This is it. The moment of truth. Who will Dan choose? Even my heart's racing, you guys. I gave myself the feels working on this chapter. I spoke with my best friend Lighterthanwhite on this and she encouraged me to end the story along this route. This chapter will be in alternating POV's between Dan, Phil, and the OC.

The resolution part is long. I could leave it as it is, but I don't want to tire your brain out. Instead, part 3 will be broken up into two halves. This is the first half of part 3. The second half of part 3 will be up later this week.

Get your hankies ready. Find a shoulder to cry on. Have an existential crisis. This is gonna be a doozy.

It was tough not giving a name for the OC, so as a heads-up, there'll be a lot of pet names floating around.

How much longer will he prolong this? Two weeks have passed. She hasn't seen neither Dan nor Phil since that night. Every text or email that Dan sent her was ignored. Avoiding him is torturous, but if she is going to help him make a decision, then this is the right thing to do. She meant what she said about sacrificing her feelings so he didn't have to leave Phil. She doesn't want to be the reason for Phan to be declared a former shipping. She was a huge shipper for Phan before she came to London, before hers and Dan's paths crossed.

She wrote the fanfics. She admired the fanart. She fangirled when she saw their video of them revealing to their fans that they are in a relationship. She would be at a loss if Dan leaves Phil for her. She would break the hearts of millions of phan shippers. She would lose one of her major inspirations as a writer.

Before Dan and Phil, her inspirations for writing fanfics stemmed from all the boys that broke her heart. There were five of them. Every time she fell for a boy, she believed he was the one.

Now there is Dan. Could he be one to be added on to that list?

She sits at her computer desk, finishing up typing an essay on her Macbook for one of her college classes. She is working on her essay's conclusion when her phone vibrates. She peers down on her phone screen and sees it's a text from her roommate, who is on a date with her boyfriend at the moment.

GO CHECK TWITTER. STAT.

Confused, she sends a text back to her roommate. When her friend texts her in shouty letters, it's an indication that there is big news she wants to share.

Why? You know I'm doing HW

Less than half a minute later, she gets a response. JUST DO IT. Babe & I are like wow RN

She puts her phone down and signs into her Twitter account on her laptop. Ever since she collaborated with Dan for a video a few weeks ago, her Twitter exploded with Dan and Phil followers. She followed back most of her followers, so it comes as a surprise to her when she sees that many of her followers retweeted a single photo posted by an Scarmayexo, with a caption: Is Phil cheating on Dan? The photo was posted ten minutes ago. Already it has over 2,000 retweets.

She would have rolled her eyes with the girl's caption if it wasn't for the photo's context. She reaches for her glasses. She puts on her glasses. Her hand rushes to cover her mouth.

No. Way.

The photo is of Phil and a tall blonde-haired girl hugging. The side of the girl's face could be seen. There is a smile on both of their faces. She wouldn't be too worried if she is aware of who the girl is, Youtuber or not. But she has never seen this girl in her life.

Her phone vibrates again. The sound elicits a soft squeak from her. She picks up her phone and sees her roommate's name on the caller ID.

"Did you see it? Oh my gosh. Please don't tell me it's true" are the first few sentences that spews out of her friend when she accepts the call.

"Whoa girl. Slow down."

"SLOW DOWN? Sweetcheeks, that's Phil with a girl! Please tell me you know who she is."

"I don't," she admits. She wishes she did. If she recognized the girl, she would have been able to reassure the fans and calm them down.

"This is bad. I don't want to jump to conclusions, but Phil looked awfully close with that girl."

"It's Phil. I don't think he'd cheat on Dan like that."

"You never know! You said things were bad between Dan and him lately. Did they fight again?"

"I don't know." The disadvantage of avoiding Dan is being unaware of what exactly is going on between the couple. If the two fought, then the situation is borderline getting out of hand.

"Listen. I know you swore not to talk to Dan, but I think now's a good time to break the silence."

"But-"

"Here me out, girl. You can't avoid Dan forever. If you won't go to him, he'll come to you. Either way, you'll have to face him. I get that you promised not to talk to him until he made a decision, but I think you're making it harder for him by staying away. He's got Phil with him. He needs you around too."

She sighs. This is her own internal battle she is facing. Talk to Dan or not. She is dying to reach out to him, to comfort and reassure him that she'll be here for him no matter what. "And if I do talk to him?"

"Then treat him the way you always do. Try not to let the situation affect your friendship."

"You sure this is okay?"

"Of course!"

"I… fine. I'll talk to him. Tomorrow."

"Why not now?"

"Homework, girl. And if Dan sees that photo, I should give him space to talk with Phil."

"Oh! Right!" She hears murmurs on the other end. "Gotta go! Babe and I are at the restaurant!"

"Alright. Have fun!"

"I'll see you later."

She hangs up and puts her phone in sleep mode. Whoever that girl in the photo was, she has a feeling it will be something for Dan and Phil to discuss tonight.

~:~

It's 7:32 PM when her phone vibrates with a text. Done with homework, she is sitting on her bed working on her next phanfic. The text is from Dan.

Can I come over pls?

He fought with Phil. She can tell. He always comes to her whenever the two argue. She would let him stay over at her flat, the two of them eating ice cream and playing video games on her and her friend's PlayStation. It looks like her plan to talk to him tomorrow will happen tonight.

For the first time in several days, she sends a text to Dan. Sure. Rocky road IC ok?

He doesn't text back. She assumes he is on his way.

She saves her work on her laptop and turns it off. She plugs the charger in for her laptop and heads to the kitchen. She grabs two small bowls and two spoons from the dishrack. She is about to open the fridge to take out the ice cream when she hears a knock at the door.

Calm down. It's Dan. Just Dan. You've done this before. Yes, the feelings are out there, but he's your friend. You swore you'd stop avoiding him.

She walks over to the front door and opens it. She is greeted with a depressing sight. Dan is there, his brown eyes glassy with a light red in his pupils.

His lip trembles. "Hi."

"Hey." She motions for him to come in. He does so.

She makes her way back to the kitchen. "I have rocky road, but there's some leftover chocolate and vanilla if you want that."

He doesn't answer.

She pauses mid-way to the table where she set out the bowls and spoons. She turns around. Her head collides with his chest.

"Oh!" she exclaims, jolted by the sudden physical contact. "Sorry! Didn't see you there." She steps back, putting a small amount of distance between them. "Dan?"

He still doesn't speak.

She starts to worry. "I'd ask if you're okay, but you're clearly not. What happened?"

No answer.

"Dan! You're scaring me! You fought with Phil, didn't you? That's why you're here, right?"

"U-uh…" He steps closer to her and splays his hands on her shoulder. "Fuck it."

His lips press down to hers and all the breath is knocked away from her lungs.

Electricity flows between their mouths. This is exactly how she felt the first time they kissed. The night sky, the warmth, how it felt so right yet so wrong. They haven't shared a kiss since that night, which is a good thing, considering she didn't want to begin an affair with him. She couldn't do that to Phil.

Reluctantly, she puts her hands on his chest and pushes him back, disconnecting their lips.

"Dan…" she breathes. "What are you doing?"

"Love." A tear falls down his cheek. "Why are you doing this to me? Why did you ignore me?"

"I-I…" She looks up at him. "I'm not ignoring you. I was giving you space. That's what you needed, right?"

"You were gonna leave me."

"What else could I do?" Her mind was dead set that night when she returned to their flat that night after Phil found out about the kiss.

"Are you serious? Dan! Why? WHY?"

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean it Phil. I really didn't."

"Guys, it's my fault. Dan wouldn't have kissed me if he didn't feel the same way."

"I didn't want you to leave, and you almost did."

"I was doing what's right."

His hands move from her shoulders to her face. "Love, if we had one night to be together, will you let it happen?"

"Dan-"

His voice takes a pleading tone. "Would you?"

"I…" Her stomach does somersaults. Of course she would. As shameful as it would be, she dreamed of having a few hours with Dan in that way. If Phil wasn't in the picture, she would have asked her roommate for love advice. The love advice happened, but not in the context she wanted it to be.

Phil. It always boils down to Phil.

"I know you're thinking about Phil," he says. "But I want this. Tonight. Please. Just for one night. Then if you still want to say goodbye to me tomorrow, you can."

She brings her hands up to touch his arms. "Are you saying that if I continued off what I did two weeks ago, you'll let me go this time?"

He hesitates, but nods. "We'll just be friends. Or if you don't want to ever see my face again, then that can happen. I'll make things right with Phil. All I want is one night."

One night.

One night free of inhibitions.

One night where she can pretend Dan is hers.

One night away from their messy situation.

How can you say no to that?

"And Phil?" she asks.

"Phil is gone for tonight. I don't know where, but he'll probably be back by tomorrow."

"Are you gonna tell me what happened?"

"Later."

"Did you see that photo on Twitter?"

"Yes. She's an old friend of Phil's. We'll talk more later." He steps back, his hands moving away from her face.

He extends his arm, a hand reaching out to her. An offer.

Will you take it? Will you break the porcelain figure again?

She takes his hand.

Just one night.

The moon and the star.

They are the same.

Two portions of the galaxy that form the night.

~:~

I'm sorry, Dan.

Phil looks around his now sparse bedroom. His breath hitches. He is going through with this. His mind was made up as soon as he walked out the door when they fought.

"I think we should take a break."

"PHIL! YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS!"

"Bear, I said a break! Not a break-up!"

"There's still break in the name!"

"Dan, it's just a break. I'm not leaving the flat. But us being together while she's leaving you alone isn't fair. She's suffering more than me."

"No! Absolutely not! Nope, nuh-uh. I refuse to take a break."

"I'm sorry. But whether or not you like it, I'm letting the break happen."

"Phil-"

"I'm heading out. I'll come back later."

"So that's how it's gonna be. You're gonna find another hot chick or hot dude at a bar to replace me."

"It's not like that."

"Sure it isn't."

"This is why we need to take a break."

"And this is why this break is stupid."

"It's not stupid. You'll see."

He checks the time on his phone. 6:30 AM. Dan isn't home yet. He is most likely staying over at her flat again. He always goes there whenever they fight. She is the one that sets Dan right before he comes back, apologizes, and he forgives him.

So many chances. So many times to forgive. This time, he has reached his limit.

He picks up his duffel bag and drags the suitcase to the lounge. He takes a piece of folded paper out from his coat pocket and leaves it on the sofa.

I'll miss you, sofa crease.

He has to make the break work. He doesn't know how long he'll be gone, but he does know that he has to put some distance between him and Dan.

He'll go to Louise's first. She already said yes to letting him stay for as long as he needs. All he needs is a couple of days (he doesn't want to take advantage of his stay). Then he'll go rent a hotel room and stay there for a few more days and live at his parents' place afterward, just until his mind clears up and he is ready to face Dan again.

This is right. If Dan chooses to be with her while I'm gone, then that's that.

In ten minutes, he is staring at their apartment building, guilt in his chest.

This is the last chance I'm giving you, Dan. I hope you make the right choice.

~:~

The buzzing of a phone wakes her up.

She groans. Opening her eyes, she blinks a few times so her eyes adjusts to the lighting. She shifts her head to the side. Dan is still asleep.

A small smile graces her face. Her cheeks flush as memories of last night flood her head. He was sweet in bed, yet was sort of a caveman. He was the dominant one. Afraid to be rough with her at first, once she assured him that she could take more, he gave her more. Who knew sex could be that enjoyable?

Her arm reaches out and grabs one of two cell phones on her dresser. It's her phone. No texts. No missed calls. Must be from Dan's.

She grabs Dan's phone. There is a text from Phil.

She glances at Dan. His eyes are still closed.

He won't mind if she checks, right? He does the same with her phone whenever he sleeps at her place overnight. They are that close that they can read the other's text messages or answer calls for the other person. The only people she ever does that with is her roommate and her best friend back in her hometown.

She inputs his password and taps on the message.

Heads up: I'm not at the flat

Must means Phil is doing something for the day.

"Who's that?" She sits up and sees Dan is awake.

"Phil."

"What'd he say?"

"Here." She gives him his phone. "He's not at your place."

He reads the text. "Oh."

"Does he have plans for today?"

"Not that I know of."

Strange. Dan and Phil tell each other everything. After last night, she was sure they would get a chance to make up for the argument from yesterday. Even if they are on a "break," Phan isn't dead.

She leans closer to him to see what he texts back to Phil. Where will u be?

The response comes a few seconds later. Somewhere

"Somewhere?" she says aloud. "Shouldn't he say where that somewhere is?"

"That's what I'm thinking." He frowns, but sends another text. When will u be back from "somewhere?"

They wait a minute for a reply. I don't know

She and Dan turn their heads to look at each other at the same time.

"What does he mean by 'I don't know?'" she says.

His expression turns into panic. "No idea."

"I have a bad feeling about this."

"Me too." He pulls her duvet away from his body and starts gathering his clothes. Despite their curiosity of what Phil is up to, she can't help but marvel at Dan's naked body. She is a girl. Her lady parts are tingling.

"Are you going back to the flat?"

He nods. "Want to come?"

"Definitely." She wants to see where this little mystery is going.

She jumps out of bed and goes to her closet. She doesn't mind that Dan is seeing her naked. What matters right now is finding out what happened with Phil. Dealing with their situation can be delayed for a while.

She grabs one of her Keep Calm t-shirts, a pair of skinny jeans, and a matching black panty and bra set. She turns and sees Dan is fully dressed.

She blushes, but proceeds to get dressed herself.

"Ready to go?" he asks when she has all her clothes on.

"Yup." She grabs her phone and follows him out her bedroom door. "I gotta see what Phil's up to."

~:~

"I'm letting the break happen."

Break. The word is a wretched curse. It's one-half of the word "breakup." Why Phil is doing this now, Dan doesn't know. He thought Phil understood the situation. He told Phil their problem shouldn't affect their relationship too drastically. He still wants to be kissed and hugged and to hold hands with his boyfriend. Even with the constant guilt in his head, he can't bear not to be touched by Phil. If he couldn't see or touch her, then the least he can have is the presence of his lover.

When they arrive at the flat, his gut instinct returns. Something isn't right. Phil should have told Dan where he is going. They always do. With Phil's weakness in direction, Dan doesn't want Phil to be defenseless should something harmful happen when he isn't around.

He walks through the lounge and heads into Phil's room. What he sees causes his knees to buckle.

Phil's clothes are gone. He opens one of the drawers. Empty. His plushies are gone. There are very few items on Phil's drawers. The closet looks like an abandoned island.

"Dan!"

His breathing increases.

No. This can't be true. He said he wouldn't leave.

"Dan!" he hears her call out again.

He manages to stand and stumble back to the lounge. He sees her holding a piece of paper up in the air.

"I found this on the couch," she says. "It's from Phil."

"Phil?" he chokes out. He rushes to her side.

She reads the letter aloud.

Dan,

By the time you find this, I'll already be gone. Don't come looking for me. I know I said I wouldn't leave, but this has to be done. You wouldn't listen to me when I said we need to take a break. This is the only way the break can happen. You're going to hate me. I know. I hate myself too.

I can't take it anymore. You mess things up, and every time you do, I give you a chance to make it up. This time I don't know if you can fix this mess. You can't fix love without someone receiving the bad end. She had that five times. It'll be hard to see you making that number go from five to six. I'm not mad at you for loving her. Deep down I saw it coming. She's so much like you. I'm just mad that you couldn't see that until it was too late. If you acknowledged that she's a perfect match for you, maybe you could have stopped yourself from falling for her. You could have stopped yourself from kissing her. You could have came to talk to me when those feelings came. You didn't do that. Instead you kept your feelings bottled up.

You need to make a decision, and that's why I've left. Spend time with her without me in your minds. See what happens. If you can handle being with her without me around, it means your love for her means something. Should you choose her, then you know you can live without me. If not, our love can make it pass this. Phan will succeed pass this obstacle.

I love you. I love you to the moon and back. I love you with my whole heart and I hope you understand. I'm sorry.

Your loving angel bean,

Phil

His mind goes blank. He is in disbelief.

"Phil…" he vaguely hears her mumble. "You did not pull a movie moment on us right now."

Phil is gone.

Phil left.

He is alone.

His world no longer has a sun.

"He's gone." It's the stone, cold-hard truth. Phil left while he was having one of the best nights in his entire life. While he was in the throws of passion, his boyfriend made a decision without his knowing, a decision neither he or she expected.

"He'll come back," she says. "Phil didn't say it, but I think he implied it."

"How do you know?" he responds helplessly. "For all we know, he's gone for good."

"No. Don't think that way. Phil wouldn't leave you hanging. He's not that type of guy. He didn't say he was breaking up with you. It's a break. He-"

"STOP SAYING BREAK!" The tone of his voice makes her flinch. His voice softens. "This is why I told him I didn't want to take a break from us. This is exactly what I was afraid would happen."

"Dan, he's doing this for you. Don't you see? He's trying to help you. You couldn't bear it when I avoided you, but at least you had Phil. You had him to help you through my absence. Now it's the other way around. I'm the one that's gonna help you during Phil's absence."

"What about what you said last night? You said I can let you go if you agreed to be with spend one night with me."

"That was before we had any idea what Phil would do."

"So we're still friends?"

She nods. "We would have been even if you stayed with Phil."

He sits down on the sofa, lifting his knees up and resting his chin on his kneecaps. His arms wrap around his legs. "How can I live without Phil? I can't do it. It was hard enough being away from you, and you're a friend. How can I be away from my boyfriend? How can I live in the flat when I know Phil won't be in the next room over?"

She sits down next to him. He feels her hand touch his shoulder. "Shhh… you won't do this alone. I'll come over to your place as often as you want. I'll buy ice cream and bring over video games. I can come watch you do your show at Radio 1. I can collab with you for the gaming channel. I can even make pancakes for you."

"You will?" he says in a small voice.

"Yeah." As tears start to spill from his eyes, he feels her arms pull him into a hug.

His chest heaves with sobs. He breaks down. Why does his life have to be a cycle of misery? Why does life have to fuck up the things he loves? Why does bad luck follow him wherever he goes? Why are his emotions something that fate likes to play around with?

"Don't dwell on the negative." She rubs his shoulders. "Do that and the small chance of Phil leaving you for good could come true. The more you think negatively, the more likely it'll happen. Phil will be back. When he does, you'll have your answer."

Will he? Will Dan be able to choose between the two of them by the time Phil returns? What if he doesn't? What if he can never make a choice? Last night was a glimpse of what could have been a life with her. It was great. Several hours ago, the deepest parts of his brains imagined what it would be like to have her as a girlfriend.

But Phil… if Dan misses Phil a lot whenever he vacations in Florida with his family or they go home for the holidays, what will it be like for him to be apart from Phil for an unknown amount of time? The thoughts makes him cry harder.

His sun has disappeared.

His dark heart has no light to seek.

Phil has left. Dan is a mess, and all he has is the OC to lean on. Once again, so god help us all. I'm crafting for the three of them.

Btw there's a story called A Changed World written by AkaneDarc here on FF. If you like dystopian-style fics and love the idea of Dan and Phil in a futuristic world, I recommend checking it out! At this point, I'm thinking "COME BACK TO US DAN-KUN!"

Until next time, hoping the internet support group will be fine by the second half.

~ AA