CHAPTER FOUR
Dan wandered into the living room, plopping down next to Phil on the couch.
"Popcorn?" wondered Dan, holding out the large blue bowl.
"Hmm? Oh-erm-sure," nodded Phil, glancing away from his computer screen and taking a couple pieces.
"Is something wrong?" questioned Dan as he noticed the slightly saddened look on his friend's face.
Phil quickly shut the laptop and forced a smile onto his face.
"I'm fine," he replied.
"You can tell me," Dan pressed. "I just don't want you to be upset."
"I'm fine," Phil repeated. "I promise. It was just a few comments on my latest video. Nothing too bad. I'll be okay."
Dan sent his friend a small smile. "You sure?"
Phil nodded. "Thanks though."
"Will more popcorn make you feel better?" asked Dan as he carefully placed a piece of popcorn on top of Phil's head.
Phil just giggled and grabbed the popcorn off of his head, throwing it playfully back at Dan's face.
"Maybe," Phil smiled, grabbing a handful of popcorn. "Can we watch Buffy too?"
"Of course," Dan agreed.
Phil beamed and quickly set up the TV before grabbing more popcorn. Dan turned to fix a slightly worried look on his friend, who luckily was too infatuated with Sarah Michelle Gellar to notice.
Dan allowed a quiet sigh to escape his lips. Phil was obviously upset about something, even if he insisted he was fine. Whatever it was, Dan was determined to make sure that Phil actually was okay.
Dan laid in bed, his dark sheets wrapped tightly around him. In front of him sat his laptop, which was quietly playing Phil's latest video. Dan had originally found the video in order to see if there really were any rude comments that might affect Phil, but he had gotten distracted by Phil's voice and ended up watching the entire video. Dan couldn't help it. He loved watching Phil's videos. He loved seeing Phil's enormous grin and he loved hearing his laugh. He loved the sound of his voice and the bright color of his eyes. He loved watching him talk so enthusiastically about everything he loved.
The video ended all too quickly and Dan was about to watch another video before remembering why he had come onto YouTube in the first place. He searched through the comments, smiling at the nice ones. However, the smile suddenly flickered into a frown when he spotted a certain comment.
'Why would you reject Dan‽ How could you break his heart‽ He's better than you in every way. Why don't you just disappear, no one would care.'
A feeling of guilt settled into Dan's stomach. Normally, he wouldn't feel this guilty but one, it was kind of his fault that Phil was receiving this hate and two, this wasn't the worst one. There was so much more hate than usual.
Without stopping to think, Dan slipped off his bed and wandered towards Phil's room. The brunette quietly pushed the door open, causing his friend to glance up.
"Dan?" Phil sleepily mumbled. "What's wrong?"
Dan rushed to Phil's side, tossing his arms tightly around his friend. Phil stiffened for a moment, obviously slightly confused, before slowly wrapping his arms around Dan's waist.
"I'm sorry," Dan mumbled into Phil's chest.
"For what?" wondered Phil. The raven haired boy ignored the slightly awkward feeling in his stomach and slowly ran his fingers through Dan's hair.
"I saw the comments on your video," Dan muttered.
Phil stopped tangling his fingers in Dan's hair for a moment. "Oh."
"I'm sorry," repeated Dan.
"It's okay. It's not your fault," Phil assured him as he resumed lacing his fingers through Dan's brunette curls.
"If I just hadn't come out. Or if I just hadn't admitted that I liked you to the entire phandom!" huffed Dan. "Then none of this would be happening."
Phil tightened his grip on his friend.
"It's not your fault," he repeated. "You didn't know this would happen and I know you don't mean any harm."
Dan nuzzled his face into Phil's chest. Laying there with his head resting on Phil's chest and Phil's hand running through his hair, Dan could almost pretend they were a couple.