It's been quite a while since Dan and Phil last talked since Dan moved away. They had shortly talked before Dan took the plane off to America at the airport via their phones but somehow lost contact after that. Phil felt lonely. He wasn't used to being alone again after living with his best friend for the past years. Of course, Phil had lived alone. He was 30 years old after all but it just wasn't the same without Dan. Dan on the other hand hadn't lived on his own. He first moved out of his parents home and moved in with Phil. The decision to move to another country hadn't been an easy one. It took months of careful planning, thinking and maybe a few existential crises. But he eventually did. Jumped right into cold water and got it done.

Now that a couple months had passed both of them missed each other really much. But Dan felt too guilty to contact Phil. Which seemed out of character for him but he just didn't feel like it was the right thing to do. Nevermind the time difference. Phil had gotten even more suscribes over the past months and so did Dan, so both of them were crazy busy and there wasn't much time left for friends. Of course, he occasionally texted PJ and his other friends but that was usually about it. No Phil, whatsoever.

Phil rolled over and sighed heavily. Another rather sleepless night. Not being able to fall asleep, he eventually got out of bed around 7 am. Happy to make himself a big bowl of cereal, though it wasn't the same not being able to eat a bit of Dan's cereal. Nevertheless, he shifted his weight and sat right up, rubbing his eyes. With a groan Phil got up and made his way over to his dresser, picked out a couple of clothes, grabbed his phone and made his way to the kitchen. With his arrival in the kitchen, the first thing Phil noticed was today's date. 31 October 2017. Halloween. Phil sighed. Normally he would do videos with Dan on their gaming channel all leading up to this day but that wasn't the case this year. After standing in the kitchen for what felt like forever, he got himself a big bowl of his favourite cereal, hoping that today wouldn't be as bad. After munching on his cereal, Phil got back to the kitchen and opened the dishwasher. There wasn't much in it apart from a big bowl which he had used the previous day to make himself a salad. Phil stared at it for a while and then smiled. Dan and him had used it in last years Halloween baking video. Monster Pops. Phil chuckled.
„Barry the bowl", he mumbled with a smile on his face.
With a sudden strike of inspiration, Phile walked back to his room and opened his macbook and typed „Halloween recipes" into google and clicked on the first couple of links. The recipe for a halloween themed cake seemed to appeal the most, so he got his macbook and walked right back to the kitchen. Checking his fridge and pantry for the ingredients. After getting everything together, he quickly washed the bowl and got his camera out of his room and set everything up in the kitchen. After filming the video which was basically just him talking to himself all the time, singing and baking, he cleaned everything up.

„I wish Dan would have been there, you would have liked that", he said, washing the bowl.

Of course the bowl didn't respond and Phil felt a bit silly, standing there, talking to an object.

With a chuckle, Phil continued to clean up his mess and went back to his room to edit the video.

During that process, he noticed that he had talked quite a bit to the bowl.

„And now we get some butter into you, and the flour".
„Stirry stirry stir Barry the bowl is going to be stirred", he sang.
„And now your dough is going into the baking tin".

And various other sentences, which were typical for a couple of minutes, Phils video was edited and uploaded. He secretly hoped that Dan would see his video, though he had no idea how he would notice that. It just didn't say „Watched by Dan Howell", sadly. What a shame. For the rest of the day, Phil distracted himself by watching a lot of other baking videos on youtube and eating his cake, so he wouldn't constantly check the comments for Dan. If Dan ever saw the video.

Around 9 pm, he couldn't take it any more and after what felt like 500th baking video, he opened his youtube page. 50 new comments. He scrolled through them and his heart skipped a beat. Dan had left a comment on his video. Dan and left a comment on his video. Phil's mouth turned into a huge grin.

„Barry the bowl, good times Phil ;)"

He had written with his second youtube channel, not necessarily wanting to draw too much attention to himself.
The decision to write that comment had come over Dan after browsing youtube and noticing Phil's new video in his suggestions. He had freaked out for a bit after reading the title.

„Halloween Baking Spooky Cake". A new halloween video. What a surprise. Of course his comment had been silly and he regretted his decision immediately. But he hoped Phil would see his silly comment and respond. Secretly hoping that this would lead to them being in contact again.

Phil replied shortly after, his heart still beating utterly fast.
„Nice one and I totally agree. That's why I made this video."

He cringed, what a lame reply but it was better than noting and Phil was too excited to think clearly.

After checking his video for more replies,within a matter of minutes, Dan replied.

He and Dan had managed a somewhat nice conversation in the comments and suddenly his phone vibrated. He had a text. A text from Dan. His already fast beating heart, picked up the pace and was now even faster.

„Just thought, I'd text you because the comment section seemed like an odd place to have a private conversation"

After texting back and forth for the next couple of hours, Phil seemed pleased.

It was still easy to talk to Dan and they talked like nothing had changed.

Phil glanced at the clock and noticed the time. 2 am. He yawned and rubbed his eyes. He was beginning to get quite tired.

„Hey, it's 2 am. Mind if we talk tomorrow. I'm getting quite tired"
„Oh shit, right. Sorry, Phil. I'll let you sleep. Goodnight"

Phil sighed happily. They would talk tomorrow.

Maybe this was a sign of them having more contact from now or maybe not. Phil just hoped it would be and went to bed quite happily.