So… I know I marked it as complete, but that's only because I wasn't sure if I was gonna continue this. I didn't want to promise anything. But I took some time to think and it would be tough to leave you hanging. So what I decided to do is turn this into a three-shot. The first chapter set up the situation that Dan, Phil, and the OC are in. From this point on, the story will deal with the aftermath of the night. The OC will remain unnamed and have an unknown physical appearance. She will, however, have a certain backstory, which this chapter will go more in-depth with.

This chapter will open up more about how the love triangle came to be. Think of it as an OVA (lol Dan… you're making the otaku population rise. HAAAAARUUUUU-CHAAAAAN!), because the third chapter will be when Dan makes his choice. As of now, I'm having a VERY difficult time thinking of how to conclude the story. I, the writer, have no clue who Dan should choose.

I posted a poll on my profile for CAP. I'd like to see what you guys think! Dan could make any of those four choices. Love triangles are… gaaaaah. I don't want to make it too obvious, but I also don't want it to be too predictable.

Phil. Or her.

Phil. Or her.

Phil. Or her.

It has been three days since that night. Seventy-two hours of nonstop guilt and relentless thinking. Minute after minute of their names imprinted in Dan's mind. Everywhere he goes, everywhere he looks, the same thought floats in his head.

Phil. Or her.

He sits in front of his computer, editing his next Internet Support Group video. It's one of the few things he has to distract him. Cluttering his mind with a few hours of watching himself give crappy but helpful advice to his fans offers a temporary silence to his negative thoughts. He finds it ironic how easily he could give advice to other people, yet have no idea to solve his own problem. Then again, his problem surpasses belly button fetishes and, for this recent video, tentacle porn addiction.

After that night, his relationship with Phil remained stagnant. They still followed their daily routines. They wake up together and watch anime on their flat-screen TV while eating breakfast. They go about doing what they are supposed to do for the day. They steal a few kisses and buy lunch for each other. They eat dinner together and cuddle on the sofa while watching a movie. Things are still the same, and if a fan walked in on them, she (or he) would assume nothing has changed.

Wrong.

They don't sleep together. For three nights, Phil chose to sleep in his own room. He claims he is trying to give Dan space, though his overthinking-self believes Phil is the one that needs space, not him. They eat meals together and there are awkward silences when there shouldn't be, because Dan and Phil always have something to talk about. They look at each other and instead of the undying love they show each other through eye-contact, it's replaced with hesitation. They kiss and it lacks the imaginary sparks that fly when they do, because every kiss they share makes him feel as if his body is on fire.

His hand trembles on the mouse. He remembers their first kiss. It was Phil's idea, and when it happened, he didn't think it would change things between them.

He saves his progress on his video and exits the video editor. He opens one of the folders on the computer's desktop and clicks on the first file.

This was it. The fanart that spurred the experimental kiss. It's a drawing of him and Phil kissing at where seems to be at the BBC radio station. Like every other phan art depicting them as a romantic couple, he found it amusing. Phil, however, didn't exactly react the same way.

"I don't know, Dan. It could happen."

Could. The way Phil reacted was as if considered the thought of them kissing to be something that could happen in real life.

"Are you actually suggesting we should kiss?"

"Perhaps. Just for fun."

Just for fun. And they did. Only it didn't become "just a kiss." It became more than that. It became the kiss that turned the lightbulb on for Phan.

He leans back on his chair, closing the file. How can he do this to Phil? How can he think about the possibility of letting Phil go?

She's different. You've known that from the very beginning.

Before her, Phil was the center of his world. Phil was his other half, the one that filled the void of his loneliness. Phil gave him a reason to live.

Then there is her. She is the billions of stars to his moon.

"I'm a lot like you. You're the moon. I'm a star."

"You're a moon too. You're a guiding light."

When he met her, she was just as lost as he was when he was 18. She was the American that came to England to study abroad, choosing a university in London to fulfill the first part of her dream to travel the world. They met at a Starbucks during her first year in college. She was the girl with glasses he noticed sitting in a corner, typing on a laptop with red headphones in her ears. The moment he laid eyes on her, he was hit with an instinct that there was something different about her. She stood out to him because unlike everyone else in the café, she was alone and seemed withdrawn. She seemed closed off, as if she purposefully ignored the world around her.

He was drawn to her, a moth to a flame. He had ordered his drink and walked over to her table. Without waiting for her to notice him, he occupied the empty seat across from her. It took her a couple of minutes until she paused and looked up.

"Hello."

"Hi… Dan right?"

"Guess I don't need to introduce myself."

"No, I want you to do that."

"Introduce myself? Why?"

"It's a coffee shop. Don't let the 80's die on us."

Their initial exchange confirmed his instinct. Since she made it obvious she was a fan, he expected her to act like a typical fangirl (she is a fangirl, but she doesn't like having the label making her sound like a lunatic). But she didn't. She spoke to him as if she was meeting him as a stranger, as if it was a normal encounter at a coffee shop. In a few sentences, she treated him like a person, a Dan Howell instead of danisnotonfire.

Their paths crossed when he and Phil were still new into their relationship. They were yet to announce to their fans that Phan was official. Needless to say, his first encounter with her turned into two hours of the two of them getting to know each other and ending with sharing their cell phone numbers to each other. What began as a random meeting grew into a secret friendship. Texts and Starbucks meet-ups. Video-chats and him visiting her at the flat she shared with her friend (she had a friend in London that needed a roommate). Five months later, she finally asked him if she could meet Phil.

"I feel like you're having an affair with me."

"We're not even dating."

"Exactly. So you shouldn't feel guilty about introducing me to Phil."

"I don't want him to get the wrong idea of us."

"We're friends. He won't get jealous."

"You never know. Phil can be unpredictable."

If he had it his way, he would have wanted her and Phil to never have met, that he could keep her safe from the Phil and the fans. Phil may be his beloved angel bean, but Phil is a human. He has emotions. He notices when Phil feels uncomfortable of him being close with someone, male or female (he still finds the female body highly attractive).

Phil gets jealous, and when he gets jealous, it isn't a nice sight.

"Your friend seems nice."

"She is, Phil."

"She reminds me of you."

"I know, right? Can you believe her favorite color is black too?"

"Let me guess, her least favorite color is pink?"

"Yeah! She's really cool. I'm glad you like her."

"Yeah, I guess."

"I guess? Is that all you can say about her?"

"She's great, Dan."

"Phil, she's a friend. It's not like I'm gonna fall in love with her or anything."

"Why? Do you plan on doing that?"

"No! Why would you think that?"

"You're the one that said it!"

"I was saying it ironically!"

"There you go again. Ironically. Do you think our relationship is ironic too?"

"Phil! Where is this coming from?"

"Just answer the question!"

"No. I love you, Phil. God fucking damn it, I love you. So don't accuse me of thinking otherwise."

That was the first time they ever argued as a couple. It was normal for couples to fight. What couple didn't? But for their first fight to be about her was ridiculous. She was just a friend. Why did his friendship with her bother Phil? He has other female friends. Louise. Zoe. Cat. He is closer with them than her and Phil was never bothered with them.

They were able to move past the argument. They apologized to each other and had make-up sex in Phil's room. The next morning, Phil didn't even mind when he announced he was hanging out with her for the day.

He checks the time on the computer screen. 12:45 PM. Time for lunch.

He heads out his room and enters the lounge. Phil is filming a video with PJ, so it's just him in the flat for the rest of the day. He contemplates calling her to ask if she could come over.

And then what? Fall in love with her even more?

His hand pauses midway from his jeans' pocket.

He hasn't spoken to her since that night. He doesn't blame her for avoiding him. He knows it's her way of trying to make things better.

"I choose for you to be happy."

How can be happy when he is away from her?

He goes to the kitchen. He gathers ingredients to make a sandwich.

"I'm saving you from making another mistake."

Breaking her heart will be a mistake. He'll become another one of her mistakes if he does.

There's a piece of paper taped on the refrigerator door. It's a note from Phil. The words are song lyrics.

Now I've got nothing left to lose

You take your time to choose

I can tell you now without a trace of fear

Muse. His and Phil's favorite band. Neutron Star Collision. The song from her favorite book series. Ironically, Twilight involved something that her, Phil, and him are in right now: a love triangle. More ironically, Neutron Star Collision was featured as a leading song in Eclipse, the book where the love triangle is most apparent.

This is how Bella must have felt. The Twilight haters found the love triangle ridiculous. He did too. Not anymore. He is in Bella's shoes. No matter who he chooses, he will have to say goodbye to the other.

"Fuck," he mutters. "Why do damn love triangles even exist?"

He turns away from the fridge door, going to work with making his sandwich.

Why did he learn to love her? Why did she have to be a girl that has edges he wants to smooth out? Why did she come into his life as someone that tests his feelings for Phil?

"You're not just danisnotonfire. You're Dan Howell. My friend. My confidant. My object of affection."

He finishes making the sandwich and carries the plate with him back to the lounge.

"We'll be fine, Dan. Nothing can ever come between us."

"We make mistakes all the time, Phil, and look where we are. We're still alive, aren't we?"

He sits down on the sofa and takes out his phone. He taps on the Tumblr icon.

One little check wouldn't hurt.

He checks her fanfiction Tumblr blog. One new post.

The Best (and Worst) Part of Falling: Dan x reader

He reads through the story. Just like The Definition of Right, it tempts him to make his choice right here, right now.

It's their story through her eyes told in a fanfiction. It's a story of how Dan and the reader met, becomes friends, and fall in love. However, Dan is in a relationship with Phil. The story ends with the reader and Dan realizing they both love each other, but recognize that they can't be together because of Phil. In her author's note, she explains how she was inspired by a song called Distance by Christina Perri to write the story. The story would be left as it is, but she promises her next fanfic won't be too sad.

As soon as he finishes reading the story, he switches to the YouTube app and searches for the song she mentioned in the story. Listening to the song, he understands how the song fits the story.

I wish we would just give up

Cause the best part is falling

Call it anything but love

Neutron Star Collision is Phil's song. Distance is her song.

"I don't want to love you, Dan."

"I don't want to love you either."

"Then let's stop loving each other."

"You know that's not going to work."

She ended the story with the night they realized they had feelings for each other. Phil was in Florida on vacation with his family. They were sitting on the rooftop of her flat having a Pokemon battle on their 3DS's. When the battle ended and she came out as victor, he thought of how easy it was to be around her. He thought about what would it be like to spend one night with her. One thing led to another, and his thoughts led him to kiss her under the night sky. By the end of that night, like her fanfic explained, they were left with the fact that what they wanted was something they couldn't have.

He throws his phone to the side. His appetite is gone.

Star Collisions.

Distance.

How the bloody hell will he make a decision?

So that's a little more about how the love triangle came to be. The third chapter will be up sometime next week. I wanna give you guys some time to take it all in.

Go listen to the two songs I mentioned in this chapter! Neutron Star Collision was my favorite songs in the Eclipse soundtrack, because once upon a time, a 12-year-old me was getting into the world of fandoms when I got obsessed with Twilight. To this day, I still love Twilight. *sighs* It's hard being a nerd that loves Twilight and anime (most otakus are anti-Twilight). And let's just say I'm getting back into the groove of listening to Muse songs (I see why it's Dan and Phil's favorite band. Starlight is my fav atm). Distance is from one of my all time favorite artists. I had a Christina Perri phase in 9th grade when I had most of her songs from her first album downloaded into my iPod. When I paid attention to the lyrics, I knew this has to be the song to describe the OC.

I have a few ideas on how to end this. There's one I'm leaning toward, but I'm not sure if that's the one I'm going with yet. Love triangles are difficult to work with. I'm trying not to make it sound cliché.

So god help us all.

PS for those of you going to a show for TATINOF, have fun! Here's to hoping Dan and Phil won't trip on a cactus. Unless it's part of the show, in which case I claim I'm not a psychic. xD

Until next time.

~ AA