Chapter 24
A whole day passed and I started to eat and sleep normally again. Dan and I hadn't really spoken since our kiss, but we had done plenty of cuddling.
I honestly don't know how I've lived this long without being able to snuggle up under some blankets with Dan.
We passed the time by watching movies together. I guess we both kind of knew the weight of the rock hanging above our heads, but for now we were choosing to momentarily ignore it.
I guess that's one thing I've learned from all this. I don't need to worry about that rock, or all my fans, or my job, or anything, until I'm secure enough with my own life and problems to take it down and fix it.
Weird analogy, but basically have yourself sorted out first. The rest... I assume we're getting there.
Now thinking about it is actually starting to worry me.
"Dan?" I asked interrupting a scene from Thor.
"What?" he asked giving me a silly grin. Ever since our kiss he's been doing that a lot, and I love it.
"So... I mean this... we're really a couple now?" I asked.
He scoffed, "Of course we are! Why wouldn't we be? That's a dumb question."
"I know. But I was just thinking..." I said taking a deep breath. Dan sat up and squinted at me with a mix of worry and uncertainty in his eyes. "What about everything else?"
He looked semi-relieved and asked, "What "everything else" do you mean?"
"I guess like our fans. What are we going to tell them? "Just kidding about just kidding we were really lying about lying and we really are a couple!" Then what about our job at the BBC!? Dan we can't keep watching movies forever. We need money to buy food and Internet and -" Dan silenced my ramblings with a small kiss. The day one of our kisses doesn't make me melt will be the end of all things.
"Phil, you don't buy internet." He said a-matter-of-factly.
"Well you pay for electricity so I thought th- hey you changed the topic. Dan what are we going to do?" I said.
"We can get around to all that. If you're comfortable with telling the fans, I am. I'll call our boss in the morning if you'd like, what else needs sorted out?" He asked.
"Umm... We should tell our parents. Don't you think?" I asked.
"About that... my mum already kind of knows. Not like about recent stuff, but when she was visiting the other day, I kinda told her everything and she probably knows." Dan said.
"Well we should still tell her. And my mum as well." I said.
"Ok later." Dan said about to turn back to the movie.
"No. Now." I said grabbing his cell off the table and running out of the room. I dialed his mum and heard a loud bang followed by my name being yelled from the other room.
Dan burst into the room right at the same time his mum picked up.
"Daniel? Is everything ok?" She asked as Dan chased me around the room.
"Hi, Mrs. Howell. This is Phil. I'm just calling to let you know I kissed your son." As soon as I got those words out Dan snatched the mobile from me.
"Mum? Yeah. I know." Dan was turning an alarming shade of pink the longer he was on the phone. He paused and gave me a death glare. "Ok - I... I'll tell you later. I gotta go. Bye!" He said hanging up. He let out a sigh and I don't think I've ever seen him look more embarrassed.
"Oh come on, it wasn't that bad." I said.
"She asked for details." He said the pink returning to his cheeks. "You could've chosen different words."
"You're right... but that wouldn't have been as fun." I said grabbing is chin and kissing his lips.
He pulled away and said, " I hate you so much." Before I could say something, he grabbed my face and kissed me passionately once more.
~
Dan squeezed my hand, and I looked up at him. "Phil are you sure you're ready to go through with this? I mean it can wait."
I shook my head and looked into the camera. I've looked into so many times before without problem, but this was different. Almost even scary. "No, we've left all them in the dark for way too long now." I said getting up to press record.
"Who's channel are we putting this on anyways?" Dan asked.
I shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe yours because it also has the other video on it." I said and Dan nodded in response.
I pressed the record button and I came around to sait by Dan.
"Hello Internet." Dan said.
"Why do you say that every video." I said thinking outloud.
"I don't know! Because!" Dan said giving me a weird look.
"Can you start?" I asked. We usually sorted this sort of stuff out before filming, but not today.
He nodded and looked into the camera. My gaze shifted from the camera to him as he spoke. "So I guess it's been an awful long while since a danisnotonfire video. Or amazingphil for that matter." He said looking at me. "Well we're not dead... yet."
"How do you know?" I asked. "What if we died and we're just spirits now, but we don't know."
I didn't get a response from Dan and he looked like he had fallen under a trance. He was just staring at me with what looked like a loving gaze. That made me smile, and I felt my face redden. I sneezed suddenly and Dan snapped out of his trance-like gaze.
"If we died, we wouldn't be able to tell everyone the news." He said coyly.
"The news about us?" I asked pretending to not know.
"Yep. So a lot of events have happened in the past what now 5, 6 weeks? And the biggest... is probably this." Dan said. Before I could do anything, he swooped over and stole a kiss on my cheek. I felt my face turning pink again.
"We may or may not be in a relationship now." I said holding up our interlaced fingers for the camera to see.
"And you guys know that we hardly ever do serious videos, and all this hasn't been easy. We're still trying to fix everything ourselves, so please don't hate us for lying or abandoning the Internet." Dan said
"I feel like we should explain what happened in like a little short story." I said.
He agreed and we spent the next 20 minutes making a theatrical short of everything. It excluded some of the really bad parts, and we kept it light and humorous. Which I found funny because everything that happened was in no way humorous at the time, but looking back: SO MUCH could've been avoided, and we kept doing dumb irrational things.
We included our kiss and all that jazz, but Dan said he'd put a big censor thing on it later.
I hope this goes over okay.
~
Dan and I edited the video together, making it so it both got our point over, but also didn't feel too serious. He insisted keeping the censor over our kiss, but I had him put it in an outtake at the end.
It was just him and I, and we just finished "snogging" and I told him he was stupid. "No you're stupid." He said pecking my lips. "Stupidly adorable."
It was a super adorable clip and I felt like Phan shippers would appreciate it.
We called our boss about our jobs, and he told us we needed to have a meeting. But knowing him, he would understand then tell us we aren't allowed to slack off again, then he would laugh it off and all would be good.
We told Chris and PJ about recent happenings and they seemed both unsurprised and overjoyed. Chris said we needed to have "a sleepover" again making us sound like 12 year old girls, but he was right, we needed to hang out more.
My parents took the news quite well (if asking when the wedding will be is considered well).
Everything was starting to look up.
We just had this video to post. I know it might get some negative attention, but I now know how amazing our fans are. Whenever Dan and I stopped tweeting, and people realized something was up, I would get thousands of concerned messages and mentions a day. I know our real fans won't hate us.
They just want to see us back.
Even at this very moment I'm seeing an occasional twitter notification as neither Dan nor I have said anything about this video. We're planning to pull a Beyoncé and only tell people about it until after it's out.
I looked at the computer to see the video rendering when I felt Dan looking at me. I turned and met his gaze.
"What are you being so quiet about?" He asked.
"I'm just thinking." I said truthfully.
"'bout what?" He asked smirking.
"How lucky I am to have such an amazing boyfriend." I said.
"Well that might be true, but your boyfriend isn't as amazing as mine." He replied with a cute grin.
I couldn't think of a reply to that, so I closed the distance between our faces and kissed him. This kiss was very different from all our other ones. This wasn't fast or hasty. It wasn't quick or brief. It was a slow kiss, that didn't need all the grabbing and holding that was usually required. It was drawn out and just full of love. It wasn't lust or passion. Plain, simple love.
We pulled away when the computer beeped letting us know the video was done rendering. I glanced at the screen but kept my attention on him.
Our foreheads touched and noses where a centimeter apart. I could feel his soft warm breath on my skin.
I studied him for a good long while. The color of his eyes, the bend of his nose, the curve of his jaw, and everything about him is breathtakingly beautiful and I can't believe I can call him mine.
"I love you, Dan." I finally spoke. "No matter what happens in these next few days or even past that, I hope that you are there with me because I love you so much." I enjoyed being able to say those words now, and I would be fine if that's all I could ever say for the rest of eternity.
A smile came to his face, highlighting his dimples. "I'd do anything to stay with you forever because guess what Phillip Michael Lester? I love you and there's no getting rid of me." he said leaning in to resume what the computer had interrupted.
I knew now there was no happily ever after, but there was Dan, and that was pretty darn close.