"Dan, where are you going?" Phil Lester asked when he saw his best friend, Dan Howell, walk past the lounge. Dan slowly backed up and walked into the lounge. He looked up and saw Phil sitting on the couch, with his laptop beside him. "It's almost midnight." Phil said. Dan bit his lip nervously. "Where are you going?" He asked again. Dan froze. Phil raised his eyebrows as he looked at Dan.
"Uh, I…" Dan started to say. He sighed. "I'm going to meet up with PJ."
"This late? What are you meeting him for?" Phil asked.
"He-He needs help finishing his video." Dan lied.
The truth was, was that Dan was going to meet up with their friend PJ Liguori, because he was in a relationship with him. Dan had been dating for nearly a year. They had kept it a secret from everybody; their family, friends and even their subscribers on Youtube. They didn't want to tell anyone because they were afraid of what people would think of them. They were a rather unusual couple. Nobody would expect them to be together. They were afraid of the hate they would get. Dan didn't want to risk losing PJ. He cared and loved him too much.
"PJ's a pro at editing. Honestly Dan, what's going on?" Phil asked. "I can tell that you're lying." He said.
"I…I don't have time to explain, okay. I'm going to be late." Dan said. "I'll see you later." He said. He turned around and walked out of the lounge. Dan took a deep breath before he walked down the stairs and out the door.
It took Dan a half an hour to get to PJ's house. Dan took a deep breath before he knocked on PJ's door. He stood there for a few seconds before the door finally opened. He looked up and saw a smiling PJ.
"Hey." PJ said. "What's wrong?" He asked when he saw the look on Dan's face. Dan sighed.
"I had to lie to Phil again." Dan said. PJ let him inside and shut the door.
"I know it's hard but we have to." He said. "It's the only way we can be together." PJ said.
"He knows something's up." Dan said. PJ frowned.
"What do you mean?" He asked. Dan looked over at him.
"I tried to tell him that I was helping you edit a video but he was all 'PJ's a pro at editing' and it just didn't work out…I walked out before he could say anything else. It was so awkward." Dan said. PJ sighed.
"I know that you don't like lying to Phil. I…" He started to say. "I know we don't want to tell the viewers but maybe we can take baby steps."
"You're thinking about telling our friends and family?" Dan asked.
"I don't like seeing you upset and you always get upset when you have to lie to Phil." PJ said. Dan took a deep breath. PJ stepped closer to him and took his hands. Dan looked at him. "I want you to be happy."
"You should be happy too." Dan said as he held onto his hands. "You're a part of our relationship too."
"I'll be happy. I am happy. Don't worry about me." PJ said. "We'll start with telling Phil tomorrow." PJ said.
"Are you 100% sure that you want to do this Peej?" Dan asked as he wrapped his arms around PJ's neck.
"I'm a little scared but I know Phil. Phil will be happy for us." PJ said. Dan smiled.
"I know he'll be happy too." He said. He gave PJ a few kisses. "Okay...Enough of this serious business." Dan said when the kiss ended. PJ laughed and let go of Dan. Dan smiled as he looked at him.
"Alright, I've picked out some movies that we haven't watched yet. I think you'll like them." PJ said. Dan smiled. "It's already past midnight but you should be used to staying up late." He said. Dan laughed.
"Hey!" He pouted. PJ laughed and grabbed his hand, pulling him into the kitchen. "Why are we in your kitchen?"
"We can't watch movies without popcorn Dan, it's not the same." PJ said. Dan rolled his eyes.
"You are so much like Phil. It's kind of scary." Dan said. PJ raised his eyebrows.
"Thanks?" He said. Dan laughed. "Butter?" PJ asked as he opened the cabinet.
"Yeah." Dan said as he jumped up on the counter. PJ smiled as he looked at him.
It was the next day. Dan and PJ had just told Phil that they were dating. They were all standing in the lounge at Dan and Phil's apartment.
"Wait, what do you mean you two are dating?" Phil asked as he looked at Dan and PJ back and forth.
"We've been dating for almost a whole year." PJ said.
"In exactly two weeks it'll be a year." Dan said with a smile.
"As you can tell, Dan's the girl in this relationship." PJ said.
"Hey! You take that back!" Dan yelled, hitting PJ playfully. PJ laughed at him.
"I don't get it…Why did you wait so long to tell me?" Phil asked.
"We were afraid of what people would think of us." Dan said.
"Yeah, um…We're not exactly a normal couple." PJ said. Dan nodded. "I mean…People would most likely want you and Dan to be dating, all that Phan stuff going around. They just wouldn't want Dan and PJ." PJ said. Dan frowned as he noticed the small hint of sadness in PJ's voice. He reached over and gently grabbed PJ's hand. Phil blinked a few times.
"You shouldn't care about what others think about your relationship." Phil said.
"It's not that easy Phil." Dan said. "We will tell them eventually. We're just taking baby steps." He said.
"Yeah. You're the first to know of our relationship. We're telling our families next." PJ said. Dan nodded.
"Well, I wouldn't wait too long." Phil said. Dan and PJ nodded.
"So, you're okay with this then?" PJ asked. "Me dating Dan? Us being gay?"
"Of course I'm okay with it!" Phil said. "I could never hate you guys. You're my best friends." He said.
"It makes me so happy to hear you say that, Phil." Dan said. He let go of PJ's hand. He walked over to Phil and gave him a hug. Phil smiled as he hugged him back. Dan pulled away from the hug. "Well, at least we don't have to sneak around here anymore or meet up at stupid o' clock in the morning anymore." Dan said. PJ smiled. He grabbed Dan's hand and kissed him. Phil rolled his eyes.
"I'm still in the room!" He whined. Dan and PJ laughed at him.
Once they were done telling Phil, Dan and PJ made their way to Dan's bedroom.
"I'm so glad that Phil knows about us now." Dan said as he and PJ walked into Dan's bedroom. Dan shut the door behind them.
"I know. It makes me feel a whole lot better." PJ said. Dan smiled and walked over to PJ.
"I told you he'd be okay with it." Dan said. PJ huffed.
"Shut up." He said jokingly. Dan laughed and wrapped his arms PJ. PJ smiled as he looked at Dan.
"All we have to do is tell our family, our other friends and then our viewers." Dan said.
"I cannot wait to get this over with." PJ said. "I'm tired of hiding and keeping secrets from everybody." He said.
"Well, soon we won't have any more secrets." Dan said.