The Beginning: Dan and Phil

How Dan and Phil Met

Dan's POV:

It was mid-February and the weather was a bit too chilly for me. I wrapped myself in a thick blanket I bought from IKEA. Noticing that I left my laptop on my table, I got up with the blanket still wrapped around me towards my table. I reached out for my laptop and get back to lying on my bed in the browsing position. Just as I was going to open a tab on Tumblr, I got a notification from AmazingPhil saying that he posted a video on Bradley. Excitement leaped in my heart and I typed "Yay!" as fast as I could so that I could be the first to reply to his notification. Not wanting to miss out on his new video, I clicked onto the video and tried my very best not to fangirl too hard. My daily routine has not varied ever since. All I ever did was sitting on the internet all day, mostly stalking Amazingphil on all of his social accounts.

It was a brand new day for me and I was a tad too happy that the new Muse album came out. The whole day has been dedicated to listening to Muse's songs and I hummed to their songs whenever having my device in my hands became impossible like helping my mother in the kitchen or attending a family reunion. As I was absent-mindedly helping myself to some toast, my thoughts landed on Phil. My mouth fell into a comical O. I could not believe myself. I had not thought of him for nine whole hours! Shaking my head in utter disbelief, I dropped my toast and went to retrieve my laptop. That was when I began to hate myself and re-evaluating my life. How could I ever be so forgetful? My timeline on Twitter was flooding with tweets about Muse's new album. I searched for AmazingPhil and once again my fingers were flying across the keyboard; typing out the words "Have you heard of Muse's new album?" Before I could send the tweet to @AmazingPhil, my keen eyes fell upon Phil's latest tweet which was "I got Muse's new album. It's really great. You guys have to check it out". I let out a sigh of relief whilst complimenting my eyes for catching sight at Phil's tweet first.

Luckily, I didn't send that tweet or else I would sound ridiculous. Okay, Dan. What are you going to say to him? Don't want to sound like a creepy fella and a stalker. Just keep it nice and simple.

"You got Muse's new album?" was all that I could think of. I sent the tweet feeling uneasy. A part of me knew that the tweet sounded lame. There was a chance that Phil would never notice my tweet. However, the damage was done and I could not just delete the tweet that I had just sent. My presumption proved to be true as Phil did not reply to my tweet when it got lost in a crowd of other tweets. I gave it another shot. My mind searched aimlessly for a topic to tweet about. Then, my thoughts landed on the new film that has just come out. I quickly typed "@AmazingPhil you saw that film? Hey, I like that film". Feeling that a slight unease feeling has lifted from my shoulders, I entered the kitchen to finish my toast. It had turned cold, but I gobbled it down as I hate wasting food. The rest of the day went by; filling it with uneventful events. Distant relatives came to visit and I found myself awkwardly smiling to them and declining their invitation to an Arctic Monkeys concert. I retreated to my room and felt that the day could have been worse.

The following day had gotten me so anxious and I could not figure out why. As though God was giving me light to brighten up my path in search of finding the cause of my anxiety, the answer came to me as I received a notification from @AmazingPhil who replied to my first tweet that I sent to him yesterday. It was really weird that I have this instinct or will to know that somehow my favourite internet star was going to reply to my tweet when all hope seemed lost. A small grin had never left my lips as I read his tweet aloud "Yeah, I got Muse's new album. Have you gotten it yet?" Before I could so much as reply to his tweet, I got a notification saying that he mentioned me in his tweet which was "We seem to have things in common wanna chat on Skype?"

From that moment on, my life has taken to an unexpected turn of events. I could remember the day I became his Facebook friend as though it was yesterday. It happened on the 21st of June 2009. Who in this world would not have remembered such a date when the person that you have been stalking for years decided to add you as a friend on Facebook? A couple of months later, he asked me whether I want to hang out with him sometime. I could not decline the invitation thus I went to book some train tickets to meet him who lived in Manchester. It was really nerve-wracking when I got them and I swiftly send @AmazingPhil the train tickets. Phil told me to send them so that he would know when to fetch me at the Manchester Piccadilly Train Station.

The day has finally arrived. The moment that I have been waiting for; to be honest, I almost wet myself from the excitement and anxiety due to the prospect of meeting Phil. This was an important date for me; a mark in the history of my life; on the 19th of October, I became the complete opposite of myself. I woke up at 8 in the morning, which was considered to be very early for me; something that I had not done for as long as I could remember. I went through the plans that I had devised the day before and mentally ticking off the things that I have to do before I leave for Reading Station at 9:10 a.m. I was to travel by cross-country which was in my opinion exhilarating. I could not tell you in words how much I love train journeys. There was nothing to do in a train except eating which was something I love to do. But then again, I could not just eat in a train thus I checked whether I have packed my headphones. Once I was ready, I set out for my journey towards Reading Station.

I got on the train in time and searched for Coach C, Seat 48A as stated on my tickets. It was an ideal seat as it was by the window. Along the journey, I plugged in my headphones and listened to my favourite playlists whilst looking out of the window; wondering about the purpose of life and the existence of little things that people seemed to have lost interests in. My mind wandered aimlessly and all too soon I got lost in my own thoughts. More than three hours has passed, my stomach groaned in hunger. I had not had a proper breakfast in days and it appeared that it has started to affect me. Trying my very best not to catch anybody's eyes save the train inspector who was the only one that I believe would not disappointment me in my search for food, I halfway stood up. The atmosphere was deathly quiet and anxiety stabbed me like a blunt axe. The universe must be against me; no matter how cautious I was in my attempt at blending in with the surroundings, I would always physically stand out as my height was 6'0. Deep down, I vainly hoped that I would not grow anymore; imagine if I was 6'3 in six years' time. People would label me as a giant! Almost everyone in Coach C stared at me as my phone rang whilst I was in the middle of standing and crouching in my seat. I quickly reached for my phone and answered the call without looking at the caller ID. I placed my hands over the speaker and hastily apologised to everyone; making me blush and giving them an awkward smile. When I was not the centre of attention anymore, I returned to the phone call and whispered "Hello. Hi. Who's calling?"

"It's me Phil. Where are you now? Are you there yet? And why are you whispering?"

"Nothing, it's just that I don't want to disturb people here. I'm almost there. You can meet me at the station in about 15 minutes"

"Alright then, take care Dan. I will see you later"

"Okay, bye Phil"

At precisely 12:40pm, the train that I was in arrived at Manchester Piccadilly. I got out with my luggage and searched for Phil. My primary aim of catching sight of Phil proved fruitless as loads of people came pouring out from the train. I got pushed a couple of times and I found myself stumbling in embarrassment. As if on cue, Phil approached me from amongst a crowd of agitated-looking men in business suits. I looked up as he waved at me whilst calling out for my name.

"Dan!"

"Hi! Hi, how are you Phil?" I literally gaped at his height. He was taller than me and when I stood up to shake his outstretched hands, my head was level with his shoulders.

"I'm fine. I'm glad you made it. Welcome to Manchester!" Phil spread his hands looking deeply content. Then, he stooped to pick up my luggage and I hastily refused to let him help me with my luggage.

"It's alright, Dan. I want to help you" Phil put his hand on my shoulders and I nervously gave him a smile, in what I hope to be a grateful smile.

We left the train station, headed off to Phil's house and I spent two nights there; feeling that I was the happiest person in this world.