make or break ; phan

chapter ii

It's been two weeks since Topman dropped Dan Howell, and he's lost motivation to do anything at all. He hasn't posted on social media, and he hasn't gone outside - all he's done is stay at home and play Mario Kart and a few online RPGs. His name is written all over gossip blogs, with obnoxious headlines like "ENGLAND'S HEARTTHROB: DEAD OR ALIVE?", and these lengthy articles basically mean "we know Dan Howell is fine somewhere, we just want clicks."

Physically, Dan is fine - he's been feasting since he's lost a few gigs and deals. Karen does her best to make the boy healthy meals for breakfast, lunch, brunch and dinner. He even sneaks a bunch of junk food into his diet, resulting in a bit of weight.

This has been the worst two weeks of his life, and he wishes no one else has to go through what he's going through right now.

Dan's really bored, because there's no one in the Howell mansion to play Mario Kart with right now, and playing alone gets pretty sad sometimes. His mum's gone shopping, his father is at a business meeting (as usual), and aunt Julietta's teaching a yoga class. He'd play with Karen, but she's doing house chores and he doesn't want to disturb her. Then there's Colin, their dog, and he obviously can't play a game of Mario Kart, so Dan pauses the game to rub his belly.

Then Dan remembers he's got a sibling - his older sister named Freya. He rings her up on Skype, hoping she answers.

"Dan?"

"Freeeeeyyy!!" he exclaims excitedly. "I'm so glad you're awake! What time is it there?"

"Uhm, 7 in the morning, thanks for waking me up earlier than my alarm would. What are you up to?"

"Well, I haven't talked to you in a while, haven't I?"

"You sure haven't, Danny."

Dan heaves a stressed sigh, his shoulders dropping. "I've got something to tell you and you wouldn't like the sound of it."

"You're pregnant?"

"No, shut up," he chuckles. "Well, er, I got roles in some movies and a commercial that I was supposed to shoot."

"What's so bad about that?" his sister asks, confused.

"All of them have dropped me. Pete didn't want to tell me why, but as for the commercial, Topman said I wouldn't help raise their sales."

"That's really shitty, Dan."

"Tell me about it," he shrugs. "Anyways, I think we can forget about that now, it's been two weeks. How's your channel coming along?" 

"I can't believe it's been that long and you haven't told me," she replies. "Also, I've uploaded quite a few makeup tutorials on there. I'll be vlogging with my girlfriend tomorrow...and I still have to edit a pre-filmed one."

"You seem busy. Lucky you, I haven't done anything in two weeks."

"Not even homeschooling?"

Colin barks and jumps onto Dan's lap, a soft smile on his face. Dan runs a hand through his fur occasionally, smiling at the dog. "Well besides that I don't really do anything else, to be hon-wait, you never told me you've got a girlfriend already?"

Freya sighs, rolling her eyes. "Do you even watch my vlogs? I think you should, to be honest, I do that for a living."

"I know you do, but I've been doing nothing. Like I told you."

"I've been dating Cat Valdes for like, a month now."

"The Cat Valdes? The YouTuber?"

"Uh, yeah, I love her."