Payback
Summary: After playing Dan’s Hello Internet video, Phil has to make sure Dan isn’t upset with him before proposing.
Genre: Fluff, Proposal, Pouty!Dan A bit of angst (wow look I actually branched out for once)
Warnings: Swearing
Word Count: 2, 237
“Hi,”
“My name is… Dan.”
Phil heard about five loud stomps until his boyfriend was standing in the doorway. Phil’s legs tensed up.
“Why in the hell are you playing that?” Dan’s face was completely deadpan. He loathed that video, and he would do anything to stop it from playing. He really wanted to just make it private. Every new view on that video was a new tear in Dan’s heart. At one point, Dan had come so close to taking the video down that he was just a click away from ending his humiliation. In the end, it was Phil who convinced him otherwise.
Usually, in situations like this, Phil would just say he was playing around and turn the video off. But this time, he couldn’t turn it off. He needed it. Why? Because he was planning for his proposal.
Phil knew he had wanted to propose to Dan for at least six months. The problem wasn’t that he was shy, it was that he didn’t know how to do it. He wasn’t exactly the best with words, especially in tense situations, so that made it even harder for him to plan something for his boyfriend.
Finally, after months of brainstorming, Phil had come to a decision. He made videos for a living, so why not use one to propose? He could edit together a few videos of theirs and, viola! A proposal in the making! And Phil knew exactly what video to start with- Hello Internet.
-
Phil knew he should’ve worn headphones while watching it, but he figured his volume was low enough that Dan wouldn’t hear it playing all the way from the lounge. He was wrong.
“Phil, why?” Dan shortened his original question, hoping it would make it easier for Phil to respond. Phil felt a soft shiver of fear run through his spine. Dan didn’t usually get this mad.
“I was… uh… doing it for a video.” Phil tried to piece together some form of an answer, but he knew the lie wouldn’t work. “Phil, don’t fucking lie to me,” Dan warned while leaning an arm on the back of Phil’s chair. He was furious at this point. Phil knew this video wound Dan up, but he honestly thought he was overreacting. Letting go of his nervousness, Phil calmly got up from his chair, making his eyes level with the other boy’s coffee brown eyes.
“Dan, listen to me,” Phil whispered, lightly placing a hand on Dan’s shoulder. Pulling Dan’s head closer to his, Phil spoke again. “I’m sorry, al-”
“No! Get the fuck off me!” Dan spat, pushing his boyfriend off of him and briskly making his way out of the room. “Dan, wait!” Phil tried to chase after Dan, but he immediately stopped when his boyfriend’s plain white door to his bedroom slammed on his face, quite literally almost hitting his nose. Dan trapped himself in his room. And he stayed there all day.
Phil knew better than to bother Dan. In times like these, it was best to leave him alone for at least the rest of the day. Dan needed some time to cool down, and Phil respected that. However, things heated up once again when it was time for bed.
Dan had secretly grabbed a bowl of cereal for his dinner, and he barely ended up eating it. After placing it back down on his nightstand, he fell asleep without a second thought.
Wearing his cookie monster pajama bottoms, Phil inched Dan’s door open. Noticing Dan was already asleep, he figured he would just slip into Dan’s bed for tonight. They usually slept in Phil’s bed, but Phil could make an exception. Moments after he was settled in, Dan pushed the bare back of his boyfriend so hard that he launched out of his bed onto the dark-carpeted floor. “Dan!” Phil croaked, coughing afterwards. “Get out,” Dan mumbled, turning his back to Phil in bed. Phil turned to leave, until he realized something. He could fight back. “No,” Phil uttered, keeping his back turned to Dan. “I won’t leave.”
Phil winced at the long moment of silence that lingered after he snapped back at Dan. After what seemed like (and was) three minutes, Phil turned around and squinted at the younger boy. The room was completely dark, so seeing was a challenge. But Phil had no difficulty realizing that Dan had fallen asleep.
After debating over what to do for a quick moment, Phil climbed back into Dan’s bed, reaching a hand onto Dan’s bare chest, and taking the sleeping boy’s hand with the other. “My little sleeping angel,” Phil whispered as softly as possible. Moments later, he opened his eyes abruptly at a gentle voice.
“Phiw?” Dan uttered. He was obviously half asleep. “Yeah, bear?” Phil was so pleased he could speak to Dan again. His Dan.
“Why… why would you… play that? The… video?” Dan stuttered, struggling to find any words in such a dreamy state. He sleepily rubbed his face like a young child would. Phil let out a gentle giggle and sighed. “All in good time, my little bear,” He patted Dan’s head. “All in good time.”
-
Finally waking from his groggy state, Phil sat up from his boyfriend’s plain bed and slowly reached for his glasses. Phil trudged through the hallway and peeked around the door of their kitchen to check if Dan was there. Nope. Expecting to see him in his usual browsing position on his laptop, Phil was surprised when he saw Dan sitting on their couch with the TV on. He was slumped over- obviously not actually watching the nature documentary currently playing.
“Dan?” Phil reluctantly spoke, hoping that Dan would no longer be angry from their fight the previous day. It seemed that Dan was nearly asleep because of his sudden jolt at the call of his name. “Wha- Oh.” He sounded almost disappointed. Dan maintained a completely blank face while staring at Phil. No words. Not yet. Phil felt his leg twitching. If he’s still upset, I… Phil’s mind raced in a million different directions. What if Dan was still mad? Would he not even talk to him? Would he move out? What then? What would happen to his career and his-
“Phil,” Dan stopped Phil’s pounding heart by saying his name. Suddenly, a wide smile grew across his face. Phil had no idea what was going on. Was this whole thing a joke? “Phil, come here!” Dan had to grab Phil’s attention yet again, and this time, instead of debating over what was going to happen next, Phil jumped onto the couch with his boyfriend. Nestling into a warm pillow fort with Dan by his side, Phil could finally relax.
-
“I’m sorry. I just don’t know what happened to me. I was having a bad day, and the last thing I wanted to do was joke around.” Dan explained his fit to Phil. Nodding his head, Phil spoke in a half-whisper. “You were really salty.” Giggling, he turned to Dan, who was curled up on his left side. Dan rolled his eyes and started to draw his head in closer to Phil’s. Phil got the hint, and they exchanged a few minutes of warm kisses on their cheeks. Phil had gotten past the first hurdle. Now, only a big boulder stood in his way of complete happiness. That boulder, was the proposal.
-
Watching the video for the probably hundredth time, Phil closed his laptop. His phone buzzed with a text from Dan, or “Danny Boi”, as his contact read. “Be back in a few ❤” Phil sprang from his seat at the desk and hopped down the stairs to their lounge. He couldn’t stop bouncing while turning the television on to show the video he had so very carefully crafted. Was this it? Was it finally time to propose?
Click. A few minutes later, Phil heard the familiar sound of their door closing. He had a final jitter of excitement before he hurried into their kitchen to hide. “They didn’t have the taco kit we usually-” Dan’s groan was quickly cut off by the television blaring a video. “Wha-” Instead of turning into the kitchen, Dan entered the lounge, amused by the programming on TV. What video was playing? The one that started it all- Phil’s Video Blog – 27th March 2006.
Dan let out a loud laugh hearing the beginning of his boyfriend’s first video. He continued laughing until the screen flashed to an image of his old bedroom. Hello Internet started playing. “Phil, I thought we were done with this!” an angry Dan screamed. Phil kept in his chuckle, hoping he wouldn’t reveal his location. Like Phil’s first video, Hello Internet was cut off after Dan said his name. The next video: PINOF 1.
After a few of the best moments of that video of pure phanservice, it cut to the next PINOF. And the next one. Until they reached number eight. At this point, Dan obviously had known something was up, but what came next completely took him by surprise.
The video had cut to one of their many baking videos, but only for a clip of Phil saying I. Next came an AmazingPhil video. Love. The Extinction Race video. You. The screen jumped to many more different videos, each of them saying just a word.
I
Have
For
A long time
So…
Phil tensed up in the other room. This was the moment. It was finally here. Phil couldn’t explain the intense mix of happiness and nervousness building up inside him. Fighting the strong feeling of panic, he reached his hand into his pocket and grasped his fingers around a small, navy blue box. Nodding his head, he stepped out into the hallway.
Daniel
James
Howell
Will
You
The video cut to black. Phil was kneeling behind Dan. It was all in place. Phil took a deep breath.
“Marry me?” Phil uncertainly asked, nearly dropping the ring box from his shaky hands. Dan turned around, revealing a face full of tears. He could barely speak, let alone answer the most important question of his life. He squealed a soft, “Yes!” while wrapping his arms around Phil. The box flew out of Phil’s now weak hands, but he didn’t care. Squeezing his fiancé with all his might, he couldn’t hold in the tears. He had done it. He had caught the elusive Dan Howell. And he was never letting go.
-
“Wait, hand me your phone, I think I found it,” Phil uttered as he carefully balanced his tall body over the TV stand. Dan turned on the flashlight and handed his phone over, still uneasy from the events earlier. “No, that’s just the box.” Phil inspected the suede container. No ring. “Did you seriously lose the ring, you spork?” Phil sighed, thinking Dan was upset with him. Until, of course, he looked up and saw the stupid grin on his fiancé’s face. He couldn’t even speak. He just playfully jabbed Dan in the face and continued looking for the ring.
“Phil, just sit down. It’s okay, I don’t mind,” Dan reassured while taking a seat on their grey sofa. “But I-” “Phil.” He knew Dan didn’t really care about him finding the ring, but he still felt like someone was breathing down his neck, pressuring him to locate the gold band.
Phil let out a dramatic sigh while slumping down next to Dan. He was obviously disappointed in himself. The one night he wasn’t supposed to screw up and he did.
Dan leaned his head on Phil’s shoulder and let his heart eyes loose. Phil’s blushing cheeks told it all. He was already feeling better, and he leaned into the cuddle. Reaching his neck over to Dan, he gave him a gentle kiss on the forehead. With that, Dan smiled and closed his eyes. “Ring or no ring, we’re still engaged.” Dan tried to brighten Phil’s thoughts, and Phil appreciated that. He just couldn’t get it out of his head.
“I know, I just-” Phil was cut off by a strong shimmer coming from in between the couch cushions. Like an animal attacking its prey he dove his arm inside the couch. Dan jumped up and watched the boy tear their couch apart. Instead of speaking, Dan just stood there. He knew what had happened.
Phil surrounded the ring by his hand and brought it up from the dark hole it was in. They exchanged a smile and a laugh until Phil got up and stood next to Dan. “Now,” Phil started. “Will you marry me?” yet again, tears formed in Dan’s eyes as he croaked out another joyous, “Yes!”. Phil took Dan’s hand and slid the shining ring on. They were both speechless. Phil was finally happy.
-
“What next?” Phil asked as he stopped Netflix from playing the next episode of AHS from playing. “Well, I was thinking something on YouTube,” Dan suggested, grabbing the remote from Phil. “Really?” Phil had no idea as to what Dan could possibly want to watch on YouTube, but he went with it anyway. “Yeah, but it’s a surprise, so close ‘em.” Phil sighed and waited with his eyes closed. “What is it?” He asked excitedly. After about a minute, he heard a familiar voice coming from the TV.
“Hello, this is Phil and welcome to my video blog.”
“Payback.”
A/N: Thanks for reading! Sorry it’s been so long since my last update. Things were crazy with Easter (by the way I hope you had a good Easter or whatever you do this time of year) and I wanted to write a longer fic (longer than what I usually write this is really short compared to some). I hope you enjoyed it as I had a good time writing it!