Archive of Our Own ^beta

Phil can’t stop checking his phone all morning. He’s been waiting for Dan to text him back and let him know that he’s finally on his lunch break. Luckily it’s been a slow day so far at the BBC because he can’t focus on anything except for what’s going to happen today: Stage One of his master plan is finally going into action. He’s been a tongue-tied and jittery mess all morning because of it. As soon as his phone vibrates with a message from his boyfriend, Phil cleans up his desk and announces he’s going on his lunch break. He clocks out while texting Dan back. He’s made sure that Dan doesn’t suspect a thing about what is going to occur today.

Phil catches the first cab he sees, and heads over to Game of Thorns. Dan is sure to be gone by now, probably on his way to pick up some Chinese takeaway that he can eat in his office at the shop and then take home later for dinner, and Phil’s heart is racing. It feels strange to be going to the shop without Dan being there.

For the past four and a half years, Phil has made regular trips to Game of Thorns, a flower shop in the heart of London with a name oh-so nerdy that it attracted him immediately. And, coincidentally, it has been four and a half years since Phil met Dan Howell, the florist with eyes as brown as the earth beneath his fingertips and a smile brighter than the sun. The florist who could tell him everything he needed to know about any flower he could ever think of. The florist who stole his heart and dared Phil to love him - a dare Phil found himself accepting when everything he knew about love had been turned upside down, all thanks to Dan. But he isn’t complaining; meeting Dan was probably the best thing to ever happen to him. Phil has never loved anyone as much as he loves Dan.

Dan Howell is his best friend, his soul mate, his everything, to put it simply. But it isn’t simple: there aren’t enough words to articulate how Phil feels about Dan, but god, does Phil love Dan. He loves Dan so, so much. And he knows he wants to spend the rest of his life with Dan Howell. And the reason he’s purposely going to the shop today while Dan is away is making his heart pound, his palms sweat, and his stomach flip. He’s nervous, excited, and positively terrified. But then again, it’s not as if his entire future and relationship with Dan is going to rely heavily on how this afternoon goes.

Oh wait.

Phil shakes his head, trying to calm himself down as he sucks in a deep breath, but there’s a small black box in his pants pocket, pressing against his thigh, and that is part of the reason why he can’t calm down. He keeps thinking about the ring, about asking Dan to marry him, about how happy he’ll be to hear Dan say yes and about how much he wants to slide that ring onto Dan’s finger. Whenever he thinks about it, a wide smile stretches across his face and his stomach does flips and his heart starts racing - and right now is no exception as he sits in the back of his cab grinning like a dope, ignoring the strange looks he receives from the driver through the rearview mirror.

For months now the question has been burning in the back of his mind, and now he knows that he’s ready. And Dan is utterly clueless; completely unaware that every time Phil gets into bed with him he’s thinking about the day that he’ll wake up next to him and there’ll be a ring on the brunet’s finger, completely unaware that Phil’s been hoarding wedding catalogues in the top desk drawer in his office, completely unaware of the late night incognito window searches of cute proposal ideas and videos. He has no idea that Phil’s been waiting for the day when he finally has the courage to get down on one knee and ask Dan to be his husband.

Courage… that’s all he needs to do this. Phil can’t help but to think about how lucky he is that Dan accepted his dare and declaration of love that one fateful day in the flower shop when he barged in wearing his heart on his sleeve. It was the day that changed everything for the two of them, and when Dan kissed him, Phil knew that this was a change that could only be welcomed. And when he thinks about it, Phil realizes that he was brave enough that day to tell Dan how he felt about him, why isn’t he brave enough now?

He wants to marry Dan. That’s all there is to it; he wants Dan to be his husband, he wants to be Dan’s husband, and he wants nothing more than to have Dan be his for the rest of their lives. So what is he so afraid of?

What is he waiting for?

Phil doesn’t have an answer for himself; he’s pulled out of his thoughts as the cab comes to a stop, and Phil’s legs shake as he gets out of the cab and makes his way to the shop. He pauses outside for a moment and decides that he can’t put this off any longer, because he’s definitely going to lose his nerve if he does, and he opens the door, flinching slightly as the bell above his head rings loudly as he does so.

“Hello, Philip love,” Louise greets him as he walks into the shop. Customers surround him at every angle, but there are enough employees working at the moment so Phil doesn’t feel bad about taking Louise away from her job for a minute or two. “You just missed Dan; he went out for his lunch break.”

“I know, that’s why I came now,” Phil tells her and Louise raises an eyebrow. “I need to talk to you, Louise.”

“Is this the part where you confess that you’re actually madly in love with me?” she asks him.

Phil smirks. “What gave it away?” he asked.

Louise sighs dramatically, reaching out for Phil’s hand and placing hers atop his.“Well, I am flattered Phil, believe you me,” she tells him, letting go of his hand to walk over and pick up one of the potted plants on the ground by the front counter. “But Dan is my best friend - plus, I have a family,” she adds. “And two cats.”

“Two cats is too many for me,” Phil tells her, shaking his head. “In all seriousness though,” he says, leaning against the counter, “there is something I really need to talk to you about.”

“Is it Dan?” she asks. “Is he okay? Are you okay?” Her eyes widen. “Oh my god, are you dying?”

“What? No!” Phil exclaims. “Calm down, Lou, no one is dying but yes, this is about Dan.” He pauses for a moment, taking a deep breath, and without another word he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small black box, popping it open to reveal an engagement ring inside.

Louise’s jaw drops as she emits an “Oh my god!” in surprise, dropping the potted plant she was holding. “Is that what I think it is?” she demands, ignoring the way everyone in the shop is currently staring at her and Phil as well as the pile of dirt around her shoes now.

Phil nods shyly, looking down at the ring that’s been burning a hole in his pocket all day. He knew the second he saw it, he had to get it; it was perfect for Dan - a silver band with the ends coming together to create the shape of a rose. He can’t wait for it to be on Dan’s finger. “Yes,” he tells her. “I - I want to propose to Dan.”

“Oh my god!” Louise shrieks again.

“What’s going on?” Dan asks, walking back into the shop just as Louise was shouting. Phil immediately shoves the box and ring back into his pocket, hoping that Dan didn’t see it.

“I just - there was a spider,” Louise explains. “On the pot, and it startled me so I dropped it - sorry.”

“Ew, was there really a spider?” Dan asks, walking over to the two of them. “I just sprayed for bugs yesterday.”

“Don’t you worry, I’m sure there’s not a flock, or or a herd, or anything like that,” Louise reassures him and she reaches over for a broom to clean up the mess.

“I hope not; we’d have to burn the place down,” Dan replies, not entirely joking because spiders are fucking terrifying, and the last needs he needs is an insect infestation in his shop - not after the Ant Takeover of 2015. He turns his attention to Phil and, with a teasing smile, he says, “Now what did I tell you about coming to my job and distracting my employees?”

Phil chuckles. “Now you and I both know that Louise distracts herself on a daily basis,” he replies, hoping his voice isn’t shaking as much as he is. He stuffs his fists into his pockets and tenses his muscles, hoping that Dan doesn’t notice how on edge he is at the moment.

He doesn’t, thankfully, and with a laugh Dan nods in agreement before heading to his office in the back to place his food. Phil looks over at Louise. “Can we continue this conversation later?”

Louise nods. “We meet at dawn,” she tells him with an air of mystery in her voice as she ushers past Phil.

He turns to her, confused, and asks, “What? Dawn?”

Louise sighs. “I was trying to be dramatic,” she explains. “Just message me on Facebook so we can plan to meet and talk more about this.”

“Oh, okay,” Phil nods, and it feels as though a huge weight has been lifted from his shoulders. He is relieved that Louise, the person who has known Dan longer than he has and better than he does, is supportive of his decision to propose to Dan. Not to mention, her willingness to help is already taking some of the pressure off of him. Not all of it entirely, because he still has to propose, but some of it.

He heads to the back to spend the rest of his lunch break with Dan; at least spending time with him will give him a good excuse as to why he can’t stop smiling.

* * *

Later that night, Louise and Phil exchange messages via Facebook (most of which were Louise typing in all capital letters about how excited she is about the upcoming proposal), and the two agree to meet that weekend at Louise’s house. That plan gave Phil only two days to come up with an excuse for him to leave the house without Dan getting too suspicious. He could always use work as an excuse, but Dan is known for stopping by the BBC during his lunch break to say hi and it’s too much of a risk. He thought about saying he was going to visit his parents, but they lived up North and even he wouldn’t believe that someone would travel that much and come back in the same day - especially since Louise only lived a few minutes away from their flat.

He resorts to asking Louise for help, and a few minutes later she calls, claiming that her husband Matt would love it if Phil stopped by to look at some old Buffy comics he had gotten from his brother. Dan, who just happened to be in the room when Phil received this completely believeable phone call, encouraged Phil to head over there, knowing how much his boyfriend loved Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Even better, Dan didn’t even offer to come with him.

Phil makes a mental note to buy Louise a chocolate cake or something, because she is a bloody genius.

The weekend comes around and when it’s time for him to leave, Phil bids adieu to Dan and hops in a cab, heading straight to Louise’s house. He’s only gone for a minute before Dan texts him Have fun!! ^_^ xx, and even though he smiles, Phil feels a pang of guilt in the pit of his stomach. He hates lying to Dan, but he reminds himself that it’s for a good cause and in the end, it’ll all be worth it.

The cab pulls up in front of Louise’s house only minutes later and after paying for his ride, Phil walks up to the front door and rings the bell. He is then greeted by an overeager eight year old, Louise’s daughter Darcy, who jerks the door open almost immediately and smiles widely at him. “Hi, Phil!”

“Hey, Darce,” Phil grins and kneels down to her level. “I see you’ve lost another tooth!”

Darcy giggles bashfully. “Last night!” she tells him. “The tooth fairy left me two pounds!”

“Darcy, what did I say about talking to strangers about your teeth?” Phil hears Louise say before he can reply.

“It’s not a stranger mummy; it’s Phil!” Darcy says matter-of-factly, turning around to face her mother. Phil takes this as an opportunity to let himself inside, greeting Louise as he does so.

“Phil is as strange as they come, you and I both know that, Darcy,” she jokes, winking at Phil as she does so before properly telling him hello and inviting him into her lounge.

“So,” she says, taking a seat on her couch. Phil sits next to her, his posture a bit too stiff for someone just chatting with a friend. Then again, this isn’t just a casual chat over tea; this is about him and Dan and their relationship and their future, and Phil is all but sweating bullets right now. “Tell me everything,” Louise instructs.

Phil bites his lip; where should he even start? “I want to marry Dan,” he finally decides to say. “I’ve known for a while now that he’s someone that I want to spend the rest of my life with, and I just love him so much, and - Louise, are you crying?”

“No! It’s my contact lense,” she mumbles, wiping her eyes and blinking furiously, and Phil smiles. “It’s just - I’ve known Dan for a very long time,” she tells him. “And he’s just so happy when he’s with you, and the past few years he’s been with you is the happiest I’ve ever seen him, aside from when he’s at work.” She wipes her eyes again and tells Phil, “I’m just really glad you both found each other.”

“I’m glad we found each other too,” Phil says, the smile on his face growing wider. “Dan is the most perfect person in the world, and I’m just really happy he’s in my life. And I want him in my life forever.”

Louise sniffles a little, then mumbles something along the lines of “Fucking contacts,” and takes a moment to compose herself before she says, “Right, okay, so clearly I am more than on board with this decision -”

“Good,” Phil cuts in. “Because you’ve known Dan longer than I have, and probably know him better than I do -”

“Hold that thought,” Louise interrupts this time. “Are you implying that Dan might not say yes? Because that’s the vibe I’m getting right now.”

Phil shrugs sheepishly. “It’s just…” he sighs a little, fidgeting with his hair anxiously. “Dan is just so perfect, and wonderful, and I’m so lucky that he’s with me. And I want to be with him for the rest of our lives, but how do I know that he wants to be with me for the rest of our lives? Why me?”

“Because he loves you,” Louise says simply. “God, Phil, he’s loved you since the day he first laid eyes on you and he wouldn’t have spent the past four and a half - almost five - years with you if he didn’t have the intention to spend many, many more years to come with you.”

Phil’s cheeks flush pink. “You really think so?” he asks meekly, hating how insecure and unsure he sounds right now but the last thing he wants is to get down on one knee before Dan, and he ends up saying ‘no’ - that’s literally his worst nightmare.

“Phil, I’ve known Dan for a very long time,” Louise reminds him. “I know him better than he knows himself, sometimes, and I know for a fact that there are only two things in this world that Dan will devote himself a hundred percent to: Game of Thorns and you.”

The pink on Phil’s face goes full on red, and he can’t stop the ear-to-ear smile from stretching across his face.

“Well, now that we’ve gotten that out of way,” Louise says with a grin. “Let’s talk proposals.”

Phil’s smile widens, if that is even possible, because his cheeks already feel like they’re going to burst. “I have an idea,” he tells her. “It’s nothing dramatic, and to be honest quite simple, but I think it’ll be a good one. But I was wondering if there was anything I should take into account beforehand?”

“You should definitely make it an intimate moment,” Louise says. “And private too; no flash mobs or airport proposals, that’ll just make him nervous. Simple will be good, if you ask me, and I’d say just keep it between the two of you - unless you’d like to incorporate the Watson family, in which case of course we’ll happy to help.... but no syncronized dancing.” she pauses in thought. “Matching outfits though, that we can do.”

Phil chuckles. “Don’t worry, I don’t think dancing will be necessary.” He pauses in thought for a moment. “No, I think I know exactly what I’m going to do.”

“I can’t believe it,” Louise says with a grin. “You and Dan… you’re getting married.” her eyes well up with tears once more and she brings her hands up to cover her mouth and she shake her head, apparently rendered speechless for a moment.

Phil can’t help but to smile as he asks, “Your contacts bothering you again?”

“Oh shut up.”

* * *

Another pot falls to the floor, the sound of ceramic breaking echoing throughout the (thankfully) empty flower shop, and Phil decides that he really needs to get his shit together because there’s no way Dan is going to want to marry him if he keeps breaking his things.

He’s been at Game of Thorns all day. He called off from the BBC and made a point to come over early in the morning, playing it off as he had slept in a bit (when in reality, he was lying awake in bed too anxious to fall back asleep after waking up at the - not literal - asscrack of dawn) and simply had nothing else to do with his day. He helped out in any way that he could, mostly by referring several customers to the lilies but also by cleaning up all the messes he had been making because he was all thumbs today, wound up with so much nervous energy that he couldn’t stop his hands from shaking.

Dan, luckily, wasn’t angry with all of the pots he had broken or the bags of soil he had spilt or even the sunflowers he nearly drowned because he had zoned out while watering them and simply found all of it to be amusing. Not to mention, he had grown used to Phil’s antics and clumsy mannerisms. And Phil was lucky in the fact that he could blame everything that happened today on him being derpy and clumsy, but even he knew that he was worse than usual today; breaking pot plant after pot plant is a huge step up from simply tripping over your untied shoelaces. But he has good reason to be nervous, and now, at the end of the day, his nerves have all but tripled and he kind of feels like throwing up. The shop has closed for the day and Phil stayed behind to “help Dan clean up” - or at least that’s what he’s told him. Truthfully, he’s here because today is The Day.

“Phil, did you break another one of my pots?” Dan’s voice calls from his office in the back.

“It was a bird!” Phil insists, quickly getting down to the floor to scoop up the spilt dirt and shattered remains of the third pot that he managed to destroy today.

He hears Dan’s footsteps and the brunet asks, “Why are you so jittery? Too much coffee?”

“An extra shot of espresso at Starbucks today,” Phil says getting up to his feet and taking Dan’s hands, pulling the younger boy closer and pressing their lips together. “Sorry about all the pots. I’ll make you some new ones.”

“That’ll be a sight for sore eyes,” Dan teases him.

Phil chuckles, his thumb rubbing across Dan’s knuckles and just breathing in this moment; they way they’re stood there holding hands, the way Phil has to push himself up on his toes just slightly so he’s taller than Dan, the way Dan’s touch gives him goosebumps and makes him feel so damn alive and god he’s so in love, he’s so fucking in love.

“We can make them together,” he suggests.

Dan smirks a little. “God, are we going to become that couple who goes to pottery classes together?” he asks.

“Well we’re already that couple that makes monthly trips to the botanical gardens,” Phil points out.

“What’s next - weekend cooking classes?” Dan asks with a chuckle.

“Only if you want to, love,” Phil replies and kisses him again. The smile on his face is as wide as can be and he literally cannot stop smiling, no matter how hard he tries, and even Dan’s begun to notice it.

“What’s going on with you?” he asks. “Why are you so happy?”

Phil shrugs a little, hoping to appear nonchalant, despite the fact that there are butterflies in his stomach flying around at top speed and his heart is absolutely racing at the moment. “I dunno,” he mutters. “I’m just happy. Being here makes me happy,”

Dan smiles at that and Phil has to resist the urge to kiss his dimples. “Does it really?” he asks.

“Yeah, the shop is, like, my favorite place,” Phil tells him. “This is like our place, you know? Obviously, we know it’s your favorite place on earth, but over the years, it has become my favorite place as well. It’s where we first met, where we had our first kiss, where we officially got together. The shop has sort of become a staple in our relationship, it’s become our thing.”

Dan’s smile grows. “Yeah, this place definitely has a lot of memories for us,” he says fondly.

“Most importantly though,” Phil says. “It’s where I fell in love with you.”

“Phil!” Dan bows his head just a bit to try and hide the blush growing on his cheeks. “Me too, though,” he says. “This is where I fell in love with you too. Where I fall in love with you day after day.”

Phil grins. “Do you really?” he asks.

“Is that even a question?” Dan asks in reply. “Everyday I’m with you, it’s like I’m falling in love with you all over again for the very first time.” He gives Phil’s hand a little squeeze. “I love you, Phil Lester.”

“I love you too, Dan Howell,” Phil says and as he leans into kiss Dan once more he thinks this is it and oh God, he feels as though he’s going to internally combust. “You know,” he starts and his voice is wobbly but he blames it on the fact that he’s trembling like a leaf in a hurricane. “Every time I’m here, I can’t help but to associate with Dan or with their relationship in some way. There are so many memories rooted in this building, why not add one more?”

Dan raises an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

Phil takes a deep breath; it’s now or never. “I love you so much, Dan Howell,” he pauses for a moment, still holding Dan’s hands - which is mostly to be romantic but also because he’s sure that he’s definitely going to fall over at any moment - as he gets down on one knee.

He hears Dan gasp, his eyes going wide. “Phil…” he says slowly.

Phil looks up at him and smiles. “I love you so much,” he repeats. “That I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

“Oh my God, Phil,” Dan untangles one of his hand’s free of Phil’s to bring it up to cover his mouth and Phil swears he sees tears welling up in those big brown eyes.

“You - I - There’s so much I want to say,” Phil stutters. “So much I want to tell you, about how much you mean to me and about how much you love me, but there aren’t enough words to suffice. But I know that you are the best person in the world, and I want to be with you for the rest of our lives. And I hope that you feel the same way because... ”

Phil reaches into his pocket and pulls out the ring, taking a moment to consider the fact that he probably should’ve gotten it out before hand because he’s definitely struggling to get it out right now. But he finally manages to free his hand from his jeans pocket and he produces the ring. “It’s like the lily says - I dare you to love me,” he says. “And Dan Howell, I dare you to marry me.”

Dan sniffles, his free hand going up to wipe his tear stained cheeks and he chokes out another, “Oh my god,” and Phil laughs nervously but he has a strong gut feeling that the next words that come out of Dan’s mouth are going to be -

“Yes, of course.”

Phil can’t say another word, and he simply gets up to his feet and pulls Dan into him, kissing him with all of the passion he can muster up. He feels like he’s in a movie, and this would be the part where the fireworks would be going off or the crowd of people watching the scene unfold would clap and cheer for the happy couple. But it’s real life, and it’s just him and Dan in the flower shop. And it’s perfect. It’s all that he needs.

* * *

It’s far too fucking cold for Phil to be naked as the day is born right now, but under his duvet with his boyfriend - no, his fiancé - pressed up against him is definitely taking his mind off of the fact that their heater isn’t on and he should probably relocate to the shower.

“I love you,” he murmurs to Dan, kissing his bare shoulders, his neck, his collarbones. His lips travel up to his jaw, the tip of his chin, before settling on his lips once again, and he pulls him unbelievably closer to him, their limbs entangled together, bodies meshed in post-sex glory.

Dan tucks his head into the crook of Phil’s neck, sighing contently and he exhales, “I love you too,” against the older man’s skin. And they lay in a comfortable silence, Phil holding Dan, Dan staring at the engagement ring on his finger, and it’s only been a few hours since Phil had proposed but they’re both certain that this feeling - this indescribable feeling of euphoria and pure love - isn’t going to go away anytime soon.

Phil kisses Dan again, moving down from his cheek and spending extra time with his lips pressed against his neck, and the brunet squirms beneath his embrace.

“Hey, you,” Dan says. “Need I remind you that’s how we ended up here in the first place. And frankly, I’m far too exhausted for round two.” He pauses thoughtfully. “At least right now.”

Phil chuckles. “Fair enough,” he says and he places one final kiss atop Dan’s forehead before settling comfortably next to him and sighing happily. “I love you so much, you know,” he says.

“You literally just told me that,” Dan chortles.

“And I’m going to tell you for the rest of our lives, Mr. Lester,” Phil says matter-of-factly.

“Dan Lester,” the younger one muses, and his lips curl into a smile, his cheeks flushing red. “I like that sound of that.”

“Does that make me Philip Howell?” Phil asks. “Or are we doing a combined name ordeal like Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka? The Howell-Lester’s? Lester-Howell’s?”

“Dunno,” Dan mumbles, not taking his eyes off of the ring on his finger. “It all sounds so perfect to me.” He tilts his head back to look at Phil and he says, “You’re perfect.”

Phil grins. “As are you, my love,” he says, kissing Dan’s lips once more. “As are you.”

* * *

The next morning, Dan and Phil are rudely awaken from their comfortable slumber by the World’s Most Obnoxious Ringtone, courtesy of Dan’s phone and Phil grumbles, “Haven’t you ever heard of vibrate?”

“Sorry, sorry,” Dan says with a yawn, forcing himself up into a sitting position as he reaches for his cell phone and he groans, “Hello?”

“Hey, are you coming in today?” It’s Louise, and Dan’s confused for a moment until he checks the time and realizes that he was meant to turn up at work two hours ago.

“Oh shit - sorry,” he apologizes, but Phil’s arms are wrapped around him, keeping him in bed for the time being and as much as he loves work, he is certainly not complaining. “Something came up last night and I must’ve just slept in.”

“Everything alright?” Louise asks.

Almost immediately, Dan starts beaming. “Everything is incredible, actually,” he says.

“Incredible? Well, please do tell,” she says.

He looks over at Phil, covering the mouthpiece of his phone so he can ask, “Can I tell Louise abous us?” and when Phil nods, he moves his hand - taking a moment to look at his engagement ring once more - before saying, “Phil proposed last night.”

Louise screams when she hears that and Dan pull his phone away from his ear to prevent any damage to his eardrums.

“Did he really?!” she exclaims. “Did he actually propose?”

“I’ll send you a picture of the ring as soon as we hang up,” Dan tells her, and he absolutely cannot stop smiling right now.

“Oh my god!” Louise cries, and Dan can practically see the smile on her face right now. He imagines she’s probably bouncing up and down with excitement, her hand clenched together in a fist because she can’t contain her elation at the moment. He just hopes she went to the back office to call him and that she isn’t on the shop floor, screaming in front of the customers - but then again, it is Louise and he wouldn’t put it past her.

“I’m sorry I hadn’t called you earlier,” he apologizes. “But I need to take the day off; Phil and I are travelling up North to tell his parents the news, then we’ve got to tell mine.”

“Of course, take all the time you need,” Louise tells him. “I can definitely hold down the fort while you’re away - plus, I could use the overtime.”

Dan chuckles. “Always with the overtime, Lou,” he says.

“When you’re married you’ll understand,” Louise replies, and Dan covers his face with his free hand because his smile is stupidly wide and he just can’t stop smiling. “I need to get back to work but show me that ring immediately and let me know how the rest of your day goes.”

“Of course, of course,” Dan says and they say their goodbyes before hanging up, and Dan drops back down on top of his pillows next to Phil. He turns his head to look at his fiancé and he smiles. “Hi.”

“Hi.” Phil leans over to kiss his lips.

“So, ready to go tell the parents?” Dan asks.

“Let’s go,” Phil says cheerfully, and Dan takes his hand, pulling him out of bed. The two of them quickly shower - separately, because there’s no such thing as a quick shower when they shower together - and then set out on their day long journey to tell their parents about their upcoming nuptials.

They go to Dan’s parents’ house first, which makes sense since it’s closer to their flat, and Dan’s knees bounce at top speed the entire cab ride there. It doesn’t make sense for him to be nervous, since his parents have known about his and Phil’s relationship since the start, but there’s still a part of him that’s drenched in anxiety and he can’t shake the feeling. Phil grabs his hand and gives it a comforting squeeze, and the simple action is enough to calm Dan down, even if it’s just slightly so.

Dan’s mum answers the door once they’ve arrived, and Dan makes sure to wave at her with his left hand, subtly showing off the engagement ring. She notices it right away and all but bursts into tears, pulling her oldest son and then soon to be son in law into a tight hug. She calls his dad over, ushering the two of them inside, and Dan repeats his subtle-but-not-very-subtle ‘look at my engagement ring!’ process yet again. Like his mom, his dad catches on immediately, and hugs and congratulations go around - as well does a bottle of Chardonnay.

They don’t stay at the Howells’ house for long, since their trip up North is going to take at least an hour, and Dan promises to Skype with his mum later that night to talk about the engagement at length. “But please don’t cry again,” he teases her, and all she says, “Oh you!” before giving him yet another hug. She hugs Phil once more while Dan hugs his dad goodbye, and then the two of them set out to Phil’s parents’ house.

The scene that unfolds there is similar; instead of telling them at the door, Dan and Phil sit down for tea with Phil’s mum and dad and when asked about what they wanted to meet with them about, Dan simply shows them the ring. Almost immediately Phil’s mum starts to cry and his dad’s jaw simply drops in shock, but they’re just as happy for the two of them as Dan’s parents were. Mrs. Lester hugs them both and demands all of the details of the engagement, and she teasingly scolds Phil for keeping her in the dark about all of this. Phil’s dad calls Dan “son” for the rest of the evening and it takes all Dan has in him to keep from tearing up.

It’s a wonderful feeling, having their parents know that the two of them have taken the next big step in their relationship, having their undying support and love. And in just a couple of months, the rest of the world is going to know as well.

* * *

“Where exactly are we going?” Phil asks. He and Dan are currently sat in back of a cab that neither of them called for. However the only mystery wasn’t why a cab pulled up outside of their flat, it was where they were going.

“Your guess is as good as mine,” Dan replies. “Louise was very vague in her texts.” He reads the messages from her over once more:

‘Just a random question but has a cab came for you two yet?’ ‘brilliant! now get it in it’ ‘just get in! i promise you aren’t being abducted, liam neeson will not need to save you. trust me, you’ll understand later xxx’

“She’s always got something up her sleeve,” Phil says, shaking his head.

“You don’t even know the half of it,” Dan agrees. “Can’t help but love her, though.”

“We should make her our maid of honour,” Phil muses. “Or, like, best woman or something. Can two guys have a maid of honour at their wedding? Or do we both get a best man?”

Dan shrugs. “What about groomsmaids?” he asks. “You know, like bridesmaids but since neither of us are obviously a bride, they’d be groomsmaids.”

“I know there are groomsmen - I don’t know anything about groomsmaids though,” Phil replies. He pauses in thought. “I don’t know much about any of this, to be honest.”

“Neither do I,” Dan admits. “I’m glad my fiance is as clueless as I am.”

“Should make wedding planning rather interesting,” Phil chuckles and he kisses Dan’s cheek affectionately.

The rest of the cab ride is quiet and short, and the car pulls up outside of Game of Thorns, much to Dan and Phil’s confusion. They thank their driver for the ride and when they go to pay, they find that the ride has already been paid for by Louise - of course - and the two of them make their way inside of the shop.

They’re greeted by rose petals on the floor, a trail of them leading throughout the shop in a path they’re clearly meant to follow. They can hear muffled sounds of music coming from somewhere inside of the shop, and decide to just go with it.

Dan and Phil follow the red rose petal road that takes them from the entrance of the shop, through the flower displays and the break room, to the back of the building, where they find themselves at the foot of the staircase that leads to the roof of the shop.

“She wants us to go up there?” Phil asks, raising his eyebrow.

“Typical Louise,” is all Dan says before taking Phil’s hand and leading him up the stairs. He pushes the door to the roof open when they reach the top. The two of them enter the scene before them, in which they’re greeted by dozens of their friends shouting surprise!

“Typical Louise!” Dan repeats to Phil over the cheers, and his mouth is stretched into the widest smile possible.

“I can’t believe she did this!” Phil laughs from behind his hand, which has been brought up to cover his mouth in shock.

Louise squeezes her way through the crowd to people to greet Dan and Phil personally, giving them both a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “So did either of you expect an engagement party?” she asks, obviously proud of herself.

“Lou, this is incredible!” Dan says enthusiastically. “How did you even plan all of this without us knowing?”

“I have my ways,” Louise says slyly. “Oh, by the way, you might want to change your Google password.”

Dan stares at her in disbelief. “You hacked my account?” he asks, mostly surprised because Louise couldn’t hack her way out of a paper bag.

“No,” she say immediately, then adds, “I made Jack Howard do it. Don’t worry though, all we did was look through your contacts, though! Everything else has been unseen and untouched. And regardless, it was for a good cause. So yeah, you should change it.”

Dan just rolls his eyes, having expected nothing less from Louise, but he thanks her yet again for this incredible surprise. Phil does the same, giving her yet another hug, before the two of them go to greet the rest of their friends.

Everyone is excited beyond measure for the two of them, completely gushing over Dan’s ring and asking how Phil proposed. About an hour into the party Louise clanks her spoon against her wine glass, gathering everyone’s attention as she makes a little speech for Dan and Phil. She expresses how happy she is that her little bear has found someone who makes him happy, how happy she is for the two of them and how much she loves their love for each other.

She invites others to do the same, because she starts tearing up and can’t go on, and a few of Dan and Phil’s friends speak out about how happy they are that they are together and are getting married. Matt is among the first, making Dan rather emotional when he tells him that he’s felt like a member of the Watson family for years and he’s so elated to see his ‘little brother’ has found someone to spend the rest of his life with.

Phil’s good friend PJ jokes “it’s about time!” when he goes to speak, earning a laugh from everyone, and he goes on to say that even though everyone - “and I mean everyone, even aliens” - saw this coming, everyone is so happy for them, and raises his glass in a toast.

Jack makes a speech as well, although it’s far less sappy than the majority of them have been. He goes on to say how disgusting their love is - prompting Louise to smack him and usher him away. After everyone’s had some more alcohol, karaoke starts. And Dan and Phil don’t stop smiling for hours, for the entire duration of the party, and even when it’s over they still can’t stop smiling.

* * *

“Dan, dear?” Louise’s voice brings Dan out of his thoughts and he looks up from his floral booklet to see her standing in front of the register, smiling widely at him. “So, have you decided on the flowers for the wedding yet?”

Dan’s lips curl into a smile and he nods. “I’m going to go with the lilies,” he tells her, pointing at a photograph of a beautiful bouquet of lilies in his book - which has been circled numerous times in black pen with doodled hearts all around it.
“Excellent choice,” Louise says, and then she squeals a little, clapping her hands. “Oh, I’m so excited, I love weddings!” She walks behind the register so she’s standing next to Dan and asks him to see the ring again.

As if she even has to ask; it’s not like Dan doesn’t go out of his way to make sure everyone and anyone has seen his engagement ring. He brandishes his left hand in front of her, revealing a silver band that wraps around his third finger and comes together in the shape of a rose.

“It’s so beautiful,” Louise sighs, taking Dan’s hand and staring lovingly at his ring.

“It’s perfect,” Dan says, not taking his eyes off of the ring. “I love it almost as much as the man who gave it to me.”

“God, you two are so cute, I’m going to vomit,” Louise tells him, releasing his hand.

Dan opens his mouth to say something when the bell above the shop’s front door ‘dings’ loudly, and he turns to look at the door, the smile on his face only growing wider. “Speaking of the man I love,” he says as Phil walks up to the register, leaning across it to place a kiss on the younger man’s lips.

“Hello, you,” the brunet says.

“Hey,” Phil grins. “I see you’re showing off your ring again.”

“Can you blame me?” Dan asks him. “It’s perfect.”

“You’re perfect,” Phil replies, kissing his head.

“Vom,” is all Louise says, and Dan and Phil laugh as she walks away and leaves them alone for the time being.

Dan reaches over for one of Phil’s hands, lacing their fingers together. “So,” he says. “I’ve decided on lilies for the wedding.”

“That sounds brilliant,” Phil says happily. “I wouldn’t want anything else.” He leans over and gives Dan another kiss, then pulls away abruptly. “Oh! I almost forgot!” He reveals his other hand to Dan - and Dan realizes that he hadn’t even noticed that Phil was hiding it behind his back - to show a bouquet of red and white roses. “These are for you,” he says. “I made a pit stop at my favorite flower shop on my way to work this morning - luckily you weren’t opening today,” he adds with a wink.

Dan takes the roses, speechless, and he looks over at Louise, who just smiles knowingly at him. She always knew that one day, Dan was going to find someone to buy red and white roses for him. And even better, Phil only buys his flowers from Game of Thorns; if you ask her, he’s above and beyond the perfect boyfriend - now fiance - for Dan.

“I love you,” is all he can say, and he walks around the register to stand before Phil and properly kiss him. He feels like a flower in bloom, like life is coursing through his veins. Phil makes him feel alive. Phil makes him feel like flowers could grow even in the darkest parts of his heart - and he supposes, in a way, they did.

“I love you too,” Phil tells him once they’ve stopped kissing, and Dan will never tire of hearing those words.

Dan smiles at him, then turns his attention back to flower booklet he’s been looking at. “Okay so that’s one thing on my list of a billion things to do that I can check off,” he says with a sigh. Wedding planning is nothing like it is in the movies; there’s vigorous work that goes into it and he’s already starting to feel the stress. The fun and games part of being engaged is coming to a close, and now he and Phil need to get down to business.

“Don’t stress, love,” Phil tells him. “We’re going to get everything done in time.”

Dan turns to look at him. “What does ‘in time’ even mean?” he asks. “We don’t have a date set.”

“Then let’s pick a date right now!” Phil says, as if absolutely zero thought needs to go into this decision.

“It doesn’t work that way, Phil,” Dan says, rolling his eyes.”We can’t just pick any date off of the tops of our heads!”

“Well, we can’t wait too long to pick a date; we have to book a place to have the wedding, and we need to make sure they have the date we want available,” Phil points out, and Dan just groans loudly, holding his head in his hands.

“Why don’t we just elope?” he suggests, and Phil chuckles, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and kissing the top of Dan’s head. But Dan wasn’t entirely joking. It might be easier if they just went and eloped; who needs a set date for that?

“If I may interrupt,” Louise says walking back over to the two of them. “I refuse to let a love as beautiful as yours go unseen by the world, and since I am a bit of a wedding connoisseur -”

“You’ve only been married once,” Phil points out.

“That’s because I did it right the first time,” she tells them. “The point is, I can help you guys plan this thing, if you would like.”

“Yes.” Dan says immediately. “Yes, yes please, please help us.”

“Well only if you say please,” Louise teases him.

“See,” Phil wraps his arm around Dan’s shoulders. “I told you we’d figure all of this out.”

“Never fear, Louise Watson is here,” she says, smiling cheekily for the two of them and poses with her arm resting on the broom she had been sweeping the shop floor with - however it slips out from beneath her and she nearly falls over, and Dan can’t help but to think ‘And this is the woman I’ve just put in charge of my romantic future.’

* * *

Louise wastes absolutely no time as she steps into her David Tutera responsibilities; she rings Dan the next day to let him know that she’s on her way to talk wedding plans, and one car journey later, she’s arrived outside of their flat. Having known Dan for years, she knows where he keeps the spare key outside and she retrieves it from its hiding place, letting herself inside and she walks up to Dan and Phil’s floor. The door to their flat is unlocked, as Dan told her it would be, and she lets herself inside.

“Hello, I’m here - why are you crying?”

“I’m not crying, you’re crying!” Dan insists, wiping his teary eyes with the sleeve of his jumper.

“We were watching My Fair Wedding,” Phil explains. “We just finished the Make-A-Wish episode.”

“Why were you watching My Fair Wedding?” Louise asks with a chuckle as she takes a seat in the armchair adjacent to their couch.

“We thought it would help prepare us for all of the wedding planning,” Phil replies. “David Tutera sure knows what he’s doing.”

“Well, I would hope so; it’s his job,” Louise says. “But since he’s probably booked from now until 2067, I’ll be your David Tutera - call me Louise Tutera.”

“Do we really have to call you that?” Dan asks.

“Yes,” Louise insists. She ignores the way Dan rolls his eyes and she reaches into her bag, taking out her laptop and opening it. Once she logs in, she turns it around to face the two of them.

“So,” she begins. “I’m sure you’ve both guessed it by now, but there is a lot that goes into wedding planning - I would know, I’m married. But here I’ve compiled a little checklist for the both of you - I’ll email it to you both once I leave today - to help you get through everything.”

Phil and Dan lean forward, looking through Louise’s checklist. Things like start the guest list and hire the photographer and book the entertainment all swirl together in a sea of confusion, and Dan groans “Jesus Christ,” under his breath because he already knows this is going to be worse than exams back when he was in uni.

“Don’t panic,” Louise tells them once she sees the looks on their faces; Phil’s gone paler than usual and Dan looks even more confused than he does when he’s trying to pay his taxes. “Once you get into the swing of the things, the entire process of planning a wedding is easier than you think - usually.”

“Where do we even start?” Phil asks.

“Well, you need to work out a budget and decide on a venue; those two things are vital,” she explains. “I’ll leave you both to work out your budget privately, since it’s none of my business. Then we can look at venues together if you’d like? That’s more fun anyway.”

When the two of them agree, Louise pulls up a web search of wedding venues in London. They debate on the pros and cons of an indoor versus an outdoor wedding - a conclusion they’ve yet to reach on that subject - and whether or not they want it at a church - Dan has to remind Phil that they aren’t making this decision by flipping a coin. The search goes on for quite a while, and Louise reminds them that it takes time to find the perfect place. They’re on the brink of calling it quits for the day when Dan exclaims “Wait!” when they’ve come across one website in particular. The tagline says, get married among the flowers, and as soon as he points it out, he and Phil both know that it’s perfect.

“With its pergola, fountain and fragrant white flowers,” Phil reads. “Our White Garden is ideal for a relaxed and summery outdoor ceremony. There’s no limit to the number of guests you can have here, so whether it’s an intimate wedding or you’re inviting a large number of guests, we can design the ceremony around your needs.”

“I want it!” Dan declares.

“Let’s contact the venue,” Louise says with a smile.

While she finds the contact information, Dan turns to Phil with a wide smile on his face. “We’ve got a venue!” he says, and it’s not much, but it’s a start.

* * *

The next day, after Louise calls and arranges a meeting for them, Dan and Phil go to Birtsmorton Court to meet with someone to discuss booking the venue for their wedding. The woman they meet with is all too friendly and helpful, and she takes them on a tour of the building before leading them outside and showing them the outdoor venue.

The entire scene takes Dan and Phil’s breath away. They’re greeted by a concrete pathway lined with chairs, leading to six pillars in a circle. A metal archway tops the pillars, connecting them all together, and they’re wrapped with little white flowers, green garnish, and lilies.

It’s fate, the two of them decide. It has to be.

They take a moment to discuss prices for booking the venue, and she asks them if they have a date in mind - which they don’t. She then tells them to get back to her as soon as they’ve gotten it figured it out.

After their meeting, Dan and Phil have taken refuge at a nearby cafe where they order drinks to go along with their conversation. “We can have a summer wedding,” Phil suggests, taking notes in the planner that Louise had given them. “Y’know, since we know we want it outdoors that kind of rules out fall and winter.”

“Well we can’t have it in June,” Dan reminds him. “Because that’s my birthday and it might be a tad too stressful for you.”

Phil opens his mouth as if he’s going to protest, but he nods in agreement. Trying to find the perfect birthday gift for Dan and write his wedding vows might make him internally combust. “Okay, so June is out,” he says. “Um, July?”

“July might work,” Dan agrees.

“But then again, July is really hot,” Phil points out. “We could be all sweaty and gross in our wedding photos.”

Dan grimaces. “Don’t want that,” he says, and they wind up ruling out summer completely. “So, spring wedding!” Dan says happily. “What are our options?”

“March, April, and May,” Phil says.

“Well, I don’t know about March,” Dan replies. “It might not be warm enough.”

“And April is a rainy month, so we don’t want to risk getting rained on while we say our vows, do we?” Phil asks and he writes something down in their planner before looking up at Dan with a smile and saying, “May it is?”

Dan grins, reaching for his hand and giving it a squeeze. “May it is,” he says. They decide that it should be on a weekend and rule out the weekend of the 12th, because of Mother’s Day, and after some back and forth the date they end up deciding on is May 25th.

* * *

Once they’ve picked their venue, put down a down payment, and chosen a date, it’s only up from here and Dan and Phil spend the next month hiring various people to help out in their wedding.

Phil suggests his best mate PJ to be their wedding photographer, and Dan invites him over to see some of his work - which he falls in love with almost immediately.

“You’re so talented,” Dan can’t help but to gush over him while looking through his photos. PJ is as modest as they come and just shakes his head.

“Years of practice,” PJ replies.

“So, is he hired?” Phil asks but he already knows the answer; he knew Dan would love to have PJ take their wedding photos, and to have one more thing checked off their list.

They continue seeking out people to hire for the wedding - searching for the perfect entertainment and caterers for the event. It’s not easy by any means, especially since they barely have any idea what they’re doing or who exactly they’re looking for, but they manage. In the end, they’re proud of themselves when they manage to check two more things off of their list.

“We should think about hiring a florist,” Phil jokes, and he laughs loudly when Dan just glares at him in response.

* * *
Dan should’ve known things were too good to be true, that the bulk of the wedding planning was not going to get taken care of as easily as it had been during the past month.

He sits before his laptop, chewing his nails in distress as he tries to work on a ‘day of’ timeline and schedule for the wedding - something Louise advised them to do.

“The more you plan for, the less likely it is that something will go wrong,” she tells them, and they can’t really protest because she has one wedding under her belt while they have none.

It’s a good idea in theory, but actually sitting down to put together a timeline for the day of their wedding is much harder than Dan had anticipated. He couldn’t remember a time when he felt so clueless before - not even while he was taking his exams in uni (he didn’t study at all for those), not even while he tries to pay his taxes and year after year he finds himself aggravated and confused. Hell, not even the first year he tried to get his shop in motion.

He tries to remind himself that he was young and oblivious and helpless but he still managed to build his own shop up from the ground on his own, so he could tackle a wedding day itinerary. But at the moment, it feels like he’d much rather put together another business than stare at this spreadsheet any longer, and he thinks he could rip his hair out.

He likes planning - he thrives on organization and planning- but for some reason this task seems impossible. He barely has any idea what time the wedding itself should start, and does the timeline start when he and Phil wake up or when the wedding actually starts? Should he take into account the time it’ll take for them to get ready in the morning before the wedding? Does breakfast need to be scheduled in?

He sighs heavily for the umpteenth time and runs his fingers through his hair.

“Phil,” he whines. “I have no idea when to schedule in cutting the cake - it should go before our first dance, right?”

“Um,” Phil mumbles, not looking up from his own laptop and Dan is already getting annoyed with him. Phil is very “go with the flow” and “we’ll see what happens”, while Dan is the exact opposite: he needs structure and planning and order, and it seems as if Phil couldn't care less about that. Or planning the wedding, for that matter.

“I guess so,” he finally says. “I mean, we can’t dance while we’re hungry, right?”

“Okay,” Dan types something up but stops. “Wait, so is cutting the cake right before our first dance? Or should be plan for some leeway?” Phil doesn’t say anything and Dan shoots a glare in his direction. “Phil!”

“What?” He finally looks up from his laptop.

“Could you at least try to be a little helpful?” Dan asks, annoyance evident in his tone. “I can’t exactly plan out our entire wedding on my own.”

“I am helping!” Phil insists and Dan just rolls his eyes. “What? I am! I just helped you about the - the cake cutting thing!”

“Barely!” Dan replies. “C’mon Phil, I’m stressed enough as it is, I need help.”

“I’m trying!” Phil says. “But I’m just as clueless as you are, love.”

“Well we may both be clueless, but at least one of us is at least making an attempt to do something for this wedding,” Dan grumbles under his breath, looking away from Phil to try and compose himself. But looking at the spreadsheet is just making his skin crawl and adding fuel to the fire.

Phil sighs a little. “Look, why don’t we just figure this all out later and you take a little break, okay?” he asks.

“What ‘later’? There is no later!” Dan exclaims, feeling his resolve crumbling completely. “We’re getting married in six months, Phil! And we’re barely ready for it - we can’t do ‘later’ anymore!”

Phil blinks in surprise, clearly not expecting Dan to snap at him over this. “Why are you so mad at me?” he finally asks.

“Why am I - are you serious? Have you even been listening to a word I’ve been saying?” Dan is shouting now, and he slams his laptop shut angrily because he can’t bear to look at that damn spreadsheet for another moment longer, but right now, he isn’t sure if he can stand to be around Phil for another moment longer either. “Phil, I can’t plan an entire wedding on my own!”

“You aren’t!” Phil tries to keep himself from shouting back but his temper is just as bad as Dan’s can be, especially when he’s arguing with someone. “Why are you all of a sudden forgetting everything I’ve done? I helped pick the date, I got PJ to take the photos -”

“And I appreciate all of that,” Dan interrupts. “But you can’t just do a few things and then call it a day! Wedding planning is constant work, we can’t afford to fuck around and hope everything falls into place!”

“You’re way too stressed out about this,” Phil tells him.

“Of course I’m stressed!” Dan groans, trying not to roll his eyes yet again because he’s sure at this point they’re going to roll right out of his head. “Because you aren’t taking any of this seriously!”

“I’m trying!” Phil insists.

“You aren’t trying hard enough!” Dan snaps back, and he stops himself before he can say anything else. “I’m going to take a walk,” he says looking underneath the coffee table for his shoes because he just needs to cool down before he starts yelling at Phil some more - and that’s the last thing he wants to do right now.

“You’re just going to leave?” Phil asks and he sounds a bit like a kicked puppy, but Dan ignores the hurt in his voice, because he can’t spend a minute longer trying to plan this wedding, especially not while he’s upset with Phil.

“Yes, I’m going to take your advice and take a little break, okay?” he says and he doesn’t wait for Phil to reply because as soon as his shoes are on, he grabs his jacket and leaves their flat, slamming the door shut behind him.

* * *

Phil runs his hands over his face and drops back against the couch. As much as he wants to believe that he’s an innocent party in all of this, he can’t shake the nagging feeling of guilt eating at the pit of his stomach. The more he thinks about it, the more he realizes he could’ve done more to help, and he hates that he put Dan through so much stress all by himself.

He sighs again; how could he be so careless? He hates that he’s made Dan think that he doesn’t care about the wedding details - because he does, he’s just not very good at organization the way Dan is. He doesn't have the attention span or the patience for it. But that’s not saying that Dan should have to suffer through all of the horrific details of wedding planning alone, and now that his eyes have been opened, he’s determined to make it up to him.

Deciding not to risk messing anything up by touching Dan’s schedule plans, he takes his own laptop and gets to work on the invitations and save the date cards - something Louise told them they needed to finish up at least a month ago but both of them were too busy.

He smiles a little to himself as he gets to work, going through various websites to pick the perfect layout and design before settling on a plain white card with pink flowers in the corners and a fancy script-styled font. He drafts the invitation and rewrites it three times before it’s absolutely perfect.

Phil smiles proudly at his work and saves the image, so he can show Dan when he gets home, before ordering the prints.

He makes the ‘save the date’ cards in a similar style to the invitations - plain white with pink as the accent color, and a watercolor design of a pink flower off to the side of the details. He decides to keep it simple.

Phil once again saves the image to his desktop before placing an order on the prints. He can’t help but to feel a bit proud of himself; he thinks the invites and save the date cards look beautiful and he hopes that Dan will think so too. He also hopes that Dan will forgive him for sucking as a fiance lately.

He isn’t sure what else to do at this point, still afraid to tackle the schedule alone, so he goes to the kitchen to make dinner for when Dan comes home. He distracts himself with pots of boiling water and spaghetti and jars of tomato sauce as he embraces his inner Master Chef. He’s so immersed in cooking dinner that he doesn’t notice when Dan finally returns, having let himself in virtually silently.

“Hey,” he says and Phil drops the spoon he’s stirring the sauce with in shock.

He turns to look at Dan. “Hey.”

They both blurt out, “I’m sorry,” at the same time, and Dan crosses the room to hug Phil.

“You don’t have to apologize,” the older man says. “I was being insensitive and lazy. I should’ve helped out more.”

“You were trying,” Dan tells him. “And I definitely didn’t give you enough credit for the things you did do.”

“Oh, speaking of which!” Phil turns off the stove before taking Dan by the hand and leading him back into the lounge. “Consider this my way of apologizing for not doing my share,” he says as he opens his laptop and shows Dan the wedding invitations and save the date cards he made. “What do you think?” he asks, looking over at him to try and read his face. “I already ordered the prints, so it’ll be really unfortunate if you hate them.”

“I love them!” Dan is smiling from ear to ear and he wraps his arms around Phil’s shoulders, kissing his cheek and telling him, “They’re beautiful, thank you for making them.”

“That’s okay,” Phil says then turns his head so he can peck a kiss to Dan’s lips. “And I know it seems like I haven’t been doing my share lately, which - admittedly - I haven’t, but I have a really, really good reason.”

“Oh?” Dan raises his eyebrow. “And what is that?”

Phil smirks. “One word: honeymoon.”

Dan’s eyes widen. “Honey - Phil, what are you planning?”

“That’s for me to know,” Phil kisses Dan once more before getting up to his feet and heading back into the kitchen to finish dinner, calling out, “And you to find out!” over his shoulder as he leaves Dan sitting in the lounge in absolute awe.

* * *

“Tell me you love me,” Louise says one day when she walks into the shop.

“I would if you weren’t late,” Dan replies teasingly, throwing her smock at her and stepping out from behind the register.

“Pretend I wasn’t late and tell me you love me,” Louise tries again.

“Okay fine, I love you,” Dan says, and just for good measure, he gives her a little peck to the cheek before grabbing a bag of fertilizer from the supply closet and going to sprinkle it in the plant pots. “Now tell me why I love you.”

“Because,” Louse grins cheekily. “I just booked an appointment for you and Phil go to sample some wedding cakes.”

Dan nearly drops the fertilizer. “You didn’t,” he say, trying to contain his excitement. He had been looking at cake ideas online for ages now but hadn’t had the time to move past that stage. “Lou, you’re a lifesaver!”

“I am, aren’t I?” she can’t help but agree with him, and Dan lets her have her little moment in the spotlight, because she really did save his arse.

She gives him the details of his appointment - telling him that it had to be today, apologizing for how last minute it is, and then telling him where it is - and on his lunch break he rings Phil and relays the information to him

Apparently, Louise had done much more than just arrange a meeting for the two of them. When they meet the baker, he’s already got a cake sketch designed for them and it’s absolutely breathtaking. It’s four layers of cake with white vanilla icing covering it and diamond designs etched into the cake itself and butterscotch cream dots in each crease. The best part of the cake has to be the calla lilies winding down the cake, starting at the top and twisting all the way down the side to the bottom layer.

“It’s perfect,” Phil says, because Dan’s been rendered speechless.

They discuss prices and transportation for the cake, and Dan and Phil taste a few samples to decide on flavours.

“Not that your design wasn’t gorgeous,” Dan says to the baker, his voice muffled by the slice of cake in his mouth, “but this has to be my favourite part of the process.”

When they leave the shop, they find themselves debating on if they’re counting down the days until their wedding purely because of their perfect cake.

* * *

“Have you finalized the menu?” Dan asks, not looking up from yet another spreadsheet he’s made in Google Docs to keep the two of them on track for all of this planning. It’s gotten to the point where he’s starting to want to make spreadsheets for everything; he senses an intervention may be necessary soon.

“Yup.” Phil shuts his laptop, crawling over to lie by Dan’s side, resting his head in his lap. “And you’ve finalized the flowers and we both finished up with the schedule. All we have to do now is work on our vows.”

Dan smiles a little. They decided early on that instead of going with traditional vows, since there’s nothing traditional about a florist and a Radio 1 DJ’s love for each other, that they’re going to write their own vows. “Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m just about finished with mine,” he says, shutting his laptop so Phil doesn’t get any ideas. “I sent a rough draft to Louise last night, and she cried.”

“You’ve really got to stop making Louise cry,” Phil says with a chuckle. “But if I do say so myself, my vows are definitely going to make Louise and you cry,” he says with confidence, but there’s still a part of him that’s a tad anxious. The pressure is on to write something really good, but it’s harder than he thought to compose his love for Dan in just a few words.

He’s not a writer, nor does he have a way with words; unlike Dan, who can spew beautiful metaphors and phrases into convoluted but eloquent explanations of everything from how to properly care for sunflowers to his love for Phil.. He knows that even if Dan comes up with something more poetic than he does, he’ll love whatever Phil comes up with. But he’s definitely putting pressure on himself to write something perfect, because Dan deserves it. He can only hope for the best as he tries to put his thoughts and feelings into words - and that he doesn’t stutter when he finally goes to read them.

* * *

“Okay, so, correct me if I’m wrong, but are you honestly considering getting Dan a black wedding band?”

Phil bites his lip anxiously, but tries to keep his tone nonchalant. “Well, black is his favorite color,” he says to PJ, who is currently leaning over his shoulder and looking at his computer screen. Phil’s been on Kay Jewelers website in search of a wedding ring for Dan. “It’s pretty much all he wears. Not to mention he doesn’t really like jewelry, except for his engagement ring, so I want to get him something he’s really, really going to like. And look, there are some pretty nice ones in black; I’m sure he’d appreciate the sentiment.”

“No doubt about that,” PJ chuckles, looking over the ring Phil is currently debating on ordering for Dan. It’s a white tungsten carbide wedding band featuring a black tungsten carbide through the center with a textured lattice pattern; it’s simple, untraditional, yet elegant and unique in its own way and PJ can’t deny that it definitely screams Dan Howell. In a strange way, it kind of works.

“On second thought,” PJ murmurs, rubbing his chin. “I like it. And I think Dan will as well.”

Phil grins widely. “You think so?” he asks, already going to purchase the ring.

“Definitely,” PJ says, clamping his hand on his friend’s shoulder. “The only thing that could make that ring any more perfect for Dan is if it had a picture of Kanye West engraved in it.”

“Oh god,” Phil rolls his eyes. “You know, his obsession with Kanye was kind of cute when we first met - now it’s slightly off-putting, as he suggested we play one of his songs at our wedding.”

PJ laughs a little. “I sure hope it wasn’t Gold Digger,” he says and shakes his head. “God, your fiance is so weird. Endearing and adorable, but weird.”

Phil smiles a little, looking from PJ to the ring and back. “Yeah, but I love him.”

* * *

Dan groans, pressing the heels of his hands into his eyes and he whines, “Louise, I’m so bad at this.”

“You’re just putting far too much pressure on yourself, Little Bear.” Louise places her hands on Dan’s shoulders and gives them a little squeeze. “Now, I’m sure whatever ring you decide on, Phil is going to love.”

“It has to be perfect, though!” Dan insists. “And I have no idea what kind of ring he’s getting me so I have no idea what kind I should get for him.”

“Let’s just have a look see at our options again, and we’ll go from there, okay?” Louise suggests.

Dan sighs and reloads the webpage once again, the two of them looking at the collection of men’s wedding bands on Kay Jewelers website. There are so many good ones, but none of them have jumped out at him yet; none of them are good enough for Phil. He’s about to sigh in defeat when he stops suddenly, eyes going wide when he sees one ring in particular.

“What, what?” Louise asks, unable to take the suspense.

“I think,” Dan says slowly, smiling a little as he clicks on the link to the ring. “I found the perfect ring.” It’s a white tungsten carbide band with a trio of round black diamonds set diagonally in the center of the band. “See,” he starts to explain. “It’s a classic silver wedding band but it’s got a little something that sets it apart from every other traditional wedding ring; the same way Phil has things about himself that set him apart from everyone else in the world. It’s unique and untraditionally beautiful, just like he is. And the diamonds are black and everyone knows that black basically represents my entire soul, so it’ll be as if he’s always got a piece of me with him.”

“That was bloody poetic and gorgeous, if I do say so myself,” Louise tells him, a wide smile on her face. “And I think Phil is going to love it.”

“Good,” Dan grins as he goes to make the purchase and even though there’s a nagging feeling of anxiety resting in the pit of his stomach that makes him fear that Phil will hate the ring, he can’t help but to feel proud of himself; he wanted nothing but the best for Phil, and he’s pretty sure he’s found it.

* * *

“Hey,” Phil whispers one night - when he should be asleep - and he rolls over on his side to face Dan.

“Hey,” Dan whispers in reply, moving to face him as well. “Can’t sleep either?”

“Nah, too much on my mind,” Phil admits. The two of them spent the entire morning finalizing things, calling the venue and a few other people, just making sure everything is still on the up and up, and meeting with PJ once more to go over where they want their photos taken and what kind of shots they want. It’s been a long, long day and even though he should be exhausted now he finds himself wide awake, unable to stop thinking about wedding things.

“Yeah, me too,” Dan says and even in the dark, Phil can see the smile that grows like a flower in bloom when he adds, “you know, the wedding is in two months.”

Phil’s lips stretch into a wide smile. “We’re getting married in two months,” he says and it takes all of his energy not to let out a Louise-esque squeal when he says it, but he’s just so excited, he can barely contain it. He can’t believe that in two months he’s going to be standing at the altar with the love of his life. “Jesus, there’s only two months left and there’s still loads to do.”

“Don’t remind me,” Dan sighs, rubbing his eyes. “Well, you know since neither of us can sleep, we can try to get something done, yeah?”

“Why not?” Phil shrugs, and he throws their duvet back and puts on his glasses before following Dan out of their bedroom. The younger of the two grabs his laptop and they set off to the kitchen.

Phil winces as Dan turns the lights on.

“You should wear your hair in a quiff for the wedding,” he tells Phil, gently pushing his hair back from his forehead

“For you? I just might do that,” Phil says with a smirk and Dan takes that as an opportunity to kiss his fiance’s forehead.

“So, why don’t we work on the wedding playlist some more?” Dan suggests. “Or at least finalize it and get it in some kind of order.”

“Sounds good to me,” Phil murmurs, resting his chin on Dan’s shoulder,

Dan opens his iTunes and Spotify playlists, looking through his music collection - because Phil’s taste in music pales in comparison to his own, if he says so himself.

“Right, so the first song is going to be the first song we dance to as husbands, so it needs to be perfect,” Dan tells him.

“Muse?” Phil suggests.

“Perhaps,” Dan muses, looking through all of Muse’s discography that he has downloaded. “Or maybe an Ed Sheeran song? Thinking Out Loud or Give Me Love are good options.”

“Any Ed Sheeran song is a good song, to be honest,” Phil says. “Hell, we could dance to The A Team and it would be a good first dance song.”

Dan turns his head to stare at him. “Phil, we aren’t dancing to a song about a drug addicted prostitute at our wedding,” he says.

“Well, when you put it that way, of course it sounds like a bad idea,” Phil replies and Dan rolls his eyes, looking back at his music. “Wait!” Phil exclaims a moment later. “I have an idea - the perfect song for us,” Phil takes control of the reins for a moment, typing in a song title in Dan’s Spotify search and when he finds what he’s looking for, he presses play.

Soft piano music fills the air and Dan’s lips curl into a smile when he hears the opening of the song. A moment later, the beat picks up and a raspy male voice begins to sing, There's a shop down the street, where they sell plastic rings, for a quarter a piece, I swear it.

“May I have this dance, Mr. Lester?” Phil asks, extending his hand towards Dan who blushes just faintly and takes it. Yeah, I know that it's cheap, not like gold in your dreams, but I hope that you'll still wear it.

Phil pulls him in close, their chests touching as their bodies move in rhythm together in their kitchen. The ceiling light shines bright above their heads like a spotlight, and when Phil closes his eyes, he pictures the two of them dancing together in their tuxedos, instead of their mismatched pajamas. Yeah, the ink may stain my skin, and my jeans may all be ripped. I'm not perfect, but I swear, I'm perfect for you.

Phil hums softly in Dan’s ear as they dance together, slipping just slightly on their socks and too-long pants, laughing softly and stealing kisses between verses. Dan rests his head on Phil’s shoulder and Phil’s hand gently rests on the small of his back, and they sway back and forth together as the song plays. And there's no guarantee, that this will be easy. It's not a miracle ya need, believe me. Yeah, I'm no angel, I'm just me, but I will love you endlessly. Wings aren't what you need, you need me.

“So, what do you think of the song?” Phil asks him, his voice soft and gentle, not wanting to distract Dan from the music.

“It’s perfect,” Dan murmurs sleepily, his eyes drifting shut, a wide smile plastered on his face. “Just like you.”

Phil kisses his forehead and he whispers to him, “I love you,” and Dan says it back and when the song ends, Phil plays it again.

They dance together in the middle of their kitchen until Dan is too tired to stand, and he falls asleep on the couch. While he sleeps, Phil takes it upon himself to compose the remainder of their playlist, putting the songs they’ve already mutually decided on in a specific order and adding in a few more that each of them like. He spends an hour and a half listening to songs and perfecting the playlist, and the sun starts to rise by the time he’s finally getting off of Dan’s laptop and carries Dan, bridal style, back to bed.

* * *

Time is beginning to fly by and before either of them know it, it’s a month until the wedding. And to say that Dan and Phil are on a constant emotional rollercoaster would be an understatement. They go from being extremely happy and excited to being stressed to being worried that something is going to go wrong, and the cycle repeats. It’s crunch time for the both of them because, while they do have some time to finish up some last minute things, it’s almost not enough time.

Louise keeps reminding them that everything is going to be fine, and day after day they’re reminded of how thankful they are for her. She’s been helping them out so much lately, mostly by covering for Dan at the shop while he runs around and does wedding things. Even though she insists that she doesn’t mind the overtime, Dan can’t help but to feel bad for having her work so much. And as much as he’s excited for the wedding, he kind of hates all of the work that’s going into it right now. because it’s taking up all of his time and he’s starting to miss his shop and his flowers and work. Every time he’s working, he ends up having to take an early and extended break to make numerous phone calls and reply to emails, and half the time he ends up just leaving early to take care of wedding things. He hasn’t worked a full day in weeks and he hates it.

It’s another day where he’s had to leave work early and call someone else in last minute to work a shift so they’re not understaffed, and Dan can’t help but mope a bit while he helps Phil organize a list of who has and hasn’t RSVP'd.

Phil knows how hard it must be for Dan to not be working so much. It doesn’t matter that he owns the shop and he doesn’t even have to work as much as he does, because Dan loves his job more than anything; there’s no one on this earth who has as much of a passion for flowers as Dan does and being unable to spend time doing the thing that makes him the happiest (aside from Phil, that is) must be killing him.

They didn’t finish everything they needed to last night, so when Phil wakes up, he makes sure to call the BBC and let them know that he absolutely cannot come in today, and he is determined to finish up as much as he can on his own. Dan is already gone and he makes a promise to himself that he’s going to allow Dan to work a full day at the shop.

Besides, all he has to do today is stock the bar, get a full headcount of everyone attending, and work on the seating arrangements for the reception. How hard can that be?

He spends the entire morning on the phone, whether it be calling relatives or making the arrangements for drinks, and while it’s all tedious, it’s easy. The task itself takes a long time but he finally manages to get it all done. Feeling proud of himself, he rewards himself with a coffee break and then gets right back to work, starting to organize the seating arrangements.

There’s a layout of the of the reception hall laid out before him and sticky notes with everyone’s names on them for him to pick and place wherever he chooses. ‘How hard can this be?’ he thinks confidently as he places the sticky note with his and Dan’s names on it on a table in the center of the hall. The rest of the tables go around the room in a circle, and the first row of tables is easy to label; Dan’s parents and his little brother get a table of their own, Phil’s parents, his brother and his brother’s girlfriend get a table, Louise, Matt, and Darcy get a table, and some of their other close friends get a table up front as well.

Phil smiles proudly to himself as he finishes and mulls over the rest of the tables and attendees, but his smile is soon gone when he realizes just how difficult this has gotten. He can’t keep track of who can and can’t sit near each other for one reason or another, and every couple of minutes he has to call Dan at work and ask for confirmation. Dan offers to come home and help him, but Phil keeps on insisting that he can get it done - and it takes a long time, but he manages to get together the perfect setup.

Or at least it was perfect for about fifteen minutes, until Phil’s aunt called and informed him that she and his uncle wouldn’t be able to make it to the wedding, meaning the final headcount is now off. Which isn’t a major problem, but now there is an incomplete table at the reception, meaning the seating arrangements are now going to have to be reorganized. Again.

Staring down at the now imperfect layout of the reception that he had spent hours trying to make perfect, Phil angrily grabs the thick storyboard paper and throws it at the wall, unable to deal with the fact that his hard work now means nothing.

“Fuck!” he hears Dan swear as he walks inside of their flat. “Jesus Phil, you damn near gave me a paper cut.”

“Sorry,” Phil grumbles sulkily.

“What’s wrong?” Dan asks, taking his coat off and hanging it up before bending down to pick up the discarded storyboard. “What happened with the seating arrangements?”

“They’re all off now,” Phil replies, annoyance evident in his tone. “Because my auntie and uncle aren’t coming now, which means everything has to be rearranged again and everything I spent hours doing is now ruined.”

“Aw, Phil.” Dan walks over to him and goes to rub his shoulders, frowning at how tense he is. He hates seeing him upset like this. “Don’t worry, we can fix the seating chart and everything is going to be fine.”

“No, it’s not!” Phil whines, aware that he sounds like a child right now but he’s had a long day, he’s allowed to do some whining. “I had it so perfect Dan; everything was set up so nicely, and your uncle and his new girlfriend were the appropriate amount of feet away from his ex wife and kids, and my grandparents on my mum’s side were on the opposite end of the room as my grandparents on my dad’s side, and there was an extra seat at your parents’ table in case your brother brings a date, and now everything has to get changed and moved around and it was just so perfect already and now it’s not!” He sighs heavily, feeling out of breath after his rant, and crosses his arms grumpily. “Why can’t everyone just get along and seat themselves?”

“Truthfully, we probably should’ve done that from the start,” Dan admits. “But, I refuse to let your hard work go to waste so we’re going to take a break and then come back to this, okay? You and me.”

Phil sighs again, this time sadly and Dan stops rubbing his shoulders to sit next to him. “I’m sorry,” he apologizes, resting his head on Dan’s shoulder. “I wanted to get this done on my own.”

“Well first of all, you are not Eponine,” Dan attempts to joke and Phil cracks the smallest of smiles. “Second of all, you and I are a team, Phil. We’re partners now and forever, and that means I’m always going to be here to help you just like I know you’ll always be here to help me. Don’t feel bad for needing me, okay?”

“Okay,” Phil says softly, feeling a little bit better about everything now, and Dan gently pushes his head up so he can kiss him.

“I love you,” he tells him.

“I know,” Phil says, now smiling properly and he rests his forehead against Dan’s. “I love you too.”

“Now, forget about all of this,” Dan says, gesturing to the seating chart. “You and I can tackle that after dinner; right now, you are far too tense so you’re going to take a break and a long hot shower.”

Phil smirks a little. “Only if you join me,” he says taking Dan by the hand and leading him down the hall to their bathroom, where the two of them relieve themselves of some stress together.

* * *

The entire month goes by in a blur of last minute finalizing and planning and stressing and little arguments and (arguably) unnecessary make up sex, and now Dan can’t sleep and he isn’t sure if it’s because he’s staying over someone else’s house tonight or if it’s because he’s getting married tomorrow.

He’s going with the latter right now.

Louise had insisted that Dan stay at her house tonight, because it’s bad luck for the soon to be wed couple to see each other before the wedding, and there was no talking her out of it. So now Dan’s taken refuge in the spare room of the Watson household, and even though he’s been lying in bed for hours now, he can’t bring himself to fall asleep. His heart is racing so quickly it feels as though it’s going to sprout wings, escape out of his chest, and start flying around the room - but it’s not because of nerves. He’s happy to say that he doesn’t have cold feet whatsoever, not even a cold toe or two; he’s completely confident that tomorrow is going to be the greatest day of his life and marrying Phil is going to be the best thing to ever happen to him. Whenever he thinks about it, he starts smiling and giggling uncontrollably and he rolls around in his bed like a giddy teenager, unable to contain his elation. On the flip side, though, he hopes he falls asleep soon because the last thing he wants is bags under his eyes in the wedding photos - though he’s sure that’s nothing Louise won’t be able to fix.

He rolls over and goes to grab his phone and checks the time.It’s two in the morning - so much for going to bed early. He unlocks his phone and calls Phil because he’s got a feeling he’s awake as well, and Louise’s superstition said nothing about talking to your groom to be before the wedding.

Phil answers on the third ring. “Hey, you.”

Dan smiles. “Hey,” he says and he rolls over so he’s lying on his back. “We’re getting married tomorrow.”

“I know,” Phil says and he laughs a little. “Oh my god, we’re getting married tomorrow.”

“It seems like only yesterday an insanely attractive, yet utterly clueless, man stumbled into my flower shop,” Dan says and he suddenly feels overwhelmed with emotion, as if he could burst into tears out of the sheer happiness he’s feeling right now.

“Seems like only yesterday the most adorable florist I had ever laid eyes on was helping me pick out flowers,” Phil replies. “Did you ever guess that the attractive, yet clueless, man and the adorable florist would be picking out flowers for their wedding?”

“I love you,” is all Dan can choke out and he takes a deep breath to try and calm himself down. “God, I love you so much, Phil.”

“I love you too,” Phil tells him. “I love you more than anything. And I can’t wait to marry you.”

Dan sighs contently. “Tomorrow,” he says.

“Tomorrow,” Phil repeats, and nothing more needs to be said, and the two of them stay on the phone until they fall asleep.

* * *

For a second, Dan thinks an earthquake has hit London because he’s pulled out of his dreams by rapid shaking, but he quickly throws that theory away when he feels a foot to his ribcage and an eight year old voice shouting, “Wake up! Wake up!”

“I’m up, I’m up!” Dan says and suddenly he feels wide awake, sitting up in bed. He grabs Darcy’s legs, stopping her from jumping on him and his bed and she falls over giggling. “What a wake up call,” he laughs.

“One day, that’ll be an everyday occurrence for you and Phil,” Louise teases and Dan’s face flushes.

“How about I marry Phil before we have some children, okay?” he asks. “Which, by the way, is happening today!” He has to bite his lip to keep from shouting holy shit holy fucking shit because he’s mindful enough to watch his language in front of Darcy.

“You’re getting married today!” Louise squeals and she grabs him, pulling him in for a hug. “My little bear is getting married!”

“Stop before I cry,” Dan warns her with a laugh as he breaks their hug.

“Mummy, give Dan his presents!” Darcy says and Dan’s eyes go wide.

“Presents?” he asks. “Louise, you’ve already done so much for Phil and I, and our wedding - you need to restrain yourself.”

“Too late!” Louise says and she reaches down on the floor for four little present bags. “Here you go!”

“Louise -”

“I don’t want to hear it Dan; whether you like it or not you are my little brother, sort of, and since you refuse to let me adopt you, at least let me spoil you,” she tells him.

“Oh my god,” Dan mumbles under his breath but he takes one of the bags and opens it to reveal a single red rose keychain, the very same one Phil had given to him for his birthday the year they first met.

“It’s your ‘something old’,” Louise explains to him with a smile when she sees his wide eyed expression as he looks over the keychain. “I figured you could put it in your pocket for good luck, or something.”

Dan looks up at her, speechless, and simply moves on to the next bag, opening it up and taking out a gold pin, he assumes for the lapel of his jacket, shaped like a rose.

“It’s ‘something new’,” Louise says.

“I picked it out,” Darcy announces proudly.

“Oh god.” Dan covers his hand with his mouth, laughing a little when he sees where this is going. “You’re so cheesy, Lou.”

“Oh shush and open the next bag,” Louise tells him.

Dan rolls his eyes but complies and he takes out a familiar looking wrist watch. “Is this - this is my dad’s,” he says, a bit flabbergasted.

“It’s your ‘something borrowed’, so you have to give it back to him after the wedding. Your dad mailed it to me a few weeks ago and told me I could hold on to it until today,” she explains. “When I spoke with your mum, she told me that she was more than okay with me treating you like this as long as they could help. In fact, the ‘something blue’ was her idea.”

“I’m afraid,” Dan jokes, opening the bag and he bursts out when he takes out a pair of blue underwear. “Are you kidding me?”

“It was fitting,” Louise insists. “You can put those on after you’ve had some breakfast.”

“I’m not hungry,” Dan says because his stomach is in knots right now and he isn’t sure if he could keep anything down.

“Dan, you aren’t getting married on an empty stomach,” Louise tells him, and both her and Darcy take his hands and lead him downstairs to the kitchen where she goes to whip him up some breakfast.

“I’m not hungry,” Dan repeats.

“You’re going to throw up on Phil if you don’t eat,” Louise replies. “And that’ll probably ruin the entire wedding and I’ll be forced to say I told you so, and I’m sure no one wants that.”

Dan just rolls his eyes, deciding it’s not worth the energy it’ll take to argue with Louise - especially since he’ll end up losing regardless - and he humours her by eating a light breakfast, but as soon as she reminds him that they’ll be heading over to the venue soon, his appetite is gone with the wind and he’s reduced to a near hysterical frenzy.

Today is the day, and he can’t believe it’s finally here. When he first met Phil, he never would’ve thought that one day the two of them would be getting married - hell, he never thought he and Phil would even be together. But here they are, five years later, happy as can be, and about to be husbands. In just a few hours, Dan is going to meet him at the altar and soon they’ll be sharing their first kiss as husbands, and he can’t even put into words how happy he feels to be marrying the love of his life.

The morning flies by in a haze of excitement and near tears and butterflies in his stomach, and before he knows it, he’s on his way to the venue, on his way to marry his best friend.

* * *

Phil can’t breathe.

His chest is tight with a familiar feeling of anxiety that loomed over him the day he had planned to propose, and he’s got his hands clasped tightly together in fear of knocking anything over. His body is rigid and stiff, and PJ places a hand on his shoulder that nearly makes him jump out of his skin.

“Relax,” he tells him with a smile. “Today is going to be the best day of your life.”

And Phil just smiles, because he doesn’t trust himself to open his mouth in fear of throwing up or saying something intelligible, but the smile is as genuine as can be; PJ is right, this truly is the best day of his life.

He remembers the first day he laid eyes on Dan, the day he walked into Game of Thorns for the first time and saw the tall, slightly awkward sales associate who all but shouted at him when he first walked in. But that was just something that attracted Phil to him, as strange as it sounds - because Dan was a bit ‘out there’ at times - the way he could ramble on and on about flowers and plants, the way he spent his weekends going to botanical gardens instead of clubs. He was so unconventional, yet so attractive and endearing.

He remembers falling in love with Dan, how thrilling and terrifying it was but above all, how it ended up being the best thing to ever happen to him. If his life was a garden, Dan would be the biggest and most beautiful flower amongst them all, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

Phil finds himself pulled out of his thoughts when he sees everyone in the venue rising to their feet, and his heart starts to race. It’s time.

The band begins to play ‘The Wedding March’ and Phil’s breath hitches when he sees Dan. Their eyes lock and Phil can see his dimpled smile from all the way at the end of the aisle, and it takes all Phil has in him not to start crying because Dan is just so beautiful and he’s so happy right now. He doesn’t take his eyes off of Dan as he walks down the aisle, and he doesn’t want to blink because he doesn’t want to let go of his moment for a second.

Dan stops at the end of the aisle and he kisses his mum’s cheek, then his dad’s, and then he turns to Phil with a wide smile on his face. Wordlessly, Phil takes Dan by the hand and he leads him the rest of the way down the aisle, the two of them standing at the altar hand in hand. “Hi,” Dan says to him, his voice barely audible but Phil can hear him clear as day.

“Hi,” Phil whispers back. It’s time.

“Dearly beloved,” the officiant begins and Phil holds his breath while he speaks, squeezing Dan’s hand a bit tighter. Dan squeezes back.

“We are gathered here today on these beautiful grounds to celebrate the love of these two beautiful young people, Daniel and Philip. There is no greater way to express one’s love for another then by the two of them joining together in matrimony, the greatest and perhaps most challenging of all human relationships. But as we all know, no ceremony can create a marriage; only you, Philip and Daniel, can do that - through patience, through dedication, through laughter, through listening, through talking, through helping, through supporting, through believing in each other, through learning to forgive, through learning to appreciate each other’s differences, through learning to make each and every day together matter. But most importantly, through love. To quote Stephen Kendrick, The only way love can last a lifetime is if it's unconditional. The truth is this: love is not determined by the one being loved but rather by the one choosing to love. Philip and Daniel have chosen to love each other, and may the love between them last nothing short of a lifetime.”

Phil turns to lock eyes with Dan as he says that, and he can feel the tears welling up in his eyes. ‘A lifetime,’ he thinks. ‘How lucky would I be to be with Dan Howell for a lifetime.’

“What this ceremony can do,” the officiant continues. “Is provide witness and affirmation for the choice you two have made to stand together as life mates, partners, and husbands. And now for Philip’s and Daniel’s declarations of intent.” The officiant nods to Phil, letting him know he can begin reading his vows.

Phil’s hands shake as he reaches inside of his jacket pocket and he pulls out a piece of paper. He unfolds it and clears his throat before reading.

“Dan,” he begins and his voice shakes a little. “When you first suggested that we write our own vows, I was terrified. I’m not like you, I don’t have a way with words and I’m not the best at putting my thoughts on paper. And trying to capture the way I feel about you and putting it into words has not been an easy task, to say the least, but I guess if we’re standing here at the altar listening to me read this, I must’ve managed.”

He pauses when everyone, including Dan, chuckles at that and he rolls his shoulders back, feeling more relaxed, before continuing. “When I was trying to research what to write and how to write it, I saw a lot of ‘write what you know’ so that’s what I’ve decided to do.”

He clears his throat again and then reaches out one of his hands to take Dan’s to hold as he reads, “I, Phil Lester, take you, Dan Howell, to be my my husband. And as your husband, I promise to love you unconditionally, to be yours as long as you’ll be mine, and to be by your side no matter what comes our way. I promise to laugh and cry with you, to make new memories with you while cherishing our old memories. I promise to lie on the floor with you when you’re attacked by the Existential Crisis Monster in the late hours of the night. I promise to stop leaving my socks lying on the floor in the hallway. I promise to stop eating your cereal with my hands. I promise not to take it personally when you pay more attention to your plants then you do to me. I promise to ask your permission before buying more house plants for our flat. I promise to fill our life together with so many flowers that you and I will be walking through our garden forever. I promise to spend everyday of our lives even more in love with you then the day before. I promise to be your best friend for the rest of our lives. And most importantly, from here on out, everyday we’re together I promise to dare you to love me.”

Dan takes a moment to close his eyes, a stray tear rolling down his cheek, and he composes himself briefly before taking his own vows out of his jacket pocket, trying to unfold it with one hand because he can’t bring himself to let go of Phil’s, and he begins to read his own vows.

“Phil, before I met you, the only thing I loved more than anything was flowers. When I was around flowers and when I was at my shop, I felt at home. Then something changed and you came into my life, and suddenly ‘home’ was wherever I was with you. Suddenly, I learned that home was not a place, it was a person - a feeling. And that’s what being in love with you feels like - it feels like coming home.”

He pauses for a moment, blinking back tears, and when Phil sniffles a bit he gives his hand a tight squeeze. “I love you Phil Lester, and today take you to be my husband. And as your husband, I promise to care for you the way you care for me. I promise to love you with all of my heart for as long as we both shall live. I promise to hold you in my arms when you’re sad, I promise to kiss your tears away when you cry, and I promise to be the reason behind your happiness day in and day out. I promise to stop tracking in dirt when I get home from the shop, and on the days that I still do, I promise to clean up after myself. I promise to try not to get mad at you when you whisper questions while we watch films. I promise you that no matter how many flowers come in and out of my life, you will always be my favorite one. And above all, I promise to love you just as much as I did the day I dared you to love me.”

“May I have the rings please?” the officiant asks and when he’s handed the wedding rings, he places one in Phil’s hand and says, “Philip, place this ring on Daniel’s left ring finger and say, ‘with this ring, I thee wed.’”

Phil follows his instructions, sliding the wedding band on Dan’s finger and he says in a clear voice, “With this ring, I thee wed.”

“Now Daniel, you place this ring on Philip’s left ring finger,” the officiant tells him. “And say, ‘with this ring, I thee wed.’”

Dan chokes on the words a bit, taking a moment to clear his throat and swallow back some more tears, before he slides the ring on Phil’s finger, pausing to hold his hand as he says, “With this ring, I thee wed.”

“And by the power invested in me,” the officiant says. “I now pronounce you a married couple.” He looks at Dan and Phil with a wide smile and says, “You may now kiss your groom.”

And with those words, Phil doesn’t hesitate to place his hands on Dan’s waist and pull him in close, kissing his husband for the very first time.

* * *

The only moment that could compare to Dan and Phil’s first kiss as husbands is their first dance. With Phil’s head on Dan’s chest, the younger man has never relished in being taller than him more than he does in this moment. Holding Phil close, with his hands pressed to the small of Phil’s back, Dan closes his eyes and just breathes in this moment. With The Cab’s song playing softly in the background it, once again, feels as though he and Phil are the only two people in the world.

The reception as a whole is beautiful; Dan and Phil’s parents make speeches, welcoming their new son in law into their families, Louise gets drunk and sings karaoke with Jack, Dan and Phil share the first bite of their beautiful wedding cake, and everything is as perfect as it could ever be - it’s almost as if it’s not real, like the entire day was something out of a film.

When the party comes to an end hours later, they wave goodbye to everyone as they leave the reception and usher themselves into a cab. They make a stop at their flat briefly, and Phil runs inside to grab their suitcases - Dan assumes he packed them while he was at Louise’s - and loads them in the trunk of the cab before rejoining Dan in the back seat.

“Hey, you,” he says with a smile.

“Hey.” Dan rests his head on Phil’s chest, the older man’s arm wrapped around his shoulders. He feels so tired, yet wide awake at the same time, his entire body buzzing with excitement. The cab ride - where they’re going, Dan still doesn’t know - is quiet mostly, with the two of them cuddled up in the backseat. It’s only when Dan sees the sign for the airport in plain sight that he sits up eagerly, looking out the window.

“Where are we going?” Dan asks.

Phil just smirks, “You’ll see,” is all he says and the cab pulls into the airport parking lot. He doesn’t answer any of Dan’s questions, even after they’re inside, and it’s only until Dan sees the flight schedules, one line in particular saying Flight 277 London, England to Nagoya, Japan.

His eyes go wide. “Phil…” he says slowly, because he doesn’t want to jump to conclusions but if he’s right about where they’re going he’s pretty sure he’s going to have a heart attack.

Phil smiles proudly. “For our honeymoon,” he says. “We are going to Japan’s Nabana no Sato Botanical Garden, where we will see a light show tribute to nature.” He turns to Dan, still grinning, and he goes to say “Surprise!” but he can’t even get the word out before Dan throws himself into Phil’s arms and kisses him.

“I love you,” he says as he presses his forehead to Phil’s, and god he loves Phil so much. Not because of the things he does for him, but because he truly is the best person in the world and anyone would be lucky to call Phil their husband. And despite the fact that they have only been married for a few hours, Dan can’t help but to feel like the luckiest man in the world.

* * *

The flight from London to Nagoya takes over thirteen hours, and even though by the time they get to Japan it’s morning, they’re both exhausted and completely jetlagged. Phil tells Dan that they aren’t going over to the botanical gardens until tomorrow, so they make their way over to their hotel and check into their room immediately.

They both slump against one of the walls in the elevator and Dan’s posture is so poor that he ends up shorter than Phil. He takes that as an opportunity to rest his head on Phi’s chest, closing his eyes and exhaling contently as he listens to the beating of his heart. Phil once told him that when they met, Dan had planted flowers in his chest and everyday since then, they grow more and more in bloom. Dan never told him, but Phil had done the same for him. He presses himself tighter against Phil’s body and smiles, ready to spend their first night as husbands together.

Dan can’t stop thinking about being with Phil; even though, technically speaking, the only thing that has changed about their relationship is a piece of paper legally binding them as life partners, it feels as if something has changed now - in a good way. Everything feels new and different, and Dan doesn’t understand how or why but he likes it; it’s like he and Phil are embarking on this adventure together and he’s ready to take his husband’s hand and brace whatever life has to throw at them - together.

As soon as they get to their floor, Dan musters up whatever energy he has left and he kisses Phil, unable to keep his hands off of his husband for a moment longer, and pushes him up against the wall by their hotel room door. Laughing, Phil struggles to get the room card out of his pocket while Dan’s kisses move from his lips to his neck, and he lets them in their room. The second they’re inside, Dan pounces on him like a horny teenager and Phil, once again, laughs against his lips, his hands gripping the younger man’s waist, holding onto him as they try to walk to their room without ceasing in their makeout.

Once they’re in front of their bed, Phil slows things down, breaking their kiss and smirking a bit when Dan whines at the lack of Phil Kisses he’s receiving. Having changed their clothes on the plane into something more comfortable, Phil grabs the zipper of Dan’s hoodie and pulls it down, pushing it off of his shoulders and discarding it on the floor once he has it undone. Without breaking eye contact, he allows Dan to do the same, smiling while Dan helps him out of his sweatshirt and pepper little kisses to his lips once it falls to the floor. Dan removes his undershirt, throwing it onto the pile of discarded clothing on the floor, and he places his hands on Phil’s waist, pulling him in close as the two of them kiss again, their mouths moving together with feverish passion.

“I love you,” Phil gasps between kisses, lowering Dan onto their hotel bed and hovering over top of him.

Dan grabs the hem of Phil’s shirt and says, “I love you too,” and then smirks a little when he adds, “Mr. Howell.”

Phil smiles widely when he hears that, placing his hands on top of Dan’s and shimmying out of his shirt, and he exhales, “I love you too, Mr. Lester,” as he goes to kiss his husband once again, and when their lips touch it feels like flowers bursting into bloom. And Phil closes his eyes, eternally thankful that Dan dared him to love him.