Finding the Phandom: A Dan and Phil AU

Chapter 20

A/N: Okay, so I have my outline worked out for the rest of this story. It is looking like there will be 24 chapters, and an epilogue. I have really enjoyed writing this story, and I'm blown away by how many people have read it, and are supporting me. Even though I pissed you guys off these last couple chapters.

Sorry about that again.

~

Phil was becoming more and more aquatinted with Dan's family. Phil has spent the past two days in the hospital, sat across from any member of Dan's family, one of them in the room at all times. There were always two people by Dan's sides, Phil was always one of them.

Every few hours the nurse would enter the room, take Dan's vitals, ask the others if there was any change in Dan, and then the nurse would leave. All people in the room were on edge, the longer Dan was asleep, the more nervous Phil became about the possibility that Dan has brain damage.

Dan's heart monitor was the sound that Phil has grown to find comfort in. It may be a loud and obnoxious sound, but it was the sound of life in Dan. And without Dan's own voice to sooth the ache in Phil's chest, Phil needed something to latch onto. He had spent almost 3 whole days radio silent on the internet, and he knew the fans were starting to wonder what was up.

He pulled out his laptop and began scrolling through his mentions on twitter, seeing endless tweets from fans, and a few from friends. No one knew what was happening with Dan except for their families, and he was not about to tell the Phandom. If he told them, shit would hit the fan. Hard.

He typed up a simple tweet, and began editing a video that he and Dan had filmed about a week ago, another gaming video. He wanted to get something out to their subscribers, but editing on his Mac was proving to be a rather difficult task. He was cutting footage incorrectly, and layering sound effects funny. He spent hours sat next to Dan doing this, finally getting the hand of using a trackpad to edit.

In this video, they decided to play sims 4. They made a sim together and spent ages picking what he looked like and what he would wear. They planned it all together, and to be honest, it got really sappy. Almost like their sim was actually their son. They named him Dil Howelter, and he looked a lot like Dan. This was going to be the first video in a longer series of Lets Plays, and Phil was actually pretty excited about it.

He cut together different bits of character customization, and he was laughing at jokes that each man had made respectively. Their banter was quick and easy, and it was flowed really well. He pieced together the right footage, cutting out bits where they were a little too flirty, and leaving in a lot of laughter. He had to pause the video to laugh when they randomized Dil's sleepwear, and their sim now has to sleep in a clown suit.

He finished editing a few hours later, and begins exporting the video to YouTube. Once the video has uploaded, he starts scrolling through the comments. Most of them are encouraging, filled with excitement and love for Dan and Phil, but some were not as happy.

There were a few comments that were more negative. Some people didn't like the game choice some didn't like their banter, and some were just filled with hate for either of the two men. Phil didn't let the comments get to him, as he flipped over to Tumblr. He types 'Dan and Phil' into the search bar, and is instantly bombarded with screenshots from their video.

Damn, the Phandom works quickly. They had art, gifs, screenshots, and so much more already and it had only been minutes. He scrolled, liking art and reblogging a few exceptional works. He mindlessly scrolled through the tag for so long, that he didn't even notice that Dan's mum had left the room.

His chest sunk when he saw a text post.

'I cannot believe how many people are falling for this shit. Why the hell would someone as amazing as Phil choose to associate himself with a depressed piece of shit like Dan Howell? Can't any of you people see how toxic of a person Dan is? Why else does he have no friends, he drives them all away and ruins their lives. He's going to ruin Phil's life. I mean, look at them, they've already moved in together and started that shitty channel. Phil should be making advances in his career, not taking steps back and downgrading to Dan's level of garbage. Phil deserves so much better than Dan, as a friend, boyfriend, or person in general.'