This is all so fucking surreal. I know we chatted on the way back to his apartment, about me being American and my program at MU, but I would be hard pressed to tell you anything I actually said. Hopefully I didn't make a total fool of myself. My mind was just going a mile a minute trying to process the fact that I was casually strolling along with one of my most beloved YouTube obsessions. I mean, I had secretly hoped I might eventually run into Dan and Phil in Manchester, but I never thought I'd literally run into one of them. And, okay, if I'd had to pick, it would be Phil striding along next to me, but damn if the kid wasn't even cuter in person. This is definitely an experience to remember.
And then suddenly, we had somehow made it up 38 flights and were standing in front of his apartment door. Dan struggled for a moment to fish his keys out of his skinny jeans. "I think my roommate might be here, but he's a really nice guy," he said as he opened the door. Incredulously, that thought had yet to occur to me in my frenzied state. Then the door swung back to reveal Phil lounging on the sofa with a laptop resting on his legs. Holy crap, he's really here!
"Hey Phil, this is my new friend Kate. I spazzed out in Starbucks and dropped my drink on her, so I invited her back to change."
Phil looked up at me and smiled, making my stomach do a little flip. "Hi Kate. Oh, wow, it looks like you really got her good!"
"Hey Phil, nice to meet you," I answered, trying my best to act normal.
"Ooh, you're American. I love America! They've got the best sweets," he exclaimed, making me chuckle.
"Okay," Dan said, taking charge. "Let's grab you some clothes, and I'll show you where the bathroom is." I glanced back to exchange a small smile with Phil before following Dan down the hall.
It was kind of odd seeing the rooms of the apartment in real life instead of how I'd pieced them together in my head from the different camera angles, but it was all weirdly familiar. Stalker alert.
Dan continued to chatter as he moved into his bedroom and began digging through the wardrobe. "So you like your uni program? I was at Manchester for a while, studying law of all things, but then I kind of had a minor meltdown and dropped out. Okay, maybe a major meltdown. Absolutely the best decision I've ever made, though. I'm so much happier now. But it's cool that you seem to enjoy it so much."
"Yeah, I really do. What can I say, eccentric 19th century German dudes just do it for me," I laughed. "So what are you up to these days?" LOL.
"Oh, I, uh, actually make video or YouTube, so I'm essentially a full-time internet hobo," he replied laughing. "I'm basically nocturnal and I probably don't leave this apartment as much as I should, but it's loads of fun. I'm a YouTube partner now, so I can actually make a living doing it. It's just such a great community and my fans are awesome. Oh, wow, that's sounds super conceited doesn't it? My fans...geez, Dan, ego much?"
"No, it's just really amazing that you can make a go of doing something that you obviously love so much. I'll have to look you up sometime." Clearly I should have been an actress.
"Yeah, Phil makes videos, too, which makes us perfect roommates. That and our similarly impeccable taste in tele, of course. He's actually the one who first got me into vlogging. Alright," he continued, holding out a black t-shirt, "This is at least clean. The bath's just down here, and there are towels in the cupboard."
"Thanks, I'll just be a minute."
Once safely behind the closed bathroom door, I immediately did a little silent fangirl scream slash dance of excitement. What is my life? Two hours ago I was alone in the library on a Friday afternoon, being my normal bookworm self, and now I was actually standing in Dan and Phil's apartment casually chatting with them. Definitely the stuff of dreams and movies, not real life...and yet, here I was.
In that case, better at least do some damage control to my appearance. I peeled off my still damp top, jamming it in the outside pocket of my backpack. My bra had a few splotches on it, but it would have to do. I was pretty sure Dan didn't have one of those to borrow...although that was only because t-shirt boobs don't require much support, I thought, smiling over the mental image.
Okay, new top, smarten up my make-up a bit. There wasn't much to be done with the hair, but I tucked in a few flyaways. I stared at my reflection for a moment, assessing: longish curly brown hair tied back, big green eyes still looking a tad bit in shock, long black t-shirt slightly too large on my 5"5' frame.
It'll have to do. I took a deep breath to calm my nerves and headed back into the living area.
"Hey! That looks good on you," Dan said as I entered the room.
"Thanks, I feel so much better in clean clothes. I'll make sure to wash it," I continued, not wanting to overstay my welcome, "And maybe I can drop it back off over the weekend?"
"Um, actually," Phil piped up, "We were thinking maybe you'd like to stay for dinner? I was going to throw together a stir-fry and it's not like we'd be doing anything tonight but playing video games if left to our own devices."
"Yeah," Dan added, "It'd be fun. You in?"
"Sure," I answered, probably with a goofy grin on my face. "That sounds massively better holing up in my tiny dorm room, wrestling with Kantian metaphysics. Thanks."
"No problem. You want to lend me hand in the kitchen?" Phil asked.
"Absolutely."
We all ended up in the kitchen, with me chopping veggies, Phil working on the chicken, and Dan doing not much to help the cause, aside from cracking us up with his ridiculous antics.
As we made quick work of dinner, I was surprised at how relaxed I became around them. They were just super nice guys, plus it kind of felt like hanging out with two old friends since they'd been gracing my computer screen for months.
I did have to stay on my toes a bit through dinner though to keep from revealing my rather extensive insider knowledge of their lives and personalities. I was starting to feel bad about lying to them, but it was kind of too late to come clean. What was I going to say, "J/K! I've actually watched pretty much every one of your videos and know all about you!" Psycho stalker phan alert. So I kept up the charade and tried not to say anything embarrassingly revealing as we chatted and joked around over dinner. My small sin of omission aside, it was honestly the most fun I'd had in a long while.
We were just clearing up the dishes when I heard a vibrating noise, and Phil grabbed his mobile off the counter. Look at me being all English. "Hey Anja, what's up?" he answered it.
"Oh nice, was it good?"
"Well then you should come round. It's been ages!"
"Yeah, that's great, Dan's got a mate here too."
"Yes, really. Alright, we'll see you then."
"Bye."
"Hey, I do have friends besides you!" Dan interjected in pretend outrage.
Phil ignored him, explaining, "So that was my friend Anja. She was in town seeing a movie with some friends, so I told her to bring Tom and Jane over," he added for Dan's benefit. "You should stay, Kate, and we'll all hang out. Maybe we could play a board game!" he said, getting adorably exited.
"Sounds good to me," I said smiling.
"I think the occasion calls for a bottle of wine," Dan announced. "You want a glass, Kate? No promises, but I'll try not to douse you with it," he joked with a wink. Ovaries exploded.
"Yeah, that'd be great," I answered.
We were just about to pour a second round of drinks when we heard the buzzer ring, announcing the arrive of Anja and her friends. I stood back a bit and just took in the action as Phil excited greeted Anja with a hug, Dan shouted hello and started pulling out enough glasses for everyone.
After everyone exchanged greetings and put in their drink order, Phil turned back towards me. "Everybody, this is our American friend, Kate. Kate this is Anja, Tom and Jane," he said, pointing them out in turn. Anja and I grew up together, and these are her friends from uni. Dan dumped his latte on Kate earlier, so he brought her home to change and we haven't let her leave since." He pulled a face, "But not in a kidnapper-y way, it was only a couple hours ago."
"No really, they've super nice and totally made me feel at home. It's great to meet you all," I added.
After we said our hellos, and Dan came back with extra glasses and a wine bottle, we filtered into the living room, while the three newcomers filled us in on their day.
We were all having fun, swapping college/uni stories, chatting about favorite books and movies, and laughing. I had chilled out and was mostly just enjoying being part of a big group of close friends. I had made a few school friends since I'd come to Manchester, but I definitely missed my college gang. As I surveyed the room though, I was struck again by how crazy it was that instead of sitting in my dorm room staring at danisnotonfire and AmazingPhil on my laptop, I was standing in a room joking around with real live Dan and Phil. Mindboggling.
But as I watched Dan talking with Tom and Jane across the room, I realized Dan was acting way more awkward than he had at any point during the afternoon. He was all shifty and weird, shuffling around with his eyes cast downward. He seemed quieter than normal and his laugher sounded kind of forced. Then I noticed that his odd behavior was much more pronounced whenever Jane addressed him directly. Oh my god, he totally likes her!
During a lull in Phil and Anja's conversation, I leaned over and whispered to Phil, "So what's the deal with Dan and Jane? Is he always that dorky around girls that he likes?"
Phil just started laughing. "I know, right? I've tried calling him out on it, but he just clams up and won't talk to me about it. He must be really into her not to even joke around about it, it's not very like him," he concluded.
"Oh, sorry," he started to ramble, "that's probably not exactly what you wanted to hear, what with Dan inviting you back here and everything. Maybe I should have warned you earlier that he's not quite 100% available," he said, looking at me expectantly.
"What? Me and Dan? I mean he is totally awesome, but I don't think that would be a great fit. Trust me, I'm way more excited at the prospect of playing matchmaker with those two than romantically disappointed."
Phil looked a little surprised at my confession, but also, dare I think, slightly pleased?
Ok, this is the moment, it's now or never. "No, Dan's definitely not the one I've had my eye on," I said with what I hoped was a meaningful look, but which probably came out more like a nervous tic than flirtatious.
"Really?" he asked, quirking an eyebrow.
"Yep," I said matter-of-factly, moving on before the moment got too intense or I got too awkward. "Ok, so how are we going to help young Daniel along in his quest to woo the fair lady Jane?"
