How Did We End Up Here? - A Phanfiction

Chapter Four

The next week passed quickly. The first day, Dan and Phil both called their parents to inform them on the huge life change, and it went well for the most part, despite some general confusion and surprise at the situation. They spent every waking moment that first week tending to Anna or nose-deep in parenting books, and by the end of the week they were feeling fairly confident that they had the knowledge to be able to actually do this. She was still Phil's baby, and he kept her crib in his room. But sometimes when she'd wake up crying in the middle of the night, Dan would sleepily stumble into the room, grabbing her out of the crib and feeding her, burping her, changing her diaper. Whatever she needed to fall back asleep so that the two men could get another hour and a half to two hours asleep before having to wake up to do it all over again.

Phil was so grateful to Dan, and even though they were both utterly exhausted and sleep deprived, they were also much more themselves than they had been for the week before Anna's birth. This baby girl was giving them something to focus on, and they were both falling more and more in love with her, and it helped to fight off the depression from losing their dear friend. Of course, Phil still caught Dan crying a few times, and Dan helped Phil through his own tears. Whenever Dan cried, Phil had to search him out, but when Phil cried he went straight to Dan, walking into his arms, burying his face in his friend's shoulder.

Phil had always felt a special connection with Alice. The two got along so well, he had never gotten along better with anyone, save Dan. People always thought that Phil and Alice were brother and sister. They had the same black hair (though both of theirs were dyed, ironically), the same striking stormy blue eyes that Anna had inherited, and the same pale skin. Their faces were shaped similarly too, and being around her felt to Phil as if he was spending time with a sister. They even joked a few times about their parents having some explaining to do.

Her certainly felt now as if he had lost a sister.

Anna was doing well. She was a calm and quiet baby, and for that Dan and Phil were grateful. She rarely cried other than to inform the men that she needed food or had wet her diaper, and that crying was quickly sated.

Today, Phil woke up nervous. He knew there was something he and Dan had to address which they hadn't really spoken of, other than a small joke the day Dan had decided to stay. What were they going to tell their fans? Their fans who would obsess over the smallest look between the two men, what would they say when the found out that the two YouTubers now had a baby? Phil shuddered at the thought, deciding to put it out of his head and not overthink until he had Dan to talk to, to process thoughts with.

They made cereal and sat down on the couch, Anna sleeping in her crib which had been brought into the same room. Phil looked down at the cereal, and had a sudden horrific realization. Cereal had been one of his favorite foods for his entire life, but looking at it now he only felt disappointment. This may have been due to the fact that cereal was an incredibly easy meal, and in the exhaustion of the past week, he and Dan had settled on cereal for nearly every meal. Phil sighed and began eating, looking across at Dan.

"So, Dan. After... Alice... I tweeted to let the internet know we'd be gone a while. I posted another update a few days ago saying it'd be a bit longer but we'd be back in not too long... it's been over two weeks now. We've gotta do something." Dan looked up, unsurprised by Phil's announcement. Phil knew that they both had known this conversation was coming, but now looking at Dan, all he could see was exhaustion. Dan's eyes had huge dark bags underneath them, and his eyelids were permanently at half-mast. His cheeks looked slightly hollow, and his skin was tinted a pale grey. Dan's hair had its natural curl - something that would have been a surprise a year ago, but in the past few months Dan had accepted his curls, however these looked more like a lion's mane, sticking up and out in all sorts of directions. Phil was fairly certain his friend had been wearing the same tshirt the day before, and maybe even the day before that.