Summary: In 2010, AmazingPhil decided to make a video trying to time travel. He ends up meeting his boyfriend Dan in the year 2023 as well as himself, and he has a lot of questions.
Genre: Time Travel au, 2010Phanx2023Phan
Warnings: Sexual tension/undertones
Read on AO3
“This is a stupid idea,” Phil laughed at himself as he collected everything that he needed for a spell.
“My grandma was a psychic woman, and apparently, she passed the gift on to me. The last time I tried something magic was the tarot reading I did for myself, which you all think was about Danisnotonfire! Well, I thought I would try something more interesting today. My grandma used to tell me a story when I was a kid, about when she was trying to time-travel into the past, to see her husband as a teen. But, there was a mistake and she ended up in the future! She knew the exact date of my birth years before my mum was even pregnant with me. And I happen to have the same spell that she used!” Phil said in an animated voice to the camera.
Phil grabbed three yellow candles and made a large triangle. He lit each candle carefully with a match before turning off his bedroom light. He heaved a sigh and sat in the middle of the triangle he had created, using salt to link each candle.
“I’m going to try to take my camera with me into the future. I want to film all of it if it works. I think it would be fun to see my friends when they’re older. Or if I meet my older self! How awesome would that be?” Phil rambled, looking at the old piece of paper in his hand.
Phil smiled at the camera, grabbing it in his hand. “Alright, here goes nothing.”
He looked carefully at the piece of paper, wanting to be sure that he said the spell correctly. After reading it three times, he felt no different than before. The flames of his candles didn’t move or change, nor did the salt that surrounded him.
“Well, that was a complete failure.” He giggled, shaking his head at himself.
Phil sighed and went to turn his camera off, only to feel a sudden gust of cold wind. He shivered and looked around nervously. It was the middle of summer, there was no reason for the cold temperature. He swallowed nervously and focused on the candles, the flames growing larger and larger right before his eyes. Phil opened his mouth to scream, just before everything went completely black.
~
The first thing that Phil became aware of was the cold drops of water hitting his back and the sound of cars racing by on the road. He swallowed thickly and whined, willing the cold feeling to stop. He breathed in deeply and smelled autumn leaves and something sugary. An odd smell for the middle of summer, he decided.
“You alright there lad?” A voice asked, someone touching Phil’s shoulder.
Phil cringed at the feeling, whimpering pathetically as he was turned over onto his back. He blinked a few times against the rain before searching for the source of the voice. His stomach lurched a bit when his eyes met with another pair that made him think of hot chocolate. He felt almost like he might vomit, but his stomach was empty.
“Am I dead?” Phil asked weakly, trying to sit up and failing miserably.
The brown-eyed man’s laugh reminded Phil oddly of a hyena, but it was charming nonetheless. He looked the man up and down, taking in his curly hair, dripping from the rain. The man looked a bit familiar, his dimples making Phil’s heart flutter like the wings of a bird.
“Nah mate, but you might be if you don’t get out of this rain.” The man scolded, holding out a hand to help Phil stand.
Phil took the hand thankfully and pushed his black fringe from his eyes. The man in front of him gasped suddenly and moved closer to Phil. Phil was surprised that the man was taller than him, not many people were. He raised an eyebrow confusedly at the oddly familiar stranger.
“Wait… Phil?” the man asked, sounding worlds away.
Phil blinked and wrapped his arms around himself. He was still in just a T-shirt and black skinny jeans, not proper for this kind of weather. “How do you know my name?” He asked brokenly as his teeth chattered.
The man laughed again, shrugging out of his expensive-looking jacket and helping Phil put it on. It smelled amazing and it was comforting, familiar even. The arms were a little too long and they gave Phil sweater paws. He giggled and wrapped his hands with the loose sleeves, feeling warmer by the second.
“It’s me, Dan. I always thought you were insane when you talked about meeting me in the future. I wonder if my Phil is still here? Would he move into the past while you’re here? Or would he still be here? How does all of this work?” The man- Dan, rambled on while absentmindedly rubbing Phil’s arms to warm him up.
Phil blushed darkly as he listened to Dan. It seemed like Dan still didn’t know how to stop yapping, even in the future. “Wait… the spell worked?! I did it as a joke, there’s no fucking way it worked!” Phil argued, reaching for the camera that he had tucked in his jeans pocket. Nothing was there…he had to be dreaming.
“Your camera didn’t come with you. I remember you, well my Phil, telling me that. Here, follow me. I don’t want you to get sick. I’ll bring you to ours.” Dan offered, leading Phil away from where they were.
He somewhat recognized where they were, somewhere in London, definitely near a Starbucks as Dan had a still-hot cup in his hand. Phil looked longingly at the drink, wondering idly how far they had to walk. Dan noticed and smiled, showing off his dimples again. Wordlessly, he pressed the hot drink into Phil’s hands.
Phil blushed again and took a sip, nearly moaning as sweet caramel coffee coated his tongue and throat, “a caramel macchiato, my favorite.”
“I know, you spoon. I got it for my Phil but I’m sure he’ll understand.” Dan shrugged, pulling a car key from his pocket and clicking it.
Phil’s eyes widened in shock when the headlights of a suave-looking black car blinked on and off, “wait… We have a car in the future? I can drive?!” he asked eagerly.
The older man laughed at Phil, shaking his head, “Yes we have a car. Most of the time we still take cabs or whatever, but we live on the outskirts of London so it’s sometimes good to have a car. And no, you don’t drive. You’re my passenger princess.”
Dan opened the passenger door for Phil before hopping into the driver’s side and turning the heat up nearly all the way. Phil sat in awe of the touchscreen on the dashboard but didn’t ask any questions about it. He focused hard on trying to warm up while Dan drove them away from the city.
“What year is it?” Phil asked, nibbling on his thumbnail.
“It’s 2023, it’s the beginning of October. From the looks of you, you’re from sometime in 2010?” Dan questioned, driving carefully down the rainy streets of London.
Phil blushed deeply and nodded, “Uh… yeah, how’d you know?”
Dan chuckled, “I’m Phil trash number one. I know you inside and out if you catch my drift.”
“I…uh, well…” Phil rambled, trying to make sense of what was happening. He felt his cheeks burning and hid his face with his hands.
“Sorry dear, I forgot how shy you used to be. Well, are. Do you have any more questions right now?” Dan asked, smirking a bit at Phil.
Phil pouted a bit at Dan’s teasing tone, “I’m not shy. I’m just not used to talking to someone like you. So, we’re… still together, right? You said we have a place on the outskirts, so we live together? We’re still together?” He asked softly, pushing his black fringe from his eyes nervously.
Dan smiled kindly, “You’ve always been intimidated by older men. And yeah, we’re still together. We built a career together on YouTube and we still have a pretty large audience. A few years ago we started having our house built.”
A rush of pride swept through Phil’s chest at Dan’s words. They made it through all the odds. Sexuality had always been a struggle for Dan and though Phil was as supportive as he could be, he knew all too well that the internet could cause issues when it came to secrets. He smiled to himself while he watched out the window.
“So… are you out of the closet now? Am I?” He asked shyly, turning to look at Dan.
Dan chuckled, “I came out back in 2019, in a forty-five-minute long video. It was one of the scariest times of my life, but I knew it was time. Then, a couple of weeks after my video, you- well, my Phil, came out too. Wanted to give me time to take in all the love and support before he got involved too.” He smiled and blushed, winking at Phil.
Phil giggled at him, “Wow… that’s amazing. I’m proud of you bear.”
“Oi, none of that. You’ll make me emotional.” Dan scolded lightly.
The younger man giggled again and watched curiously as Dan drove towards a somewhat large house. He could tell it was relatively new because of the paint job. He felt cozy just looking at it, the house of his dreams truly. It looked similar to the house that he and his Dan had designed over Skype during one of their late-night conversations. It didn’t feel real.
“Welcome to the phouse.” Dan chuckled, parking the car and climbing out. He shuffled around the car quickly, opening the door for Phil, “Let’s get you inside and out of those wet clothes.”
Phil climbed out of the car nervously. He gnawed on his lip automatically, his anxiety taking control of his actions. Dan linked their elbows and led him up the stairs leading to the front door. There were two pumpkins by the door, sitting on a simple wooden bench. Dan pulled his keys from his pocket and unlocked the door, leading Phil inside.
“Oh honey, I’m home!” Dan called, taking his shoes off and setting them to the side, “And you’ll never guess who I found out in the rain!”
Phil copied Dan’s actions clumsily, setting his shoes by the older man’s. He realized quickly how fancy Dan’s shoes looked beside his own worn-down converses. It suddenly hit him just how successful he would be in the future and he felt overwhelmed, a slight dizziness blurring his vision slightly.
The loud sound of heavy footsteps going downstairs filled the hallway, and Phil hid behind Dan. He nervously buried his face between Dan’s shoulder blades. Though he couldn’t understand why, seeing himself in the future felt terrifying. Would future him even recognize who he was? What if this Phil was mean? Could he ever be mean?
“Who’s hiding behind you bub?” A voice asked, making Phil attempt to appear smaller.
Dan chuckled, “You know who it is love. You’ve told me for years that this was the day you traveled to in 2010. I never really believed you until now though.” he shrugged.
“Come on out now. You’re me, you should know I’m not going to hurt you.” future Phil smiled, walking behind Dan.
The younger Phil pulled away from Dan slowly and looked at his future self with a gasp, jumping back and stumbling in shock. He tried to catch himself against the wall but failed, falling towards the hardwood floor with his eyes clenched tightly shut. Dan caught him easily and steadied him again with a smile.
“I… uh thank you, Dan” he whispered, looking into Dan’s brown eyes with a blush.
Dan laughed and wrapped his arm around future Phil’s waist, “I’ve had years of practice. Unfortunately for both of us, you never stop being a clumsy oof.”
Future Phil scowled and shoved him playfully, “You’re just as clumsy, we’re just too long! Anyway, it’s good to see you, Phil. I knew it would happen, Dan! He was right where I said too, wasn’t he?”
Dan groaned and nodded, “Yes Philip, he was. Now go get him some clothes before he freezes!”
Older Phil rolled his eyes playfully before running back up the stairs, his footsteps loud and clumsy. He was clearly excited to have been right about the time travel. Younger Phil however, was very much on edge. He was in a strange place with the love of his life who was suddenly older than him, and the older version of himself that was so attractive, Phil couldn’t process it. Was that weird to think?
Dan snickered beside him, pushing Phil’s black fringe from his eyes carefully, “You’ve always been gorgeous, but damn, your thirties make you look delicious, yeah?” He asked teasingly.
Phil stuttered and turned his face, trying desperately to hide his blush, “I… no, well yeah… but no, that’s weird isn’t it? Like I can’t think things like that.” he rambled nervously.
“You can think whatever you want Philly. Anyone with eyes can see how pretty you get, how pretty you’ve always been.” Dan whispered, leaning closer to the younger man.
Suddenly, footsteps sounded from upstairs, and older Phil appeared, holding a hoodie and pajama pants in his hands, “Dan stop flirting with him and let him get changed.” He scolded playfully, handing the clothes to his younger self with a laugh.
“Um… where can I change?” Phil asked quietly, trying to ignore the teasing between the men in front of him.
Dan chuckled, “Well you can change here… it’s nothing we haven’t seen before, right bub?”
Older Phil groaned dramatically and took his younger self’s hand, leading him to the downstairs bathroom, “Sorry about him. He’s always thinking with his cock, that never changes.” He chuckled, holding the door open for the younger Phill to walk through.
“It’s okay. It’s just he’s so hot and older men… and fuck! Why am I telling you this? Sorry…” Younger Phil whimpered, shuffling into the bathroom.
The older man laughed again, “It’s okay Philly, I am you. I know he’s hot but so are you. So are we I could say. And just so it doesn’t get confusing we’re going to call you Philly until you leave, sound good?”
Philly nodded slowly at that, “Yeah…that’s fine. Thank you.”
Phil hummed and shut the door, “We’ll be on the couch in the lounge where we just were. Just come find us. I gotta make my adorable, loveable partner stop thinking with the wrong head, wish me luck.”
Dan looked up when Phil walked back into the room, “I’m ordering some pizza for us all. You said he’ll be here until midnight, yeah? I’m sure he’s hungry.”
“Oi, don’t distract me with food. You’re in trouble, mister! Stop flirting with the younger me! Do you remember how shy I used to be?” Phil scolded, laying on the sofa and resting his head in Dan’s lap.
The brunette absentmindedly ran his fingers through his partner’s hair, smiling mischievously, “Yeah mate, I do. I also remember how horny you would get. But I’ll back off. You said nothing sexy would happen this time anyway. I’m not making you uncomfortable, right? Or him? I don’t want to be a creep.”
Philly walked back into the room, the spare clothes hanging a bit loosely against his pale skin, “you’re not making me uncomfortable… just flustered.” He explained, walking over to the two men.
Dan smiled sheepishly, “Sorry about that. It’s just exciting to have two Phils around.” He explained, patting the space next to him on the couch.
“Yeah, I imagine I would be acting the same way if I had two Dans walking around.” Philly giggled, sitting down carefully.
Phil and Dan snickered and looked at each other knowingly, “Trust me, you would act even worse.” Phil explained, sighing happily as Dan continued to play with his hair.
Philly froze, “You say that like you know…” He whispered, staring at the older version of himself. He couldn’t help but admire how Phil’s shirt was rolled up just enough to show off his pale hips and part of his tummy. The light brown hair that moved from his belly button and down into his sweatpants made Philly nervous. Was he thirsting after himself?
“Well, yeah. You really think we only time travel once? Morbid curiosity tends to get the best of us, and of Dan.” Phil explained with a chuckle, nuzzling his cheek into Dan’s thigh.
Dan shuddered, “don’t do that unless you plan on doing something about it bub.” He scolded, playfully pinching his partner’s cheek, “I just ordered some pizza for us all, should be here in like twenty minutes now.”
Philly nodded thankfully, nervously letting himself get comfortable on the couch. The house was nice and warm, it smelled slightly of cinnamon and vanilla, a scented candle was clearly nearby. He looked around contentedly, trying not to miss his own Dan. They hadn’t seen each other since the YouTuber Jamacian holiday, which had been just a week ago. It felt like a few lifetimes for Phil. What if Dan was trying to call him now?
“Hey, don’t stress about your Dan. He won’t even realize you were gone until you tell him. Time stopped passing in your realm and won’t start again until you go home.” Dan explained, squeezing Philly’s hand in reassurance.
Philly smiled at the touch, “can you read my mind or something?” He asked halfheartedly.
“Feels like it sometimes. I guess when you find a love like ours, you just learn how to read your partner like an open book. I can normally understand how Phil- well, how both of you, are feeling at any time just by the faces you guys make.” Dan explained with a shrug, turning his attention back to his Phil who had fallen asleep.
Philly looked at his older self again, feeling warm, “Do I fall asleep like that a lot?”
Dan paused for a moment, turning to look at Philly again, “Only sometimes really. Yesterday was a bad migraine day, so he didn’t get much restful sleep. He only does this when he’s exhausted or just really comfy. It’s probably both this time. He’s been so excited for you to come, to prove that he wasn’t joking with me. I knew he wasn’t joking, but I still have a hard time believing in this magic bullshit.”
“How else would I be here?” Philly asked quietly, frowning at the migraine comment. He had always gotten migraines here and there, but never so bad that he couldn’t sleep. The thought scared him .
Dan chuckled, “there isn’t any other way that I can think of actually, so I just accept it. Go on now, ask your questions. I can tell you have a ton.”
Philly blushed, not used to being so transparent with his thoughts and feelings, “um… was it hard? Being together I mean. I know you always struggled, especially as we got more popular. Seems like we get famous or something, so how hard was it to be… well, us?” He rambled, playing with Dan’s fingers anxiously.
“Oh dear, it was the scariest and most difficult thing of our lives. We always felt like we had to hide, not just because I didn’t want to be outed, but because what we have is so fucking important and special, we wanted it to be private. There were a lot of scares, a lot of anger between us and fights. We took a break but it didn’t last long, we couldn’t be just friends and we sure as hell couldn’t hate each other. Mistakes will happen to you soon, to both of us soon and it will be hard. It will feel like the end, I will turn into a dick for awhile and hurt you. And I’m sorry, even now. We will hurt each other, worry and hurt our fans and especially worry your family. But we always came back to each other. I don’t like to say soulmates, I don’t think souls exist. But I guess people would say that we are soulmates.” Dan rambled softly, squeezing Philly’s hand again.
Philly chewed his lip nervously, “you can tell me what happens and I can fix it you know? So we don’t have to go through that pain.” He suggested.
Dan shook his head, “No. It was scary, and so fucking hard but it made us realize how much we needed each other. If I had to go back and relive it, I would. And I know one day you will feel the same way. No matter what we go through, how scary it gets, we always find out way back to each other. Back home. Don’t forget that, okay?”
“Oh… okay, I believe you. But I’m a little scared.” Philly whispered, “what if I’m not brave enough? Or strong enough to take care of my Dan when this happens?”
Dan paused and pulled his hand away from Philly’s, using it to cup the younger man’s cheek, “my best piece of advice is to remember that you don’t need to take care of him. You both need to take care of each other. It takes a lot of time, but you will learn to be doted on and taken care of.”
Philly leaned into the touch, closing his eyes as tears ran down his cheeks, “you promise?”
“Yes you spoon, I promise.” Dan smiled, gently moving his Phil’s head from his lap, “bubby, the pizza is here. I need to go grab it.”
Phil groaned and shuffled away from Dan, curling into a ball against the side of the couch. Dan stood up with a hum and ran to the front door, grabbing the pizzas with a thank you.
“Wow. I didn’t expect him to get up and grab the food.” Philly laughed softly, making eye contact with his future self.
Phil smiled, “oh yeah, he spoils me. It’s nice to be his princess sometimes.”
Philly turned a deep red at Phil’s words, “don’t say stuff like that. I’m no one’s princess.”
Phil laughed and sat up completely while Dan shuffled around in the kitchen, the sounds of plates and glasses clattering and the smell of fresh pizza wafting into the lounge. Soon, Dan came walking in with three plates, three glasses and two bottles of Cola.
“We have a meat lovers and a supreme, and some chips of course. I’ll bring the bbq sauce and ketchup in a minute. Lemme go grab the food and some kitchen roll. One Phil is messy, I can only imagine how messy two will be.” He teased, running back out of the room.
Philly sat stiffly, shock painting his features, “Is he always like that?”
“Yep. He spoils me just as much as I spoil him. He’s a bit extra though. Our fans love it though.” Phil smiled, seeming proud of himself.
The three men ate quickly, with Buffy the Vampire Slayer playing on the tv as a way to keep Philly’s nerves at bay. It wasn’t long befor Philly found himself dozing off between the two older men. His head was buried against his future self’s neck and his legs were draped comfortably across Dan’s lap. Both men were holding his hands, thumbs moving across the skin soothingly.
“Is it bad that I don’t want to leave yet?” Philly asked, sleep lacing his voice.
Dan chuckled, “not at all. We like having you here too, but your Dan will miss you otherwise and you will miss him.”
Phil nodded at Dan’s words, “besides, we’ll see you again. Sooner than you probably think too. Next time will be less scary. And you won’t have to worry about your Dan.”
“Wait… Dan will come with me next time?” Philly asked shyly, his cheeks painted pink.
Phil laughed, “I think it’s next time, yeah. You’ll be back, I promise. Now, get some sleep. We’ll see you next time.”
Philly nodded sleepily, a floaty feeling overtaking him as he felt two kisses press against his cheek. Everything went black.
After what felt like hours, Phil woke up, back in the same circle that he had performed his spell in. He was wearing the same clothes that he had been before, not the clothes that he had borrowed from his future self. Everything was completely the same as before and he felt his excitement diminish. It was just a stupid dream. Of course the spell wouldn’t work.
He sighed and heaved himself up from the floor, stumbling a bit at the sudden movement. He put his hands into his pockets and frowned, feeling a folder up piece of paper. Phil pulled it out carefully and unfolded it,
“It wasn’t a dream Philly, I promise you that, We will see you again soon. Next time, wear something warm. It’s close to Christmas when we see you again! Take care!”
