Dan stumbled into the Uber Phil had ordered for them, the wheels being parked right outside of the hospital exit. Thoughts swarmed him from all directions, some being justified and others being borderline ridiculous. However, instead of focusing on the clear subject at hand, he chose to let his mind wander. His eyes floated to stray leaves on the trees lining the passing roads, them flowing in the wind and down onto the ground below. The sun lingered in the sky, indicating the time was close to midday. Gusts of the crisp autumn breeze hit his face through the open car window, Dan taking a deep breath of the fresh outside air. It felt good to be outside again.

Even though it had been a couple weeks since the man had properly bathed, his curls still refused to be tamed. Their frizziness seemed to have no bounds, stray strands blowing backwards in the wind. People passed by on the street, taking no notice to the jet black car speeding past them. He wondered what was going on in their lives, knowing very well that life did not just stop for the world while he was hospitalized. Even though it had seemed to.

Phil was cuddled up against his left side, using his shoulder as a cushion as he slept. It was quite obvious he hadn't gotten much sleep lately. Pangs of guilt pierced his mind as he glanced back to his slumbering friend, remembering all of the buildup that had led them to the very situation they were currently in. Dan had walked out on his problems, on his life, on his best friend. And that was not something that he was proud to admit.

The aspect of the tattoo was simply a test, he now realised. A test to see if someone was going to lay down their entire life thus far for something that they couldn't change. After all…. would he have done any of that if the tattoo DIDN'T exist? The answer: probably not. The relationship that he had with Phil ran deeper than anything he could have ever imagined, and he was going to throw that all away for a couple of stray swirls on a blank canvas?

Hell no.

The ride back from the hospital was a pretty sizable amount of time, anywhere from around 30 minutes to an hour depending on traffic. Being that it was somewhere close to lunch time, that travel time was certain to be on the higher end of the spectrum. Dan decided to calm his aching mind instead by surfing through his social medias, an effort that only seemed to make it worse.

Searching up the 'danhowell' tag on tumblr only yielded countless pity posts directed towards him and his condition, instagram and twitter giving much of the same results. Theories of what exactly had happened to him made him giggle, the laughter being a way to cope with a constant wave of guilt he was receiving from reading through all the constant support and positivity. The "Phandom" could not always be counted as a positive place to say the least, but at least it could be noted that some things truly could unite such a diverse amount of people. It was soothing in a way.

Dan took this time to finally write the tweet that the people had been waiting for. He didn't know how to exactly get the message across that he wanted, but he was an internet celebrity after all. People just wanted answers, not the next shakespeare.

Sincere or jokey? All the information or just bits and pieces? Wake up Phil and consult him or just leave his own thoughts? There was an endless amount of ways that he could write down the bad news, as well as the good news, finally deciding to stop overthinking it and just get to writing it down. Maybe he would feel better after he started just typing. So, after taking a long and deep breath of the cool air surrounding him, he put his thumbs to his screen.

He typed and deleted drafts for a good 10 minutes, groaning in frustration at each failed attempt. However, despite the reasonable amount of noise he was making, Phil didn't so much as stir. Finally, after fumbling around for a bit too long on his lackluster explanation, Dan finally settled on the following:

"hello internet, sorry for keeping you waiting. you all deserve an explanation. three weeks ago today, i got hit with by a car. it swerved trying to avoid a different bad driver, accidentally hitting me in the process. i hold nothing against the person who hit me, as it was clearly accidental. so don't go surfing through records to find them, i know you little shits would do that. the impact left me with my right arm and leg broken, but now that i'm on the road to recovery, expect to see a couple casts in the new videos coming your way. thanks to all of you for being so patient, i'll try to keep as active as I can and answer the important questions you all have for me."

The tweet ended up getting so long that he had to separate it over multiple tweets, them of course all being in the same thread. He breathed a sigh of relief as he turned off his phone and rested his head against the leather backing of his seat. At least that was one weight off of his chest. He realised he would have to do an instagram post as well, in order to reach the largest amount of his audience members as possible. After all, not every one of his fans had a twitter account to follow him on. To be fair, not every one of his fans followed him on instagram either, but it was the best he was going to get for the time being. A video would have to wait a bit longer.

Sighing once more, the man picked his phone back up from his lap, only to drop it almost immediately. He groaned in frustration and picked the device up in his free hand, swiping up on his home screen to reach his camera. He supposed he would have to get used to only having one hand for a while.

Although he was sure that almost NOBODY would care if he looked like he was dead, he needed to at least try to look normal. Even if it was only for his sake. Positioning his cast into a slightly less than comfortable position, he decided that this was about the best he was going to get, especially for trying to take it in a moving car. As he was about to press the icon to take a picture, he remembered the still sleeping Phil in the seat next to his. At this point he had shifted back to his own seat, his messy hair covering his sleep ridden eyes. He couldn't help the fond smile spreading across his face like butter on very white bread, his dimples appearing on either side of his rosy cheeks.

"God he's adorable."

Thoughts such as these barely even surprised him anymore, his weeks in the hospital giving him an unusually long time to think. His thoughts tended to wander at the best of times, but for this instance, he wanted to think about something in particular: his relationship with Phil. After all, he wouldn't have this long a period of nothing to do but think ever again. Or at least he hoped so.

Dan had come to the conclusion that he thought of Phil as more than a friend. He wasn't exactly sure if it was love, but to be fair, what really was love? Was it sexual attraction? Was it feeling a deep connection to someone to a point that you would like to spend the rest of your life with them? Was it the ability to trust someone with your everything and not have to doubt losing them? Was it for said person to be the shining beam of light in your life, through anything and everything? Or was it just all of the above and everything else combined.

Love is subjective, as most things abstract tended to boil down to be. It could be everything, or nothing. Real or fake. All that Dan knew was that whatever he felt for his "friend" was more than he could have ever imagined, especially back in the days of 2009. Who knew that a couple tweets and skype calls could lead to all of this. His mental health had been in a dark place back then, but Phil had pulled him out of the deep and dark ditch that was his mindscape. One day he would escape that hole for good, but for now he just had to keep climbing the rainbow. An ironically fitting metaphor indeed.

As he zoned back into the real world from his brief mental break, he realised his phone had automatically shut off due to how long he had been lost. With a sigh he turned it back on, swiping to his camera and positioning his long arm as far away from his face as he could muster. As the car was currently stuck in traffic, he briefly unbuckled his seat-belt and positioned himself tilted towards Phil. He wanted to capture the full effect of the Uber experience. Giving a weak thumbs up and a smile, he finally snapped the photo, around five for good measure. He then quickly turned himself back into a normal sitting position, rebuckling his seat-belt just as the car began to move again down the highway. Safety first.

With another swipe and a couple clicks he had reached his gallery, picking his favorite out of the photos taken and deciding on the best of the five.

It didn't look like how he had imagined, but it would have to do. After all, his tweet had come out almost ten minutes ago. He better post it soon before people really started to virtual riot. Cracking his knuckles, he tapped the post button and selected the picture, copy and pasting the same thing he said on twitter into the caption. Then quickly, before he could regret it, he posted the image. A wave of relief flowed over him like air conditioning on a hot day, him sliding deep into his chair with a sigh. He switched over to his twitter as he watched the replies consistently flow in. Out of curiosity, he switched tabs to his search bar. Sure enough, 'Dan Howell' was the top trend on twitter already, as well as an increasing amount of the lower ranks. The reaction took him completely by surprise, despite knowing very well the immense enthusiasm of the people that occupied his fandom. The main object of his surprise was the sheer positivity flowing towards him from the mention of his condition. There was an extreme scarcity of the demons that tended to occupy at least a decent percentage of his daily comments and mentions, the small amount of them being shot down by other members of the fandom almost immediately.

He began to tear up from the powerful and meaningful wording of some of the responses, prompting him to have to turn off his phone in order to contain his happiness. It felt good to be appreciated.

With a long stretch and a yawn, Phil unlocked the door to their apartment to let Dan inside, taking mind of his flimsy condition. Over the time in the car, Phil seemed to catch up on at least a small amount of the sleep he had lost, giving his mind an excuse for another full night of caring for his friend's needs instead of his own. The apartment was the same as how he had left it, relatively neat and tidy. An unfolded blanket lay spread across the couch cushions, four vibrantly colored pillows laying on top of them. Their bedroom doors were both swung wide open, Phil's being adorned with an unmade bed and countless articles of clothing scattered across the floor.

Untidy, but it was home.

Dan took in a long deep breath of the familiar environment, the scent of seed and various house plants filling his lungs. The place felt just as homie as he had left it, or at least how he had remembered. The hospital tended to distort old memories.

Without giving it anymore thought, Dan fell backwards onto the couch, flinching at the sudden contact with his leg. He quickly realised that he wouldn't be able to get away with such stunts for a while yet, the caring glare from his friend being enough of an indication. He took a deep sigh and turned to be propping his arm up one of the pillows surrounding him, facing the man now sitting near to his feet. His facial expression was impossible to read, his eyes giving him no help. They almost seemed empty, watching, waiting. The atmosphere was somewhere between comfy and scarily quiet, neither boy daring to move or even squeak a word.

Not wanting to disturb Phil's train of thought, Dan picked up his phone, ready to scroll through more heart wrenching comments from his deprived fans. However, before he could swipe to unlock it, another hand grabbed the top of Dan's phone and pulled, it slipping smoothly out of his loose grip. Dan tried to make a cheery retort, but his words got caught in his throat as he looked up at his friend's face. His once soft and gentle features had retorted into ones of worry and anger, the emotions switching back and forth like a forever flipping coin.

"We need to talk."

The words almost seemed to bring the room's temperature down a few degrees, the once cozy atmosphere now becoming nearly unbearable. The air felt thicker with anguish as Dan silently gulped and gave a small half smile back at his mate.

"What about?"

Phil features began to soften slightly at the edges, as if his mask of maturity was slowly fading into the quantum abyss. Dan knew it wouldn't last long.

"Well… about everything. I still feel bad you know? I shouldn't have said what I said, I knew that as soon as you walked out the door. I know that you wouldn't hate me, but I don't see why you shouldn't. If I hadn't said those things… maybe I…. maybe…."

Phil paused for a moment, trying to piece his words together. Under his breath, in a tone just above a whisper, he slurred "maybe I could have saved you."

The room fell into an even more eerie silence, the sounds of screaming children and brushing leaves being the only echoes through the empty flat. The corners of Phil's eyes glittered slightly in the dim light, bringing Dan to a realisation he should have seen coming: Phil was crying.

Taking a deep internal sigh, Dan slid his legs off the couch, ignoring the stinging pain in his right leg from the action. Limping over towards the other side of the sofa, the man flopped down next to his friend and gave him a soft smile. Without another moment's hesitation Dan tightly wrapped his arms around his friend in an embrace, prompting a short gasp to escape from his friend's quivering lips. The older boy halted for a moment before returning the hug, burying his face into the neck of his dear comrade. Silent tears began to stain the shoulder of Dan's sweatshirt as they sat in each other's arms, the rest of the world disappearing if even just for a short while.

For the first time in weeks, both boys were at peace.

After giving the older male a couple minutes to calm down into a better state of mind, they separated, still sitting hip to hip on a couch made for four. Taking advantage of Dan's bad posture, Phil rested his head in the crook of Dan's neck, closing his eyes to sleep for the second time that day. As Dan smiled fondly at his friend's gesture, pink began to unknowingly dust his cheeks, a color he had quickly grown to adore over the past few weeks. Pink showed him what his boring white designs could never. Love. And what could possibly top that?

Sleep was beginning to overcome the mind of the younger as well, his thoughts becoming more and more drowsy and clouded as his brain began to shut down for the time being. Due to this fact, Dan confidently turned his neck to the dosing head of his partner in crime and kissed the top of it, the pink quickly turning to a more distinct red. However, before he could even begin to regret what he had done, he was out like a light. Two star crossed lovers asleep together on a couch at the beginning of a cold autumn afternoon. How romantic.

However, as the two of them dosed, an aspect of their lives lay forgotten. Their matching tattoos. From under the white sweatshirts a brightening pink hue began to emit from both of their swirls, a mix of various shades swirling around in a whirlpool. The lamps in the room began to flicker and lightly shake, the streetlamps outside following suit. But yet still the duo slept, perfectly content. The hurricane of color spun faster and faster, rising farther and farther into the air as the seconds ticked past. One.. Faster. Two. Faster still. Three. Lightning speed. Four. Still. Absolutely still.

Just like that, everything went back to normal. Lamps and lights turned back to ordinary, people outside going back along their business. After all, in this universe at least, things like this happened all the time. Just another normal London afternoon. Or, at least, everything seemed back to normal.

In the comfy apartment of Dan and Phil, something had been left changed. The colors and swirls that had once plagued their skins and thoughts were nowhere to be found. Forgotten from memory. Erased from time. It's results and consequences still remained of course. The universe changed for the better that day, but also stayed the same.

But then again.

In little ways.

Everything stays.