#phan oneshot

[zackstriker]

You deserve every beautiful thing, he tells Daniel in lieu of a good morning, and Dan’s smile is wide enough to crack eggs and bright enough to sear them. It’s his damn radiation again. The spectral force of his charisma. He’s an anti-blackhole, the moment before a supernova, the syllable at the start of every love poem.

Read the rest: Here

[phanfictioncatalogue]

Christmas One-Shots (2) Masterlist

part one

11 Years of Christmas (ao3) - orphan_account

Summary: Christmas texts throughout the years.

A Christmas Tail (ao3) - thewakeless

Summary: Dan and Phil through the eyes of Winston, their new dog.

A million little suns (ao3) - jestbee

Summary: Dan is just trying to get as far away from his home town as possible at Christmas when he gets stuck in a snow storm. He's rescued by an enigmatic stranger who take him back to his cabin in the mountains. What Dan doesn't know is that his rescuer is prolific, best-selling writer of erotica, Ricky Blitz. Will Dan end up with a porn-worthy situation all of his own? (hint: yes)

Porn with feels and some Christmas magic.

a tiny christmas tree (ao3) - natigail

Summary: Anyways i hope dnp are going to plant their tiny Christmas tree at their forever home and let it grow for 30 years

What do you get when you combine companions through life, yearning for a forever home and Christmas all around them? You get Phil making an impulsive purchase.

Affections. (ao3) - phansb

Summary: Dan's family is going on holiday to Portugal for Christmas—Dan can't join them. Phil decides they need to celebrate Christmas early, together.

All I Want for Christmas (ao3) - orphan_account

Summary: Dan plans to spend the Christmas alone, Phil isn't going to let that happen.

amidst the chaos (ao3) - orphan_account

Summary: “Love is what’s in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen” -Bobby, age 7

All Over Again (ao3) - roryonice

Summary: It’s almost Christmas, and Phil goes back to his hometown to win back his high school love after five and a half years.

all this bloody happiness (ao3) - graydar

Summary: It’s true that this Christmas won’t feel like any Christmas they’ve ever had.

Baby it’s cold outside (ao3) - Allthephils

Summary: Dan’s car is stuck in the snow and Phil just happens by

Just another meet-cute at Christmas! I’d call it unrealistic but this Dan and Phil and we all know this is a totally viable storyline :)

begin and never cease (ao3) - palomeheart

Summary: Dan is a grumpy second year law student living with reclusive, perpetual grad student named Phil. When the holiday season brings out a side of Phil that Dan’s never seen before, Meanwhile, when Phil finds out Dan hates all things festive, he makes it his goal to change Dan’s mind before Christmas. And also to find the perfect mince pie.

bundle up, baby (ao3) - angelmichelangelo

Summary: dnp taking their little kid for the first time to the iom for christmas

there's nothing more exciting than a child's first christmas

Even Santa Ships It (ao3) - ticklishpickle

Summary: Phil wakes up the night before Christmas to find a sassy, sarcastic Christmas elf by the name of Dan in his kitchen, feet tangled up in Christmas lights and surrounded by gingerbread crumbs. Phil doesn't mind.

Finally, Christmas With You (ao3) - lazyfic

Summary: Phil wakes up horny Christmas morning and finally has Dan with him to take care of it.

Holiday Cheer (ao3) - evanegg

Summary: “Dan is used to spending a quiet December in, quietly refusing to buy into the consumer capitalism that is Christmas. Phil is new to the apartment and won't stop being the physical embodiment of Christmas cheer.”

Or Dan hates Christmas and Phil teaches him to love it by being the sweetest person alive.

homecoming (ao3) - moonanonymous

Summary: Dan and Phil are invited to Wokingham for Christmas.

homegrown (ao3) - angelmichelangelo

Summary: dan and phil host their first christmas in their forever home

Howell the Grinch Stole Christmas (ao3) - ticklishpickle

Summary: Eight years ago, after an incident he'd rather not discuss, Dan Howell ran away to a mountain north of Memeville to become the Grinch. He had never succeeded before, but this year, Dan was determined to steal Christmas, and he didn't care what Santa thought about it.

A fic very roughly based off How the Grinch Stole Christmas ft. Santa!Phil and Grinch!Dan

(technically a friends to enemies to lovers fic)

I’m Dreaming of a Happier Christmas (ao3) - orphan_account

Summary: Not the most comfortable Christmas to say the least

I'm just trying to keep my baby warm through the wintertime. (ao3) - waypast0000

Summary: It's december, Dan and Phil have a lot to do, including buy Christmas decorations and survive winter.

Or

A festive day in the life of Dan and Phil 2017 edition (but without the cameras and much more coldness).

let your heart be light (ao3) - calvinahobbes

Summary: Phil loves Christmas, and Dan doesn't want to ruin that for him.

Now We’re On the Naughty List (ao3) - cafephan

Summary: Phil meets Dan after a Christmas Eve party, and invites him to stay after his taxi is stuck in the snow.

Romantic enough? (ao3) - winstonlives

Summary: It's the first Christmas they have living together and Phil's mum induces a minor freak out. WILL HE RUIN IT?

Patching the Holes (ao3) - philsmeatylegss

Summary: Dan is really close with his grandma. He spontaneously decides to come out to his very homophobic family on Christmas. Obviously doesn’t go well. Then stuff happens

santa pally (santa baby) (ao3) - huphilpuffs

Summary: Phil grabs the first name off the top and hands the pot over. His hands are shaking when he unfolds it and– well fuck.

There, in Mr. Fowler’s familiar print, is written: Dan Howell.

The Perfect Gift (ao3) - yiffandquiff

Summary: Phil Lester didn't particularly like Secret Santa that his maths teacher did every year. He normally received just simple gifts and was always underwhelmed. But this year, his Secret Santa gives him the perfect gift and he's determined to find out who this person is. It also helps that his Secret Santa has a crush on him too.

The Scent of Pining (ao3) - americanphancakes

Summary: Dan and Phil grew up together, but were separated by university and the mundanities of life. After years of missing each other, keeping track of each other's careers, and asking their families about each other, they finally reunite at a Christmas party back home. Surrounded by fragrances that cast their memories back to their childhood together, they each work up the nerve to finally do something about how they've been feeling for a decade.

vacation getaway (ao3) - angelmichelangelo

Summary: phil burns easily, but that soon proves to be not such a bad thing

when i could finally breathe (ao3) - huphilpuffs

Summary: Christmas, in all its brilliance, is exhausting.

[monachopism]

looking at the phan ao3 tag and i cant believe its all still the same i wanted well adjusted adults dan and phil oneshots and they're not there!!!!!!!!

[pedropascallme]

hiii, just curious to know about how u do ur fics

💌✏️📚

💌 why did you start this blog?

I had ideas! And I've had my main tumblr blog for like a decade now, so I knew that there was a really large community of writers on here and wanted to try my hand at it. I definitely started out a little shaky since I hadn't written anything outside of academia in a super long time, though.

✏️ when did you start writing fanfic

Fun fact: I was a wattpad kid. I had an account when I was like 11 or 12 and wrote phan fics, and the occasional star wars oneshot. I don't even remember what the account was or if any of the stuff I wrote there is still up, but I feel like it would be safe to say that I have come a long way...

📚 how do you come up with the fics you write

I write everything around dialogue!! The only things I'm trained in as a writer are 1) scholarly papers and 2) playwriting, so it can be difficult for me to come up with plot, given that I have so much experience in writing, like, research papers on historical events. But the fact that I've done playwriting before has made me infinitely more comfortable writing dialogue than anything else when it comes to creative writing. Usually I'll just have a random moment of like "hey that's good dialogue. How do I make that a story."

[readthephible]

fics i wanna write this year

- complete shaymien soulmates au (promise i’m working on it)

- bring pastelxpunk back and to smosh fandom

- ace chosen

- not ace chosen

- complete bg3 x phan oneshot

- write ianthony stuff

[asexualasshat]

Hi I’m Chelsey! She/her. 27 y/o asexual and otherwise not straight but too nervy to kiss a girl. Mentally and physically unwell but having a pretty good time. Canadian. Multi fandom. Mostly Stranger Things and IT but also Crimal Minds, Smosh, Phan, and who knows what else. I’ve been writing fic off and on since I was 12 but have fully jumped back into the deep end over the last year

My fics:

Through Light into Gentle Darkness - Reddie - multi chapter -WIP

Who Needs The Sun To Shine When You Can Smile Wider Than The Sky? - Steddie - oneshot

You Shut My Mouth and You Buckle My Knees - Steddie - oneshot

Latte (He)art - Steddie - oneshot

[under-the-blue-sun]

blankets, coffees and afternoon naps

summary: Blankets, coffee and afternoon naps have become the new normal.

word count: 1217

rating: general audiences

warnings: profanity

note: just a collection of domestic moments between dan and phil during quarantine written for @stupidity-to-the-max for phandomgives. enjoy ♡

read on ao3

Blankets, coffee and afternoon naps have become the new normal.

Dan sighed fondly as he looked down at Phil sprawled across the couch. He had a bet with Dan that he would stay awake, but he was already fast asleep and fully relaxed, head resting on Dan’s lap, a thousand pillows burying him into the couch. He smiled faintly as he noticed Phil was wearing the mismatching socks he had given him for his 29th birthday. 

As if awoken by Dan’s thoughts, Phil blinked, slowly opening his eyes. 

“Hey.” Dan whispered softly.

“Hey.” Phil murmured, rubbing his eyes as he sat up from Dan’s lap, almost knocking over his half-full coffee mug. “How long was I out?”

“Only half an hour.” Dan said, suddenly shivering as Phil quickly left his legs, grasping his lukewarm coffee cup to conjure some warmth. “Now you have to take the garbage out.”

Phil groaned. “But Mellie is taking it out today, and I already had to deal with her two weeks ago.”

“You shouldn’t have bet on it.” Dan said, smirking arrogantly.

Phil buried his face in Dan’s lap again.

“Bitch.” he called out, muffled.

“Yeah, yeah. Now go back to sleep.”

-

“How do you deal with blocks?”

Phil frowned in confusion and looked up from his laptop, observing the source of the noise across him who was slamming his head on the table. “Blocks?”

“Yes!” Dan called out, exasperated. “Blocks.”

“Like chocolate blocks?” Phil joked, enjoying the annoyance continuing to write all over Dan’s face.

Dan sighed. “I meant like writer’s block.”

“Oh.” Phil said, shrugging and returning to type. “I don’t know. Write about...your mum.”

Dan squinted at him. “You write. How do you cure writer’s block?”

“Well, it’s gonna sound cheesy.”

“Tell me.” Dan said immediately.

Phil stopped typing and looked up, smiling softly. “I write about you.”

Dan rolled his eyes. “Oh, shut up.”

“It’s true!” Phil exclaimed. “You always give me inspiration to write. there’s so much to write about you.”

“Like what?”

“Well, how you’re kind and soft, even if you pretend not to be, and that you give the best advice, and the best kisses, and you make the best Indian food on this apartment floor, and- you’re just fishing for compliments now.”

“Yup.” Dan said, grinning widely. “I know just what to write about now.”

-

“I think Norman hates me.”

Dan sighed. “You said that five minutes ago, Phil. He is literally a fish. He does not hate you.”

“Yeah, but...seriously. What if he does?” Phil asked.

Dan shook his head. “It’s 3am, Phil. You’re going delusional.”

“I know, but still.” Phil said. “What if I’m feeding him and caring about him and having anxiety dreams about him and he doesn’t care about me at all?”

“Go to sleep.” Dan said.

“But you’re awake!” Phil exclaimed.

“I’m turning the lamp off now.” Dan said, and he did. He closed his eyes, pretending to sleep.

“Good night.” Phil whispered softly.

Dan smiled slightly. “Good night. Norman loves you.”

---

“See? I told you! I fucking told you!”

Phil slammed his head on the cards. “This game is too complicated.”

“No, look at me! Look at me!” Dan shouted, grabbing Phil’s event card and waving it around. “I told you that this was too easy! You can’t just fucking airlift people and send them to different countries! It’s not how the game works! It’s not how any game works!”

“Who cares?” Phil yelled. “I saved the world anyway!”

“Illegally, you dingbat!” Dan said. “We’re playing it again.”

“This is the fifth time.” Phil said.

“I don’t care how many times we’re playing this, we need to get it right.” Dan seethed, already setting up the board again.

-

“Well, this isn’t perfect, but…”

“I love it.” Dan said, eyes shining. 

“Yeah?” Phil said hopefully.

“Yeah.” Dan affirmed, smiling brightly and looking around the dark room filled with candles. He smelt the air.

“You even put my favourite scented candles. I thought we were out of them.”

“I ordered some online.” Phil said. 

Dan put his hand over his heart. “Oh my god, I love you.”

“I love you too.” Phil beamed. “You look good tonight.”

“You too.” Dan said, taking a seat. “So, Mr Lester, what do we have tonight?”

“I have made three courses for you - appetizers, main and dessert. And bread, if that counts as a course.” Phil said. He hesitated before continuing, glancing at Dan’s lightly lit face.

“Go on.” Dan whispered, urging him to go on.

“Okay, so for the entree I made a beef carpaccio with avocado and walnuts, seasoned with salt and pepper. For main we have polish pork and cabbage stew with fresh marjoram with a side of fava bean salad with goat's cheese. Lastly, for dessert I made rhubarb tart with pistachio ice cream, and an attempt of Japanese mochi. All of this is with the non-burnt homemade sourdough bread I made last week, and butter from Sainsbury.” Phil said. “I hope you like it.”

“God, Phil. You did so much.” Dan said. “You didn’t have to do that much.”

“Yeah, but I wanted to. You’re worth it.” Phil said.

“I don’t know what to say.” Dan breathed.

“You don’t have to say anything.” Phil said, smiling softly. “It was nothing.”

Dan looked at Phil directly. “I love you, you know that, right?”

“Yeah.” Phil grinned. “I love you too. I’ll bring out the food now.”

“Chef, waiter and boyfriend. How much do I have to tip you tonight?” Dan teased.

“You’re my tip for tonight.” Phil said, kissing Dan’s forehead.

“We’re gross, aren’t we?” Dan called out as Phil got their appetizers and bread.

“Definitely.” Phil shouted back. “It’s great.”

-

“In summary, if you try to rap one more time, I will literally cry.” Phil finished.

“What are you talking about?” Dan said, still speaking into the faux microphone. “I sounded great.”

“I rate that performance a -8/10.” Phil said.

Dan pouted. “You’re so mean.”

“You barely said one quarter of the words in that song.”

“A for effort?”

“F for failure.”

“Fine, I rate your Britney a 0.”

“You already rated an 11! You’re not allowed to change it!”

“Since when? Hit Me Baby One More Time? More like “Hit Me Baby Zero More Times Because Phil Is So Bad At Singing It”.” Dan said, changing the song already.

Phil rolled his eyes. “You think you’re so funny.”

“Oh, you love me, shut up.” Dan said, getting read to rap into the microphone.

-

“You left your coffee in the microwave.” Phil yelled.

“Just heat it up again and give it back to me.” Dan yelled back, eyes refusing to leave the computer and fingers fervently glued to the keyboard. 

“Here you go.” Phil said, smiling as he put the lukewarm cup on the counter next to Dan. “How’s your writing going?”

“Good.” Dan said, continuing to type.

“Fixed your block?” Phil asked, sitting on the couch next to him.

“Yep.” Dan said, shutting his laptop. “Thanks for the advice.”

“What advice?” Phil asked.

“You.” Dan replied, adjusting the blanket hanging over his legs to share with the very confused Phil. “Let’s see if you manage to stay awake through this episode.”

Blankets, coffee and afternoon naps, they decided, were the best kind of normal.

[truerequitedlove]

Dan and Phil Versus The World

pff bingo: interactive introverts & glass closet

Genre: fluff, hurt/comfort, introspection, reality/non-au

Word Count: 3k

“I mean...we’re not in the closet. Not really,” Phil says.

“Phil, this is the closet.”

read on ao3

~•~•~ 

The idea had started simply enough. 

“We should go on another tour.”

That had been the start, one night, far too soon after their last tour’s end. It had come after a long night of drinking, and of talking, and of planning. 

The night had been filled with plans, but they weren’t the sort of plans that Dan and Phil would write down. These plans were softly spoken plans filled with taboo words whispered through a veil of liquid courage. Words like ‘branding’ and ‘coming out’ and ‘privacy’ and ‘us’ and ‘them.’

‘Them.’ 

This particular word had become taboo quite a long time ago. It always sounded just a bit wrong. Like talking about someone behind their back. Like generalizing a group of diverse individuals. A few years prior, they would have been fine with doing so, but it felt strange then. It was early-2017, and they were still riding the leftover waves of TATINOF’s massive success.

Dan and Phil were just finishing their first-ever world tour, and they’d seen these people. These millions of faces that supported them. They’d hugged hundreds of them. They’d heard their stories. Stories of finding happiness in silly gaming banter and finding courage in quotes from videos that Dan barely remembers scripting. They had read through letters. They’d watched smiles and tears spring to the faces of audience members. They’d moved closer, closer, and closer to them.

And “them” was just a less taboo replacement for an even worse word. “Fans.”

Neither Dan nor Phil quite liked the word “fan” in the context of their audience’s relationship to them. It felt weird, uncomfortable, inauthentic. It felt like Dan and Phil were sat on a pedestal, and the faces of their audience were far, far, away in the nosebleed seats. Their audience didn’t deserve to be there, be put down, and Dan and Phil didn’t deserve to be idolized past the point of their own humanity. 

Dan and Phil wanted to move closer to them. They wanted to find the right distance. They wanted to explore the idea of “them and us.” Of audience and entertainer. Of how close would become too close.

So, that thoughtful night in 2017, Dan said, “We should go on another world tour.”

And Phil--just the same amount buzzed and just the same amount lost in messy thoughts--agreed.

Then there was Interactive Introverts, and it was everything. It was ambitious and entirely different than their last stage show. It was authentic, real, laid on the solid foundations of a theme that Dan and Phil both cared so much about.

Before either of them could blink it was happening. 

~

Dan recounts the messiness of the months before the tour began where he sits in the back of the tour bus.

He blinks.

He must be giving off ‘don’t talk to me’ vibes today, because he has the entire back of the bus to himself. The rest of the crew seem to be either napping or chatting quietly in the front area of the bus as they pass by the endless American pastures outside.

The American leg of the tour has been odd. It’s not stressful flights and cramped cars and booking dozens of hotel rooms, but it is a lot of one environment and one crew for an extended period. Dan loves the crew. In fact, they’re honestly the closest friends he and Phil have right about now. Still, it’s difficult to be around people all day every day in such a confined space. Luckily, they’re all human, so when one of them is giving off fierce ‘don’t talk to me’ vibes the others understand. It’s just Dan’s turn today, he supposes.

Sometimes, most of the time even, Dan doesn’t mind the closet. The doors are glass, and he can pretend they aren’t there. Other times he slams face-first into the glass doors. Today’s one of those days.

It’s the weekend of gay pride back in London. He sees it all across Twitter and Instagram. It makes his chest ache in an odd way.

So, he sits and gazes out the window at the plain countryside. He thinks about the video he failed to finish and all of the mess that had taken up his time this year. He lets himself emit the ‘don’t talk to me’ vibes. He doesn’t really have to energy to speak when he’s using it all to mope instead.

Of course, there is one person who’s immune to Dan’s ‘don’t talk to me’ vibes.

This person collapses against the couch beside him, carrying his pillow as he always does. Dan teases him about security blankets, but he’d be a liar if he said it wasn’t precious. He props his pillow up against Dan’s shoulder before leaning against it and sighing.

Dan looks over at him. “Hello,” he says softly. Dan can speak to Phil. Phil doesn’t drain Dan’s energy the way that others do.

“Mm,” Phil hums in reply. He’s wearing his glasses. “You’re bein’ loud,” he grumbles.

Dan’s lips turn up despite his less than jovial mood. “Shut up,” he says, amused. He’s had that same complaint spoken into silence enough to understand what Phil means. It means something like ‘you’re being too quiet, you’re thinking too much, and it’s noticeable’ in sleepy Phil language. 

“It’s your fault,” Dan teases. “Shouldn’t be listening in on my private thoughts.”

“Oh,” Phil says. “I thought we shared a consciousness.”

“I fucking hope not,” Dan says, lighter. “I don’t know if I want to see the innermost workings of this mind, Phil Lester.” He taps Phil’s forehead to make his point.

“Please,” Phil says, obviously a bit too tired to properly give his all to the banter. “You’d be honored.”

“Mm,” Dan hums, neither agreeing or disagreeing.

“Mhm,” Phil replies, agreeing. “So, since I can’t read your mind, tragically,” he says. “What’re you thinking about?”

Dan shifts a bit on the couch, and Phil whines a bit, resituating himself against Dan.

“We have a hotel tonight, yeah?” he asks.

“Yeah,” Phil answers, raising an eyebrow. “Is that what you’re thinking about, then?”

Dan rolls his eyes. “Shut up.”

“I didn’t say anything,” Phil says, grinning.

“Well that is decidedly not what I was thinking about,” Dan says.

“That’s sad for you,” Phil says.

Dan properly giggles this time. “Shut up,” he says again, a bit loud. “I’m just thinking about...us.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. I’m just glad we get to be together tonight,” he says.

Phil could reply with a joking comment on their inability to be separated for even the length of a night’s sleep, but he doesn’t. He’s glad they get to be together, too. It’s been quite a few nights without Dan, and Phil knows what he means. It’s not just being together, it’s being alone together.

“Me too,” Phil agrees softly. He glances at the hallway and confirms that no one is within the range of seeing. So, Phil presses a kiss to Dan’s lips and grins a little.

Dan grins a bit as well.

~

Phil assumes too much. He expects nonverbal communication. He expects public secrets and common knowledge of things that haven’t been discussed. 

It’s only gotten worse since he’s been with Dan because Dan is good at unspoken truths. He’s good at communication that dances around a topic without looking it in the face. It’s gotten them in trouble before, certainly, and Dan has figured out when to drop the pretenses. He knows when to look an issue straight-on.

Phil still likes to dance around things. He likes to avoid conflict and confrontation, especially when he or someone else stands to get hurt. He justifies this to himself by assuming that everyone else understands whatever it is that he doesn’t want to explain. He expects mind-readers.

He recognizes these analytic thoughts, as he thinks them. It’s therapy talk, repeating itself. Phil’s fear of confrontation is something that’s often brought up with his therapist. As Phil sits, staring out the window of the tour bus and feeling mildly sick, he misses her. He won’t be able to see his therapist again until they return home, and he’s sure he’ll have endless things to bring up with her.

There’s a funny thing about a fear of confrontation, Phil finds. Recovery consists of confronting the fear of confrontation. While it’s oxymoronic, at least Phil’s done one of the steps.

Confrontation is an easy thing to fear, but Phil can’t help feeling like he has good reason to fear it. He grew up gay. He spent so long actively avoiding confrontation about his sexuality. It feels almost second nature now. He’s not sure he knows how to confront it. He doesn’t want it to be a big deal.

Phil never came out to his parents. He was never into the pretty girls at his school, he never talked about them, and he brought around male friends who would stay the night and leave the pull-out couch bed untouched. It was obvious that Phil was seeing men, and that he had no real intention to see women.

Or so he had thought.

The memory still brings about anxiety, even though his family couldn’t be more accepting these days. He remembers his mum confronting him after it became too obvious. He remembers thinking that it all had been silently acknowledged and that he would never have to talk about it. It was stupid, in hindsight. Obviously, his sexuality would be a big deal to his family, whether he wanted it to be or not.

Phil still falls back into those habits.

Sometimes he’s too careless with Dan. He thinks it’s obvious that they’re in love. He convinces himself that everyone knows, they just don’t talk about it. He wants to kiss Dan when people can see. He wants to book one hotel room with one king-sized bed for both of them and let it slip by without mention.

People like to mention things, though. They like to talk about things.

Phil thinks he and Dan are obvious, and maybe they are. Still, he knows that if he were to kiss Dan square on the mouth in front of their crew, questions would be unavoidable. 

Phil doesn’t really know how to be in the closet, but he knows that he wants to protect this beautiful, perfect, and private thing between him and Dan at all costs.

He stops himself there, turning away from the window. He doesn’t want to think any longer.

“How much further?” he asks, sounding just a bit impatient.

“Just over an hour,” someone replies.

~

Just over an hour later, Dan’s coming up with an excuse for him and Phil to go immediately to the hotel. It’s only one in the afternoon, and there are things to see in this city, but they need to be alone. Alone together. Dan says something about filming a video, and Phil holds back a sigh because they do have to film, and he’d forgotten.

They can film tomorrow. They enjoy filming, anyways. They get an excuse to hang out alone together. And the gaming channel is so easy compared to everything else they want to work on for youtube. The editing's a bitch, but it gives them something to do while traveling these long American roads.

The crew talks with each other about plans, and Dan and Phil slip into the hotel. They check in to separate rooms in the lobby, but they go to the same room with all of their things. Later, they’ll compare rooms and decide which is better to stay the night in. They’ll order room service and laugh and maybe film something. For now, they just need a moment. 

The hotel room’s door closes, they put their things down on the floor, and Dan sighs.

Phil’s not sure exactly what’s bothering Dan, but it makes perfect sense as soon as he says it.

“I want to come out, Phil,” he says, standing by the door of the hotel. He stares inward, blankly. He’s not looking at the room or anything at all. He’s thinking so much that it seems he can do little else.

Phil sighs, walking back to where Dan stands. It’s definitely not an unfamiliar conversation topic between them. It’s much the opposite. Dan had plans to officially come out this year. He has plans to come out, but things keep getting messy and scary and confusing. 

“I know,” Phil says softly. “You will. We will.”

“I know,” Dan says. He’s still not looking at anything, and his eyes are unfocused.

“I mean...we’re not in the closet. Not really,” Phil says, perhaps in an attempt to cheer Dan up. They’ve never been ‘in the closet,’ really. At least, not in a long while. They just keep certain things private. It’s been a long time since either of them have pretended to be someone they aren’t.

Dan sighs. “Phil, this is the closet.”

Phil frowns. “How do you mean?”

Dan shrugs, walking into the room. “Just, like, the whole Dan and Phil ‘brand’ or whatever.” He uses finger quotes around the term ‘brand.’ His voice is tinged with irritation. “Like, this tour, and the last tour, and our YouTube channels. We’ve, like, put ourselves in this, like, glass box. Like, yeah, people know, but they don’t know. And if--and when we come out, all of that...that glass is going to shatter.”

“Is that a good thing?” Phil asks. He gets what Dan means, but his brain is so slow today. He doesn’t want to talk about glass closets and sexuality and how the hell they’re going to navigate their relationship if they keep it in the spotlight. If they talk about that then questions will come up that Phil doesn’t have the ability to answer.

All he wants is to lie next to Dan and be unseen for a little while. There’s the possibility here for a fight, but Phil’s not sure that either of them has the energy.

“It’s just this tour, trying to be authentic, Dan and Phil…” Dan trials off and sniffles, and it catches Phil off guard. He goes to say more, but tears start slipping down his cheeks instead and he looks away from Phil.

“Dan, whoa whoa, hey,” Phil’s voice is suddenly much softer. “Why are you crying?”

Dan shrugs, sitting down on the bed. A dam seems to have broken, and he chokes a bit. “It’s a lot, Phil,” he cries.

“It is,” Phil answers. “But it’s good, isn’t it?”

Dan shrugs again. “I--I don’t know.”

“Oh,” Phil says softly. He stands and kicks off his shoes. He then strips off his jeans and t-shirt. He desperately needs a shower, but it can wait. He kneels down and unzips Dan’s shoes. Dan lets him pull them off and toss them messily aside. As he watches Phil, his tears pick up. Phil tugs his jeans off next, and by the time his t-shirt is gone Dan is properly bawling.

Phil sits beside Dan, both of them stripped of their dirty, uncomfortable, tour bus clothes. He lays back on the bed, and he holds his arms open. Dan reaches up to futilely wipe his eyes and lets go of one more sob before falling into Phil.

Phil wraps his arms around Dan, and they lay there. 

Phil strokes his hand up and down Dan’s shoulder, and Dan buries his face between the duvet and Phil’s shoulder. He cries for a while, saying nothing. Phil just holds him and hushes him softly. 

It is a lot. The tour, their careers, the closet. It’s all quite a lot, and Dan needs to cry about it. Phil’s sure that he will too, once he has the energy.

“Phil,” Dan says quietly. “Sometimes I wish we could just run away together.”

“Yeah?” Phil asks, smiling sadly.

Dan nods. “Mhm. Find a tiny little house somewhere to live in and, just, start over. Just like, buy a fuckin’ cafe in France and live out our lives as old gay baristas.”

Phil giggles softly. “Sounds nice,” he says.

“Doesn’t sound ungrateful?”

“Not to me, but I might be biased.”

Dan smiles a bit at this. They look at each other. Phil reaches to brush away some of the tears that continue to slip down Dan’s cheeks.

“Isn’t it...isn’t it weird that tomorrow night you and I are going to get up on stage and play out this, like, version of us and then we’re going to come back here and be...us?”

“I mean, isn’t that the entire point we’re making here?” Phil asked, smirking.

Dan smiled the slightest bit. “Shut up.”

“Plot twist.” Phil giggles. “Dan blows his own mind.”

Dan grins properly this time, pushing Phil away by the shoulder. “Phil?”

Phil grins, rolling back to his spot just against Dan. “Yeah?”

“Did we just make an entire stage show about the glass closet?”

Phil bites his lip, moving his eyes over Dan’s face. “No,” he says.

Dan grins. “Oh? Okay, good. Was worried there for a sec.”

Phil leans in and kisses Dan on the lips. “You think too much,” he says when he pulls back. “We’re us, you know? No matter how many people are watching. That’s what the show’s about.”

Dan’s eyes flick back up from Phil’s lips to his eyes. “I like us best when we’re alone.”

“I like us wherever we are.”

“Sap.”

“Maybe.”

They have the night to themselves and they make the most of it, even if it means missing the sight-seeing available outside. They end up staying in Dan’s room, ordering room service and getting a little more than tipsy. They mess around a bit, press kisses to hot flesh, and drag it out for as long as they can. The next hotel stay is a while away, and they have to make up for the lost time. When they’re done they fall asleep a bit too early.

Dan wakes up at the annoying hour of two am. Unable to fall back asleep, he grabs his laptop and turns on the lamp. Phil remains fast asleep beside him, and his soft snores are comforting. Dan pulls up a word document entitled: “Basically, I’m Gay.”

Soon, he hopes.

[supreme-jam]

Hello!

I’m trying to convince my sister that Phil Lester is a gorgeous angel, so please send end your most softest pics of of him!! Thanks!!

[shookethbrooketh]

fash·ion

noun a popular trend, especially in styles of dress and ornament or manners of behavior. 

Description: Dan works at an upscale clothing store, and it’s the most abysmal environment he could have possibly gotten himself into. He sells oversized, overpriced clothes to old men trying to be cool and has the concept of “fashion” shoved down his throat on the daily. His job is stormy at best, until a ray of sunshine walks into the store named Phil. 

Rating: G

Genre: AU

Warnings: None

Word Count: 1.4k

Challenge: Fashion Challenge

A/N: Written for the @phanfichallenge! 

Read it on Ao3! Read it on Wattpad!

Fashion. The word surrounded Dan everywhere he went. He personally fulfilled the expectations society had for “fashion”, but that was his own decision. It just so happened that the current trend was baggy clothes and curly hair. He wasn’t following the trends: the trends were following him. This made it easy enough for him to get a job at one of the most fashionable stores in the country: Men’s Best. 

The store he worked at was so ridiculously overpriced that it disgusted him, but it was a paycheck, and one hell of a large one at that. Every time some stuck up old man walked into the store, he had to escort them to the back of the store where the old time suits were found. That was all about half his customers ever wanted: a fashionable suit. Only the back quarter of the store even dealt with dress clothes, but for some reason it was all anyone came to buy. 

The entire front portion of the store was more his style: oversized clothes designed for people more around his age. Of course, nobody ever came in to buy them, because millennials didn’t have the money to get expensive clothes just because they were “fashionable”. Dan would never say it, but they were somehow more overpriced than they were oversized. He honestly didn’t understand why people couldn’t go to a normal store and just buy a size up. Really, most did, but a few rich kids trickled in to stay with the trends. 

You might think that for someone who hates Men’s Best so much, it was quite odd for him to be working there. You’re definitely right. He’d been working that same dismal job for two years, and he didn’t want to be there; he just got it because he needed money for university. He’d since completed his schooling, but, like most other people his age, was still in massive debt, and he needed money. His current job was definitely the best money he’d be able to get for a while, and he wouldn’t stand a chance without it. So he stayed with the very culture he despised. 

Fashion. There was an aesthetic sign on the far wall that simply said “fashion”. The messy cursive font was lit up by white light, and it was both Dan’s favorite and least favorite part of the store. It was, in all honesty, extremely aesthetic, but he couldn’t stand the word. Fashion. He had Googled it once; the official definition was, “a popular trend, especially in styles of dress and ornament or manners of behavior.” Sometimes he thought about that definition. It made it sound like fashion was only what society said looked good. That wasn’t what fashion meant, at least not to him. 

To Dan, fashion was the phrase “sense of fashion”. He had his sense of fashion, and other people had theirs. It wasn’t just society; it was personal preference, and he was sick of seeing it portrayed otherwise. Then again, he worked in the belly of the beast. There really wasn’t a point in hating fashion when he hypocritically worked in the middle of the fashion industry.

Dan was standing at his station behind the cash register on his phone. There was nobody in the store that day that could possibly get him in any trouble for it, so he honestly didn’t care enough not to be on his phone. There wasn’t a soul in the store anyway. Mall music haunted him to his very being, and the sound of passing footsteps was engraved into his memory. Suddenly he heard footsteps drawing closer, and he glanced up from his phone to see a man walking in the door. He sighed, putting his phone down on the counter and putting on his fake smile. “Welcome to Men’s Best. If you need anything, feel free to let me know.” 

“Thanks,” the man muttered. Dan took a moment just to look at him; he looked around his age, which was surprising in and of itself. He was wearing a quirky, blue button up covered in corgis and black skinny jeans. He had the same black, emo fringe he would have been willing to bet he had ten years ago, but his eyes were full of color and did perfectly to stand out against the rest of his dark figure. Everything about him contrasted; the fun shirt to the dark jeans, the dark hair to the bright eyes. It intrigued Dan in a way he wasn’t used to; he definitely had never seen anyone like him in the store before. 

Dan couldn’t help but wonder what he was doing there. The store wasn’t at all his style. In fact, Dan liked his style a lot more than he liked the store’s. It was personalized, and, in reality, quite cute. He’d never met the man before, but he could tell it was really him. He didn’t need to be in that hell store of peer pressure by invisible fashionistas. 

After a couple minutes of roaming, the man sighed and walked up to Dan, who, surprisingly, still hadn’t buried himself back in his phone. “I don’t know what I’m doing.”

“By that do you mean you want help looking or you don’t know why you’re here?” 

“Both, really,” the man said, cracking a smile. “Phil.” 

“Dan.” They shook hands, and Dan put on his professional smile, except for once he didn’t have to fake it. “How can I help you today?” 

“This is gonna sound really stuck-up, but I’m only here because of my viewers.” Dan raised an eyebrow, and he rushed into the next sentence. “I’m a YouTuber, and I keep seeing these comments saying I’m not ‘fashionable’ enough.” He threw in the air quotes, and Dan rolled his eyes. The two seemed to see eye to eye on the concept of fashion. “So I came here to see if I could find some more ‘fashionable’ clothes. I’m striking out here.” 

“Really? What’s your channel?” 

He smiled a bit at the fact that Dan wanted to know. “AmazingPhil.” Dan secretly and expertly snuck his phone out of his pocket and looked him up on YouTube as they continued to talk. 

“Well, if you really want me to find you something here that seems more you, I can help you, but I don’t think that’s what you want.” 

Phil sighed. “It really isn’t.” 

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.” Dan looked into those colorful eyes and finally spoke his mind. “You know, fashion isn’t just what other people tell you it is.” Phil raised an eyebrow. “Fashion isn’t what other people tell you, it’s what you believe. You have your own sense of fashion, and if you like it, then it’s good enough. Personally, I love your sense of fashion.” 

“You do?” he asked, his face conveying the emotion of a lost puppy being found.

“Absolutely,” Dan answered, grinning from ear to ear. 

“Thanks, Dan,” he said. “Maybe I can remember that to gain some more confidence.” 

“Anytime.” 

“Well,” he said, standing there awkwardly. “I guess I’ll see you around.” 

Dan smirked, putting one hand to his forehead and pulling it out as an odd wave that could only be understood in person. “See ya.” 

Phil turned on his heel and began to slowly leave the store, but just as he was about to reach the shoplifting detectors, he turned back. “Can I give you my phone number?” 

Something stirred inside of Dan that he didn’t know how to describe, but it was a better feeling than he’d ever experienced inside that hell of a store. “Yeah, sure,” he said, trying not to sound too excited. He glanced around his desk until he found a pad of sticky notes and a pen; he grabbed them both and put them on the counter, managing to drop the pen towards Phil. “Sh-Fu-Ugh.” Dan quickly refrained from swearing as the typical old man walked into the store. “Sorry.” 

“It’s okay,” Phil laughed, picking up the pen and writing down his number, sliding the sticky notes across the counter to Dan. “There you go; shoot me a text sometime.” 

“Will do,” he said, a genuine smile crossing his face as Phil left the store. He glanced at his phone, still open to Phil’s YouTube channel. His mouth fell open; Phil had 4.2 million subscribers. Dan would definitely be texting that number when he got off work. He quickly pocketed his phone and smiled up at the customer. The smile, and even his tone of voice were genuine. “Welcome to Men’s Best. How can I help you?” 

[biamondpickaxe]

You Can Run

Genre: Oneshot (Zombie Apocalypse AU)

Words: 1.5k

Summary: “I hate this,” Phil said softly. Hated not knowing if his friends were alive or dead, hated the everpresent fear of fucking up and dying, hated what the world had become. Hate hate hate.

A/N There’s not much zombie action in this sorry but if you guys like this I might start a full zombie apocalypse phanfic? We’ll see! (Also sorry this took so long, anon)

Read on Ao3

Contains descriptions of pain, alcohol mention, swearing, suicidal thoughts, brief mentions of homophobia, minor character death, descriptions of blood

Dan’s feet and calves ached from running for miles on end. Every muscle in his body felt taut - like it was about to snap at any moment. The cold wind burned his cheeks and caused his eyes to water up, making it even harder to see in the dark than it already was.

Beside him was Phil, who was running equally as hard. Heavy pants of breath left his mouth as his feet hit the ground hard with every stride.

Phil seemed to be holding up better than Dan was. Dan’s lungs felt like they were about to burst and he would give anything to just be able to lay down and get off of his feet. Maybe close his eyes and let a different kind of darkness take over for a while.

Yeah right, Dan thought as he kept running. Like I’ll be getting sleep anytime soon.

The last thing Dan remembered was laying in bed, shirtless, with Phil cuddled up next to him. In that moment, Dan felt happy. Content. At peace. But all that changed when the bell started ringing.

Dan and Phil had found a group of people in a church who was kind enough to take them in. When they had shown up at the church, they were looking for wine. They had truly been planning to die that night. To drink and kiss and give each other the best night possible, tell the each other how much they were loved, and then they were going to end it. Quickly. Painlessly. Together.

They opened the church doors hand-in-hand and were surprised to see an entire community flourishing inside. Older kids were reading passages out of the children’s bibles to younger kids and the adults were sitting in pews, eating soup out of various containers.

Dan and Phil started apologizing immediately. They knew from experience how territorial people could get and the last thing they wanted was any sort of confrontation. Not that these people looked very confrontational, but still.

“No need to apologize,” a woman said, coming up to them. She had reddish brown hair and freckles. They soon found out that her name was Naia and that she and her four younger sisters had found the church abandoned and have been taking in people ever since.

“We’re gay,” Phil said blatantly. “Is that going to be okay with you guys?”

It was second nature at this point to have to come out to religious people for their own safety. Guess some things never change, Phil thought.

Naia chuckled. “We’re not actually religious. We chose this church not because we’re Christain but because it’s one of the only safe structures around. And the bibles are the only reading material around here, so we make the best with what we have. We welcome everyone here unless you’re actually genuinely terrible people.”

Dan looked at Phil. He tried to get Phil to understand what he was thinking with that psychic connection they seemed to have, but there was too much going on in Dan’s head to be conveyed with one look.

“I’ll let you two talk,” Naia said, before walking away to give them some space.

Phil was the first to speak up. “I think it’s a sign.”

“You know I don’t believe in signs,” Dan said, “but I think we should try this out.”

Phil smiled widely and engulfed Dan into a hug.

Both Dan and Phil jolted up when they heard the bell ringing. They knew what that meant. It was one of the first things they learned when they joined the community at the church.

“The bell rings, you run like hell,” Naia had said. “You run west and don’t stop until you get to the old hardware store that’s next to the gas station. Have backpacks packed and ready to go that you can grab last-minute if you need to. You won’t be able to take anything else.”

Dan had managed to get his shirt back on while Phil grabbed the two backpacks from the closet.

That’s why they were in the situation they were in now. In the middle of some forest, running for their lives.

Phil swallowed hard. His whole body hurt but he was determined to keep going. Dan, on the other hand, was not.

“Phil, I can’t do this anymore,” Dan said breathlessly.

“Yes you can, come on! It can’t be that much further,” Phil replied.

“We’re in the middle of the fucking forest, Phil,” Dan snapped. “We need to get a hardware store. I doubt one will just pop up in the woods like a gingerbread house.”

Phil didn’t say anything, mostly because he had to conserve his breath, but partly because he didn’t know what to say. Instead, Phil handed his water bottle to Dan. There wasn’t much in it, so Dan just took a small sip before trying to hand it back. Phil refused, so Dan kept it with him.

“I just need a rest. You can go on without me, I’ll catch up,” Dan said.

Genuine fear filled Phil to the brim.

“No,” he said sharply. “You know what will happen if you stop.”

Dan huffed out a breath of annoyance. He didn’t want this, to keep running endlessly. He just wanted the pain to stop. He wanted peace. But he also knew he couldn’t leave Phil all alone.

“Dan. Am I crazy or is that a road up there?” Phil asked.

“Holy shit. That’s a road!” Dan said happily once he had spotted the asphalt.

They kept running and Dan was filled with a new kind of energy. Eventually, the hardware store came into sight and Dan mentally patted himself and Phil on the back for not getting lost on the way.

They got to the front doors, which were all chained up. They split up until they found the back entrance.

“Hello?” Phil asked, banging on the door. “Is anyone there?”

The two men heard shuffling behind the door and then it opened. They instantly recognized the person who had opened the door as Leah, Naia’s little sister.

“Hurry,” she said, beckoning them in.

Dan and Phil quickly entered the dark building and Leah shut the door behind them. She pushed some boxes back in front of the door and let out a sigh.

“Did Naia make it here yet?” Dan asked as he looked around. The place was pretty big, but he could only see a little bit of the space thanks to the single emergency candle that was lit.

Leah shook her head and tears filled her eyes, waiting to fall.

“Is she... not gonna make it here? At all?” Dan asked. Dread filled every inch of him.

Leah shook her head and tears started streaming down her face.

“Oh, Leah,” Dan said soothingly as the 14-year-old wrapped her arms around his torso tightly.

Dan shot Phil a look. They were both saddened by this news. Naia had become a good friend of theirs. But they were the only ones here with Leah so they had to be strong.

Leah pulled away from the hug and wiped her eyes.

“She stayed behind to make sure everyone got out. When we had helped as many people out as possible, we started running. But the commotion attracted some of the corpse creatures. One of them got her a-and bit her arm. Then her neck. I froze at first, after seeing a-all the blood. I wanted to stay with her but I knew it wasn’t safe. So I ran,” Leah explained, breathing heavily.

Dan winced. He could only imagine how scared Leah must have been. Seeing her sister get bitten and then having to run all this way by herself. It kind of made him feel like a wimp in comparison.

“Do you know what happened? Why we had to evacuate?” Phil asked gently.

Leah shook her head. “All I know is that the church was almost completely surrounded. If Dylan hadn’t shot some of them from the roof to create a path, we all would have been screwed.”

“Damn,” Dan said in disbelief.

“Anyway,” Leah said, straightening up her posture, “let me see your bags. I’ll go through them and sort your things. I need a distraction.”

Dan and Phil both nodded and handed her the backpacks and water bottle. Leah sat down closer to the candle and unzipped one of the bags, rummaging through it.

“I can’t believe... I mean Naia... she was only 21. She was younger than both of us,” Phil said quietly so that Leah couldn’t hear.

“I know,” Dan agreed, looking down at the floor.

“And Dylan. Do you think he made it?” Phil asked.

“I don’t know,” Dan replied. “We’ll just... have to wait and see if he shows up. Or any of the others. Oh God, Phil.”

“I hate this,” Phil said softly. It was a simple sentence but it held so much meaning behind it. Phil hated not knowing if his friends were alive or dead, hated the everpresent fear of fucking up and dying, hated what the world had become. Hate hate hate. He felt so much hate, but Dan was always there to keep him grounded and calm. Phil took a deep breath.

“I feel like I’m going to throw up,” he announced quietly but he made no move to step away from Dan’s presence.

Dan hummed in agreement.

They fell into a silence then. Both of them were beyond exhausted and were trying to process all of this.

“Hey, Phil?” Dan finally said.

“Yeah?” Phil replied.

“You really saved me back there. I would have given up if it wasn’t for you. So, thank you,” Dan said, leaning his head on Phil’s chest.

“Of course,” Phil replied, placing a kiss on Dan’s head.

“I love you. I would never leave you behind. Ever,” Phil promised.

Title from Adam Jones - Masterlist

[phanfictioncatalogue]

Long One-Shots (3) Masterlist

part one, part two

all that kindred eyes can see (ao3) - natigail

Summary: Teachers Dan and Phil figure that they could quite easily keep their relationship secret while working at the same school. It's only for half a year after all. But the keen eyes of a trio of friends soon start to pick up on little hints and clues. It's a good thing the students mostly just want to admire their love and figure themselves out along the way.

Age of Miracles - creativphan

Summary: They call it “The Slowing”. Scientists are at a loss for how it is happening and if it will end, all they know is that the earth is spinning slower. Dan and Phil are childhood best friends and forced to face a world trying to destroy itself.

August (ao3) - glowingatmosphere

Summary: When Dan returns home and meets up with his childhood friend Phil after they’ve finished their first year of uni, he notices that things between them are different. As they rekindle their friendship, Dan completely immerses himself in the new feelings that he’s developing for his best friend. But when Phil starts talking about another boy, Dan begins to wonder whether Phil was ever really his.

begin and never cease (ao3) - palomeheart Summary: Dan is a grumpy second year law student living with reclusive, perpetual grad student named Phil. When the holiday season brings out a side of Phil that Dan’s never seen before, Meanwhile, when Phil finds out Dan hates all things festive, he makes it his goal to change Dan’s mind before Christmas. And also to find the perfect mince pie.

billet-doux (ao3) - Tarredion

Summary: Dan and Phil, gang leaders and rivals to the highest degree, harbor big secrets they want no one to see

Blood On Your Hands, Cream In My Coffee - littlephanwriters

Summary: police officer/criminal AU where Dan and Phil are partners assigned to go undercover as a couple to catch a serial killer, and Dan starts to fall in love with Phil while working on the case (alternatively: the crime AU/coffeeshop AU crossover that no one asked for)

Cold, Empty Mattresses and Falling Stars (ao3) - conshellation

Summary: 2009 au where phil and his family own a campground/cabins in an area that is known for stargazing and phil has lived his entire life there, therefore knowing a lot about stars. dan and his family come from the city to said campground because dan is a nerd and asked to come there for his birthday.

Crawl 'til Dawn (ao3) - karcathy

Summary: Dan was not the sort of person who believed in things he had no reason to, like magic, or himself. He preferred not to hope, for one thing. He’d been let down too many times for that. Phil, on the other hand, seem delighted by anything that couldn’t possibly exist. Dan couldn’t understand it, nor could he tell apart the things that Phil genuinely believed in and those he just believed in because he thought it was funny. He wasn’t sure Phil knew himself. He found it equal parts infuriating and charming - that was how he generally felt about Phil, most of the time.

Dies Irae (ao3) - queen_of_seratonin_deficiency

Summary: After a terrible tragedy, Dan is sent to a psychiatric institution where he is supposed to heal from his deep wounds. What happens if he meets someone else with deeper wounds?

every kiss is a cursive line (ao3) - phantasticworks

Summary: Iydlmp Dan and Phil through the months of trials and tribulations it takes to plan a wedding… and the wedding itself. (Sort of)

Fool’s Gold - demonphannie

Summary: Fashion designer, or rather fashion student, Dan Howell has just moved to NYC and meets Phil Lester, an aspiring advertising major. Success seems like an easy task but will Dan’s ambition and trips to the other side of the world interrupt his life too much?

i love you, don't you mind, don’t you mind? (ao3) - velvettwine

Summary: They meet at a lakeside camping in France.

I’m a stitch away from making it (and a scar away from falling apart) - waverlysangels

Summary: Dan Howell is ‘the next big thing’ and Phil Lester is not good for publicity, will the increasing fame create tensions that simply cannot be overcome? Band au, with singer!dan and non-famous  Phil. Established relationship. Fluff and angst. 

let chance take me to your shore (ao3) - basl

Summary: Dan feels like he’s underwater. Everything seems filtered, the voice, the colors, even the pain he was feeling a moment ago. He closes his eyes again.

“Stay with me,” the voice pleads.

But Dan’s tired, and sleep is more inviting.

or 

dan and phil are witches that somehow find each other.

Let Me Down Gently - ineverhadmyinternetphase

Summary: AU in which Dan is (briefly) a lawyer, until he gets fired and kicked out by his girlfriend. Wandering alone at night looking for a place to stay, he happens across a slightly strange man who introduces himself as Phil and who owns a B&B. Without much choice, Dan takes up the offer to stay there, and quickly grows to have a certain fondness for Phil. There’s only one problem: Phil runs the B&B with his long-term partner Alex.

Middle of Somewhere (ao3) - det395

Summary: Phil's an apprentice at a library who is drawn to a regular visitor with fluffy hair and a questionable attitude

Mirror Mirror (ao3) - dont-tell-them-i-write-phan (QueenBoudicatheGreat)

Summary: Dan and Phil get invited to stay at a historical castle with Martyn and Cornelia. Contrariwise, Daniel and Philip aren’t invited anywhere, but not many people can say no to a highly trained thief and a dragon. But that’s totally unrelated

no longer feel alone (ao3) - natigail

Summary: who'd have known that a random act of kindness from a stranger could lead to this.

pastry chef attempts to steal phil's heart (ao3) - sierraadeux

Summary: If anyone asks, Prince Philip's sneaky morning journeys down to the royal pastry kitchen are for nothing more than the perfect cup of coffee.

Song Stuck In My Head - xinyanhowell

Summary: Phil’s best friend is getting married. How can one song change so many lives forever?

super soul (ao3) - waveydnp

Summary: Phil has spent his whole life believing that meeting his soulmate will give his life the meaning he’s been looking for.

Then he meets Dan.

The Act Of Recovery (ao3) - etoilesdephan

Summary: When Dan arrived at the household of the newest recovering drug addict, he expected it to be the same mundane, but important work that he had committed to a few years back. What he didn't expect was that his whole life would be turned around one tentative step at a time, and what was supposed to be his work would become his own salvation.

The Wanting Comes In Waves (ao3) - orphan_account

Summary: "Life is meant to be destructive. We're the only beings that can truly experience it. We need to destroy everything we can so that we can create new things."

After moving to the tiny Welsh coastal village of Rhagfyr, Phil struggles to find a new way of living, what with his new school and the decision of his future still on the table. Dan is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma, but perhaps there’s beauty inside destruction.

Two Chains, Six Letters: On the Edge of 2020 (ao3) - Spring_Haze

Summary: While spending Christmas with his family, Dan discovers an Instagram story that fills his mind with sensual possibilities. He can't wait to surprise his boyfriend on New Year's eve as they continue their ten-year-long tradition of beginning sex in one year and taking it into the next. Both men take turns surprising each other, and the end result leaves each of them speechless and supremely satisfied.

when it rains, it's lemon cakes (ao3) - gogystyle

Summary: "The thought of the boy quickly becomes one of his go-to fantasies, the thing that helps him get through the day, tethering him to reality and making it a bearable experience. And really, Phil thinks that it's a bit much to feel this way about what is, essentially, a complete stranger, but he's always been bad with fantasies, getting lost in them easily, head always filled with impossible scenarios and tender moments he'll never get to experience."

Sneaking around. Crushed pastries at the bottom of the tray. Kisses at dawn and the impending threat of an arranged marriage.

Phil meets a tall stranger on a late-night rendezvous through the castle. What happens when that stranger's smile and laugh fill an entire room, burrowing besides Phil's heart and refusing to leave?

you're always busy being make-believe (ao3) - The_Blonde

Summary: "If there is a start then it was probably just a quick fleeting thought of oh, he’s cute which had just been a statement of fact when confronted with Dan’s curls, freckles and dimples at the coffee machine. Dan has one of those perfectly put together faces that catch at some deeply hidden part of Phil (who does not have one of those faces). He had said who’s that? to PJ who replied that’s Dan, he did some amazing project with, like, cell manipulation or something, years ago. I don’t think he’s done anything here though. He’s cute, right? and Phil had said I didn’t really notice, which implied that there had been some noticing, just not much. Just not to the level that would come later.

Dan is surprised to see Phil, every time he collects him during the alarms, like he’s shocked to have been remembered. Sometimes he reaches out his arm to Phil and Phil wonders if he wants to be carried, lifted right out of the building. I can fly he tells Dan, in his daydreams, where do you want to go?"

Or: 

Phil is a (not so) average Friendly Neighbourhood Superhero who has a hard time keeping up this secret identity thing.

[definitelynot-danielhowell-old]

Daily Dose of Daydreaming - Oneshot

Rated: G

Word Count: 5.1k

Read on AO3

With his parents arguing more and more, and his dad coming home less and less, 7-year-old Dan makes friends with a boy in his backyard

Dan was curled up in his bed, his teddy hugged tight to his chest as he listened to his parent argue from down the hall. He didn’t know why Mumma and daddy were angry. Could it have been something he did? Was it because he asked for a Gameboy Colour for his 8th birthday? Or because he’s been begging for a puppy?

He didn’t know, and it was too much yelling for his little mind to wrap around. He heard quiet footsteps heading towards his room and he squeezed his eyes tight, doing his best to pretend he was asleep. He heard the sound of the voices become dampened as his door was closed.

His heart was racing. He slowly opened his eyes a bit and hugged his teddy closer as he sat up in bed. He got out of bed as quietly as he could and padded over to the door, laying down and looking through the gap between the floor and the door. All he could see were Mumma’s slippers pacing back and forth in the hallway, and daddy’s socks standing in the doorway of their bedroom. He could hear their voices just a little bit but couldn’t make any sense of what they were talking about.

Dan was sitting in the backyard in his sand pit, building some ramps for his dinky cars. He hadn’t heard Mumma and daddy fighting in a few days, but daddy wasn’t home as often, and he missed one of Dan’s softball games. Mumma had told him that it was because he was working late to make extra money, and Dan couldn’t really argue with that, since Mumma always says that money helps buy his snacks and toys.

Dan climbed out of his sand pit and kicked off his runners, picking them up and dumping the sand out of them when he heard an unfamiliar voice.

“Why not dump the sand back in the sandbox?” Dan looked up quickly, dropping his shoes and spinning around to find the voice when his eyes landed on him. He was standing behind a tree in the corner of their yard, his head peeking out just the slightest.

“scuse’ me?” Dan asked, taking a precautious step back and tripping over the sand pit siding. He fell backwards onto his bum and whined loudly, grabbing at his ankle. “Ow, ow, ow,”

The mysterious boy peeked out from behind the tree more to get a better look before running over to the hurt boys’ aide. “Oh dear, are you alright?” He asked leaning over him and looking down at him, tilting his head curiously.

Dan used his other foot to dig into the sand and push himself away from the stranger before crying out, tears swelling in his eyes. “Mumma!”

As soon at the boy screamed for attention, the unknown boy ran back towards the trees.

Dan’s mother opened the screen door to the backyard and poked her head out. “What’s wrong, love?”

“Mu-Mumma I fell and got hurt!”

He could hear his Mum sigh loudly before the screen door closed again. He wiped his tear filled eyes and looked towards the door, not seeing his mum. He began to panic, pushing his curly mop of hair out of his eyes and trying to get up. He only managed to bum-scoot to the side of the sand pit and sat on the wooden beam, sniffling and looking at his ankle, though he could barely see through the hair that had already fallen back into his face, and his tears.

A few moments of quiet passed, only the sound of Dan’s quiet sniffling were able to be heard, until the sound of rustling in the bushes caught Dan’s attention. He turned around on the siding of the sand pit and faced the noise, seeing the mysterious boy poking his head out again.

“You okay?” The quiet voice asked. Dan shook his head a little bit as the boy emerged from the bushes completely, and Dan was able to get a good look at him.

He had light brown hair, almost red like his cousin Olivia. He also had pretty blue eyes. “Are you sick?” Dan’s voice came quietly.

The boy looked at him curiously. “No, why d’you ask?”

“You’re really pale, is all. Nana was really pale, and Mumma said it was because she was ill.”

The boy smiled and walked a bit closer to Dan before sitting on the grass in front of him, crossing his legs. “Not sick. Did you hurt your foot?”

Dan nodded a little. “Jus’ a bit. I think I’m okay, because Mumma didn’t come out and look at it. But it hurt’s lots.”

“I’m sorry you’re hurt, friend.” He gave a soft smile to the hurt child and reached to pat his knee.

“I’ll be okay,” Dan mumbled, wiping the last of his tears away. “I’m Dan.” He reached his sand-covered hand out towards the boy.

The stranger smiled and was reaching for Dan’s hand—

“Daniel! Supper time!” Dan’s mum yelled from inside the house. Dan spun around quickly towards her voice. When he turned back to his new friend, the boy was gone. Where did he go? Did he run again because of Dan’s Mumma? Mumma probably would’ve invited his friend in for supper, Dan thought.

“Friend?” Dan called, but not too loudly to catch his mum’s attention. He got up from his spot on the ledge and wobbled over towards the cluster of tree’s. He began looking around the tree’s and bushes for a few minutes before he heard his mum yell to him again.

“Dan! Get inside now!”

Dan frowned and let his eyes scan the trees quickly, not seeing any sign of his friend. He hobbled back to his sand pit and cleaned up his dinky cars before going inside to have a quiet meal with his Mumma.

-

A few weeks passed without seeing his new friend. Daddy had been coming home less and less, missing more and more of Dan’s sports games. Mumma continued to tell him it was because he was working, or busy. On nights that his daddy did come home, he’d come into Dan’s room quietly, hug him close, and kiss his forehead before leaving and closing the door behind him. The nights that would happen were also the nights that he’d hear Mumma and daddy arguing again.

A lot of the time it sounded like Mumma was crying, but he had never seen her crying.

One specific night, his Dad had come into his room, hugged him, and Dan looked up at him with tear-brimmed eyes.

“Daddy?” His voice was quiet, but his dad just hugged him tighter.

“Yeah, kiddo?”

“When will you come home?”

Dan rested his head against his chest and could feel the rumble of his dads’ chuckle through his chest. “I’m home right now, buddy.”

“I mean…I mean all the time…”

“Soon, I promise. Things are just…really busy at work right now.”

Dan frowned and gripped his dad’s t-shirt, curling up against him and closing his eyes. “Will you come to my game Saturday?”

He felt as his dad inhaled deeply and pressed a kiss to the top of his head. “Yeah, buddy, I’ll be there.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.”

Dan held out his little hand, sticking out his pinky. “Pinky promise?”

Dan’s dad smiled and linked his pinky the best he could with Dan’s little finger. “Pinky promise.”

Dan said goodnight to his dad again before he left Dan’s room, closing the door behind him.

Dan laid back on his pillows and hugged his teddy close, falling asleep with a small smile on his lips.

-

His dad hadn’t been home when they left for Dan’s game, but his mum had reassured him that he would meet them at the game.

Dan’s team started their warm ups, but Dan kept his eyes on his mum as much as possible, waiting for his dad to show up.

At half-time, Dan had run over to his mum, his curls sweaty and in his face and his cheeks tinted red. “Is Daddy coming?” He asked, looking up at her with wide eyes.

She knelt down in front of him and took off his cap, pushing his curls back off his face and putting the cap back on to hold them in place out of his eyes. “I called him a few times, he isn’t answering. I’m sure he just got held up at work or something, love. I’m sure he’ll make it before the end of the game.”

Dan’s face dropped to a frown and his gaze landed on the grass beneath his cleats. “But…But he promised, mumma…”

She rested a hand on his shoulder, rubbing it softly. “I know he did, sweets, but sometimes thing’s happen. I’m sure he’s trying super hard to get here.” His mother said softly, with some uncertainty in her voice.

Dan shrugged off her hand before turning away and walking back towards his team. “’kay…”

Dan wasn’t able to focus for the second hand of the game, not that he was able to focus much the first half. Now, instead of feeling hopeful for his dad’s arrival, he was dreading it. He felt angry, frustrated, sad. He wanted to cry but didn’t want the other boys to laugh at him like they would at school.

When he was finally up to bat, he missed all of the pitches, barely coming close to hitting any of them. Usually it didn’t bother him if he got out, but today he felt different. He felt pushed to his limits. So, he did what any other 7 year old would do.

He lashed out. He screamed and stomped and threw his bat as forcefully as he could towards the fence, though it mostly just rolled on the dirt. He pulled off his helmet and chucked it too, letting out another blood-curdling scream as he fell to the dirt and began crying and sobbing harshly.

The coach and his Mum came running towards him.

“Daniel James Howell you stop this right now!” He heard his Mum yell at him as she got closer.

“C’mon, Sport, let’s get off the field, yeah?” His coach said, his voice a bit closer than his Mums had been.

He felt a hand grab his arm and he flailed, screaming again. “Don’t touch me! Go!”

The hand let go before he felt arms wrap around his middle and pick him up. He cried louder and kicked his legs, squirming the best he could to get out of the arms carrying him away. After a few moments of wiggling, he had managed to turn around in their arms before his nose was filled with the familiar scent of his Mum. He sobbed into her neck, wrapping his arms around her shoulders tight.

“Shh, baby, I’ve got you, shh, please…” His Mum spoke softly into his ear, a firm hand rubbing slow, soothing circles on his back. Dan did his best to breathe, but only sobbed and hiccupped more, not able to catch his breath.

He stopped kicking and flailing, relaxing into his Mums embrace as she carried him off of the field. She sat on a bench a little bit away from the parents in the stands and sat Dan in her lap, brushing his curls away from his face. “Sweetheart, what happened?”

“H-He didn’t c-co-come Mumma…”

She sighed quietly and pressed a kiss to his forehead, hugging him closer. “I know, baby, I know…That isn’t your fault, though, okay?”

“Does Daddy hate me?”

He looked up at his Mum with his dark brown eyes that shined with more tears. His Mum wiped his tears from his cheeks and shook her head.

“Of course he doesn’t, my love. Nothing is your fault. Daddy loves you very, very much.”

“Wh-Why is he never here, Mumma?”

She sighed softly and gently twisted one of his loose curls around her finger. “I wish I knew, buttercup. I wish I knew…”

-

His dad hadn’t come home that night, but after Dan was tucked into bed, he could hear his Mumma talking angrily over the phone, to his dad, Dan presumed.

His dad wasn’t at the next game, either, or the game after that.

Dan had been getting less and less sleep, also. Usually to stay awake to listen for his daddy to come home, which wasn’t very often, and the nights he did come home, he’d have to listen to his daddy yelling at Mumma, and Mumma crying.

Many notes had been sent home about Dan’s performance at school, as well, but Dan had managed to hide them before his Mumma could go through his backpack.

His Mumma was sadder than usual, which made him sad, too.

Dan walked in the door one day after school and grabbed the note from that that out of his bag, crumpled it up, and shoved it in his pocket. He went and set his backpack on the dining room table before going to hug his mummy’s legs.

She patted his hair softly. “How was school, love?”

“Fine.” He said quietly and hugged her legs tighter. She knelt down next to him and gave him the most genuine smile she could as she pulled him in for a proper hug.

Dan wrapped his arms around her neck and relaxed against her, closing his eyes. The paper crinkled in his pocket, and she pulled away, holding him by his shoulders

“What was that, sweets?”

“Nothing, Mumma.” He answered quickly, shaking his head.

“Are you lying to me?” She asked with a slight raise of her brow.

Dan’s gaze quickly dropped to the floor as he nodded. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the slip of paper, handing it to her slowly.

She thanked him before uncrumpling the paper the best she could and reading it. “Danny, how many of these have you gotten?” His Mum asked as her eyes skimmed over the note.

“A few…”

“Daniel.” She said more firmly.

“Dunno how many, Mumma. Lots.”

“Where have you been putting them all?”

“In my toy drawer…” Dan’s voice was quiet. “Didn’t wanna upset you Mumma…”

His mum sighed and reached up to set the note on the counter behind her before ruffling Dan’s curls again. “Alright, love. Go play out back, yeah? Supper will be ready in a bit.”

“Are you angry with me?”

She smiled softly down at him, holding her hand to her chest and shaking her head slowly. “Of course not, love. It’s not your fault.”

Dan nodded, not quite understanding how it wasn’t his fault. He was the one who was getting notes home, isn’t it his fault?

Instead of thinking about it too hard, he went and got his outdoor shoes on and went into the backyard. He grabbed his dinky cars from a toybox in their yard and went into his sandpit, dumping them all out of their bucket.

“Dan?” He heard a voice say, almost in a whisper. Dan looked around quickly before his eyes landed on the pale boy with the blue eyes.

“Friend!” He said excitedly, getting up and climbing out of the sandbox, walking over to him.

“I haven’t seen you in so long, Dan. Are you okay?”

Dan shrugged a bit, looking at the dinky cars in his hands. “Kinda, I guess.”

The boy stepped a bit closer. “May I play?”

Dan’s face lit up again and he nodded, walking back to the sandpit and plopping down in the sand, organizing a few different cars. “Okay you can play with these three and I get these three because they’re super fast.”

The other boy nodded as they play. They built ramps, roads, and garages for their cars. They made silly car noises with their mouths and elaborate stories and backstories for each car.

After a little while of playing, Dan looked over at the other boy curiously. “Friend?”

The other boy looked up, smiling brightly in his direction. “Yeah, Dan?”

“What’s your name?” Dan dropped his cars and turned to look at his sandbox friend, tilting his head towards him curiously.

“I’m Phil!”

Dan matched his smile. “Are we friends, Phil?”

Phil nodded a bit, pushing his ginger-y hair away from his eyes. “You’re my bestest friend.”

Dan giggled and bounced a little in his spot. “You’re my bestest friend too, Phil.”

The boys played for a bit longer before Dan’s tummy grumbled. He glanced towards his house before looking at Phil. “Are you hungry?”

Phil shook his head. “No. You can go eat if you are, though.”

“You sure?”

Phil nodded and smiled. “Yeah!”

“Will you come back to play?”

“Of course! You’re lotsa fun!”

“Okay, okay! I’ll try and be quick.”

Phil nodded and watched as Dan got up and ran towards his house.

Dan pulled the back door opened and was immediately met with his parents yelling. His heart began racing at the loud sounds coming from his parents before they both stopped and turned to look at him.

His Mumma’s makeup was running and she kinda looked like a raccoon, and if Dan wasn’t afraid of getting yelled at, he probably would’ve told her that, but something inside his brain was telling him that now wasn’t the time to be silly.

“What do you want, Daniel?” She asked harshly, her hands resting on the counter as she leaned against them, looking towards him.

“I-I…Uh…I’m hungry Mumma…”

She furrowed her brows and glanced at the time on the oven, seeing it was nearly 7:30pm. “Shit…” She hissed under her breath and stood up straight, rubbing her face and smudging her makeup more.

Dan picked at his nails nervously and looked between his Mum and Dad. “Act-Actually I came to tell you I’m not that hungry, really…”

“Don’t be silly Dan, I just…” She sighed and went to dig through the pantry before emerging with a box of cereal. “I didn’t get around to making anything. Will cereal do?”

“With milk?”

His mum set the box on the counter before going and opening the fridge. “We’re out of milk, love. Can you eat it dry?”

Dan nodded a bit and stepped in, grabbing the cereal box and dashing out the door before either of them could speak to him again.

He went to his little playground set and carefully tossed the cereal box up onto the platform at the top of the slide before climbing up the ladder and sitting cross-legged in one corner away from the slide. He opened the box and pulled out the cereal bag, carefully opening it like his Dad had shown him. Dan managed not to tear the plastic open too much and began eating the dry cereal piece by piece slowly.

He looked through the metal bars of his jungle-gym back at the trees and bushes behind their property. That’s where Phil liked to hide, Dan figured. “Phil?” He called, hearing no response from his ginger-y friend. He frowned and called out a bit louder. “Phil?”

After seeing no sign of movement among the trees and bushes, Dan settled against the bars a bit more and began smooshing handfuls of the dry cereal into his mouth. He got distracted as he ate, watching a few ants picking up cereal crumbs and carrying them away, when suddenly, a voice came from behind him.

“Dan?”

Dan sat up and looked out through the bars. “Phil! I’m up here!” He said excitedly, happy his new friend was back to play. He watched as the boy walked over towards the jungle-gym and nervously looked up the ladder.

“Is it…safe?”

“Of course, it is! See! I’m up here just fine!”

Phil stared at him for a moment longer before beginning to climb the ladder up. When he made it to the top, he shakily crawled to sit next to Dan against the bars. “This is really high up.”

Dan shrugged a bit, smiling at Phil softly. “Not really. Not if you don’t focus on it.”

Phil looked down between them at the looked circles in the floor that look down directly to the grass below them. “Hard not to focus on being so high…when you are so high…” He said softly, gulping. “What if it falls? We’ll be crushed beneath it all, Dan, we could die up here! It’s basically the height of—”

Before Phil could register what was happening, Dan had shoved a piece of cereal into Phil’s mouth. He giggled softly, watching him freeze up before chewing it slowly.

“What is that?”

“Shreddies cereal.”

“That’s delicious.”

Dan shrugged, popping another piece of cereal into his own mouth. “Not really, it tastes better with milk. Sometimes Mumma add brown sugar too.”

“Why are you eating it without those things, then?”

Dan sighed quietly and shrugged his shoulders again. “My Mumma said we didn’t have any milk. She also didn’t make me any dinner, so this was what she gave me…”

“Oh Dan…I’m so sorry. Is she gonna make you dinner for when you go back inside?”

“Probably not. She’s in there with my Dad. I think they’re fighting again.” He looked up at Phil, frowning a bit, and immediately, Phil knew he hated seeing that look on his face.

No matter how scared he was, he wanted to make his new friends face light up again like it had earlier. He stood up on shaky legs, gripping the railing of the bars and looking around. “We could be pirates up here!”

After a few moments and looking up at Phil, Dan slowly stood to join him. “We aren’t anywhere near the water though.”

Phil giggled and gently tapped Dan’s head. “Gotta use your imagination!”

Barely 5 minutes later, the cereal long forgotten, Dan and Phil were pretending to be pirates. Dan fearlessly climbed on top of the railings, being careful to hold onto the bars as he pretended to look out over the imaginary ocean. Phil was more reluctant, clinging to the bars and not climbing any higher, but still laughing along with Dan.

They played and played long past the sun setting. They had both become run-down and resorted to laying on the grass and staring at the stars.

“Daniel? May I ask you a question?” Phil’s voice had come quiet, both of their gazes on the sky above.

“Mmhm?”

Phil sat up, leaning back on his hands and turning slightly to look down at his curly haired friend. “Are you sad?”

Dan sat up now, too, tilting his head slightly and leaning back on his hands. “I dunno…Not while playing with you.”

“Daniel…why are you sad?”

Dan sat forward a little more, taking the weight off his hands and moving to wrap his arms around his knees, hugging them to his chest. “How do you even know I’m sad?” He asked with a quiet, unsure voice.

Phil shrugged a tiny bit and tilted his head up at the stars. “I can just tell, I guess.”

Dan sighed quietly and stared back up at the stars as well. “I just…I don’t know. I just feel sad a lot of the time. But Mumma is sad too, so I think it’s okay that I’m sad.”

“I don’t think that’s how it works.”

The boys both looked towards the direction of the house as they heard the sound of a door slamming, then a car starting, and finally zooming away down the street. Immediately, Dan began curling into himself more.

“Is that why you’re sad?” Phil asked in a quiet voice, scooting a little bit closer to his friend. He watched closely as Dan gave him the faintest of nods, and he could see his friends’ eyes begin to water. “Is the person gonna come back? Who is it?”

“My daddy…he’ll come back. Not soon...but eventually.”

“Why does it make you sad?” He asked as nicely as he could, leaning closer into his friend to provide comfort.

“Because…him and Mumma yell a lot. Mumma tells me he just works a lot, but he broke a promise…”

“A promise? What kind of promise?”

Dan leaned into Phil’s side a little more, whispering quietly. “A pinky promise.”

Phil gasped quietly. “But…But you can’t break those! Why would he do that?”

“Because he’s a mean liar…Mumma tells me it’s not my fault, but I dunno why else he’d break a pinky promise…”

Phil shook his head a bit, frowning towards his companion. “I’m sorry Danny…Can I make a pinky promise with you?”

“Maybe…What is it?”

Phil held out his little, pale pinky. “I pinky promise to be your bestest friend forever and ever.”

Dan slowly cracked a smile, the gap in his mouth from his recently lost tooth visible as he linked pinkies with Phil. “I pinky promise to be your bestest friend forever and ever, too.”

Phil grinned and then clasped their hands together, moving to lay back down on the cool grass again. Dan followed quickly, laying down next to him and sighing happily.

“Thank you, Philly.” He said softly, becoming entranced with the stars. They laid there silently, both admiring the glowing dots in the sky.

The dots slowly disappeared as Dan’s eyelids grew heavy. He blinked slowly, a quiet yawn escaping his lips as he felt Phil squeeze his hand a little tighter.

“Night, night, Danny…”

Dan mumbled something incoherent back as he easily slipped into a deep sleep.

Dan was jolted awake by the sound of his mother’s voice yelling at him. He bolted straight up and looked around him in a panic.

“Phil?” He called out, moving to his feet and walking back towards the darkness of the trees and shrubs. “Phil?” He shouted even louder.

“Daniel!” His mother’s voice shouted even louder. “Get inside, it’s bloody freezing out there!”

Dan kept his gaze on the tree trunks as he began walking backwards towards the house. “Mumma, where did Phil go?” He asked once he was a bit closer to the house.

“Who’s Phil, dear?” She opened the screen door for him and pulled him in. “Oh Daniel, your clothes are all dewy and damp!” She complained, shaking her head. “Go upstairs and get into your pyjamas before you catch a cold.”

“Mumma, Phil’s my friend! I-I don’t know where he went!” Dan’s breathing quickened the more he began to panic about the whereabouts of his new friend. “Mumma we gotta go find him!”

Dan’s Mum raised an eyebrow. She hadn’t remembered any children living near them, mostly retired couples and young couples, no other families. “Did he go home?”

“I-I dunno Mumma! We-We fell asleep on the grass and when I-I woke up he was gone!” Dan’s voice was higher pitched than normal as he walked around his Mum to go peer outside the glass door. “We gotta—”

“Daniel, love, he probably went home. Is he visiting grandparents, maybe? Which side of the house did he come from?”

“He didn’t come from either side, Mumma. He came from the bushes in the back forest!”

She furrowed her eyebrows, crouching down next to him and rubbing his damp back. The back forest? She wondered to herself. Behind their property was a few acres of forest, and then fields for miles and miles. “Sweetheart, how long were you playing with him for?”

“All night, Mumma!”

She sighed softly and kissed the side of his head. “Love, you weren’t playing with anyone when I looked out.”

“We played cars in the sandbox and pirates on the playground…”

“Baby, could this…Phil be an imaginary friend?”

“No, Mumma, that’s silly. He’s real and we played together. He even said we were bestest friends forever. We pinky promised!”

He turned to look at her, watching as she frowned. “Love, how about you go get ready for bed?”

“But what about Phil?”

“I’ll…I’ll go knock on doors and see if he’s staying with anyone, okay?”

Dan frowned a bit and nodded, looking back out among the trees again before a gentle hand was slowly turning him around to the direction of the stairs.

Dan slowly went upstairs to his bedroom, looking out his window for any sign of his friend.

Dan’s mum rubbed her face and sighed, recounting every time she had looked out to check up on her son. Sure, he had been smiling and giggling as he ran around the yard playing games, but not once had she seen another boy outside playing with him.

Knowing her son would ask countless questions, she decided to humour him and walked out of the house, going around and knocking on a few doors. She had asked their neighbours if they had a boy named Phil staying with them, all of them answering no, and a few of the older couples looking skeptical.

After trying 7 different neighbours, she had given up and went back into the house, going upstairs to Dan’s room. Her son was standing in front of his window, his face squished up against the glass, and a small circle of fog on the glass from him breathing on the glass.

“Love, it’s time to get into bed, yeah?” She prompted softly, walking over to her son and placing a gentle hand on his back.

“What if he doesn’t make it home, Mumma? What if a bear eats him?”

She couldn’t help but chuckle quietly and run her fingers through his curls that still had pieces of grass in them. “We don’t have bears around this area, Love. And…And you don’t need to worry about him getting home. I went to the neighbours. He’s staying with his grandmother a few doors down, but uh, he’s heading home tomorrow. So, no need to worry, okay?” She hated lying to her son, but it was the only thing she could do to keep her son from worrying too much.

Dan frowned, but nodded a bit, his chest tightening. “I don’t want him to be gone, Mumma…”

“I know, sweets, but I’m sure he’ll be back someday to visit and play again. For now, how about you get some sleep?”

Dan let his shoulders drop as his Mum lead him towards his bed. She pulled back the blankets for him and moved to sit on the edge of the mattress once he was comfortable and bundled him, grasping his teddy to his chest.

His mother kissed his forehead and sang a few songs to him quietly, continuously running her fingers through his shaggy curls.

Dan drifted to sleep slowly, dreaming of his pale, blue eyed friend.

[phanhowlterstuff-blog]

Stomach flu

Summary: Dan doesn’t want to get his fourth strike

Word count: 1.289

TW: puking

A/N: Prompt from the blog Phanfic cause where else?

|read on ao3| |read on wattpad|

Dan groaned when he woke up and quickly covered his abdomen as the pain he felt there was unbearable, Dan opened his eyes but closed them hard quickly when a headache started to form

Dan checked his clock; 7:00 am, the school starts 8:00 am and the bus arrives 7:38 am, so Dan quickly went to the bathroom and urinated, and boy did he urinate a lot. After that he got dressed in his grey sweatshirt, black skinny jeans and white converse sneakers, ate breakfast and brushed his teeth

But after brushing his teeth he quickly opened the toilet seat and vomited, Dan panicked, he can't be sick, he has to go to school today and he can't miss it, so Dan took some toilet paper and wiped his mouth, threw it in the toiler and flushed the it, drank a glass of water and brushed his teeth. Again.

Dan quickly got his school bag and went outside and waited for the bus, he doesn't care if he's sick, he can't miss another school day cause then it'll be his fourth day 'skipping' and he can't skip five days cause then he'll be kicked out or get a warning

The bus arrived and Dan quickly got in, he took the seat in the middle which was the only seat that wasn't occupied, he put his earphones in and shuffled his playlist, looking out the window, he likes listening to music but mostly in car rides cause then he's real into his thoughts as he looks at the passing people and trees

When the bus stopped at his school, he quickly got out and pocketed his earphones and his iPhone X

Dan's face was paler now than when he woke up and feels like shit but doesn't want anyone to notice so he tries to act normal, he acts like there's no pain in his abdomen, a god awful headache and the feeling of needing to puke every five minutes

"Dan!", he heard his name being called by his boyfriend, Phil and boy did Dan not want to see him right cause Phil has this magic -in Dan's opinion- that he always knows how he feels and thinks and it bloody scares him, really

"Dan, no I don't have 'magic' inside of me", Phil say'd one evening when Dan was at his house on his bed, just talking and totally not after having sex

"I don't believe you", Dan said, folding his arms and looking away from Phil

Phil giggle and scooted closer to Dan, "I promise, Dan, and it's impossible to have magic in reality"

"Pinkie promise?"

"Pinkie promise."

Dan still doesn't believe him.

"Phil, how are you this fine morning?", Dan said when he arrived to Phil's locker where he was located

"Well shitty first of all cause I almost missed the bus", Phil said and quickly pecked Dan's lips which made Dan worried cause Phil might get sick cause of him and god he doesn't want that to happen again

"That's cause you should never stay up late at night doing god knows what", Dan said opening his locker, which was right beside Phil's

"You're the one to talk", Phil muttered, earning a bump on his shoulder and a 'hey!' from Dan making Phil giggle and bump his shoulder back and that's when he noticed how Dan is a lot paler than usual, "You okay? You look pale", he said frowning

Dan was quick to respond, "Aah! Yeah, guess I haven't been much outside lately", it didn't convince Phil and Dan noticed but hoped Phil would change the topic and Phil knew that Dan wanted to but he wouldn't give up without knowing the real reason

"You sure? And you look like shit, to be honest.."

And he sure felt like shit, "Wow, thanks, Phil", Dan turned away and got his books for the next class; English

"Dan, you know what I mean", Phil said taking his books too for the same class, "If you're not feeling well then you should go home"

"I feel well, Phil, actually I feel fantastic", Dan sighed as they started to walk towards their class, "Like I said, I haven't gone outside lately so that's why I'm little paler", and that's when he felt the puke crawling up his throat and quickly ran towards the nearest restroom

Phil quickly followed him to see Dan sitting by the toilet puking his guts out, he quickly did what he usually does and stroked his back and watched as the disgusting liquid left Dan's mouth

"Dan, you should go home", Phil said as he gave Dan a toilet paper to wipe his mouth with after he finished

"No, Phil, I'll get the fourth strike and that's closer to the fifth", Dan explained and wiped his mouth with the paper and threw it in the toilet then flushed it

"Dan! You're sick, you can't be in school", Phil said, leading Dan to the sink to drink water, "You should be at home, sleeping all day and eat one of those fantastic soups your mother makes"

"No", Dan said stubbornly and wiped his mouth with his sweatshirt

"Dan"

"Phil"

Phil sighed and took both Dan's hands, "Go home"

Dan frowned, "Are you trying to get me away from you?"

"Ugh, no! Dan!", Phil said and grasped Dan's hands harder, "You can make other people sick, and of course I don't want you to get away from you, I want you to be close to me as much as possible but you can't now cause you're sick"

It was Dan's time to sigh and put his face on Phil's shoulder, "I don't want to"

"Dan, I'm worried, okay?", Phil said stroking Dan's hair, "I can escort you home but then I have to go back to school, okay?"

Dan nodded and they started to walk out of the school, hand-in-hand, "But, Phil", Dan started when they were out of the school ground, "You'll be late to class!"

"Being late better than skipping", Phil smiled

When they arrived at Dan's house, his mother was surprised to see her son come early home and Phil with him, "Honey, what are you doing here?", she asked when Dan and Phil arrived to the living room

"He's sick, Ms Howell", Phil said and that's when Dan's mother took notice of how pale Dan was and nodded

“I'll make chicken soup for you, dear"

Dan smiled at her thankfully and was led to his room by Phil, "Do you have to go back?"

Phil frowned and tucked Dan in his bed after Dan got undressed to his boxers, "Well I don't want to skip, I'm already at strike four"

"Come back to me, honey, tell me stories on what happened and don't forget me", Dan said dramatically, earning a chuckle and kiss to the forehead by Phil

"I won't", and Phil that’s when he left after saying goodbye to Dan's mother, who was struggling cutting down the chicken

School was normal and quick to pass by but for Dan it felt like an eternity waiting for Phil

"Honey, I'm home!", Phil exclaimed as he opened the door in Dan's bedroom

"Oh how I missed you, dear!", Dan said quickly and hugged Phil tight when he came closer to the bed, "I thought you'd never return!"

"For you, I'll always return", Phil said, breaking character and laughed which Dan joined quickly in, “Now let’s watch something”

The day passed with them cuddling on Dan's bed, watching some sappy movies on Netflix and share lazy kisses which Dan didn't want to at first cause he was afraid Phil would get sick too but Phil didn't care at the moment so Dan gave quickly in

[nohshinwoos]

soft kisses

Phil is up later than usual editing a video and Dan just wants him to come to bed.

words: 1041 chapters: 1/1 rating: general audiences relationships: dan howell/phil lester notes: a big thank you to my two good friends & betas sari and paula for the help and support on this. i love both of you very much! the inspiration for this came from this post with prompts, and the "come to bed kisses" prompt. hope you guys enjoy it :D

[read on ao3]

[glitterrhowell]

I’m Proud of Us

I’m proud of us *Repost*

Pairing:  Daniel Howell & AmazingPhil (Phan)

Words: 330

Genre: Phan, Fluff, Teeth rotting fluff, sweet, Interactive Introverts

Summary: Dan and Phil have finished the first show of their tour and Phil can't get over how beautiful and proud of Dan he is

Read on Ao3

Read on Wattpad

Thank you to the wonderful Ori (pmlsmile) For betaing this story!

...................................

They took the final bow and the crowd erupted in clapping and cheering Phil couldn’t help but glance over at his boyfriend. Dan was beautiful the lights were shining on his pale skin giving it a glow, there was sweat dripping off his forehead and he had the biggest smile plastered on his face. He couldn’t help but grin as Dan’s eyes met his, he didn’t care who saw because at this moment it was just him and Dan.

They had completed their first show of many across the world and he was so proud of them, but he was even more proud of Dan. Dan the shy bullied emo boy who reached out to Phil on Twitter. Dan had grown so much since then and Phil had been with him every step of the way, sometimes it wasn’t easy but he held him when he was depressed and sad and stood by his side always.

Phil’s eyes started to fill with tears he couldn’t imagine his life without his best friend his soul mate. Phil wiped the tears and he tore his eyes away from Dan, they both waved a final goodbye to the audience and they walked off stage.

Phil didn’t even give Dan a moment to catch his breath before he was pulling him into a bone-crushing hug. Dan yelped in surprise but quickly melted into Phil and wrapped his arms around him. He kissed the top of Dan’s head and pulled away. “I’m so Proud of you Bear.” He said looking into Dan’s eyes tears threatening to spill again.

Dan looked slightly confused before he gave a sweet smile and pulled Phil in for another hug, “I’m proud of us, I could never have done any of this without you, Phil.” Dan said quietly. Phil smiled and planted a soft Kiss on his lips, “I love you so much Bear.”

Latching on to Phil again he sighed “I love you too Phil.” Phil didn’t argue he didn’t tell him that Dan had saved him more times then he could count, how if it hadn’t have been for Dan he wouldn’t be standing where he was today. He knew Dan knew this is some way or another and both knew that they have always and would always be each other's home and be in it together.