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Phil plopped down on the couch next to Dan. He rested his head on Dan’s shoulder and watched him play Fortnite until he died. “Hey babe,” Phil said softly once Dan exited to the menu.
“Hey,” Dan said, putting his arm around Phil’s shoulders to hold him. “Bored?”
“Yeah, I finished my book,” Phil told him. He reached up and touched one of Dan’s curls that was out of place, smiling as he watching it bounce back into shape.
Dan looked up at Phil’s hand, pretending to be annoyed but not actually minding. “Was it good?”
Phil nodded. They’d both had lazy days so far, neither having changed out of their pajamas even though it was already four in the afternoon. Dan had been playing video games most of the day and Phil had been in their room reading a new book.
Dan adjusted their positions so he was leaning against Phil. “That’s good, I’m glad you liked it. What’re we doing for dinner? Do you wanna go out?”
“Yeah, I guess we could do that or…” Phil’s voice gave away that he was hiding something.
He raised his brows and looked up at Phil. “Phil Lester, what are you up to?”
Phil grinned at Dan and played with his hair. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Dan rolled his eyes. “Yeah sure, I’ll find out eventually.”
The two of them stayed like that for a while, Dan curled up against Phil while Phil played with his hair. Music from Fortnite was still playing in the background since neither of them had bothered to turn it off.
“Wanna play?” Dan asked, breaking the comfortable silence that had settled between them.
Phil shrugged. “Sure, teams?”
Dan nodded and sat up. He grabbed the second controller for Phil and moved so he was sitting with his back against the arm of the sofa, legs draped over Phil’s lap.
The two played for almost two hours, not winning but doing pretty well and enjoying themselves. After one final round Phil exited the game.
“Hey, where are you going?” Dan asked, looking at him with a slight frown.
Phil smiled and kissed Dan’s nose. “I’ll be right back. Stay here.” He pushed Dan’s legs off his lap then got up, heading upstairs. He returned a few minutes later wearing just his boxers. “Come with me,” Phil said, holding his hand out to Dan.
Dan looked up at Phil and smirked. “You know I can’t turn down a half naked man.” He laughed and stood up, holding Phil’s hand and following him upstairs. He had no clue what Phil had planned but when he heard water running and smelled lavender, Dan had a pretty good guess.
“Take a bath with me?” Phil asked as he led Dan into their en suite bathroom. He’d run them a bath with lots of bubbles and Dan’s favorite bath bomb. The lights were off and the room was illuminated with candles, making their shadows dance on the walls.
He smiled and nodded, letting go of Phil’s hand so he could strip down.
Phil took his boxers off then got in the tub first. Dan got in after him, settling between Phil’s legs and leaning back against his chest. “I’m so glad you convinced me we needed a big tub,” Phil murmured, wrapping his arms around Dan’s waist and kissing his collarbone.
Dan leaned his head back and closed his eyes, already feeling more relaxed. When they decided to move into a new flat, Dan insisted they find one with a tub large enough for both of them. Phil hadn’t really seen the appeal since he wasn’t much of a bath person, but one shared bath with Dan had changed his mind.
There was something so intimate about taking a bath with another person. Being able to relax and unwind after a long day with the person you love, holding them close and feeling skin against skin. They usually ended up taking a bath together once or twice a week. But with being on tour and having small hotel bathrooms, they hadn’t been able to indulge in a shared bath in months.
Phil kissed Dan’s shoulders and neck, moving his hands slowly and gently all over his body. Despite them both being naked and touching each other so intimately, it wasn’t sexual. Phil was enjoying being able to be so close to Dan, finally able to hold him and kiss him without having to worry about someone walking in or having to rush things to stick to their tight schedule they had on tour. “I love you, bear,” Phil murmured, voice just above a whisper.
“I love you too,” he whispered back, turning his head to look up at Phil and smile. “This is exactly what I needed tonight, thank you.” Dan dipped his head down and kissed Phil’s bicep since it was all he could reach.
He gave Dan a gentle squeeze and smiled. “Of course, my love. I know how worn down and exhausted you’ve been. A nice relaxing evening is just what we both needed after these last few months.”
Dan hummed in agreement. “It was so much fun but I’m glad it’s over.” He’d would never say that to their viewers, knowing they’d take it the wrong way. Dan enjoyed being on tour, they both did. But they were getting older and couldn’t do as much as they used to be able to. And although Dan was in a much better place than he had been the last time they toured, being away from home and constantly moving around had put quite the strain on his mental health. Dan wouldn’t have changed anything about it though. He loved being able to do the show almost every night that they both worked so hard on, he loved meeting hundreds of fans every week, and he loved traveling to new places. But after six months, even Dan’s bones felt tired.
When the water started to get too cold for their liking, Dan sat up to pull the drain to let the water out then carefully got up. He shivered, quickly grabbing a warm towel off the heater and wrapping it around himself. Dan handed the other towel to Phil once he got out.
“Thanks,” Phil smiled, wrapping it around his waist.
They walked out into their bedroom and got dressed in clean pajamas. Phil went for grey bottoms and a black top with a colorful design on it. Dan put on pale pink briefs and an oversized white hoodie.
Dan saw Phil pulling out their indoor pop up tent and he smiled. “I’ll get the blankets,” he said.
Back in their Manchester apartment, Dan and Phil would often make blanket forts and have movie nights inside their fort. When they moved to London and had a bigger lounge, they invested in a large indoor tent that was, thankfully, very easy to put up and take down. It made for more stable forts that didn’t constantly collapse at the slightest touch.
Dan went to Phil’s AmazingPhil room and opened the closet where they kept all their spare blankets and pillows. He grabbed as many as he could and carried them down to the lounge where Phil was already setting up the tent, the coffee table now against one of the walls instead of in the middle of the floor.
The two of them worked together to set up the tent. They used the couch cushions for a base to make it extra squishy and comfortable. Dan put battery powered fairy lights on the ceiling of the tent while Phil went back upstairs to get the last of the blankets and their own pillows.
Just as they finished setting up, the doorbell rang.
“I’ll get it!” Phil said, grinning as he went to answer the door. He came back a minute later with a bag of takeaway and a grocery bag balanced on top of two pizza boxes.
“What’s all this?” Dan asked, getting up to help Phil carry the food.
“I ordered Dominos and Chinese,” Phil said, climbing into the tent with Dan.
Dan smiled and looked in the grocery bag. “Haribo, popcorn, chocolate, crisps. Storing up for winter?”
Phil laughed and shoved Dan gently. “No, I got all our favorite snacks. I was saving them for later in the week but I think tonight is a good night, it’ll go good with our feast.”
Dan grinned, leaning over to hug Phil. “This is perfect, thank you,” he murmured.
“Aww you don’t have to thank me bear, I just wanted to do something nice for you.” Phil wrapped his arms around Dan’s waist and pulled him onto his lap.
Dan kissed Phil and smiled at him. “Okay, let’s eat!” He sat down next to Phil and started taking out all the food while Phil turned on the tv and loaded up Netflix.
Phil started playing the next episode in the show they were watching and sat close to Dan as they ate way too much food.
Three hours later they’d finished the series. They’d cleaned up after dinner but there were still open bags of sweets and crisps around them. Phil was sitting up, leaning back against the couch which was right behind the tent. Dan was curled up in his lap, head resting on PHil’s chest.
“I’m cold,” Dan murmured. He snuggled closer to Phil, pressing his face against his warm chest. Dan could feel Phil moving as he pulled another blanket around them, making sure Dan was covered up. “Thanks,” he said softly, looking up at Phil and smiling.
Phil smiled and kissed his forehead. They stayed like that for a few minutes, just enjoying being with each other, before Phil spoke up. “Hey Dan?”
“Hmm?”
“This isn’t it for us, is it?” Phil mumbled.
He frowned and looked up at Phil. “What do you mean?”
Phil shrugged. “I dunno. I was on Twitter earlier and-”
“Uh oh, no good story starts with ‘I was on Twitter’,” Dan said, making a joke to try and lighten the mood.
“And people were saying that this is it, that Interactive Introverts was our last big thing. That we’re gonna go our separate ways and quit YouTube and that’s it,” Phil said, ignoring Dan’s comment and continuing to rant.
Dan cupped Phil’s cheek and kissed his lips softly. “I guess we haven’t really talked much about our careers or life after tour. We’ve been focused on the show for a year now and haven’t had time to talk about anything past it ending.”
Phil sighed and nodded, glad Dan at least knew where he was coming from.
“I don’t know honestly. I still love making content and I don’t see myself stopping any time soon. Filming for our gaming channel is one of my favorite things to do.”
“Me too. But we have been losing subscribers lately and not getting as many views,” Phil said. He wasn’t usually one to focus on the numbers but that seemed to be all anyone ever talked about now. Nobody cared about the quality of the content, only the quantity.
He shrugged. “Yeah, that’s true. But I’d still want to make gaming videos with you even if your mum was the only one who watched them.”
Phil couldn’t help but smile at that. “You’re right. Plus if we filmed more then we wouldn’t get to spend as much personal time together, it would be all business,” he pointed out.
Dan nodded in agreement. “Yeah, and we need to take advantage of that before you get too old and develop erectile dysfunction,” he joked, grinning at Phil.
“Hey!” Phil picked up a Haribo he’d dropped earlier and threw it at Dan.
Dan laughed and threw it back at him. “Really though, I don’t think it’s a bad thing if our careers do start to slow down. I think it’s natural, especially as we get older and decide to settle down and stuff.”
“Daniel, are you saying you want to marry me?” Phil asked with a grin.
Dan rolled his eyes and blushed. “Well I- yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying.” The topic of marriage had come up before but Dan knew Phil wasn’t exactly the biggest fan of it so whenever it did come up, Dan played it off as a joke, but he decided not to this time, wanting to have a serious talk with Phil about their future and deciding this was as good a time as any.
He looked down at him, grin fading to a soft smile. “Good, because I want to marry you too.”
“Wait, what?” Dan asked, not expecting Phil to say that.
“Don’t act so surprised, we’ve been together for nine years now. You’re stuck with me now,” he said. Phil pushed Dan’s hair back and smiled.
Dan’s cheeks were still pink and he couldn’t hide his smile if he wanted to. “I just, you’ve always said marriage is just a piece of paper. I didn’t think you’d want to get married.”
Phil cupped his cheek and pecked his lips a few times. “Technically it is just a piece of paper. Getting married doesn’t mean you’re in love with the person, it doesn’t mean you’re guaranteed to be together forever. But we act like we’re already married so we might as well make it official.”
“How romantic,” Dan said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.
He chuckled. “You know what I mean. I love you Dan, I love you more than I ever thought it was possible to love one person. I know I’m going to be with you forever. You’re my person, my soulmate, you’re it for me. Marriage isn’t going to make any of that happen because it already is true, I already feel that way. I don’t need to be married to you to know that we’re going to be together until we die. But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to be married to you.”
Dan didn’t realize he was tearing up until Phil kissed away one of his tears. He smiled and hugged Phil tightly. “That- that makes me really happy to hear you say that.” He closed his eyes and held onto him.
Phil reached into one of the bags of Haribo, digging around to find the one he wanted.
“What’re you doing?” Dan asked, lifting his head to see what all the rustling was for. He raised his brows when Phil held out one of the gummy rings.
“Daniel Howell, will you be with me forever? Will you find a big house with me and fill it with plants and puppies? Will you be my person and do me the honor of marrying me?”
Dan laughed softly and grinned, nodding. “Yes, yes of course I will, you dork!”
Phil laughed and slid the gummy ring onto Dan’s left ring finger.
Dan wrapped his arms around Phil’s neck and kissed him deeply. It was such a cheesy proposal, but it was very them. Spur of the moment and based around sweets.
He pulled back after a minute, still smiling at Dan. Phil reached for Dan’s hand and looked at the candy ring.
“Philip Lester, don’t you dare eat my- hey! No! Phiiil!” Dan whined, laughing as Phil leaned down and bit the ring on his finger. “You better get me another ring!”
“Oooh good idea!” Phil giggled and grabbed another gummy ring, putting it on Dan’s finger and eating it off.
Dan shoved Phil’s shoulder and laughed. “Hey stop it!” He tried to pull his hand away but Phil was too quick. “Philip!”
Phil was laughing hard. He only started laughing harder when Dan started pelting him with sweets.
“You can’t just propose to someone then eat the engagement ring!” Dan was laughing just as hard. When he ran out of sweets he collapsed on the floor of the tent next to Phil, both holding their stomachs and doubled over from laughter.