A/N: So here it is. I've been wanting to write this for a while now, so I hope you enjoy it.
Leave a review! *Shia LeBeouf voice* JUST DO IT
Disclaimer: I don't own Dan or Phil, nor am I insinuating that these events actually occurred. (But wouldn't it be nice?) Also, swearing. I feel like I should mention it, even though it's DAN and we all know. So yeah.
Chapter One: Dan
October 19, 2014 (Sunday)
The only thing I wanted out of today was for the builders to stop drilling. I groaned once without opening my eyes and twisted round so that I could see Phil. He shifted in his sleep, but didn't wake up. He was notorious for being able to sleep through these things. I'd like to know how he managed it.
I let out a yelp of surprise when I felt his arms snake around my torso, squeezing gently. Well, I thought he was still asleep. I shuffled closer to him to tighten the embrace. This was one of the best things about mornings. By that, I meant it was pretty much the only good thing. One of his hands slipped under the hem of my shirt and began rubbing circles on my stomach. A pair of lips pressed to my collarbone, sending a shiver down my spine, and then his breath tickled my ear as he whispered, "Good morning, love."
I rolled over to face him – his grip loosened for half a second- and pressed a quick kiss to his lips. He was smiling when I pulled away, but after five years together, I expected nothing less. I reached out with one hand to smooth back the fringe that was falling into his eyes. "The bloody constructors are back again," I said in response, and he laughed. He was well aware of how irritatingly loud they got at night, but it didn't seem to bother him the way it bothered me. Then again, he'd fallen asleep on the train before, right next to the whistle.
"I'm sorry," he said, pulling his best apologetic expression and then somehow pulling me even closer to him so that our chests were touching. I let my head rest in the crook of his shoulder, enjoying the sensation of his fingertips on my side. Mornings like this were slow and lazy- the kind of day that I would prefer all the time. If it was up to me, we'd never leave the house, but we were successful adults who had things to do. At least there was no radio show today. The only thing we had to do was Phil's live show. We usually steered clear of each other during those, but tonight was a special one. We'd been discussing it for almost a year now, and I finally felt like I was in a place where I could handle the attention that would probably drown me in the next few months.
"Today's the day," I commented after a few minutes of silence. I sat up and leaned back against the wicker headboard. Everything creaked, and for a split second I was sure we were about to crash through to the floor. It always felt like that, but we hadn't fallen yet. There was another creak as Phil shimmied up to join me, a smile on his face that I knew was there because of what I'd just said. He'd always been ready to tell the world about us, but he'd never once tried to make me do it. It was one of the things I loved most about him. I reached out to take his hand, saying, "Thanks for being patient with me."
"I'm just the best," he said, tossing an arm over my shoulders, and I leaned into his side for a moment. Too soon, he swung his legs over and stood up, leaving me alone in the bed. "Come on," he said, holding a hand out. "Time to eat."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Phil sat in the corner of the lounge, fighting with his laptop. "Piece of shit," he muttered under his breath. Phil never swore, so I knew there was a serious problem. Or serious to him, at least. I walked over to see for myself.
"You okay there, mate?" I asked, trying not to smile. I didn't think he knew (or understood) how entertaining it was when he got frustrated. Obviously, there were lines to be drawn, but hardly anything ever actually seriously bothered him, so it was mostly funny. "Which Wi-Fi are you on?"
"E-E," he said, after squinting at the corner of the screen. "That's the slow one, why does it keep going back?"
"Disable it," I suggested, and he looked up at me with confusion. I plopped down beside him and took the computer into my lap. With my finger on the track pad, I showed him how to cut off the EE Wi-Fi so that it couldn't try to reconnect again. This wasn't even the first time we'd had to do this, but it seemed to be the one thing he couldn't remember. As I passed it back, I gave him a smirk and said, "Aren't you supposed to be the one with a Master's in this stuff?"
"Shut up," he ordered, eyes on the screen. We had about ten minutes until the live show started, so he logged onto the You Now website and added us to the queue. Once that was settled, he looked up at me. "What should we do until six?" He was already leaning in toward me as he said the words, so I was pretty sure I knew what he wanted to do for the next five minutes.
"I could think of a few things," I murmured as he pressed his lips to mine, hands reaching up and around to hold me to him. His fingers quickly settled in my hair, stroking softly in a calming manner. I wound my own arms around his waist, pulling him close. More than anything, I would have liked to toss a leg over and straddle him, but we didn't have the time for that kind of make-out session. Still, this feeling of security that I only got from his embrace was a nice alternative.
Our lips moved fluidly against each other, neither of us exactly interested in anything more at the moment. There was something about the simplicity of his lips on mine, the skin-to-skin contact that sent a lot of feelings down my spine. I knew it was the same for him, and that only made it more intense. We'd spent a long time building up this kind of trust.
We both jumped when the laptop pinged, indicating that we'd be next in the line-up. Phil pulled his lips from mine begrudgingly, and I couldn't help but laugh at the small frown on his face. "Don't worry, babe," I assured him, patting his knee. "There'll be more soon." Just like that, the frown vanished, and he smiled widely as he began greeting the people joining the chat.
"Hello, Mattie S. and Sarah T. and Conner." Phil always began his live shows by reading out a crap ton of names, and tonight was no different. My presence definitely did not go unnoticed, as the chat box quickly filled up with 'holy crap its Dan' and 'look how cute they are' and 'does this mean you're not doing yours Tuesday?'. They always jumped to the worst conclusions. "Don't worry, Dana, nothing terrible has happened." I assumed Dana's concern lay with the fact the Phil and I were doing a live show together for the first time in months. Sure, we sometimes had surprise cameos, but we almost never planned to have both of us in one from the start.
"Tonight's a special occasion," I announced for their benefit, hoping it sounded like we were about to give them good news. I could already see the chat filling up with the comments I'd be suffocating in, but it would be worth it if it meant I could stop hiding. "We've got news for you guys." I ignored the influx of demands for 'NEWS' and checked the stats at the top of the screen, seeing that there weren't as many people as usual on tonight, and then added, "Looks like it's privileged information, seeing as there's only about 2,000 people online this evening." Phil slipped his hand into mine as I said this, and I turned briefly to look at him.
Ten seconds in and heart eyes Howell breaks a new world record
They're totally gonna bone after this is over
They probably did already
Pls marry me Phil
No no no he cant do that hes already taken
I felt a strange sense of calm wash over me as I read the comments speeding by. Maybe it had something to do with Phil's palm pressing into mine, but I saw the things these people were typing out and I realized that nothing would change once we came out. The only difference would be that now they'd know they were right. Up until this point, they thought they were, but it was just a theory. After tonight, Phan would be canon.
"Just for the record," I threw in, "I am still doing a show Tuesday. Don't know why you guys assume the worst about things." I grinned to show them I was only kidding, and then Phil's fingers squeezed mine. It was time.
"We've been debating whether to ease you in to the waters or just toss you in the middle of the shark tank," Phil started, and I immediately turned my head to stare at him out the corner of my eye, keeping a view on the screen in front of me as well.
"That's quite the introduction, Phil," I said, still grinning. He responded by lifting our hands slightly, as if he was trying to find a more comfortable position, and I could suddenly see them on the screen.
Guys do u see what i see
OMFG theyre holding hands
Phan?
what is happening
r u holding hands ironically
"EmmyLou wants to know why we're holding hands, Dan," Phil informed, looking toward me with a cheeky smile. He glanced down at our joined hands as if he didn't know, either.
"Well, Phil," I said, jumping into the routine we were apparently going with, "you're my boyfriend. Why wouldn't we hold hands?" I stole another glance at the screen. We'd really done it this time. I went on before the site could crash. "Have been for what, five years now?" That last bit was just for my own entertainment.
UUUUUHUUHHHMMMMMM
OTP IS CANON
PHAN IS REAL?
AGNSGWRUNGERUVNN
I DON'T UNDERSTAND LIFE
ARE YOU GUYS FUCKING WITH US?
IS THIS SRS BIZNESS?
I KNEW IT
The chat continued to explode with comments, and I almost felt sorry for the people who'd joined late. They'd know soon enough, though, as I was absolutely positive this live show was already floating through tumblr. It lasted five more minutes, and then the site blacked out. An error screen popped up, saying something about technical difficulties, and I just started laughing. We'd officially broken the YouNow site. That might have been the one thing I didn't anticipate. After a few seconds of the error screen, we were kicked out to our homepage. I stared at it for a moment, and then I burst into another round of giggles. I ended up falling sideways into Phil, and my head went to his lap. He laughed with me, our bodies practically shaking each other.
Once I got it out of my system, I took a few deep breaths to compose myself. With my head still in Phil's lap, I opened my mouth and said, "Well, that went better than I thought it would." His hand found mine again –when had they separated? - and I shifted slightly so I could look up at him. "I love you, you know."
His free hand moved over, stroking my hair softly, brushing through the fringe over and over again. He was the only one who could get away with it. He smiled. "Yeah, I know." Pause. "By the way, happy anniversary."