Mutual Pining (3) Masterlist
part one, part two
As He Goes, So I Go (ao3) - cloej88
Summary: It’s November of 2015, and Dan and Phil have just finished their UK leg of The Amazing Tour Is Not on Fire. They’ve sworn off the romantic side of their relationship in order to protect the rest of this life they’ve built. However, with all of the close proximity of touring, their connection feels headier and more charged than ever. As soon as the UK tour ends, they fly to the US for a quick book-signing trip, but they become snowed in by a blizzard in Chicago. In the solitude of their shared hotel room, can they fumble their way back to one another?
Featuring: Pining, lots of fluff, the TATINOF UK afterparty in all its glory, an arcade bar in snowy Chicago, a NYTimes How to Fall in Love quiz, lots of introspective musing about how much these idiots adore one another, and some well-earned smut.
blanket of stars (ao3) - silentdescant
Summary: “That’s all for now, thank you.”
“I’ll be back to check on you in a bit.”
The whole script is so routine, Phil thinks his brain would short-circuit if either of them deviated from it. Dan walks away and Phil sinks lower in his seat, sighing into his blue drink.
“When are you gonna ask him out, man?” Martyn asks.
Broken Like You (ao3) - TearDrop1234
Summary: Dan and Phil meet at a theater in a nowhere town. Their friendship is instant, but the rest not so much.
By the way, I adore you. (ao3) - lxzyfangirl
Summary: Dan is very sick, and the future is not looking too bright for him, thankfully, he has Phil, his best friend, to accompany him through it all. But is Dan satisfied with being just friends?
Dandelions (ao3) - throughtheirsnoses (det395)
Summary: Phil returns to his small town after studying how to improve his power that lets him grow plants with his mind. Phil is anxious and struggling with the expectations put on him to grow new plant-based medicine and on top of it all, his childhood best friend, Dan, gets his heart broken and turns to Phil as a rebound. Phil panics.
Don't need to know your name. (ao3) - Septic84
Summary: A Thursday tradition changes much to Phil's surprise and it leads to wonderful things down the road.
i fall for the same face every time (ao3) - zsunsetz
Summary: In every universe, in every lifetime, in every world, he promises that he will love him.
I should be over all the butterflies (But I'm into you) (ao3) - blankbluestare
Summary: In which Dan is stupid and scared, but so is Phil, so it has gotten them more than a few years to get together.
And how easy it all is despite the time, because it’s them.
Or
A canon-verse AU in which everything’s the same, except Dan and Phil put an end to their romantic relationship very early on, so they've remained platonic best friends who’ve been pining for each other for years. And how they finally get back together.
Lace and Longing (ao3) - httphowell
Summary: Dan, alone in his hotel room after a long show, snaps a mirror selfie for Phil—just a hint of lace peeking out from beneath his oversized hoodie.
Project Poliwag (ao3) - natigail
Summary: Phil hadn't intended for his garden to become a haven for rescued Pokémon, but it had happened accidentally. This particular rescue wasn't that different, even though he had never rescued 117 Pokémon at once before. But he couldn't leave the Pokémon eggs to be destroyed, and he was willing to raise a whole army of Poliwag on his own if he must.
What Phil hadn't counted on was a stranger with a lost look in his eye turning up on his doorstep and offering to help with the project.
RIFT (ao3) - A_Million_Regrets
Summary: Phil is just a mere eight-year-old naive child when his mom keenly introduces him to his new stepbrother, Dan. They become friends and start living together fairly quickly. As years slip by, Phil slowly realises three things: First, Dan looks at him with pain in his gaze. Second, an inexplicable rift is separating them. Third, what he feels for Dan is more than just brotherly love.
scratch bark bite (oh, love me, i lied) (ao3) - Tarredion
Summary: Music & Drama teacher Dan Howell has a well-known rivalry with his coworker, English teacher Phil Lester.
An unforeseen event flips everything Dan thought he knew about Phil and himself on its head. Slowly but surely, the grudge withers, and the two of them cross the line between enemy and friend. But what will happen when their true intents and feelings get revealed? And was what they had ever really a rivalry? Was it even mutual?
seasons change (ao3) - sadlybunny
Summary: The boy is irresistible. He’s got that “couldn’t be bothered” attitude that has always intrigued Phil, always made him want to know Danny a little bit better. Phil knows falling in love with his best friend’s younger brother is wrong. But he just can’t seem to do the right thing.
sense of direction (ao3) - sunflowerwitches (orphan_account)
Summary: when dan said soulmates he meant every word, but maybe not in the way their audience assumed. he meant it. he means it still to this day. phil is his soulmate. phil is the love of his life, but the only thing is, phil definitely doesn’t feel the exact same way that dan does.
The Scent of Pining (ao3) - americanphancakes
Summary: Dan and Phil grew up together, but were separated by university and the mundanities of life. After years of missing each other, keeping track of each other's careers, and asking their families about each other, they finally reunite at a Christmas party back home. Surrounded by fragrances that cast their memories back to their childhood together, they each work up the nerve to finally do something about how they've been feeling for a decade.
