The Shapeshifter | Phan AU

Chapter Five

Phil
"It's not much to be proud of, but I guess it's better than being near Brandon, right?" I sighed as I dragged some of Dan's stuff through the door of my crappy house.

"It's fine, Phil. Thank you." Dan smiled, following me upstairs. My heart flipped as I witnessed his eyes light up just a little bit. We walked into my room, the floorboards creaking under our weight. Dan stared at my bed covers.

"Not what you expected, huh? I get that a lot."

"You just seem so... punk, I guess. Didn't have you down as the green and blue bedcovers kind of guy."

"Well that's me. Anyway, there's a camp bed if you want to get that out, or we could share if you prefer..." Please go for the last option. I silently begged. I still wasn't sure on what to do about Dan, but I knew that I wanted to hold him in my arms at night, and wake up next to him in the morning.

"Share please. I don't think I'd like sleeping by myself."

"That's fine. Let's get you unpacked then. You sure packed a lot for 4 freaking days."

"I over pack. Shush." He knelt down and began to pull clothes out of his bag, and I took stuff out of his other one. Well, he didn't need the sleeping bag for a start. I put that in the corner of the room and smiled as I spotted a teddy bear at the bottom of his bag. I pulled it out and chucked it at him.

"Hey! No one hurts Mrs Fluffles!"

"Mrs Fluffles?" I scoffed.

"Comfort. Shush, again."

"I'm not judging," I shrugged. It was sweet, and it made me ache for him again. I heard the slap of slippers on the carpet. My mum put her head round the door, for once not in her drunken stupor. "Hi Mum. This is my friend, Dan. He's staying with us for a few days, do you remember?"

"Ah, yes, hi Dan. I'm Ms Lester but you can call me Marian. I'm going to make some dinner now. Spaghetti bolognaise, that okay?"

"That's great, Mum. Thanks." I muttered, giving her the cue to leave, "you've seen her in one of her better moods. Probably just because you're here."

"She seems... nice."

"She is. At least she was. We barely talk any more. My brother Martyn left last year for Uni. Wish he would've taken me with him, I can't wait to get out of this dump."

"Well, you have me. And Mrs Fluffles." Dan joked, shuffling closer to me.

"Ah, yes I love Mrs Fluffles. She's my best friend." Dan pouted. I smirked and added, "of course you're my... fifth best friend too."

"FIFTH?"

"Yeah... Mrs Fluffles, Willow, Lola and your mum." I listed.

"Ugh, I hate you so much."

"I love you too."

"Hate you more, you dork."

"Did you know that dork is actually the name for a whale penis? And the average size is 8 feet?"

"EW! Why do you even know that?" Dan shrieked, slapping me playfully.

"Martyn told me. I like telling people that fact. Gives the sweet word 'dork' another meaning."

"Well, thank you for that, Philip."

"You're very welcome, Daniel." I replied, putting my arms around him. "Stay strong. I care about you." I whispered. Dan leant into me, sighing heavily.

"I care about you too. And I'll try to." I nodded, "Thank you for everything you've done. I promise to pay you back some day-"

"No. I refuse. It's what friends do. And you're the only friend I have. So of course I'm going to do everything I can to protect you. For both our sakes." Dan turned to face me, his brown eyes searching my face.

"I know that this isn't something you want to hear but... Phil Lester, I'm in love with you." My stomach filled with butterflies, messing up my organs. I looked down at my knees, acting as if they had suddenly become very interesting. What the hell was I supposed to say to that? "Oh shit, I've made things awkward now haven't I?"

"No, it's fine. I... just don't know how to respond."

"Oh... I know you don't feel the same way, it's fine." Dan shrugged, wriggling out of our embrace.

"I still don't know how I feel. And I don't want to get hurt. I just have trust issues."

"I won't ever hurt you. I trust you and I just want you to trust me. I promise, Phil Lester, as long as I live, I'll never hurt you. Not on purpose. I'll never betray you or do anything to damage you like my fucking awful brother has." Dan vowed. I giggled to myself.

"It's not our wedding vows, Dan."

"Wedding vows, eh? Jumping the gun a bit aren't we, Lester?"

"You're the one who said them, not me, Howell." Dan was still unbelievably close to me, so close I could feel his breath on my face. Oh god. I looked across his face, unsure if I could do this. Did I want to put my feelings in someone else's hands? I took Dan's hand, and he looked at me. A few seconds passed of us just looking into each other's eyes and me also thinking. My head span. We leant forward, everything around us disappearing as my lips touched his and for the first time in my life, I knew how what my feelings were for Daniel James Howell.

I loved him.

I loved him.

I'd broken every single rule I'd ever set for myself. I'd allowed myself to fall in love with someone else. Essentially, in a way, Dan had fixed me.

Our kiss was short, sweet and innocent. No passion or lust or roughness about it. Just love. A spark. I looked down at our intertwined hands. "D-Dan Howell... I-I t-think... m-m-maybe I'm in l-love with you too." A huge smile spread across Dan's face.

"Are you sure?" I nodded. Dan kissed my cheek, so many feelings displayed in his eyes. So many good feelings.

"Shall we see where this takes us?" I whispered, "Just... take it easy for now? No labels."

"If that's what you want."

"Okay then." I smiled as I looked at the boy I loved and felt my stomach spin and flutter as fireworks danced and exploded inside.

I'm in love with Dan Howell.

------------------------------------------------------ AN
FINALLY THEY GOT TOGETHER! This chapter wasn't even meant to go this way, I just went with it.

By the whale (I had to make a whale pun, I'm sorry), that whale fact is true. It was in a book I read. Now you can share that with your friends! ;))))

Congrats to anyone who actually reads these stupid ANs where I just ramble. I should probably give you a gold star and a cookie or something. You'll just have to imagine I'm giving you one.

LOVE YOU ALL!!!
BAIIIIIIIIIIII