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The weather has been beautiful for the week they’ve been on holiday so far. It’s warm, sunny, and just a downright pristine tropical island with white sand beaches and warm turquoise water. Aside from mildly aggressive lizards and a couple of run-ins with biblically-sized insects, it’s paradise.
Dan lays in the large cushioned lounge chair on the back deck of their villa, sipping his drink as the sun sets. His back is a little sore from paddling the glass-bottomed kayak earlier, mostly by himself as Phil spent more time admiring the view and the tropical fish beneath them than actually paddling. The previous day they went out on an excursion scuba diving in water that was so clear and blue that it barely felt real. It’s tiring to pack so many activities into one trip, but it’s the good sort of tiring where they can fall happily into bed later knowing the next several days will be just the two of them together on the beach relaxing in the sun.
When they go back home again, there will surely be a million emails waiting for him to answer and that promise of new content that they haven’t quite gotten around to yet. In the past, when they both said yes to everything, they would’ve been hunched over their laptops all night to get it done.
Dan doesn’t give a fuck anymore. He has some precious time alone with Phil, a private villa with a pool that’s just a few minutes’ walk from the beach, and the freedom to do whatever the hell he wants with that. He’s busy enjoying life, and everything else can wait.
He sees Phil walk over from where he’d been lounging in his own chair, phone in hand, expecting him to start taking photos to save alongside the thousands of others from their past trips. Phil’s glasses sit low on his nose and his hair is adorably ruffled, and he's wearing that same white shirt with a red heart that he’s decided is his new favorite, which of course makes it Dan’s favorite too.
Dan’s in a similar state - his hair dried strangely from being in the pool earlier, and Phil’s lace shirt that he borrowed for himself is casually unbuttoned with shorts that are probably an inch shorter than he’d openly wear at home. This is an offline, just the two of them moment. For all the pictures they take of their travels and share to the public with endless commentary on where they were, what they wore, and if this was finally the time they were secretly getting married, the truth is that far more of them end up staying private, shared between the two of them to remember fondly some other time.
Phil doesn’t take a photo, though - he’s got Twitter open.
Dan groans. “We’re on holiday, Phil.”
Twitter is a problem for next week. The less he ever has to interact with the site, the better.
Phil nudges his shoulder, trying to shove himself into Dan’s space. Dan scoots over to give him a bit of room, but it’s not designed for two of them. It’s kind of hot and sticky with Phil pressed up against him, but he doesn’t fight it for now. They’ve got a lovely air conditioned bedroom later. “What do you want, you leech?”
Phil smiles. “Pay up, Danny. They figured it out.”
Dan sighs, looking at the tweet Phil’s got pulled up. He knows what Phil means already - someone guessed they were traveling, and people ran wild with the theory.
“They’re *too* silent, I just know they’re on vacation right now.”
“God damn it.” He thought just this once, maybe they’d get away with it. They were as careful as they could be, staying up until midnight to post a video and agreeing not to post anything on social media until they were back at home in London. “What gave it away this time?”
“They chose a new pope,” Phil says.
“What, is the new pope running a fan account on Tumblr?”
“He’s American, he might be.” Phil shrugs. “I retweeted a joke about Father Philip.”
“Philllll,” he whines, “It doesn’t count if you did it on purpose.”
“I didn’t, I swear! I just didn’t think about the time zones.”
Dan fully believes him, and maybe it’s the golden light and the calming ocean breeze that makes the fact endearing rather than moderately inconvenient that the secret’s out. Still, he draws it out, because at his core he’s still competitive and wanted to win this bet for once.
“God, fine. You win, they figured it out again,” Dan grumbles, conceding that despite the tweet, the fans had gone overboard with their detective work yet again. Someday, maybe, they would be able to take a trip without anyone noticing. It’s a slim chance, but one day the internet will leave him alone long enough to lay on the beach in peace. At least now he’s better at ignoring it, confident that even though people know they’re away, they won’t ever figure out where.
No one has even considered that they’re in the Philippines. Surely they were all busy speculating about Japan or Los Angeles, but they’d been deliberate to choose a country where they didn’t visit quite as often. Maybe if they were in Manila they’d be spotted, but none of the workers on the island have so much as given them a second glance. It’s felt incredibly freeing in that regard, that they aren’t lugging around vlogging cameras like they’d done when they were young, and there haven’t been fans asking for selfies every time they go down to the beach. The only stares they get are from being tall white guys who don’t speak the local language, but it’s enough of a touristy area that even that barely factors in.
Phil sticks his hand out. “You still owe me.”
“I owe you money from our joint account.”
Phil just stares at him impatiently. “Yes.”
“Fucking fine, here.” He reaches into the pocket of his shorts, grabs a slightly crumpled hundred peso note, and slaps it into Phil’s open hand.
It’s only worth about a pound back home, but Phil smiles contently. “Thank you.”
Dan shakes his head as Phil peels himself away and leaves the humid patio for the comforts of the cool air inside. In a few more minutes he’ll join, but he needs the last few moments to appreciate the outdoors as he finishes his drink. It’s only been a year since their last big trip with an entire world tour in between, but this feels like a necessary break. It’s lovely here, and he wishes it could always be like this, just him and Phil and nothing that can get between them.