The Road to Happiness is Full of Potholes

Chapter One

"Phiiiiiiiilllll bring me my cup of coffee?" Dan called from the other room. Phil sighed, seeing Dan's coffee mug on the kitchen counter.

"Just come get it yourself! I'm busy!" That wasn't entirely true, Phil was just pouring himself a bowl of cereal, but he really didn't feel like going to the lounge just to drop off a coffee mug.

"But I'm in my browsing position! Pweeeeeeeeese, Philly?" Dan pleaded, and Phil shook his head, rolling his eyes as he scooped up the coffee mug. He hated that he could never say no to Dan.

"Take your caffeine, maybe it'll help you to be less lazy and stop relying on me for everything." Phil grumbled, shoving the mug towards Dan, almost spilling some.

"Thank youuuuuuuu!" Dan cooed, smiling and shutting his eyes as he brought the coffee to his chest and inhaled the scent of the drink appreciatively. "You're the bestest." Dan opened his eyes and grinned at Phil over the rim of the mug as he lifted it to his lips and took a sip.

"I know." Phil growled, but he was holding back a smile, and they both knew it.

"You're too good to me." Dan pandered, and Phil rolled his eyes.

"I don't know why I put up with you." He sighed as he left the room to return to his cereal.

"Because you love me, that's why!" Dan called after him, and Phil allowed a small smile to cross his face now that he was in a different room from his friend. The smile fell from his face as quickly as it appeared.

"Yeah, I do, and it sucks." he whispered, picking up his bowl and shoving the sweet breakfast into his mouth. He leaned back against the counter as he ate his cereal.

Phil was tired. He was so tired of pretending. Dan must know by now, right? It wasn't like Phil had been working so hard to hide it lately. He loved Dan, and not in the way you were supposed to love a best friend. He knew it wasn't reciprocated, and at this point it felt like it was a mutual understanding that both of them just silently agreed not to discuss because it would only make things awkward.

Phil just needed to get over it. He needed to get over it, but he just couldn't seem to do it when there was still the tiniest question, and the tiniest sliver of hope left in him, that maybe... just maybe Dan liked him too.

Maybe Dan didn't know about Phil. Maybe he was oblivious, and he was harboring some secret crush as well. Phil sighed, shaking his head slightly as he spooned more cereal into his mouth. It sounded like something out of one of the ridiculously romantic fanfictions or 'phanfictions' as their viewers liked to say, written about them. Dan didn't like Phil. Phil was just being stupid, and had let a little crush linger for too long until it developed into something that was going to require a lot more work to get rid of.

He just wished he knew for sure. He wished he knew if Dan knew. Lately he'd been intentionally being less subtle about it, just to see if Dan would mention something. Phil wasn't brave enough to just come out and tell him, but maybe if he dropped enough hints and talked openly enough, Dan would say something and it'd tip Phil off as to whether or not Dan knew how Phil felt about him.

Phil sighed as he took in their kitchen, still leaning against the counter. He thought back to all the baking videos they had done here. About how many innuendos there were, and how many sex noises Dan made while he ate. Phil smiled a bit at the memory. The first few times Phil had heard these noises he'd become incredibly uncomfortable, worrying that hearing things that erotic coming out of the man he had a crush on might make him a little too... excited... but then he and Dan had spent more time together and moved in, and now these noises were a daily occurrence that were just a quirk of Dan's that Phil incessantly made fun of, while Dan chided him for interrupting his food-gasm.