"Hi, Phil." Finally hearing the sound of Rosie's voice made Phil break out in a huge smile. It had only been a week since they had met, but they texted all the time. Dan teased him, saying Rosie was a 55 year old pedophile. But now he called her and heard her voice, and it was exactly as he thought it would be. She was obviously American, but her accent seemed different than other Americans he knew...Maybe it was a northern accent of some kind? Her voice was lower than your avergae female, somehow soothing.
"Hello, Rosie." He replied, realizing he had drifted off a bit.
"How're you today?"
"I'm good. Great. You?"
"Tired. I just got home." She was home from uni for the holidays, as it was less than a week until Christmas. "But good." They kept chatting about nothing in particular for a little while before Phil decided he did want to tell her who he was.
"Rosie? I have to tell you something."
"What's that?" She asked, sounding a bit worried.
"Er, it's nothing bad. Just...I feel like you should know. Have...Have you ever heard of AmazingPhil? Or danisnotonfire?" There was a slight pause.
"No. Fucking. Way. You're AmazingPhil? THE AmazingPhil?" She sounded excited, but not about to explode with fangirling feels.
"Yeah...Kind of...Is it, I mean, are you mad that I didn't tell you from the start?"
"No! Not at all. I mean, if I were you I would like to just be Phil sometimes."
"Exactly!"
"And I mean, I think it's totally awesome that you're who you are, but I mean, I'm not going to think of you all that differently. Even though it's like the coolest thing ever."
"Thanks. So...Um...You're a fan?" Real smooth, Phil. Obviously she knows who you are.
"Yeah, I mean, I subscribe, and I've seen almost all of your videos, and I try to catch your live streams when I can, but I don't stalk you or anything."
"Well, that's good. This is kind of awkward now, you know so much more about me than I know about you!" Phil was glad he told her, he didn't feel like he had to keep his whole life a secret any more.
"Well, you know where I go to school, and where I work, and all sorts of other things. What else would you like to know?"
"Everything." Phil said in an overly dramatic voice. They continued talking for what seemed like a short time, then Dan was knocking on his door.
"Phil? I'm going for Chinese food with Bryony, want to come?" Dan poked his head through the door. "Or are you still talking to your pedophile girlfriend?" Phil felt himself blush and hoped Rosie didn't hear him.
"Shut up. What time is it?"
"It's 7:21." Dan answered, checking his phone.
"Rosie, we've been talking for like 2 hours!" Phil laughed.
"I know! I can't believe it's dinner over there, I feel like I'm talking to someone from the future." Phil laughed again.
"Well I should probably tell you I'm a time lord then." He joked and Dan rolled his eyes.
"Phil! Focus! Chinese food, yes or no?"
"Alright. I'll be out in 5 minutes." Phil answered and Dan walked away. "Well, it looks like I'm going to get Chinese food. But, um, I'll call you later?"
"Alright. I might go visit a friend, but I should be home. Have fun fooding."
"I will. Talk to you later." Phil hung up the phone and put on a jumper to go to dinner, walking into the lounge of he and Dan's flat.
"Look who's all smiley-smiley." Dan said, poking Phil in the ribs.
"Shut up." Phil said, jabbing him in the neck, which made him back off. Although he was smiling and couldn't seem to stop.
"Phil's in loooove!" Dan shouted as they exited the apartment.
"Oh hush. I just made a new lady friend, that's all."
"Does she know? About AmazingPhil?"
"Yeah. She was cool with it. She actually vlogs herself, she has about 800 subscribers."
"Aww, how cute." They chatted about their early days of YouTube while they walked the 15 minutes or so to the Chinese place, where their friend Bryony was already waiting. Dan was, of course, quick to tell her all about Rosie.
"I think it's cute. Like in a young adult fiction novel kind of way." They finished their food and Phil started texting Rosie, telling her he would call soon.
"Call her now. I want to talk to her!" Dan said, trying to grab Phils iPhone.
"No! Get off me!" However Dan was quick to get the phone, and rather than cause a scene while they were walking, Phil just glared at him. Dan entered Phils code, 5466(it spelled 'lion') and dialed up Rosie.
"Hello Roselyn! This is Dan, I'm forcing Phil to let me talk to you...Are you alright?" Dan furrowed his brow as they continued walking.
"What? What's she saying?" Phil said, trying to get his phone back.
"No, no, it's alright. I understand. Well, I'll meet you when you're less sad then. Here's Phil." Dan handed the phone back over to Phil. "She's upset about something."
"Rosie? I'm sorry if Dan did something...Dan-like." Phil could hear sniffles on the other end of the phone.
"No! No, it's me. I'm...I'm a mess." Rosie was trying to collect herself and failing completely.
"Rosie..." She didn't reply. "Roselyn. Tell me what's wrong."
"It's nothing...I just...My...It's...My parents grounded me."
"Rosie, please don't lie to me. If you don't want to tell me that's alright." Phil swallowed hard. This wasn't crying-about-best-friend-drama, this was some heavy duty sobbing. He was worried something was seriously wrong. Rosie always seemed so happy.
"I'm just pathetic," Rosie sniffled, "I can't deal with things like a normal human. It's fine, I'm normally fine."
"...Alright. Just...tell me what you need to, okay? You're not pathetic. I'm going to let you go. Call me later, if you like. Or text me. Otherwise I'll talk to you tomorrow. Okay?"
"Alright. Thank you, Phil."
"You're welcome. Feel better." Phil hung up and put his phone back in his pocket as they reached their building.
"Is she alright?" Dan enquired as they waited for the lift.
"I don't know. I think theres more to it than she's letting on. " Phil looked down.
"You really fancy her, don't you?"
"Don't be mental, I barely know her." Phil felt himself blush as the lift opened and they got on.
"Doesn't matter. You really like her." Dan grinned and shoved Phil playfully. "Look mate, I'm happy for you. It's been a long time since you found someone. And from what you've said, she sounds great."
"Thanks, mate." Phil gave a half smile and put his key into their door, unlocking it and stepping into the dark hall. "When's the next time we're in America?"
"Um...February? I think. For Mary's wedding." Mary was a fellow YouTuber they had become close with, she lived in New York and was getting married soon.
"Right! Think we could make a detour? Well, I suppose you could just come home, but I'll make a little detour..."
"You think I'm going to miss meeting your little girlfriend?"
"She's not my girlfriend!" Phil playfully hit Dan and blushed.
Hours later, Phil had just dozed off to sleep, Lion in his arms. Suddenly, he was awoken by 'Check Yes Juliet' by We The Kings. Yes, 2 years later, Phil still liked the song and always used it as the default ringtone for any of his 'lady friends'. Phil groaned, then reached out blindly for his phone. "Hello?" He rubbed his eyes and yawned into the phone.
"Oh. Phil. I didn't think you'd answer."
"I can hang up if you'd like." Phil groggily offered.
"I feel bad for waking you." She sounded strange. Almost devoid of emotion.
"It's alright." He sat up in bed, stretching. "I'm glad you called. Are you alright?"
"I...I don't think this is a good idea."
"What's not a good idea?"
"This. Whatever this is. I...I really like you Phil. And I barely know you." She started to sniffle again.
"I really like you too! Dan is already teasing me about it! Why is this a bad idea?"
"Because...Because you're you! You're amazing. And I am broken. People hurt me, and I hurt them."
"What are you on about?" Phil was confused.
"I'm broken. I just...I don't think you want to be involved with me. I don't deserve it."
"Yes. You do. I don't even know what's wrong, but if you think for one minute that you don't deserve friendship, or whatever this is," He mocked her tone from earlier, and she let out a tiny laugh, "Then you probably need it. You probably really need it. And you also probably deserve it a lot more than others."
"You're too nice to me."
"No. Everyone else isn't nice enough to you. Now, would you like to tell me what's wrong?"
"No...Not yet, alright? It's...It's not pretty. It's rather pathetic."
"I'm sure it's not. Tell me when you're ready, alright? And I'm not letting you walk away from me that easily. So, go to bed, and I'll talk to you tomorrow."
"Alright. Sorry."
"Nothing to be sorry for. Now, off to bed with you."
"Alright. Goodnight, Phil."
"Goodnight, Roselyn." Phil ended the call and lay back down. Now of course, he would never be able to get back to sleep. He picked up Lion and looked at him. "Do you think she's alright?" Lions black, shiny eyes said nothing. "I think she'll be alright." Phil gave a half smile and tried to go back to bed.