Chapter Text
In Phil’s opinion, Spider-Man was the most interesting thing to have ever happened in the world. Never before had there been a masked man swinging from buildings and protecting people from the ever-present dangers of society. Since he was first spotted two years ago, Phil had become transfixed; plotting every place Spider-Man had been sighted, following every social media account that posted pictures of the masked hero and saving every newspaper clipping he found.
Then he met Dan, and Phil had found someone who interested him more than Spider-Man. Dan was fascinating. Not as outgoing as Phil, but he had a sense of humour that was unlike anyone else that Phil knew, and underneath his sarcastic demeanor, there was a heart of gold. They’d only met up in person a handful of times, but Phil was completely taken by this boy. The boy that was currently cuddled up to him on Phil’s bed as Muse played from his CD player.
They laid together in silence, Phil’s hands absently playing with Dan’s hair. It had been two weeks since they’d last seen each other, but to Phil it felt like an eternity. He longed for Dan to be with him always: to talk to, to laugh with, to kiss. Now he was finally here again and Phil’s mind was running wild.
Phil knew that he had an active imagination. Growing up, his teachers deemed it a distraction, saying his head was ‘always up in the clouds’. However, his creative mind had allowed him to create the videos that no one else had ever thought of, and given him opportunities he never thought possible.
But Phil had drawn some interesting parallels lately between his favourite web-swinging hero and Dan that he’d certainly be called crazy for. Locations that Spider-Man had been spotted in, that matched where Dan had also been at that time. Some nights where Dan was completely unreachable, despite never getting off Skype with him otherwise. Dan’s backpack having one of those bike locks on it, making it unable to be opened without a code. Phil knew that there could be other perfectly reasonable explanations for all of these things, but his interest was certainly piqued. Letting his imagination run wild had never harmed anyone (other than himself when that one video idea led to a minor accident), and it’s not like he was about to go blurting out his thoughts about this to anyone else.
In the present, Dan turned his body to face Phil, effectively snapping the older boy out of his train of thought, which he believed was chugging into delusion station.
“Any other plans for tonight?” Dan asked, smirking as if he already knew the answer.
Phil brought a hand up to cradle Dan’s face, the other smoothing through his hair despite the twelve layers of hairspray that currently clung to the strands, trying to force them to remain straight, much to Phil’s displeasure. He secretly loved Dan’s curls, but knew how much Dan hated how he looked with what he grumpily called his Hobbit-hair.
His eyes darted from Dan’s chestnut eyes down to his lips and back, over and over again, pretty sure Dan’s were doing the same to his face, making Phil’s other hopes for the night rather obvious. Then again, Dan had also been obvious in the way he had been leaning in, his hand sneaking across the space between them to start to pull Phil closer by the front of his shirt before he was even half way through his question.
Spider-Man had been effectively removed from Phil’s head during his internal musings and all he could bring himself to care about right now was Dan Howell, and how quickly his mouth had just crashed against his.
Over the next few weeks, Phil’s Spider-Dan conspiracy, as he had taken to calling it in his head, only grew.
He began to document things, buying a notebook specifically for this theory. He was originally just going to use his laptop, but figured there was a higher chance of Dan snooping around on there and finding out. If he wouldn’t have to hide it all away whenever Dan came to visit, he might even be tempted to make one of those ‘murder boards’ like the ones in all those crime shows.
In the six days Dan and Phil were apart after Dan went home that Friday, Dan missed two of Phil’s nightly calls, and was unreachable for at least one hour during each day. Phil could put this down to family stuff, but these times of unavailability directly lined up with Spider-Man sightings that he was tracking on social media.
The next thing he focused on was the locations of these sightings. Spider-Man was usually spotted in Southern England, where Dan lived. However, there was evidence that he was in London on Halloween night, which is where Dan and Phil were. If he was right, Phil didn’t know how he felt about the idea of his… Dan sneaking out of their hotel room while he was sound asleep.
Then there was Dan’s behavior overall. He was always a bit elusive about certain topics, but when he finally answered Phil after his daily disappearances, he would always change the subject when Phil asked him what he’d done that day. And despite being the clumsiest person Phil had ever met (the Butterfingers video was no joke), Dan had some crazy reflexes sometimes.
Another thing was Dan’s backpack. Phil had never seen it open at all. It was always there, but its contents were a mystery, bike lock firmly fastened and keeping the zips shut.
However, what was most concerning to Phil were the bruises and unexplained injuries. A part of him worried about it being from his home life, but these marks were in weird spots. A bruised tailbone. A cut on his calf. A bruise just on his eyebrow that would be unnoticeable to everyone but Phil, who was only able to spot the mark due to their regular close proximity and the amount of time he’d spent memorising those beautiful features.
Looking at his work, Phil knew that despite it all being absolutely insane, the evidence was, in fact, there. But how could he possibly go about handling this? He couldn’t confront Dan, at least not yet. If he was wrong, he would be laughed off the face of the planet. There was a chance it could all just be coincidence, right?
But if he was right… Phil couldn’t even imagine what would happen if he was right. He knew Dan well enough to know he would carry a secret like that alone, so that no one else could be hurt by it. The boy was too selfless and shouldered expectations and secrets alike, determined not to be a burden to those around him. The only exception Phil had uncovered so far was the secret of whatever they were becoming, which they carried together, but that was different.
Phil had a feeling that if he told Dan that he knew, or at least suspected, he would do whatever he thought would protect Phil, even if it meant cutting ties. The idea of that sent a shiver down his spine. It might have only been a short while that they had known each other, but he couldn’t go back to a life without Dan by his side (and on his laptop screen).
These thoughts were rattling around Phil’s head one lonely night, when Dan wouldn’t respond to his calls. Eventually, Phil knew that there was no point in ruminating on this conspiracy any longer that night, and turned on the only thing that could even remotely distract him: Buffy. As he watched the antics play out on screen that he’d seen countless times, Phil must have drifted off to sleep, as the next time he checked his phone, it was morning.
And when he squinted at his phone screen, trying to see without his glasses, he noticed something that made his heart stop.
A missed call from Dan at 4am.
Phil jumped up, putting his glasses on crooked as he grabbed his laptop and notebook. This could make or break his conspiracy. Dan had never called him during his unanswerable nights before. Regardless, the late call worried Phil. Whether or not Dan was Spider-Man, it was clear he would have only called at that time if he needed Phil. So before Phil went diving back into his research, he picked up his phone again and sent Dan a message asking if he was alright.
Then, he went to work. He looked through the usual Spider-Man accounts, cross-checking times and locations. Eventually, he found a photo: 3.55am, Spider-Man sitting on the top of an old town library.
If he was being completely honest, Phil did not know what this could mean. There’s a chance Dan could have called him while still in the suit right? But it was pretty clear that whatever was happening, Spider-Man was out and about when Dan called Phil.
It was at that moment that Phil heard his phone ring.
“Hey Dan, are you alright?” Phil asked immediately.
“Yeah, I’m fine, don’t worry,” he responded, but it didn’t escape Phil’s notice just how tired Dan sounded.
As they continued to talk, Dan explained that he just had a hard night at home.
“Do you want to come here a day earlier?” Phil asked. Dan was already coming to visit in two days, but maybe this could be his way of protecting him. Whatever Dan had going on, the one thing Phil could do is provide him with a safe space.
There was a moment of silence on the other end until Phil heard a quiet, nervous “Yes please, if that’s okay,” as if that wasn’t the best response Phil could possibly hope for. Now he’d only have to wait half the time to see Dan with his own eyes and determine for himself if the boy was actually ok.