AUTHOR'S NOTE: Kindly ignore the fact that the Isle of Man is not in fact part of the UK, but rather "a self-governing crown dependency," which complicates the bureaucratic side of things for a couple of English guys getting married there. With the magic wand of the fiction writer, I proclaim that all necessary licenses, provisions, permissions, and such legal niceties were easily obtained, and everything in my fictional little world happens simply and smoothly for my fictional Dan and Phil.

Chapter 7: Commitment

They got together to Skype all their close family to tell them the news.

Phil amused himself by allowing their conversation with his parents to meander through 15 minutes of random chitchat before he finally said, "So I hear you guys have been waiting months to find out my answer to a very important question."

Phil's mum had actually squealed, hands covering her mouth as she glanced from one of them to the other. "Really?" she breathed. Dan and Phil raised their hands to show her the engagement rings they were both wearing, and she threw her arms around Phil's dad with a happy cry. All four of them beamed with happiness.

Phil's dad said gruffly, "Now, I'm not going to ask what took so long, because that's your private business, but I will say I'm glad you finally saw sense, son." Then he had looked between them as his wife had done and grinned, "I suppose you'll both be my sons now." When he said it, he looked the happiest Dan had ever seen him.

Dan's parents had responded with more reserved congratulations. They'd long ago accepted Phil's place in Dan's life, but Dan's father had been raised Catholic, and it still tinged the family's attitudes. They'd never treated Phil badly, but neither had they been warmly welcoming. They both smiled over the Skype connection, but they couldn't hide the fact that they seemed more resigned than excited about their son's decision.

The real issue had been Dan's grandmother. They'd always been very close, but she was extremely religious and for the past seven years had persisted in referring to Phil always as Dan's "friend," "flatmate," or "work colleague." Dan didn't like to think the word about someone who had loved and supported him so much throughout his life, but he had some time ago accepted that she was homophobic.

"I can call her on my own," he offered. "We don't have to do it together."

Phil looked concerned. "Is that what you want to do?"

Dan licked his lips nervously and explained, "I'm just afraid … she might say something … you know how she is."

Nodding, Phil said, "Yeah, I know. But I'd rather we do this together, unless you really don't want to."

Dan took his hand, worried. "I know you're nervous about dealing with people who won't understand … and I can pretty much guarantee that she is not going to understand. I just don't want her to upset you."

Phil kissed him gently, then smiled. "You don't have to protect me. I'm the one who decided that I'm ready to do this, and I spent a good long while making sure I was certain. I'm ready to face the world with you, and that even includes scary grandmas."

Dan laughed, which he knew had been Phil's intention, and shrugged. "Okay. If you're sure."

As predicted, Dan's grandmother had not reacted well. When they'd told her they were getting married, she had only shaken her head disapprovingly and insisted, "Daniel, you don't need to do this. You'll find a nice girl. What about that girl you were dating?"

Dan sighed. "I haven't dated a girl since I was 17, grandma. Phil and I have been together for 7 years and we're really happy together. We love each other and want to spend the rest of our lives together." She still looked as if she had just bitten into a lemon.

Dan felt Phil's hand on his and looked at him in question. Phil squeezed his hand and looked back at the laptop camera. "I know how special you are to Daniel, Mrs. Howell, so I look forward to getting to know you better now that we're going to be family. I know he loves you very much."

Her face softened marginally, but Dan knew she would most likely phone him tomorrow to try to talk him out of it again. He wondered how this would work over the years, whether she would ever be able to learn to respect his love for Phil. Of everyone in his family, she'd always been the one he felt closest to. She had always offered him a kind of gentle warmth and kindness that did not seem to come naturally to his parents, and he loved her fiercely for it. Perhaps his love for her and tolerance of her prejudices might even have actually helped him to be more patient with Phil's long struggle than he might otherwise have been. But if her prejudices ever threatened his relationship with Phil …

He hoped that he would never be forced to choose, because if he were ever forced to make that choice, he knew he would choose love over hate, and he would lose his grandmother from his life forever.

Dan didn't see why this was even a question. "Howell-Lester."

Phil was persistent. "No. Lester-Howell."

Dan sighed. "No. It's always been 'Dan and Phil,' so we should keep to the same order. Howell-Lester."

Phil nodded. "Right. You've had your turn at going first. My turn. Lester-Howell."

Dan tilted his head and put on his best patient, logical voice. "But 'Howell-Lester' is alphabetical. It's only fair."

Phil got a sort of sneaky look in his eyes, making Dan suspicious. Then Phil said, "But think about which one is more aesthetic, Dan. 'Howell-Lester' has three L's in a row in the middle. That just isn't … aesthetically pleasing."

Dan rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. "You're mocking me."

Phil wheedled, "But it's true, right?"

Dan sighed crossly. "I don't know…"

Phil left the room for a moment, then came back with a notepad Dan recognized from their trip to Japan, the paper delicately scattered with cherry blossoms that cascaded from a tree blooming at the top of the page. They almost never used paper notepads, so this one had obviously survived years stashed somewhere in the flat. Phil handed Dan the notepad and a pen.

"Write them both down," Phil said, gesturing to the paper.

Dan heaved another noisy sigh, wanting to make his impatience clear, and wrote across the cherry blossoms, Daniel Howell-Lester, then, on the next line, Daniel Lester-Howell.

Phil watched his face and asked, "So … what do you think?"

Dan had to admit that Phil might have a point, but he really didn't want to give in. "It's not so bad…"

Phil scoffed, "Yeah, right. Now write them both in all caps."

Dan wrote, DANIEL HOWELL-LESTER, then DANIEL LESTER-HOWELL, then groaned, "Oh god." He tossed the pen and notepad onto the coffee table in disgust and put his hands over his face. "Those three L's … all in the middle together like that … arrrgh!" He brought his hands down and glanced at the innocent notepad again. "And the other one … it has kind of a nice balance and symmetry, with the two L's in the center and two L's at the end. But … those three L's in 'HOWELL-LESTER'…" He made an exaggerated gagging noise. "Okay, you're right: I couldn't deal with that for the rest of my life. We'll go with Lester-Howell." He sulked, "I hope you're happy."

Dan saw Phil's right index finger stroke the platinum ring he wore on his other hand as he said softly, "I am. Aren't you?"

Dan fought it—he really did—but he could feel a smile start to bloom on his face. He still tried to grouse, though. "Okay. Fine. Yeah, I am happy. I don't like to admit it, because I feel like I'm losing an argument, but I am. I am happy."

Phil's face seemed lit from within when he said, "I love you, Daniel Lester-Howell."

Dan held up his hands. "Whoa there, cowboy! You have to make an honest man of me before you can call me that." He grinned.

Phil grinned back. "I can't wait."

Dan really didn't want to bring this up, but they were going to have to leave the flat at some point, and then it would become an issue. He hadn't been thinking about it before, but now…

He sat beside Phil on the sofa and took his left hand, gently caressing the ring shining on Phil's finger. "You know, I spent a long time choosing these engagement rings … but I actually think we probably shouldn't wear them."

Phil looked distressed. "Why? Is it the coming out issue? Because I'm really okay with that now. I mean, I know in a perfect world we'd obviously really prefer to continue keeping our personal lives private, but … we've talked about starting a family, Dan. I think it'd be pretty hard to convince anybody that we're just friends if we start adopting kids together."

"Except maybe my grandma," Dan joked darkly.

Phil smiled slightly to acknowledge the jest but didn't reply.

Dan stopped. Rewound. "Wait, did you say 'kids,' plural?"

Phil shrugged shyly and looked down, then back up to meet Dan's gaze. He was giving puppy dog eyes. "I thought one kid might be lonely. We could see how it goes…"

Dan hugged him. "Let's see how it goes. If we don't accidentally kill the first one within a couple days…"

Phil groaned a laugh and covered his face with his hands. "Don't even joke about that! You're giving me 'Who's Your Daddy?' flashbacks! Our kid is going to crawl around intentionally looking for the bleach and electrical sockets."

Dan admitted, "I've been figuring we'd wait a few years, anyway, before we even start thinking about it."

Phil nodded. "Wise man." Then he looked confused. "But if it isn't about the coming out issue, why are you not wanting to wear the rings?"

Dan sighed. This hurt. "It's not that I don't want to wear them, because I do! It's that … well … I love our fans … but some of them are a little…"

Phil leaned back in his chair, eyes wide. "Oh."

Dan grimaced. "Yeah. I mean, if they wait around airports for hours when they know we're just trying to catch a plane, imagine what they'd do if they knew we were planning a wedding."

Phil sighed. "Some of them would spend months trying to find out where and when."

Dan nodded. "And I don't want the most important moment of my life getting interrupted by a fan running in to ask for a selfie in the middle of our vows. And I don't want to have to establish some kind of security perimeter to prevent it, either."

Phil looked unhappy. "So we don't wear the rings?" He looked down at the platinum band on his finger with its winking aquamarine stone.

Dan sighed. "I think we probably shouldn't. Not until after the ceremony."

Phil made an exaggerated pouty face and begged, "Maybe just around the flat?" which made Dan laugh.

Dan knew just how he felt. "And maybe we should move up the date we were planning."

So they started making plans for something maybe a month away, determined that they'd somehow make it happen because they didn't want to wait.

"Okay. So. The vows. Do we want to just each write them separately and surprise each other at the ceremony, or talk about them a little bit?"

Phil pondered. "Well, it would be kind of weird if they were dramatically different in tone or something."

"Yeah. So. Maybe talk about some themes we want to touch on?"

"Honesty."

"Trust."

"Kindness."

"Patience."

Phil nodded vigorously. "Definitely patience! I can't believe you put up with me these past few months!"

Dan was honestly surprised. "Me being patient with you? I was thinking about you being patient with me!"

Phil gaped at him. "How could you be thinking that after everything I put you through? You've had the patience of a saint!"

Dan wasn't going to let Phil beat himself up about this forever. "Think about it, though. I mean, the bigger picture. Yeah, the past few months were really hard, but we were talking, I could tell you were working through some serious shit, and it was hard work for you. But have you forgotten that you sat through my daily pathetic angst for more than a year when I was at uni, and thinking about dropping out, then dropping out and worrying that I was throwing my life away? You never told me to hurry the fuck up and make a decision. You never told me to quit the whining. You listened to me every single day, and you let me cry on your shoulder, and you didn't tell me what to do but you did tell me your opinions, and you gave me the time and space to work it out on my own while still giving me support through the whole thing."

"Dan … that was a long time ago," Phil said dismissively. "You were just a kid then."

Dan raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, but how long ago was it that you last found me face down on the hallway carpet in some kind of downward spiral of existential doubt about the meaninglessness of trying to accomplish anything in a world where we're all just going to die and nothing really matters?"

Phil bit his lip. "Um. Okay, yeah. That was more recent."

Dan nodded, then continued, "And it's happened a lot. For years. And you're always patient with me when it happens. You don't tell me to get my emo ass up off the carpet or hurry me to just get over it. You hang out with me and talk to me, let me talk to you, listen to what I have to say and tell me what you think in return. We do it together. And sometimes you leave me alone when I need it. You try to understand where I'm coming from, and you're patient with me. You're always patient with me. You're the one who has the patience of a saint, Phil."

Phil still had that hangdog guilty expression on his face, though. "It's not the same. You asked me to marry you, and I said no! And I said terrible things! Then I made you sit around for months waiting for me!"

Dan was determined to make Phil see his perspective in this. "You didn't way no, and you didn't 'make' me do anything. You said you needed to think. So you did a lot of thinking, and you worked through your shit, and you came up with the obviously right decision to marry my ass. And now we're moving on … together. We're past it. But you're still going to find me face down in the hallway once in a while. And you're going to have to deal with me occasionally losing my shit over a video not being perfect enough. Admit it, Phil: I'm not that easy to deal with. But when it comes to the boyfriend lottery, I hit the fucking jackpot. You might leave cupboards open and steal my cereal, but you're otherwise pretty much perfect. You're like the nicest person I've ever met in my life! You're always there for me, and when we disagree you always let me calm down before you try to talk to me about it, and you don't mind if I stay up on Tumblr for hours instead of coming to bed with you, and you listen to me rant about things even when you don't care…"

Phil interrupted him, "Dan! Stop! You do realize that I'm happy with you, right?" He looked honestly concerned.

Dan squeezed Phil's hand and leaned over to kiss him gently, just a little one. "Yeah. That's my point. It makes no sense to me sometimes, but I do believe you. I've never doubted it, never doubted that you love me, never doubted you, not for a second. And that's why I was able to wait for a few months while you worked through something really big."

Phil blinked. "Oh."

"Yeah, oh. I just looked at the big picture. And in the big picture, I would have been a complete idiot to let you get away if there was any chance that we could work things out … if there was any chance that you might choose me … choose this…" And he gestured at the laptop where they'd been taking notes for the ceremony.

Waiting for Phil had been hard, but a life without him would have been a lot harder.

Phil leaned in for another kiss, and this one wasn't as little or as quick.

An hour or so later, they were back to planning. Dan said, "I want to make sure the ceremony is as much 'us' as possible."

Phil suggested with a straight face, "So you're saying we should just play Mario Kart at the altar instead of reciting vows?"

"Ha bloody ha. You know what I mean."

Phil nodded affably. "Well, then, I should stand at the altar and you should walk down the aisle to meet me, because it would be symbolic. You were the one who found me on YouTube."

Dan pointed out, "Yeah, but it was really you who started the relationship by reaching out to respond to me on Twitter."

That threw Phil off topic, as he wondered, "Do we need to invite the bosses of YouTube and Twitter to the wedding, since they were instrumental in the formation of our relationship?"

Dan frowned. "I don't think so. But, wait, yeah, maybe we should invite Susan … uh … Susan … Wobblemijicki? Whatever her name is. She is kind of our boss."

Phil looked uncertain. "Do you really have to invite your boss to your wedding?"

Dan gestured helplessly. "Well, hell if I know! Do I look like a wedding planner?" He held up a hand. "Wait, don't answer that."

Phil's eyes lit up. "Maybe we should ask my mum."

Dan nodded eagerly. "Yeah, text her. Also, ask her which one of us has to walk down the aisle."

Phil had been in the middle of pulling out his phone, but he stopped to hold up a finger. "How about we both walk down the aisle together, side-by-side."

Dan thought about it. "Or we could not have an aisle at all, and just enter from opposite sides at the same time and meet in the middle."

Phil exclaimed with glee, "It's weird! Like us!"

Dan tilted his head and smirked, "We said we wanted to make the ceremony very 'us'. So I guess maybe it might have to be a little weird."

In the end, they decided not to invite Susan Wojcicki … or pretty much anyone else really … just close family. The guest list numbered only 15 people. No best man or groomsmen or flower girls … just Dan and Phil and the people they loved most. And some guy they didn't know who was going to perform the ceremony. But they Skyped with him beforehand and he asked a lot of good questions and got to know them a bit, so they figured he'd probably do a decent job of it. He emailed them in advance what he was planning to say, and it sounded fine.

Phil really wanted to hold the ceremony on the beach where Dan had first proposed. "It'll be symbolic!" he insisted. "Like I'm saying yes where I should have said it in the first place!"

"Phil," Dan said calmly. "Think about it. That beach is rocky. Imagine slowly walking toward the altar over those shifty pebbles, looking into my eyes instead of watching where you're going…"

Phil made a face. "Broken ankle for sure. You're right." He looked so disappointed—Dan felt bad for him.

"How about the hillside above the beach?" Dan suggested as a compromise, and Phil's face brightened.

But when they told her the plan, Phil's mum fretted that they couldn't have an outdoor wedding because rain was certain to ruin it. Dan joked that if they got rained on, they could just call it a baptismal blessing by the gods, but she didn't seem to think that was very funny, as she pointed out she was more worried about their formally-attired guests getting drenched. Dan and Phil were used to London's weather, she insisted, and rain was a much more constant threat on the Isle of Man than they realized from their fairly brief visits.

When they explained the reason behind their choice of location, however, she was obviously deeply touched by the sentiment and suggested a nearby lighthouse that overlooked the beach in question. The octagonal lighthouse interior was large enough to accommodate their small party easily, and the quirkiness of the location seemed to fit with their personalities. She was overjoyed when they declared it a brilliant suggestion.

They'd decided that they didn't want a really fancy ceremony, but they agreed that they wanted something appropriately formal and solemn to reflect the seriousness with which they viewed the commitment they were making, so Dan insisted that they both have clothes that were worthy of the occasion. Phil didn't care and would have been willing to wear a suit he already owned, but Dan dragged him down to Savile Row to get a bespoke suit made by a respected tailor. When they talked about what Phil wanted, the tailor ended up recommending a color called "zaffre," which is apparently what pretentious people call a shade of blue simultaneously dark and bright. They didn't want Phil to look gaudy or outshine Dan, just show a bit of color to reflect his personality. Dan thoroughly approved of the choice.

In a fit of whimsy, Dan showed Phil a picture online of some suede Gucci hightop sneakers in a color that would complement his suit perfectly, and Phil fell in love with them, placing his order immediately. "I'm less likely to trip in sneakers than in fancy dress shoes," he offered in defense of his choice, but Dan hadn't needed him to defend the shoes. He thought they were perfect or he wouldn't have shown Phil the photo.

Dan himself took the wedding as an excuse to get himself a Wales Bonner suit. She was a fairly new designer on the fashion scene, but he'd been a fan since he first noticed her unconventionally fluid vision of masculinity. He was excited to support her career and own a piece of her work, but since he didn't want to freak out his grandma or any of their other comparatively conservative guests, he chose one of her more traditional designs for this particular occasion: a black suit and tie with a shirt dyed to exactly match the color of Phil's suit. The tiniest peek of a white pocket handkerchief would be a nod to the white of Phil's shirt.

At the last minute, they decided to ask Phil's friend Mark, who had taken so many of the tour photos that made up DAPGO, to document the day, and he had gladly agreed.

Before they knew it, everything was planned. Now all they had to do was show up at the Isle of Man, wear some fancy clothes, say some fancy words, and they'd be married. Simple.

They were both nervous as hell … but at least they were nervous together.

When they woke in the Lesters' guest room that morning, they just lay there in the quiet for a while, looking at each other. Dan knew he probably had an embarrassingly soppy look on his face, but he couldn't bring himself to care right now. Phil was the one person in the world who was allowed to see his soppiest faces. And Phil was looking pretty soppy, himself.

"We're getting married today," Phil whispered in wonder, and they wrapped their arms around each other and held each other close for a long time.

They'd planned a short ceremony with fairly simple vows, because they felt they'd said all the most important things to each other already in private. This was merely their public declaration to the world, something to share with their families and make their commitment official.

Phil's mum had arranged the octagonal room inside the lighthouse with simple but beautiful decorations. A sort of trellised arch stood at one end of the room on a low dais with a podium where the registrar would stand. White and blue flowers of various kinds twined all over the trellis, and simple white cloth chair covers hid the folding chairs where guests would sit. Blue flowers decorated the ends of each row of chairs. The wide windows that surrounded the room let the hazy summer sunlight stream in to shine on the freshly oiled wood floor and walls. It looked perfect.

Dan and Phil went to hide in a small separate room while the guests arrived and seated themselves. While they both tugged at their jackets and fussed with their hair, they could hear the voices of their family members greeting each other and settling down as a recording of soft piano music Dan had chosen played in the background. When the music fell silent, they knew that meant the registrar had assumed his position before the assembly. Dan and Phil met each other's eyes, heaved a simultaneous deep breath, and waited for the signal.

When Dan heard Debussy's Claire de Lune start, he glanced at Phil again and they exchanged small nervous smiles and a reassuring squeeze of their hands as they waited the planned several seconds, then left their private lair.

They entered the octagonal room together through the door behind the rows of chairs, and turned apart to walk simultaneously, each alone, up the separate sides of the room until they both turned to meet at the dais and step onto it, facing each other in front of the registrar. Dan wasn't really aware of their audience, whether their eyes followed him and Phil as they walked, what expressions might be on his family's faces, whether Mark was somewhere taking photos—he could only think of Phil, and of the poem which had inspired Debussy to write this beautiful music. Phil was the source of this incredible happiness Dan sometimes still found so difficult to believe that he had found. Phil was the pale moonlight that had illuminated his life and melted his sadness into the ecstasy of love.

Standing on the dais, he reached out and Phil met him halfway. They held each other's hands as they had planned, and Phil's were a little sweaty with nerves. Dan smiled at him, trying to look reassuring, trying not to let his own jitters show. Why should he be feeling nervous? He certainly had no doubts! It was just … this was it. In a few minutes, they would be married. He really hoped when it was his turn to speak he didn't forget the vows he'd spent so many hours working on.

The music trailed off, and the room again filled with silence. The registrar looked from Dan to Phil, then back again, smiling in the blandly benign way friendly bureaucrats have. Then he looked out at their gathered family members and began to speak in a voice that rang pleasantly in the odd little room.

"Welcome, loved ones of Daniel Howell and Philip Lester, to witness the celebration of their joining in the joyous bonds of matrimony." The man kept talking for a few minutes, but Dan couldn't really focus on his words. He and Phil had okayed them in advance in email, but right now, in the moment, all he could see was Phil's eyes shining in the sunlight that came through the windows, and all he could hear was the beating of his own heart. Nothing else mattered. Then he jolted to attention when he heard the registrar say, "Daniel and Philip have both prepared some words to say. Philip, would you like to begin?"

Phil nodded, his hands squeezing Dan's a little harder, and Dan saw his Adam's apple bob as he swallowed, but he looked into Dan's eyes with a joy Dan couldn't doubt as he began to speak. "Dan, I never knew it was possible for me to love anyone as much as I love you. I always knew I was kind of weird…" There were soft chuckles in the audience, but Dan's attention was all on Phil as he continued with a small smile, "I never thought I'd meet someone who understood me like you do, someone who would see my weirdnesses and love them, someone who would make me feel truly accepted and appreciated for everything I am. Even when I steal your cereal." A quick grin from Phil and more quiet chuckles from the audience. Then Phil's face settled into serious lines again. "Dan, when I look in your eyes, I see everything I want for our future: I see love, and trust, and patience, and kindness, and honesty even when it's something I don't want to hear. Because you challenge me to be a better person, and I love you all the more for that. I want to spend the rest of my life by your side, holding your hand and facing everything that the world might bring us, always together. So today I offer myself to you, body and soul, heart and mind, with the promise that for the rest of my life I will do everything in my power to be as good a partner to you as you have always been to me."

The registrar nodded and turned to Dan. "Daniel?"

Dan nodded and took a calming breath before he began. "Phil, I never knew it was possible for me to love anyone as much as I love you. My life was so dark before we met, and then suddenly you shone this bright sunlight into my heart and I have never been the same since. You make my life better every day, simply by being in it with me, and I don't know if I've ever really told you how grateful I am to you for that. Sometimes darkness still pulls at me, but you are always there to pull me back into the light, and I can't imagine my life without you—I don't want to. I want to spend every day with you for the rest of my life, sharing all of life's challenges and all of life's joys. I want to hold your hand when you need comfort, and I want to turn to you when it's me that needs support, because I know that we will always be there for each other. You will always be my favorite person on the planet, even after you've gotten old and wrinkly and aren't so ridiculously pretty anymore." A smattering of laughter. "I trust you with all my heart, and I promise to always try to be as kind and patient as you are by your very nature without even trying. I know I'll slip up sometimes, but I also know that you will forgive me and help me, just as you always have done. And I will try to always do the same. So today I offer myself to you, body and soul, heart and mind, with the promise that for the rest of my life I will do everything in my power to be as good a partner to you as you have always been to me."

The registrar nodded again, solemn and formal, before intoning, "Daniel and Philip would now like to exchange rings as a token of their commitment." Dan fished in his pocket, sure that he would have lost the ring. Or maybe Phil would have lost his ring. Nothing had gone wrong yet, which wasn't very "Dan and Phil," so he was just waiting for the inevitable disaster. But then his fingers felt the small circle of metal in his pocket and he pulled it out with a sigh of relief. The registrar said, "Daniel, please repeat after me. 'I, Daniel James Howell, take you, Philip Michael Lester, to be my wedded husband.'"

Dan fidgeted with the ring in his hand, then stopped, certain that he would drop it. "Um, I, Daniel James Howell, take you, Philip Michael Lester, to be my wedded husband." He slid the ring onto Phil's left ring finger with not too much effort, then grinned at him like a loon. Phil grinned back, and Dan looked down to see that the other ring was already in Phil's hand. He looked much calmer now than Dan was feeling.

Dan's stomach was doing an excited dance and he kept feeling like he might laugh out loud. He tried to stand still and act like a normal person getting married. They were almost done!

He missed the registrar, but clearly heard Phil when he said, "I, Philip Michael Lester, take you, Daniel James Howell, to be my wedded husband." And then Phil's hands were gentle on his as he held the platinum band Dan had purchased so long ago with such dreams of this day, and he slid the ring onto Dan's finger smoothly and easily. Dan looked up from the ring into Phil's eyes, and he could feel the sting of impending tears. He was not going to cry!

Now came the part Dan and Phil had requested, not wanting only individual promises but also a final moment when they joined together in voicing one last vow. The registrar asked, "Do you, Philip Michael Lester, and you, Daniel James Howell, take each other to be lawfully wedded husbands from this day forward, to love and support each other through good times and bad, until death shall part you?"

Dan and Phil, holding hands tightly, looked at the registrar and said together, "We do," then turned to look into each other's eyes again.

The registrar's voice seemed to ring through the room as he announced, "I now pronounce you legally wed." He gave them a brief moment to gaze wonderingly at each other, then gestured for them to face their families. "I present to you Daniel and Philip Lester-Howell." Their families clapped, some more enthusiastically than others. Dan saw his grandma's polite society face as he glanced around, but also heard Martyn give out a whoop of approval. He turned to look at Phil again, and they walked forward to the group waiting for them.

Phil's mum, sitting in the front row with Phil's dad and Dan's parents, rushed forward to hug them both before anyone else even had a chance. When she hugged Dan, she sobbed, "We love you so much, Dan!" Tears streamed down her cheeks, and she patted at her face and eyes with a handkerchief when she pulled away.

And then they were swamped with hugs and congratulations from every direction, separated by the throng of excited well-wishers as everyone came forward, all talking at once. Dan's dad shook his hand first, then pulled him into an awkward hug without saying anything before passing him to his mum, who hugged him a bit more warmly and said, "I'm so happy for you, Bear." Dan smiled down at her when she released him, and then he glanced across the room to try to meet Phil's eyes.

Phil was hugging Cornelia, who was chattering enthusiastically, but his eyes when they met Dan's said that this moment was really about the two of them alone, no matter how many other people might be in the room.

The small reception at the Lesters' house spilled into their lovely back garden, where Phil's mum had erected a marquee in case of the dreaded rain. The sky, however, had cleared, and sun now shone on the happily mingling group among the profusion of tea rose bushes, hyacinths, and primroses.

Holding Phil's hand while talking with Martyn and Cornelia, Dan saw his grandmother in conversation with Phil's mum and wondered if perhaps in time Kathryn's warmth might help thaw his grandma's reserve. Later, in passing, he heard his grandma say, "That's such a kind offer, Kathryn, and it really is so lovely here. I'd be very glad to visit sometime, as you're kind enough to invite me. We are family now, after all." Dan's heart swelled, just knowing that she was making such an effort for his sake. She might still be uncomfortable with the idea of him and Phil, but Phil's welcoming family was sure to win her over eventually.

He turned back to his own conversation in time to hear Cornelia ask whether he and Phil had written their vows together. Phil replied, "We collaborated on the first and last sentences, because we wanted the ceremony to feel cohesive, but neither of us knew what the other was going to say in between." He looked into Dan's eyes. "What you said was so beautiful."

Dan leaned down for a brief kiss—nothing too heavy in front of the entire fam—and replied with a heart-felt, "You, too."

They ended up separated, but Phil found him again eventually, and his cheeks were pink.

"What's up?" Dan asked, taking his hand again. He couldn't seem to stop doing that today. It just felt good to be joined with Phil in some physical, tangible way after such an emotionally intense experience.

His husband. Phil was his husband now. He squeezed Phil's hand, then remembered the funny look on his face.

Phil leaned close to tell him quietly, "We aren't staying the night here in the guest room."

Confused, Dan asked, "What? Why? Then where are we staying?"

Phil shifted from one foot to the other, an obvious sign that he was uncomfortable, then said, "My parents rented us one of the little cottages near the village."

Dan tilted his head in question, knowing Phil would explain without him asking.

Phil put his lips right next to Dan's ear and whispered, "My mum insisted. She said tonight is the one night in my life when I shouldn't have to worry about my mum overhearing me in the next room."

Dan laughed out loud and pulled Phil into a hug. Phil really did have the best family.

"I guess maybe we haven't always been as discreet as we thought."

Phil brushed even brighter and Dan laughed again, loud and happy.

A month later, their suitcases still unpacked from the honeymoon, they sat side-by-side on the sofa in their flat, each with their laptop open on their knees, both with Twitter windows prepped. They exchanged glances.

"Ready?" Dan asked, and Phil nodded. "1, 2, 3!" They hit the buttons at the same time. Dan's Twitter name changed at the same moment that Phil's did.

Then they turned to Tumblr, then Instagram, and so on, until everywhere on social media they were Daniel Lester-Howell and Phil Lester-Howell. Then they closed their laptops, not planning to open them again until tomorrow. Tonight was for them. Tonight was for anime and cuddles on the couch and long kisses and no worries about anything or anyone outside this cozy flat.

"Pizza for dinner?" Dan asked casually, and his wonderful, beautiful, amazing husband nodded with the loveliest smile in the world.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: One brief epilogue to come, and then we're done!