"I'll make us breakfast." A younger Phil called out to younger Dan upstairs.
Dan started tapping his foot nervously and biting his lip, a bad habit he constantly had. Phil stood up, fixing his hair.
Footsteps approached the small kitchen, the door had been shut before them. Slowly, the handle turned and with uncertainty, door opened slowly.
A young boy with black messy hair and a slightly spotty face could be seen peering his head inside. His eyes widened, properly opened the door and shutting it behind him. His legs started to shake, falling to the ground in fear.
"W-W-What t-the fuck..." He stuttered. "C-Can I-I help y-you?"
"Course you can't since this is my house. Also does mum still make those Victoria spongecakes? She said she forgot the recipe maybe I can give it to her." Phil said casually, getting up and walking towards younger Phil.
The smaller boy was cornered as this strange man who clearly looked like himself inspected his features closely. He did the same too, and it was hard to miss that they were practically twins.
"Wow I really shouldn't have got that haircut." Phil said softly under his breath.
"A-Are you some s-sort of older twin brother I don't know about?" Younger Phil said in a small voice, lowering his face trying to hide his face in his fringe.
"Nope. You know that diary, when you rip a page out, the next day you relive the day you ripped out, remember that. Knowing me, I won't. But yeah so I'm you from 2015 nice to meet you." Phil held out his hand for younger Phil to shake.
Younger Phil raised his shaky hand, quickly shaking his hand. He stood up, heart still pounding in fear. "S-So you're me?"
"Are you surprised?" Dan said who was standing behind Phil with a soft tone and kind eyes.
Younger Phil shrugged, mood changing completely. "Nah. I knew something would happen if I bought that bloody book from that weird shop." Younger Phil smiled politely at Dan. Younger Phil's eyes widened again. "OH MY GOD YOU'RE DAN!" He screamed in shock as tears started to fall.
Dan stood back in shock but laughed lightly. He nodded, doing his signature salute. "You sound like a fangirl."
"W-We knew eachother f-for so l-long?!" Young Phil said happily, wiping his tears.
Phil awed, ruffling his younger self's hair and nodding. "Let's spend the whole day talking about that. We can tell you everything you want in the future because it becomes a distant memory that feels like de ja vu in your mind. Eventually as you grow older it feels like a past dream."
Younger Phil nodded, slightly confused. "Let me go explain this to Dan otherwise he'll be really scared and run away." He said with a sweet smile.
"Same." Dan muttered.
Younger Phil made his way out of the kitchen and upstairs. After ten minutes or so there could be lots of laughter heard from younger Dan and Phil. Eventually the two went downstairs and Phil stood besides Dan who was sitting on the kitchen counter.
Younger Dan peered his head in shyly, awkwardly shuffling across the room and keeping his gaze lowered to the ground. His long fringe flopped in front of his eyes as he uncomfortably tugged at his pyjamas. "H-Hello."
"You were so cute." Phil whispered to Dan who simply rolled his eyes and nudged him.
"I wanna know a lot about future me. P-Please..." He said in a hushed tone.
"Let's go to the park!" Younger Phil who had been standing near the door suggested with a giant smile. "I feel cramped in here. We can talk to each other there."
"Sounds wonderful." Dan and Younger Dan simultaneously said in sync.
The two stared at each other with weirded out faces but ended up bursting into laughter.
Phil grinned. "I think our clothes would be in the attic. Last time it moved to my wardrobe because that's where I found the book so maybe we can get dressed first." Phil said partly to himself. "Come on, let's go change." He gestured to Dan.
"Wouldn't it look a bit weird with two guys and two older versions of the guys hanging out?" Dan laughed, grabbing Phil's arm to catch up with him as they went upstairs.
"We can go undercover." Phil smiled.
"How?"
"You wash your hair and have it curly, i'll wear my glasses. Also we can both wear beanies to hide it."
Dan nodded with a small grunt at the fact that he would have to leave his hair in its natural state.
~
When all four had made it to the park, Dan and Phil had gotten a considerable about of weird stares from others, most likely to be due to the fashion sense. Mainly Dan, Phil dressed the same mostly, but in 2009 to see a man wear leather clothes 'ironically' was a rare sight to see.
"I should of worn something more discrete." Dan said under his breath, cheeks turning red.
"I think you look adorable." Phil said, kissing Dan on the cheek. "Okay we'll see you in a bit okay?" He turned to his younger self. "Let's go...Phil."
Younger Phil nodded and they began to walk in the opposite direction through the park, crunching the autumn leaves as they walked.
"This is my aesthetic." Phil laughed, looking up at all the brown trees hanging over them.
"What's that?" Younger Phil asked.
"Never mind. Anyway! Let's talk about me, well you."
"Did we really stay with Dan all this time?" Younger Phil immediately asked.
"There were a few arguments here and there...just remember that it's not always your fault even if others say so okay?" Phil said quieter.
Younger Phil was confused but simply nodded his head.
"Okay..."
~
"Um..." Younger Dan spoke up partly after a few minutes if endless walking through the park.
Dan turned to his younger self. "Yeah?"
"D-Did I..." Younger Dan's cheeks flushed pink.
"We're the same person no need to be embarrassed." Dan laughed.
Younger Dan shook his head. "You s-said you were from the y-year 2015 right?"
Dan nodded.
"S-So um...d-did I really...m-make it that far?" Younger Dan said in a tiny whisper. "I-I actually made it?"
Dan stopped, turning to face the younger boy. He felt as if his heart had been ripped out of his chest. If only he knew how bad the situation was at the time instead of brushing it off as overreacting.
"You did. You made it so far, did you know in my time you have 5 million subscribers? And you've even been to Japan. You conquered everything and have been so brave."
Younger Dan's eyes practically lit up. "I-I did?!" He beamed. "A-And Phil stayed with me?!"
Dan chuckled, nodding. "Yep. Remember, you need to fight for him whenever necessary. Also...no wait. Also, you won't remember this but, don't be afraid of who you are."
"What do you mean?"
"Of being bi. It's nothing to be ashamed of."
Younger Dan shuffled awkwardly. "So what new animes are out in that year?!" He quickly changed the subject making Dan sigh.
~
When all four met up again, they swapped and Dan ended up walking with younger Phil. He found it so much weirder because of how confident this Phil seemed to be.
"Got anything to ask?" Dan asked.
Younger Phil shrugged. "Meh. Oh yeah! When i'm older do I eventually get to a thousand subscribers?"
Dan stared in awe and nodded eagerly. "Course you do! Guess how many you have now."
"Two thousand!" Younger Phil said eagerly.
Dan grinned, shaking his head. "Almost three million subscribers."
Younger Phil stood still as if he was planted into the ground. He looked off into the distance but was really staring at nothing. "R-Really?"
Dan giggled. "And you are by far one of the most creative one on YouTube. You're the one that makes most of the challenges and video ideas. But then people with no brain take them without credit." "Like Alfie Dayes."
Younger Phil grinned. "I don't know who that is but that's amazing!"
"You are just really original okay!"
"Okay...um Dan?"
"Yeah?"
"About the copying thing...I don't really care if people steal my video ideas. It's out there, it's not like it's a test. If it makes other people laugh then I'd want everyone to steal them. Because they couldn't come up with their own idea they liked my idea enough to steal it..."
Dan rolled his eyes. "Jesus Christ you're exactly the same."
"Huh?" Younger Phil turned to face Dan.
"Never mind."
~
Younger Dan and Phil walked around and time passed slowly with an long awkward silence.
"So um..." Phil spoke up. "Anything you wanna ask?" He laughed awkwardly.
Younger Dan jumped slightly when Phil suddenly spoke and shrugged his shoulders shyly. "I-I have a question."
"Ask away."
"D-Do...h-h-how...how do you m-manage to deal with me f-for so many years?" Younger Dan said softly.
"When you grow older, you'll gain so much more confidence. You'll have a lot more support, not just from me but from everyone that watches your videos. And sometimes...you do slip into that state again, through existential crisis' and stuff, but I'de never leave you over that." He ruffled younger Dan's hair.
Younger Dan stared amazed. "Y-You're...r-really cool..."
Phil grinned. "I'm amazing."
Younger Dan shook his head, cringing. "Phiiil." He laughed.
Phil grinned. Even now younger Dan and his Dan were so alike.
~
When Dan and Phil went to bed that 2009 night, they slept peacefully. As if a weight had lifted off of their shoulders after telling their younger selves advice they regret having followed.
But in the back of their minds, they were dreading the next morning. Because they knew, 2012 was not something they would want to relive.
xx