'Dan, are you sure you don't want to talk about it?'

'It's nothing; it was just a stupid nightmare.'

'It didn't look like nothing.'

'Phil, it doesn't matter. Can't we just go back to sleep?'

'Why won't you tell me?'

'For fuck's sake, it was just a dream. What does it matter?'

Phil's face fell and he dropped back onto the pillows. It was the first time that Dan had snapped at him like that, and it felt like he had just slapped him.

'I was just trying to help.' Phil muttered, before turning onto his side away from Dan. The room was silent for a few moments, and Dan remained propped up on his elbows, suddenly wide-awake. He sighed as he heard Phil sniffling beside him.

'Phil, I'm sorry.' No reply. 'Phil?' Silence. 'I'm going to my own room.' He announced, hoping that Phil would turn over and stop him, but the older boy stayed where he was.

Reluctantly, he slid out of bed and crossed the dark room. He felt around for the door and pulled it open, allowing a sliver of light to fall across the inanimate shape in the bed. Once in the carpeted hallway, he closed Phil's door and padded across to his own barely-slept-in room.

He crawled into bed, and was once again reminded of how noisy the traffic was on this side of the house. It didn't matter though, he didn't feel sleepy anymore. He thought back to the dream. He didn't want to tell Phil about it, not yet at least. It was his own private dream. After the accident, he'd had to get used to the fact that everyone knew him better than he knew himself. He had no secrets, everything was laid open. But this dream, this was something new. This was something no one knew about him. This was part of the new Dan, something that he knew had happened to him because he remembered the experience. It was special, and he wasn't about to let go of this feeling any time soon, not even for Phil.

The world outside was still dark, so in order to kill the boredom, Dan pulled his laptop onto his knee. Luckily for him, Phil had known all of his passwords for his social networking accounts, so he was still able to access them. He logged himself on to Facebook, and a few moments later switched over to twitter. He scrolled lazily down his timeline, reading the various tweets and chuckling at a few, but unable to feel any attachment to the names. These people were from another world in which Dan didn't belong yet. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw his own name. 'Dan Howell' was the number one worldwide trending topic.

He gulped, the pressure rising again. All those people who knew him, and yet didn't really know him. The blue writing was calling him, and his curiosity got the better of him. He slowly moved his cursor over his name and clicked. Moments later, his screen was filled with tweets about him. Even though the page had only just loaded, there were 20 new tweets ready at the top. He scrolled down and scanned through them.

'Of course.' He thought. 'My new video.'

Thousands upon thousands of people had watched his new video. Some thought it was a hilarious prank. Some thought he was making a sick joke. Some were expressing their confusion. A large number had tweeted to inform the world that they had unsubscribed. And then were a small few, but still some, which were sympathetic towards him. A few of his most ardent fans confessed their undying loyalty, be this video a joke or not. He smiled at the ones which reminded him that they would continue to help and support him. But there were countless hateful messages which forced him to slam the laptop shut, blinking away tears.

'They don't know you.' He muttered to himself over and over, refusing to cry. 'They don't know you.'

He must have fallen asleep at some point in the early morning, because he woke up to the sunlight bursting through his curtains. Yawning and stretching, he experienced the hideous sensation of thinking that everything is alright and then remembering that it is not. He reached over and checked his phone, but he wasn't surprised that it was 1pm. He had always preferred sleeping through the morning, since his early teenage years.

Dan jumped out of bed, causing his eyes to go black from standing up too quickly. A second later, this had passed and he was ambling out to the kitchen. There was no sound in the flat, and when he got to the fridge, he noticed a note pinned up with a magnet of Caesar's Palace, Las Vegas.

'Gone out. Be back later. Phil.'

That was it. No kisses, no explanation.

Dan must have really hurt him last night. As the oldest in the relationship, Dan hadn't expected him to be so sensitive. But then again, he was only trying to help and Dan threw it back in his face. He groaned as he turned away from the kitchen, suddenly not hungry anymore.

He went into the lounge and just stood in the middle of the room, feeling lost. He couldn't go on the internet: he was afraid of what he might read. He wasn't in the mood for watching anything. In fact, all he really wanted was for someone to talk to. But Phil was out, and it didn't look like he would want to talk to Dan even if he was around.

For the second time since he had arrived at this flat, he felt the desire to go out and get some air. This time, he wore a hoodie with the hood pulled up and some baggy jeans. The plan was to go in a kind of disguise, in order to reduce the risk of getting recognised. When he was happy with the difference, he stepped outside the door and locked it. Immediately there was a rush of freedom, and Dan breathed in deeply. He began to walk briskly, deciding to look confident so that he could blend in with the crowds. A Starbucks sign caught his eye after only a few minutes of walking, and he ducked into the shop. The familiarity of the café was a feeling he hadn't experienced in a long time, and he actually felt happy as he walked up to the counter and ordered his usual coffee.

Finding himself a seat in the corner, out of the way, Dan was content just listening to the general chatter and the clinks of the mugs. He felt more at home here than the flat with Phil, and he became lost in his thoughts as he absent-mindedly stirred his coffee. That is, until he sensed a figure standing right in front of his table and looking down at him. He jumped slightly and peered up to find a man around his own age, with pale blond hair swept to the side staring down at him. He had a look of joyous surprise lighting up his face, and Dan realised that this must be someone who actually knew him.

'Dan? I can't believe it; I haven't seen you in weeks! You weren't answering my texts, I was getting worried.' The man said, his voice full of incredulity, and he grabbed a chair from another table to sit with Dan, uninvited. Dan blinked at him, trying desperately to work out how to escape this situation.

'You don't recognise me, do you?' The man leaned back in his seat and shook his head in amazement. 'Phil wasn't joking then.'

Dan bit his lip and shrugged. He was still attempting to drink in his face, praying that some feature would trigger his broken memory. He was attractive, that was Dan's first guilty observation. The blond hair was so pale that it was almost white, and looked as if it would be soft and smooth to the touch. His blue eyes were a shade darker than Phil's: pretty, but a little murkier. Like a patch of seaweed under a bright blue sea. His button nose could have made him look childish, were it not for the crooked grin which made Dan's palms tingle.

'I… I'm guessing you're a friend…' He tried to sound less lost than he felt.

'A friend? I'm your best friend. Ever since Jack Palmer moved your whole bedroom outside on the second day of uni and I helped you carry it all back in.' He chuckled to himself at this apparently fond memory, and Dan felt himself cringing at the story of his former self. 'You were such a loser, Dan. No offence, but you were.'

Dan sighed internally. It was one of his pet hates about Luke, that he always said 'no offence' while actually offending you quite a lot.

'Wait a minute!' Dan thought, flicking his eyes up. 'Did I just remember something?'

'You're Luke!' He exclaimed. Luke raised his eyebrows and smirked.

'And you're Dan. Nice to meet you again.' He offered his hand and Dan shook it, feeling a giddy excitement rising. It wasn't much, but he had remembered his name, and something about him. It was a start.

'It looks like we have a lot to catch up on.' Dan smiled.

'Then I best get myself a coffee.' Luke grinned, and he patted Dan on the back as he got up.

Dan watched him walk away and began to sip his coffee, which was almost cold after he had taken so long to drink it. He felt a twinge of guilt thinking about Phil who wouldn't know where he was when he got back, or who he was with. But when Luke turned around at the counter and winked at him, Dan forgot all about him.