*ON HOLD* Before It Gets Better The Darkness Gets Bigger boyxboy

Chapter 4 - Skype

A/N

I know I keep starting with Dan's POV first, but it's not favouritism, I just have his storylines first in for some reason...
Also I mention Dan's brother in this chapter- which is a touchy subject in the world of Phan, but I only write about him in the best light I promise ^u^
----------------------------------------------
Dan
*****
I wake up to a dry Wednesday morning. The sunlight filtered in through my curtains and blinded me until my eyes had adjusted properly. I check Twitter as I do first thing most mornings. I scroll through my mentions and see a tweet from one of the many 'Phandom' accounts.

//Dan... I just found this video...\\ The tweet read. There was a YouTube video linked in the tweet.

I walked into the lounge and grabbed my laptop. I sat back into my sofa crease and checked the linked video. It brought me to a blurry webcam video of me answering a VYou question a few years ago. I cringed at foetus me. The question was 'What's your favourite thing about yourself' or something.

"I hate everything about myself- ask anyone who knows me," I hear my old self say. As soon as I heard the sentence, I snapped my laptop shut and sat with my head in my hands.

"Dan...? Are you alright?" Phil asks me. I open my laptop and show him the video.

"What's wrong with that?" He says.

"It's just- with the video getting so many views combined with the liveshow incident, I think they're gonna realise I'm... well... I'm not okay..." I say quietly. Just then, my phone rings. My ringtone is 'I'm Not Okay' by My Chemical Romance, which was a stupid coincidence. It was my mum.

"Hey mum," I say into my phone, while Phil went off to get breakfast.

"Have you called your brother yet?" She asks.

"Eh no, why?" I reply, a little confused.

"It's his birthday, Daniel!" My mum said disappointedly.

"Oh, shit! Yeah sor-" I started.

"Daniel Howell!" My mum gasped.

"Eh... I meant 'Oh, crap!" I roll my eyes.

"You better have!" My mum scolded.

"Anyway mum I better go. I'll Skype Adrian in a while," I sigh and hang up.

-

"Dan! You didn't cut yesterday I'm so proud of you!" Ever affectionate Phil hugs me.

"Yeah I know," I grin.

"I better Skype Adrian," I say to Phil.

"Oh, say happy birthday to him for me and tell him his present is in the post," he says back. Am I the only person that forgot?

I choose some band merchandise online and send them to my parents house first class so his present shouldn't be too late. I looked onto Ticketmaster and saw Fall Out Boy tickets for London on sale in 10 minutes. I knew I had to be quick.

"Phil?!" I shouted. "GET YOUR LAPTOP!"

"Dan wha-"

"There's no time!" I yell back at Phil. "I need to get Fall Out Boy tickets for Adrian. Keep refreshing the page!"

"Okay," he said. "Three tickets for London?"

"Yeah! Ok go!"

We both manage to get tickets, but Phil got standing. I close my laptop and join Phil at his.

Five minutes later we had the tickets and the were in the post to Adrian, along with the message 'Happy birthday! Can't believe you're 18 :P Can't wait for the concert :) Just you, me and Phil for the weekend!'

I open Skype and click on my brothers picture. He answers in a few seconds.

"Hey," He smiles.

"Hey! How does it feel to be a legal adult?" I ask, grinning.

"The same," he laughs.

"So how's-" I start, before he cuts me off.

"Dan, we need to talk," he says quietly, yet he sounds stern.

"About what?" I ask, bemused.

"About... you know..." Adrain trails off.

"Adrian..." I whisper.

"Dan, please. We can't just keep brushing this aside! I saw your liveshow!" He says, getting angrier now. I look down at my wrists and sigh.

"You need to stop!" He yells. I wince at his sudden volume. "... you need to stop..." he says more quietly.

"Sure," I say to him quietly- not entirely meaning it. Adrian nods and we drop the subject. He stares at me silently for a few minutes.

"So..." I say after a while. "any plans for tonight?"

"Yeah! Mum and dad are going out for the night and I'm bringing home a few mates."

"A few...?" I question. He grins cheekily.

We chat for a little longer and say our goodbyes before he goes into town for his birthday.