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As he and Dan stepped off the Manchester Eye, Phil couldn’t help but turn to look back at it. The late afternoon sun behind the wheel illuminated the metal and made the entire thing look magical with its orange glow. And maybe it was magical. The moment that the two of them had just shared on the wheel certainly felt like magic.
They didn’t speak as they walked down the ramp away from the wheel side by side. Speaking felt like it would break the sacredness of the moment, especially because they couldn’t acknowledge it yet. There were too many people around. But later, once they got to Phil’s house, once they were alone… Phil’s breath caught in his throat as he imagined pulling Dan close to him and kissing him again. Maybe he’d take Dan’s hand as they sat pressed together on Phil’s bed, having one of their classic late night chats. Only this time there would be no screen between them.
Phil wanted to reach out and take Dan’s hand now, but he knew he shouldn’t. Someone might see. And he couldn’t let anyone know. Phil felt certain that if the people around them were paying attention, they’d be able to see the adoration even in the way he looked at Dan, but he couldn’t help that. At least just looking at Dan had some deniability; holding hands had a lot less.
They stepped off the ramp and moved out of the way of the direct path. They really needed to talk now to figure out where they were going next, but Phil couldn’t bring himself to break the silence. Instead he just looked over at Dan. He was unsurprised to find Dan already staring at him. Their eyes met and Phil knew they were both thinking about the same thing. The sun behind Phil was reflected in Dan’s eyes. Warmth pooled in Phil’s stomach and he had to look away before he melted.
Phil fixed his gaze behind Dan’s head, on the steps leading up the Arndale center, and forced himself to speak. “So my original plan was to go to the Skybar after this and then catch a bus back to my house, is that still ok? Or would you prefer something else?”
Dan’s voice was soft and dreamy when he answered. “Yeah. That's fine. I’m good with whatever you have planned. Everything you’ve planned so far has been… amazing.”
Phil flushed at the compliment that was also a reference to his channel name. “Ok. It is a bit of a long walk, do you mind?”
Dan shook his head. “Nah. Anything is fun if you’re there.”
God. At this rate, Phil was tempted to skip the Skybar and head directly back to his house so he could hold Dan close to him for the rest of the night. But no, the Skybar would be fun. Plus Phil wanted to make a good impression for what was becoming more obviously their first date. For now, he’d have to settle for brushing their pinkies together as he walked past Dan to lead the way to the hotel where the Skybar was.
All day, Phil had been feeling giddy goosepimples whenever they touched, but this time was more than just a tingle. It felt like an electric shock. Phil gasped. Dan had clearly felt it too, because he jerked his hand away.
“What was that?” Dan asked.
But something else caught Phil’s attention before he could answer. There was a strange, twinkling purple light coming from somewhere down Corporation Street.
Sure, it could have been anything. An advert, a shop selling light up toys, a street musician trying to get people’s attention with a pretty light. But something in Phil knew it wasn’t any of those things. It was for them.
“Dan, look!” Phil nudged Dan’s shoulder and nodded towards the light. Dan’s eyes widened as soon as he saw it and Phil could tell he felt it too. “Come on!” With a tug on Dan’s hand before dropping it, Phil took off running.
He barely bothered to look out for cars as he ran across the street and turned right, weaving between people on the sidewalk. Running footsteps told Phil that Dan was right behind him. “Sorry!” Phil called out to a group of girls who were trying to take a picture under the Skybridge. The light got closer and closer as Phil approached the intersection of Market Street and Corporation Street. Finally, Phil could see where the light was coming from. It shone on his left, from the second story of the Arndale Center where it passed over Market Street.
Phil stopped dead in his tracks when he saw what the light was coming from. There was a billboard there, where there hadn’t been one ever before. But that wasn’t what caught Phil’s attention. It was the fact that the two people on the billboard looked very, very familiar.
Beside him, Dan gasped, and Phil knew he saw it too. “Is that…?” Dan whispered.
“Us?” Phil finished. He phrased it like a question even though there was no doubt in his mind. The Dan and Phil on the advert were older than them and looked much different but it was still them. They posed together in front of a futuristic purple background and the billboard proclaimed that they were the British Podcast Awards winner of the Listener’s Choice Award.
“It must be us.” Dan’s voice was awed. “I can just… tell that it is.” Phil knew what he meant. It was the same feeling he’d had earlier when he knew that the purple light was for them. He knew this was a glimpse of what this spot would look like in the future. He knew it was them even though they looked very different.
One difference was catching Phil’s eye especially. And he loved it. “Your hair is curly.” Phil tried to speak above a whisper, but he didn’t want to break the spell. He knew Dan had curly hair, but he never imagined Dan would intentionally wear his hair like that. Not when he hated his curls so much.
“And yours is blonde.” Dan answered. Phil always thought he’d look weird with blonde hair, especially after the incident where he had to start school with hair the colour of a carrot, but he had to admit the version of him on the billboard looked incredible.
They fell silent for a moment, taking in the details of the image. All around them, people rushed by, talking, texting, checking their watches, all in a hurry to pull the future ever so slightly closer. Dan and Phil were the only still spot in the crowd.
“You look… so happy, Dan.” Phil said. Yes, billboard-Dan was smiling, but Phil had seen him smile many times before. It was something about the Dan in the image that screamed that his smile was more than a single moment of happiness. There was something in his relaxed posture and his sparkly eyes that spoke of a deep-seated happiness.
“I don’t think I’ve ever smiled that much in my life.” Dan whispered. Hearing him say it was a stab to the heart, even though Phil was already thinking the same thing. But Dan continued before Phil could say anything. “And are we ignoring the elephant in the room here, Phil? My arm is around you.”
Not 10 minutes ago, Phil was wishing so badly he could take Dan’s hand, but he didn’t because people might see. And in the future, there was a billboard featuring Dan’s arm around Phil on the building where they spent most of their first day together. Did that mean…?
Phil decided to focus on the less stressful of the two massive implications. “Does that mean we’re still…” Phil paused for a second. Was he allowed to say “still together?” That implied they were together now, which they hadn’t discussed. But surely? “Together” was a fairly broad word and they had literally kissed 20 minutes ago… “Together?” Phil finished.
The billboard’s purple light pulsed and it glitched out of existence for a second before returning. Phil looked around to see if anyone else seemed to be seeing this billboard. None of the dozens of people passing by even glanced at it. It was truly for them
“I guess so.” Dan answered breathlessly. Good, he wasn’t upset about Phil implying they were together. “When even is this? It’s the future, I know, but it’s not anytime soon. We look like proper adults.”
Unfortunately, the billboard didn’t say what year they’d apparently won the Listener’s Choice award, and Phil had never been good at gauging people’s ages, but if he had to guess, he’d put them in their 30s somewhere. “So we’re together for years and years?” Phil said.
“I can’t believe it.” Dan mumbled, almost to himself.
“I can.” Phil glanced around for a second to see if anyone was watching them before deciding he didn’t care; this was more important. He turned to face Dan and met his eyes. “Dan… maybe this is insane to say after we’ve spent half of one day together, but… I’ve been kind of hoping all day that this is it.” Dan’s eyes widened at Phil’s words. “That you are it.”
They stood still, facing each other. Phil felt like he was locked in Dan’s gaze, drowning in his rich, brown eyes. “God…” Dan finally said, breaking the eye contact and looking down at the floor.
Phil flushed red. “Sorry, that’s too much. I--”
But Dan interrupted his babbling. “It’s not. I feel the same.” Now it was Phil’s turn to freeze wordlessly, giddiness and surprise rushing through him. Dan felt the same. Dan wanted this as much as Phil did. “I mean… we’ll have to wait and see obviously.” Dan said, “Or well. I guess we won’t. I guess we know.”
They knew. They had actual, definitive proof that the relationship they were building, that they both seemingly wanted so badly, actually worked out. That they would continue to make each other happy for years to come. That they loved each other years into the future. The certainty slammed into Phil and suddenly he could see his life mapped out in front of him, so much clearer than before. And every single path included Dan.
“I guess we do.” Phil could hear the awe in his own voice. “And I guess we know that we’re successful too. I mean, if we’ve been put on a billboard for having a listener’s choice podcast.”
“You’re right. That means that… people like us, Phil.” Dan turned away from Phil to look back at the billboard. “Random people, strangers on the internet, like us.”
Phil smiled and bumped his shoulder into Dan’s. “People already do like us, Dan.”
“Yeah, but they still like us in the future. And they like us together.” Dan said. “And if my arm is around you, does that mean people know…” Dan trailed off, seemingly unable to say the words. He didn’t have to. Phil understood. “And they still like us?”
Phil looked at Dan and they shared a loaded gaze. Dan was biting at his lip. Phil nodded, just a tiny bit, just for Dan. “I think so.”
Dan exhaled like he’d had the air knocked out of him. “God. I can’t imagine a world like that.” Phil’s heart broke for Dan and he wanted to reach out, to hold him close and assure him it was ok. To protect Dan from all the pain he’d ever been made to feel.
Although if Phil was being honest, a world like that was hard for him to imagine too. “Apparently you won’t have to imagine it. Cause it’ll be real.” Phil’s words hung in the air for a moment as they both went silent. Everything the words meant seemed to ring in Phil’s ears as his ideas of what his future would look like shifted. A boring 9-to-5 job was replaced with an image of him and Dan filming videos side by side. Dodging questions from friends and family was replaced with answering them with pride. And he wanted that world so badly.
Phil was pulled out of his thoughts as the billboard flashed purple, flickered again and blipped out of existence, leaving just the glass wall behind it. Their little glimpse of the future was gone. But neither of them would ever forget it.
The buzz of chatter, the footsteps of people around them, the engines of cars all faded out of Phil’s awareness as he turned to look at Dan beside him. Dan, who would be beside him for many years to come. And all at once, Phil realised his glimpse of the future wasn’t gone at all. It was standing right next to him. And Phil couldn’t be happier about it.
Several moments passed in silence before Dan finally looked at Phil and grinned. Phil couldn’t help grinning too.
“Do you know what “Hard Launch” could mean?” Phil finally broke the silence with a lighter topic.
“No…” Dan replied. “I know businesses do soft launches sometimes, but I’m not sure what that would have to do with us.”
Phil thought about the term for a moment. “Maybe we’re launching a rocket into space. Oh! Maybe we’re gonna make the first podcast recorded in outer space!”
Dan looked at Phil and raised his eyebrows in a really? expression. But his eyes were so fond that Phil could tell he liked Phil’s outrageous ideas.
“No?” Phil said with another grin.
“No.” Dan giggled.
“We could!” Phil defended. “Apparently our future has a lot of cool things in it!” His voice softened as he spoke his next words. “We can do whatever we want.”
“Whatever we want?” Dan’s voice softened and he tilted his head down so he had to look up at Phil.
“Yep!” Phil said. “Starting now!”
“Then can we go on to the Skybar so we can get to your house sooner?” Dan blushed and bit his lip, still looking nervous despite knowing that Phil felt the same way he did.
Phil’s heart skipped a beat and blushed to match Dan. “Yeah. We can definitely do that.” As much as Phil couldn’t wait to get back to his house, he knew that the Skybar would be fun too. He couldn’t skip to the future just because it looked good. The journey was part of what made the future good. And their future together was definitely looking pretty bright.