, that he and her mom decided for her to go with her father while her mom takes care of her brother. "I'm scared."
"What are you scared of?"
Her lip trembles. "That movie… The Parent Trap. What if mommy and daddy get divorced and they choose to separate us? I don't want you to go away. I don't want to lose you."
She can't bear the thought of never seeing Phil again. Being apart from him is the searing pain of a sunburn. She sunbathed at the beach for too long last month for forgetting to apply sunscreen. She was ashamed and in pain as she went home, regretting that she didn't remember to do a small action that was important for her skin's health.
Phil isn't merely her twin. He's her best friend. He's everything to her. He's the only one that she can go to during their parents' major arguments. They also have their older brother, Martyn, for sibling comfort, though heeding to Martyn's advice is useless. As their older brother by four years, Martyn has more years and a little more maturity to handle their parents' problems.
"They won't get separated," he assures her. "They'll work it out. We're always gonna be together. I won't let them take you away from me."
"But-"
"You're my sister, Fiona. Don't dwell on the negative. Look at the positive. Life is not a Disney fairytale. Marriages aren't perfect. No one is perfect. Mom and dad love each other. They won't give up on their marriage."
"What if they do?"
"They won't."
"How are you so sure of that?" The parents of her best friends, Louise and Zoe, don't behave in that way. She's envious of their clean-cut families. What happened between her parents that caused them to feel hate for one another instead of love? Her parents are supposed to care for each other, have an undying love like a prince has for his princess.
"I'm not. But if I have enough hope, mom and dad will have their HEA."
"HEA?"
"Happily-ever-after."
HEA. Can her parents be the prince and princess in their Disney story? Do they have the love that they vowed "from life until death?" Fights aren't healthy for a marriage, so what does true love mean if her parents don't seem to have it?
~:~
The park is inhabited by several people and the occasional passerby in mid-afternoon on a Saturday. Blades of tall grass tickles the ankles of a young child. A 7-year-old boy with ruffled raven hair and ice blue eyes pauses his footsteps. He turns around, watching his twin sister struggling to catch up to him.
The little girl huffs. Despite being a great sprinter, her twin brother is the one with longer limbs that can endure runs at greater distances. "You're too fast. Now why did you make me come here?"
He grabs her hand. "Come." With her still panting, they take off on a walk instead of a run. The twins walk a little further until they reach one of the tallest trees in the park. He points to the words etched on the tree's bark at their eye level. "What do you see?"
She squints her eyes, reading the words that he scratched onto the tree's bark earlier in the day with a dagger that he snuck away from his father's toolshed. "Fiona Mikayla and Phillip Michael Lester." She spins her head to face her brother. "I don't get it. Why did you put our names here."
"Because." He looks her square in the eye. "I want you to remember that no matter what happens to mom and dad, there will always be a place for you and I to stay together. If we're ever torn apart, the tree is a symbol that even if we grow apart, we are siblings forever."
She grins. She loves it when he does sentimental things for her. The effort that he puts into every surprise is worth it if means seeing her face light up. When his sister is happy, he's happy too. "You did this for me?"
"Of course. You've been so worried about mom and dad. I needed some way to help you understand that the love between us will stay and never go away. I love you, Fiona." Nothing can defeat the heartwarming love that he has for his sister. He'll do anything for her. Take a bullet, catch a grenade, give up a kidney, etcetera. His twin is one of his best friends. He's blessed that he was born with a kind, sweet sibling.
"Thank you Phil." She wraps her arms tightly around his waist. "I love you too."
He pats her shoulders. Suddenly, an idea crosses his mind. It's genius. As long as they are here, there's something else that they can do that will make his surprise even more memorable. "You know what we should do?"
She gazes at him with curiosity. "What?"
"Make a promise." Lester promises are their thing. It's their way of swearing to each other that they'll absolutely fulfill what it is that they wish to accomplish.
"What kind of promise?" She lets go of him and takes a step back. She raises one of her hands, directing her pinky finger at him.
"This." He mirrors her motion. "Let's promise that we'll never let love come between us. When we fall in love, no matter what happens, we put each other first. There are plenty of fish in the sea, but I only have one twin." He reaches his pinkie out to her. "Pinky swear?"
She doesn't hesitate with her answer. "Pinky swear."
They hook their pinkies. Their Lester promise about undying love is how it all begins. It's what will bring them closer, but will also someday be broken and tear them apart.
~:~
The mall is lined with shoppers entering and exiting high-maintenance stores. A woman in a fur coat enters a Dior store. A boy carries two Victoria's Secret's bags for a girl, his face contorted in an annoyed expression on his face. A group of teens sit at a fountain sipping iced coffee from the mall's Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf café. Then there's Dan Howell, a 12-year-old boy sitting on a bench with a middle-aged adult sitting down next to the lanky pre-teen, reading today's newspaper.
Dan flickers his gaze at the mall's stores around him. His brain racks for a source of inspiration. Mother's Day is in three days, and he has absolutely no idea what to give to his mother. Now that he's getting older, his homemade cards are not appropriate for an oversized adolescent. He's one more year away from going to high school. Becoming a teenager will mean leaving behind his childish gift ideas.
The brown-haired boy is running out of options. His last resort is to buy something. He has enough allowance and babysitting money saved to afford an off-the-counter necklace, earrings, or any piece of jewelry. Or a ceramic figure from the homeware selection in Macy's. But a store-bought item wouldn't have the same type of love compared to an item crafted from his own hands. His gifts come from the heart. Once a price tag is attached to a gift, the gift is without the genuine love that it's supposed to have.
"Bro! This is heavy. Why did we buy so much?"
"It's better to be safe than sorry, Fi."
Dan looks around. He notices a boy and a girl with black hair and sky blue eyes walk out of Macy's, who seem to be about the same age range as him. The two kids are carrying several shopping bags in their hands. Dan watches as they stop walking to exchange bags with each other.
"What are we carrying? Rocks?" the girl complains. She takes a TJ Max bag from the boy. "I sure hope the casserole will be delicious."
"It has to be." The boy blows at the hair that dangles over his eyes. He balances the handles from the bags over his arms and adjusts his fringe. "Dinner made by us will be the perfect gift for mom."
"But we've never cooked for her. We might burn the house down." The girl puts the bags down on the ground. She flexes her arms. "Do we have any more stops?"
"Nope."
"Thank fucking god." She finishes her stretching and picks up the bags. "Since our culinary skills can't cook anything beside eggs and bacon, we gotta know how to wield a knife before we even come close to an oven."
"Sis." He helps her gather the bags back into her hands. "We may be amateur cooks, but I don't think we're that terrible to set the house on fire."
"I don't know. Martyn came awfully close when he left the stove on while frying pancakes for dad's birthday."
"That was his fault for not paying attention to what he was doing."
Watching the siblings' conversation, Dan thinks that it's nice of them to make dinner for their mother on Mother's Day. It's a selfless idea. Some of the boys that he knows from his middle school aren't the kind of people to do things for their parents without expecting something in return. The siblings' idea is original. Creative. With all the bags that the girl is carrying, he has a hunch that they are cooking more than a casserole. They might be planning to cook a full-course meal.
"Maybe I should cook for mom," Dan mutters to himself. He's an amateur cook at best, but cooking involves making something with his hands. And he knows how to bake. He helps his grandmother make cookies whenever he drops by to visit his grandparents.
His mom likes cupcakes. His dad always purchases a dozen of red velvet cupcakes for their anniversaries. If he knows how to bake cookies, then surely he can use what he knows to try to make cupcakes.
He reaches into his pocket and takes out his phone. He inputs red velvet cupcake recipe into Google's search box.
He grins. Mom, get ready for my sweet surprise.
~:~
The three days leading to Mother's Day consists of floured hands, a messy kitchen, and two disposed trays of the sweet tooth dessert. With the help of Dan's younger brother Adrian, whose eager volunteering taught the 7-year-old Howell child how to bake cupcakes alongside Dan, they were successful at producing a presentable batch. If Dan had done it alone, it would have probably taken him beyond three days to produce a decent tray.
Their third batch was made on the day before Mother's Day. Both of their parents were at work, allowing them the time and privacy to do the recipe again. Their joint gift was something that they wanted to surprise their dad with too since they'd be baking enough for the entire family to consume. And maybe it was also a small excuse for Dan to use the cupcakes as an advanced Father's Day gift at the same time.
By the evening of Mother's Day, Dan was certain about one thing: he's not going into culinary for his future career.
The boys' mother gasps when Dan and Adrian opened the refrigerator and they carried the tray of red velvet cupcakes to the dinner table.
"Surprise!"
The brothers place the frozen tray on the table. In tears, she picks up a cupcake with the words 'BEST MOM EVER' (one of Adrian's creations) written on white store-bought frosting (Dan was too lazy to make the frosting himself). "Oh boys." She peels back the red paper cup and takes a bite. "This is delicious! You made these yourself?"
"It was Dan's idea," Adrian says. "Mommy, I had so much fun making those and now I wanna be a chef when I grow up."
"It's all thanks to Delia Smith," Dan tells her sheepishly. Their dad talks highly about Delia Smith's recipes, so when Dan found one of her cupcake recipes online, he didn't hesitate to use it.
Their dad chuckles. "You can't go wrong with Delia Smith."
Their mom puts her bitten cupcake back on the tray. She moves around the table and gives them a hug. "I love you, Daniel and Adrian."
"Love you too mommy!" Adrian chirps, falling into his mom's embrace.
"What he said," Dan seconds, laughing.
He wonders how Mother's Day is going for the siblings that he saw at the mall. Did they accomplish in making their casserole? Their mother is lucky to have them as children. He imagines their family sitting at a round table, chattering amicably about how delicious the dinner that they made is. They too must be celebrating the parental holiday in joy.
He's grateful to have a loving family. He has a caring mother, an attentive brother, and a non-spoiled, energetic little brother. His family is perfect. What more can he ask for?
Thank you, whatever your names are. Dan thinks as Adrian and his parents start to chow down on the cupcakes. Now let's see if Delia Smith has a cookie recipe that I can do for Christmas.
So this is my first ever multi-chaptered Dan and Phil fic. How am I doing so far? My goal is to make this one of the most different phanfics to hit the phandom fanfiction world. I wanted this story to have multiple perspectives, multiple pairings, and multiple events going on at once. Aside from Phan, there'll be Zalfie as well as other pairings that'll be introduced as the story rolls along. And yes, I tagged Smosh into the fic because Ian and Anthony will be involved later. ;)
The format of the story will be like a teleserye (Filipino TV show). There's gonna be a lot of romance, drama, friendships, humor, betrayals, one-liners, and memorable moments. So if you like to watch teleseryes (or foreign dramas in general, because I had a lot of classmates in high school addicted to Korean dramas), this story is for you. This story will be roughly around 30+ chapters, and as of today, I have about 20 or so chapters pre-typed.
I'll also be inserting haikus I came up with myself to match the tone for a chapter. Fanfics usually do that with songs, so I thought this would be my way of breaking the norm.
The title of the story is inspired by a Filipino song called Pangako Sa Yo (which means I Promise You) by Rey Valera. I recommend listening to the Vina Morales version, because it's the most popularized version of the song. There's also a Daniel Padilla version if you want to listen to an acoustic version of it. And now that I realize it, Daniel Padilla's initials are DP… get it? DP? Dan and Phil? *crickets* Damn I'm still bad with puns.
I'll be updating twice a week, and Ch. 2 shall be coming on Wednesday or Thursday.
Reviews will mean a whole lot to me. I'd love to know what ya'll think!
~ AA