Disclaimer: I don't own Dan or Phil. I also don't own any other YouTubers you may see in this story (such as KickThePj [PJ Liguori],crabstickz (Chris Kendall) sprinkleofglitter [Louise Pentland], etc.), any real life references you may see, social media (Primarily YouTube, but also Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, etc.), music/song references, as well as artists/bands (such as Muse, MCR, etc.), and whatever you recognize. I am not creative enough to own that stuff :P I do own my OC, Abigail Elizabeth Woods, who I think is creative...?

Another disclaimer: I am not asexual, nor am I trying to tell you what asexuality was. Based on what I searched up, asexuality is different for everyone, and I'm not trying to tell you otherwise.

Chapter 29: The Sexuality Card

When Phil wakes up, the first thing he sees is Dan on his phone, typing furiously. He smiles and stares back up at the ceiling.

"Good morning," he whispers hoarsely. Dan looks up briefly and Phil could see a smirk behind his phone.

"Good morning," Dan echoes, lowering the phone. "How are you feeling? Should I tell a nurse that you're awake, or—"

"I'm fine," Phil cuts him off. "They'll probably come for me anyway. Just...talk to me, I guess. Did you sleep at all?"

Dan blushes. "I woke up ten minutes ago. You've been out since last night; it's Sunday."

"Did you stay overnight?" Phil asks incredulously.

"Of course I did," Dan answers right away. "Are you hungry?"

"Not really," Phil lies. "Where is Abi? Did she come with you too?"

Dan's smile falters. "She's at home by now. Probably getting ready for her big date with Harry...she might drop by before she leaves."

"Date? With Harry?" Phil questions. "Is he the police guy who was also her friend in high school? I think she mentioned him once, but I didn't think it was so...serious."

Dan huffs. "Me neither. They've been talking on the phone for a week and they already seem like they've known each other for years."

"Do I see a jealous Dan?" Phil teases. Dan's cheeks go red.

"Of course not," Dan mumbles defensively. "She's allowed to date anyone she wants to. It's not fair of her to wait for something that might never happen."

Phil sighs. "Dan, you know that's not true."

"It is true! I'm not jealous."

"You know that's not what I meant."

Dan sighs. "Of course I know that it isn't true, but you never know. It's not like things have been particularly great between the two of us."

"What are you on about?" Phil nearly shouts. "You guys were closer than ever when I was gone with Rosa! You literally got hard because of some stupid thing with her. If that isn't pining at its best, I don't know what is."

"...I was hoping you'd forget about that," Dan murmurs; "as if my cheeks can't get any redder."

Dan's phone buzzes again, and Dan briskly ignores it. Phil looks down at the end of the bed, his smile falling.

"Are you going to check that?" he asks quietly. Dan shakes his head.

"Of course not," he replies. Before saying anything else, he hesitantly adds, "Do you...know anything about what's happening, Phil?"

He sighs. "I was hoping it was all just a rumour, but I guess it's not."

Dan nods, pursing his lips together in disappointment.

"Please don't say that it was your fault because it's not," Phil says to break the ice. "This wasn't your fault. We're not...it's not happening again, okay?"

"Okay," Dan murmurs.

Phil takes a breath. "How bad is it?"

Dan shrugs. "I managed to lessen the effect by tweeting out a small message, and as much as I hate to admit it, Harry helped a bit too. They haven't been able to track down the original source because we think they deleted as soon as the photo got viral enough."

"What did you tweet?"

"The usual pleas of desperation, you know," Dan answers sadly. "The regular 'please stop spreading the photo around' and 'please respect our privacy'."

"You didn't go on a four-part-tweet rant?" Phil asks, a bit surprised.

Dan fights back a smile. "That's saved for Tumblr, of course."

Phil leans back, a bit relieved. Dan scoots his chair closer to the edge of the bed.

"I'm kidding, of course," Dan continues quietly, "I wouldn't want to make this more of a big deal than it already is."

"Good plan, I suppose," Phil remarks.

"Are you mad?" Dan asks timidly. Phil shakes his head.

"Of course not," Phil says. "It's nothing that you could control."

The words felt like poison on his tongue. Here he was, knowing all the answers to every question that could be in Dan's mind right now, yet he wasn't saying anything. Was it bad that he wasn't telling the truth? It would come out eventually, wouldn't it? His mind was racing, and—

"Why did you start crying last night?" Dan snaps him out of his thoughts. "I don't know if you remember, but Rosa visited you last night. When she left, you were crying. Did you guys break up or something?"

Phil blinks. "Er, in a way?"

Dan bites back more questions. "Sorry, Phil. Do you want me to go all 'best friend' on her and stalk her until she loves you again?"

Phil gulps. "Please don't. Besides, we aren't broken up — I'm pretty sure we still...love each other. I think I was just in an emotional state yesterday."

"Are you sure?" Dan questions. "Phil...if you want to talk to me, you know you can."

"Of course," Phil says quickly. "I know that. It's nothing — everything is fine."

"Phil," Dan says warningly, "you can't lie to me. Something's bugging you, I know it."

He pauses and hesitantly adds, "Are you feeling down lately?"

Phil frowns. "What do you mean by that?"

Dan looks down, a bit shamefaced. "I thought that you did this to yourself. When we were thinking of what could've happened to you...I thought I was someone terrible for not realizing...if, you know, were…"

It was too much for him to finish. Phil's expression softens and he grabs Dan's hand, rubbing it with his thumb softly.

"Oh, Dan," he whispers hoarsely, "this wasn't my doing. I promise. It's not like that is a good thing, but you know I would go straight to you if anything was wrong."

"Do you mean it?" Dan asks shyly. "I want to be there for you always, Phil."

Phil smiles sadly. "You always come first, Dan."

Dan goes home when the nurse comes back to do some final checks. When he arrives, he is greeted by Striker happily running around him, and Abi calling him into the house from the kitchen.

Dan chuckles as he takes off his coat and hangs it in the small wardrobe. "I didn't know Striker came back. I feel like I haven't seen him in forever."

"Louise dropped him off not too long ago and made me promise to bring him back right away," He hears Abi answer as he walks to the kitchen.

"Typical Louse," he remarks smugly. "We should ask her to come around sometime for tea; the least we can do for all her help lately..."

Dan trails off when he looks at Abit — an action that's not rare nowadays. She's wearing the silver cheetah-print dress he recognized from last year's New Year party, with her hair in a messy bun. She was leaning on the counter, putting her shoes on, and Dan slowly walks towards her.

"You look...nice," he says flatly. Abi smiles regardless of his confusion.

"Thanks!" she chirps. "I'm hoping Harry thinks so too. I need to get him on the same boat that I want to board, if you know what I mean."

"I don't see how he won't want to board your metaphorical love-boat," Dan grits out. Abi looks at him with a smug smile.

"That's very sweet of you to say, Dan," she says almost sarcastically, and that was the end of that. Dan looks down awkwardly.

"Where are you going?" he inquires casually.

"Hawksmoor Seven Dials," Abi replies. "My aunt sent me a gift card to that place for my birthday. I heard it's also serving their 'Sunday roast', so I guess it's fate."

"That's a bit fancy for two 'friends', don't you think?" Dan teases, though he doesn't know how much of it was him being jealous rather than him being supportive. Abi shrugs.

"Like you said," Abi answers, "metaphorical love-boat."

Abi looks at the time and perks up. "Well, it's almost seven. I'll take the tube here and back, unless I get drunk off my ass in regret."

"Call me and I'll hail you a taxi or something," Dan chuckles half-heartedly. Abi nods, kissing his cheek and practically running out the door. Dan looks at Striker with a small smile.

"How about you? Do you want to watch Zootroplis?"

Striker just goes to the couch silently, and Dan sighs sadly.

"The food here is absolutely mouth-watering," Abi moans with every bite she takes, crossing her legs from under the table. "I can't believe you only ordered a salad."

Harry shrugs. "I don't want to pay too much."

"If I had only known you thought that!" Abi nearly exclaims. "I thought you knew that I was buying dinner tonight! At least get a fancy dessert or something."

Harry laughs. "Of course you're not paying, Abigail. This isn't a date, after all."

Abi's smile falters. "It's not too late to change things."

Harry tugs his tie. "About that, Abigail—"

"Abi," she corrects. Harry nods.

"Abi," he corrects, "I really don't want to lead you on this way."

Abi sighs, throwing the napkin on the table. "I'm taking this the wrong way, am I? I'm really sorry, Harry; I was kind of hoping this would go somewhere."

"It would always lead to a dead end, unfortunately," Harry sighs.

"What does that mean?"

Harry avoids eye contact. "I had a husband, not a wife. Ideally, I'd still want one."

Abi nearly spits out the chunk of steak that was in her mouth. "P-Pardon?"

"I'm asexual," Harry admits. "Though I suppose it's different for everyone. I don't feel the strongest amount of romantic love towards someone, but my husband, Patrick...it was different."

Abi nods, a bit intrigued. Harry continues.

"I know myself that I can love people, but I knew I couldn't give Patrick what he wanted from the day he brought me home and into his bed. I told him I couldn't...but we did anyway because it made him happy. I felt nothing though."

"Harry," Abi says quietly, almost pitiful. He shakes his head.

"It's not my fault, of course," he confesses. "I know it wasn't his fault either. He wanted more...I guess he had every right to get more, even if it meant hurting me."

"I'm so sorry," Abi whispers, twisting her fork in her hand nervously. "I can't believe I made you come all this way, and I am sorry that I hit on you constantly. God, this must've been the worst night for you."

"To be honest, this is the most fun I've ever had for a while," Harry laughs quietly. "I really appreciate you bringing me here. Sure, the romance was something I didn't want — not only because I'm ace, but because I didn't want to ruin what we had."

"You could never," Abi promises.

Silence between them, Abi leans back in her chair. "Geez. I can't believe you're throwing the sexuality card at me."

The tension breaks after that and Harry finds himself laughing once more.

Dan watches Abi go out of Harry's car, and watches her kiss his cheek. He could see the red on his face, and despite the weather, he practically storms out.

"Hey, guys!" he says in the most fakest voice he could muster. "Hey, Abi, do you mind if I talk to Harry for a minute? Just a few things about the stalker-crisis, you know."

"Of course," Abi says, pulling her hand away from Harry's with a small smile. "I had a great night. Call me when you feel up to it again?"

"Of course," he promises, and watches her skip up the stairs. Dan's teeth chatter, but it the cold weather couldn't mask his heated anger.

"So," he grits out. "How was your date?"

"Cut the crap, Dan," Harry chuckles, much to Dan's surprise. "I know how you feel about Abi. I could see it from the second I saw you look at her."

Dan goes pale, and it wasn't because it was cold either. "W-What?"

"You don't have to be a detective to know that," Harry shrugs. "I pulled the sexuality card on her, so she's all yours."

Dumbfounded, Dan watches Harry go into the car with the promise of visiting in a few days, and he watches him drive away.

When Dan goes in the house, Abi's leaning against the stair-rail with a smirk.

"Were you able to tell Harry everything you wanted to?" Abi says innocently.

Dan rolls his eyes and storms upstairs, Abi's laugh and Striker himself trailing behind him.

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