Author's Note: This is it, folks! The last chapter!

Chapter 19
"What I've Learned from Phil Lester"

"Hello Internet!" Dan makes his signature salute gesture, sitting on the floor in front of a Christmas tree which is covered in lights and baubles.

"It's nearly the end of 2017 now, which means it's been an entire year since I decided to head out on my own and change my channel toward more serious content, and after the initial shock"—the words "freak out" appear in shaking text on-screen in Comic Sans—"you've all been pretty darn supportive. And I've learned a lot of lessons in this past year, which is what I want to talk about today. I've learned a lot from my experiences, from my friends, and—most of all—from Phil."

The screen goes black and the words "What I've Learned from Phil Lester" appear in script, along with a bit of quiet piano music.

Dan is on-screen again, still in front of the Christmas tree. "When I decided to move out from living with Phil, I had no idea how big a change that would make in my life. Hanging around the house all day doing nothing was fun when Phil was around. We'd watch anime together while we had breakfast, play video games, watch 'American Horror Story,' discuss video ideas, and just generally hang out together. When I moved out on my own, staying home all day just wasn't the same. And when I did it for days on end, it became really unhealthy."

Dan looks uncomfortable for a moment, then continues, "At the time, Phil and I weren't … well … I ended up getting closer to some of my other friends, and—even though it wasn't for the best of reasons—I'm really glad I learned how to foster friendships on my own. Phil had always made it easier for me, because he's so naturally friendly, while my instinctive tendency is to shun society. I usually just stuck close to him in social situations and let him ease the way. But now I had to learn how to be a good friend, and how to let other people be good friends to me, and I think in the long run that will help me be a better friend to Phil, too. So I think it was worth it, even though it was hard."

"Another thing I learned, and this was mostly through conversations with friends, was that I was being really stupid when I decided to change my branding for this channel, because I thought that I needed to be serious all the time if people were going to take my ideas seriously. But Tyler, for one, made me see that you can talk about serious shit in one video and be a complete doofus in another, and it's fine. It just means you're letting people see more than one side of you, and it's normal to be a complex person who can both care deeply about Brexit and sing stupid songs about baking. Both of those are me, and I like who I am … all the things I am. That's why I started doing the gaming videos with Phil again, because I realized that I don't have to be Dour Dan 24/7 in order to create meaningful content. I can still just be me, and sometimes I'm serious and sometimes I'm not. And that's all okay. It's okay to be a complex person!"

"Speaking of complex people…" Dan pauses, then shouts, "Phil?" There is no answer. Dan yells again, "Phil!" Still no answer. Dan screeches, "Phiiiiillll!"

A door can be heard opening somewhere. Distantly, Phil's voice replies, "What?"

"Come here."

Distantly: "Why?"

"Because!"

Soft, socked footsteps are heard, and then Phil's voice, nearer now but still off-camera, asks, "You're filming a video?"

"Yeah," Dan replies, and then scoots over a bit so that he is taking up less of the frame. He pats the floor beside him and says, "Come be in it for a bit." There's a pause, and then Dan whines, "Just for a minute?" and a moment later Phil sits beside him on the floor. They sit very close together in order to both be in frame, their legs and shoulders touching. Phil smiles into the camera and gives a little wave.

Dan looks into the camera and says, "I was just talking about how it's okay to be a complex person, and be silly sometimes and serious sometimes, and it made me think of you, so I wanted you to come out and hear what I'm going to say next." Phil looks at Dan, but Dan continues looking into the camera. "Phil Lester makes the most ridiculous videos I've ever seen. He's the biggest goofball I've ever met. He's a giant man-child who steals cereal and wears Cookie Monster pyjamas and loves his stuffed Totoro. But that's not all he is." Dan finally looks at Phil and smiles a little. "He also gets cranky when he's hungry, and he doesn't like when I fuss over little details in the gaming videos, and he's a grown, adult man with opinions and feelings about things." Phil looks back at the camera apprehensively.

Dan turns to the camera again. "I decided I wanted to show a more serious side of me to the Internet, but Phil taught me that isn't the only way to be a YouTuber, and it isn't the only right way. Phil chooses to create content that is accessible to a wider audience, because that's what he's comfortable with and because he's sensitive to the younger viewers who follow his channel, and I totally respect his decisions. Phil is, in general, a really happy guy, and he likes to share that with all of you, because he likes to make you happy, and I think his content is—appropriately enough—amazing, and I always have. None of this"—Dan gestures between himself and Phil—"would ever have happened if I didn't admire his work. So I don't want there to be any confusion about that. Phil Lester is a phenomenal content creator and an incredible YouTube creative talent and I am glad every day that I discovered his channel and that he let me become his friend and was willing to work with me."

Phil is looking down into his lap now, his eyes a little wet. After a moment, he raises a hand to wipe at his eyes. "You'll have to edit out that bit," he sniffles, still looking down. Dan looks at the camera and nods, then shakes his head, mouthing, "No way!" with a little smile.

Dan bumps his shoulder against Phil's and says, "Meeting Phil was the best thing that ever happened to me, not just for my career but for my life in general. He's been the best friend that anyone could ever ask for. It took me moving out for me to fully realize it, but now I have. Phil Lester has taught me how to be a better person, and I can never pay him back for giving me that incredible gift."

Phil sniffles again and shakes his head, still not looking at the camera. "Give me a minute."

The screen cuts to a shot of Dan and Phil sitting in front of the Christmas tree together again, but Phil looks more calm again, his eyes dry, his face smiling.

Dan looks into the camera and grins, "Some of you may be wondering why I'm filming this at Phil's flat, in front of Phil's Christmas tree, and why Phil was in a nearby room while I was filming. Well, I've been spending a lot of time here lately, and that's because…" he looks at Phil, and then they both turn to look at the camera, beaming, and say simultaneously, "we're moving back in together!" A sound effect of a cheering crowd sounds and animated streamers fall from the top of the screen.

"We didn't do a Phil Is Not On Fire last month because we've been so busy looking for a place, and now we're getting ready to move, but we promise we'll do one next month once we've settled into the new house. Right, Phil?" Phil nods vigorously and crosses his fingers over his heart, making his best "very serious" face.

"But right now, I should probably wrap this up, because there are things to pack and plans to make and moving is kind of a pain in the ass. But I wanted to end with something that Dil said to Phil in TATINOF, because I think it's true not only for Phil but also for a lot of people out there, a lot of you, and also me sometimes. Near the end of the show, Dil tells Phil, 'You're scared that who you are isn't good enough. You think you have to change who you are to impress people.' Well, you don't. And Phil doesn't. And I don't, either. So prepare for Dan of 2018 to sometimes be a little less serious, though that'll probably be mostly on Phil's channel and on the gaming channel. So if you haven't subscribed to those already, click on Phil's face to subscribe to his channel or click below to subscribe to Dan and Phil Games. And if you haven't already subscribed to me, then click on my face for that. And give us a cheeky thumbs up if you've enjoyed this video, or even just to tell Phil that you like his Christmas tree this year." Phil laughs.

"Okay," Dan says. "Goodbye!" He and Phil both wave before Phil's hand moves to cover the camera lens, and the video ends.

Author's Note: Well, there you have it, the end of "Moving On"! Sorry to anyone who wanted to see Dan and Phil come out publicly as a couple, but that didn't feel organic to the story to happen so quickly, so I chose for them to leave it open-ended. Having Dan come out as bisexual and then having them move back in together felt like enough public outedness for the moment. Leave a comment if you haven't already and you enjoyed the story. I'd love to hear from you! And thank you again to everyone who has left comments already: you guys kept me going!