Work Text:
Destiny is a long-debated topic. To some, the idea of it is terrifying. The feeling that you have no free will, that nothing you do matters. To others, it is liberating. The idea that whatever what happens to you, whatever life throws at you, there is always one constant. Nothing is ever set in stone; things happen, things change. In reality, the Universe doesn’t care what happens to each individual being, it doesn’t have time to dictate how everything ends. But sometimes, in a one in a billion situation, two souls will always find each other. Mortal forms blow away like dust in the blink of the Universe’s eye, but souls remain. Sometimes, no matter the place, the time, or even the plane of existence, two souls will find their way back to each other.
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u·ni·verse \ˈyü-nə-ˌvərs\ noun - all of space and everything in it including stars, planets, galaxies, etc.
It is DeltaOct 19th, year 3903, on the planet of Ataraxia. A raven haired boy searches the small coffee shop for a place to sit, but the universe must be against him as not one table was unoccupied. Some people think going to coffee shops is silly when you could have coffee teleport-delivered to your house in 5 seconds, but those who go don’t do it just for the caffeine. Coffee shops hold a sense of nostalgia and longing, a piece of the past but also a hope for a future. It’s bittersweet. The boy lets out a sigh and decides that he’s going to ask someone sitting alone if he can sit at their table. He spots someone around his age who looks friendly enough and makes his was over. Maybe he spent a little too much time hovering by the table and not saying anything as the next thing he hears is an invitation to sit.
“Hi, I’m Dan.” the stranger introduces himself, flashing a genuine smile, eyes the color of soil after rain lighting up.
It is October 19th, 2009, on the planet Earth. There is a boy on a train from Reading to Manchester. He is nervous and excited at the same time. Today would be the day he meets his best friend in person for the first time. Maybe it’s silly calling Phil his best friend given they haven’t met, but that is how he feels. Phil is the person he can talk to whenever, the person who he can say anything to, the person who makes him laugh, who reassures him, who makes him happy.
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time \ˈtīm\ noun - a nonspatial continuum that is measured in terms of events which succeed one another from past through present to future
In London, England, November 20th, 1292, a crowd has gathered around the town square. A young man is tied to a stake, awaiting death. The executioner announces that “Daniel James Howell is to be burned at the stake for the practice of sodomy.” and that his lover, Philip Michael Lester, if found, is to meet the same fate. Philip is standing at the corner of the town square, behind the crowd, hiding the best he can. He knows it’s not safe, he knows that if anyone cares to turn around, they would see him, but there was no way he’s going to let Daniel die alone. He is debating whether to run forward and let the executioner tie him to a stake too, just so they’ll die together or to stay just long enough for Daniel to notice him in the crowd, to know he’s not alone, and then run. Run as far as he can from this town where the only good thing he had was taken away from him. Daniel looks up and their eyes meet. He makes a motion with his head for Philip to get out of there before someone notices, but Philip only shakes his head in response. The executioner holds out a flame, glowing in the waning sunlight. Before he is fully aware of what he is doing, Philip rushes forward, pushing through the crowds of people and towards the center of the square. “Dan” he breathes, as he takes Daniel’s face in his hand and kisses him. For a split second, all was well, they were together. But reality comes back far too soon, turning the kiss into one filled with anguish. They don’t quite register what has happened until Philip is ripped away from Daniel and his own hands are being tied behind his back. Two fires burned bright at the town square that night.
In London, England, November 20th, 2012, a young couple argues. It has been three years since they met and fell in love and a year since they started growing apart. One of them is crying, screaming for what they used to have but what he was to scared to let others know of. Dan still loves Phil, more than anything, but he ruined it. He started drifting away after the fans started getting suspicious, but now he’s trying to find his way back. The other is stoic, his expression giving nothing away. He has been hurt long enough and is now caught in the battle between heart and head. Phil has loved Dan since the beginning and he still does now, but so far, following his heart has ended only in regret.
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al·ter·nate re·al·i·ty \ȯl-tər-nət rē-ˈa-lə-tē\ noun - a theory of a self-contained separate reality co-existing with one's own
In the heart of London, October 19th, 2022, in the courtyard of a lavish hotel, Dan and Phil exchange rings and say their “I do’s.” It has been 10 years after they met in university. Phil had convinced Dan to pursue a major he really loved instead of law, so Dan went on to become a successful actor. Dan supported Phil through the years he spent at university getting a degree in English Language and Linguistics; a post graduate in Film, Theater, and Television; and a Master of Arts in Video Post Production. Phil had gone on to work on some movies with brilliant directors and producers. 10 years later, 10 years of ups and downs, Phil proposed to Dan on New Year’s Day, and of course he said yes.
On the outskirts of London, October 19th, 2022, in an open flower field, Dan and Phil recite their vows to each other. 13 years after meeting each other in 2009 and it’s clear nothing but death could part them. They met under such unusual circumstances and fell in love. They built the world of Dan and Phil, and they built a home together. From that day at the train station to 2012 to the book and tour and to this day, they have never stopped loving each other.