Dan and Phil are beginning the celebration of Phil’s birthday by seeing Hamilton and Dan hopes everything goes smoothly so he can give Phil his real birthday present.

Words: 1.5k

Everything must go smoothly.

They’ve been waiting for this day for a year now.

Dan knew how awkward and harrowing situations seemed to follow them wherever they went. But tonight? Tonight had to be perfect.

No booking taxis in the wrong timezone; no misplacing the tickets; no crazy drivers; no getting mobbed by subscribers who might notice them; no awkward moments in the theater; no people tripping over their long giraffe legs as they pass by their seats; no anything that could possibly ruin this night.

Everything must go smoothly.

This was more than just a play. This was more than just a night out. This was more than just a date.

This was the night they’d been looking forward to for a year. This was Phil’s birthday. This was Hamilton.

This is where Dan was going to give Phil the birthday present he deserved. The birthday present he’d been wanting. The birthday present he’d been waiting for.

Dan felt a bubbling in his chest as the realization hit him. He was finally seeing Hamilton, with Phil, and finally giving Phil something he’s wanted for years; something they’ve both wanted for years. He was excited and it wasn’t even his birthday. He hoped Phil was just as excited for tonight as he was.

What was he going to wear? What was Phil wearing? He hoped they wouldn’t clash. But he also wanted them both to be comfy, as they had to sit in the theater for hours. Black jeans and a jumper? Maybe that new black jacket he’d just gotten? That would do.

He got dressed and grabbed the tickets out of his drawer, where they had been for the last year. He then grabbed his present for Phil and slipped it into his pocket before leaving the bedroom to find Phil waiting for him in the lounge.

“Ready to go? The car just pulled up.” Phil told him as he stood from the couch, wearing his signature black, skinny jeans and his green fox jumper. It was so Phil and Dan couldn’t help but smile, ignoring the fact they were definitely going to clash.

“Yup.” Dan said, still smiling. “I can’t believe we’re finally seeing Hamilton.”

“I know. If I’m excited, I can’t imagine how excited you must be.” Phil said as they walked to the door, turning the lights off on their way out.

Dan giggled. “I am, but this is your birthday present, remember. I want you to have the best time.” he told him, letting his eyes linger on his boyfriend in true “Heart Eyes Howell” fashion.

“You sure you have everything? Tickets, wallet, keys?“ Phil asked.

“Yes, Phil, I have everything.” Dan spoke assuredly, but still patted his pockets to double check.

They hopped in the taxi and Dan was pleasantly surprised by their timely and seemingly antisocial driver. They arrived at the theater and Dan let out a breath. One thing down, now they just had to make it inside and to their seats and they were most likely home free. But he also knew that for Dan and Phil, that might not be an easy thing.

They got out of the taxi and stood by the theater. They watched as people made their way inside, the pavement they stood on being illuminated by the the glowing marquee that read Hamilton.

“We’re here.” Phil whispered excitedly, nudging Dan repeatedly.

Dan just smiled at him, hoping everything would go smoothly from here.

They headed inside and Phil gave their tickets. Dan internally cheered when they made it past security in a breeze and they both managed to not say or do anything awkward. Another thing down.

But there was still potential for disaster. This theater was buzzing with people. The last thing Dan wanted was to get recognized or get talked to or do anything awkward. It wasn’t an irrational fear as neither of them had a very good track record.

“All right, our seats are up on the mezzanine. Let’s find them and then I’ll come back down for drinks.” Phil said as he brushed his hand against Dan’s ever-so-lightly, unnoticeably. Dan was grateful for their psychic connection. Or maybe the fear was just written on his face. Either way, Phil knew and Dan needed to suck it up so he didn’t ruin their night.

They made it halfway across the theater before they heard it.

“Dan and Phil!” a voice called through the crowd behind them.

They both stopped and turned to see a young girl hurrying toward them. At least, Dan hoped it was just the one.

“Hi, umm, I don’t want to bother you guys, but could I get a picture with you?” the girl asked a bit sheepishly, clearly trying to maintain who excitement. 

“Of course!” Phil told her happily and the three of them posed and her parents took the picture.

“Thank you! And happy birthday, Phil!” the girl said before walking off.

Dan and Phil both said bye before Dan let out a sigh. 

“I hope that’s the only person who recognizes us.” Dan said.

“I’m sure it will be. Don’t worry about it. Let’s go find our seats.” Phil said with a small smile before leading the way.

They found the stairway that would lead them to the mezzanine. They made it up almost two flights when Dan decided to lightheartedly complain.

“I came here… to have a good time… but instead…” Dan let out, dramatically panting in the process. “I’m being forced to exercise!”

“Only one more flight, Dan! You can do it!” Phil said with a laugh.

They finally made it to the mezzanine and Dan truly did feel out of breath by the time they found their section. He was happy to see their row was still mostly empty; no one to scoot past and hopefully whoever needed to scoot past them would be normal and quiet and not clumsy.

“These are good seats, Dan.” Phil said as he looked down at the stage.

“I tried.” Dan told him with a shrug.

“Okay, I’m going to go get us some drinks.” Phil said as he stood up again.

“Are you sure your poor sense of orienteering will get you back?” Dan asked with a smirk.

“No, I’ll probably get lost and end up in the basement.” Phil said. “Or backstage! Maybe I’ll meet Hamilton himself!”

Dan would have face-palmed had they not been in public as he let out a laugh. It was one of those laughs that was reserved for Phil’s unexpected, funny wit.  

As soon as Phil was out of view, Dan took a deep breath and let it out slow. The time was now. Once Phil got back with their drinks, he was going to do it. He slowly slid his hand into his pocket, letting his fingers brush along his present.

Phil arrived back with their drinks and sat down. “The queue was really long. I ran into another subscriber and then a strange man asked me if I like lemons and-”

“Phil,” Dan cut him off. 

Phil looked at Dan, a hint of nervousness apparent on his boyfriend’s face.

“Yeah?” Phil asked. He watched as Dan reached into his pocket and pulled something out.

“Happy birthday.” Dan said as he handed it to Phil.

In Phil’s hand was a folded piece of paper. Phil opened it and read what Dan had written.

IOU

1 forever home

1 corgi

the rest of our lives

- Dan

“I wish I could have gotten you these things for your birthday, but obviously we can’t get them until after the tour.” Dan explained while Phil continued looking down at the paper. “So, hopefully an IOU will do for now.”

Phil finally looked up at Dan. He seemed to be lost for words, or maybe he just couldn’t say the words he wanted to say in public. But he didn’t need to. The look of utter joy, anticipation and love in his eyes said more than his words ever could.

It was then the lights began to dim. The theater went dark, spotlights lighting up the stage. Somehow in the darkness, Phil’s hand found Dan’s. Dan didn’t flinch and instead grabbed hold of Phil’s hand, feeling safe in the darkness, knowing everyone’s eyes would be on the stage.

As the play began, Phil couldn’t tear his thoughts away from Dan’s present. He’d have to ask Dan later about how the play began, as all he could think about was that list of things Dan planned on getting them in the near future.

Sure, he was excited for the tour. To travel the world with his best friend and boyfriend; putting on another stage show, meeting loads of subscribers and having the chance to make people laugh in real life? Of course he was excited, but he was even more excited for what comes next. 

He managed to put it all at the back of his mind for tonight, wanting to enjoy this much-anticipated play with Dan. There was plenty of time to think about their future later.

Based on the story Dan and Phil told in their 11/24/16 liveshow about Dan losing his voice before the BONCAS last year.

Words: 1.3k

“Tonight was fun.” Dan said with a small smile as he climbed into the hotel bed next to Phil. 

“Yeah.” Phil said back, already sleepy.

“It was so cool hearing everyone in the audience singing along to The Internet Is Here.” Dan said with a smile.

Phil nodded as he looked at Dan. “Are you feeling all right? You sound hoarse.” 

“Yeah, yeah, I think I just kind of strained my voice, between TATINOF and then having to shout during DAPGOOSE last week. I’ll be fine by morning.” Dan told him.

“Tomorrow’s going to be another crazy day.” Phil said, the two having to catch an early flight back to London and perform on an award show later that night.

Dan sighed. “I know. We should get some rest.” he said before giving his boyfriend a quick peck on the cheek. “Goodnight.” he whispered and the two drifted off to sleep.

7AM arrived a lot faster than the two hoped and Phil groaned at his alarm. He turned it off before rolling over and wrapping an arm around his boyfriend. “Morning,” he murmured against Dan’s shoulder, but he got no response. “I know it’s early, but please don’t be grumpy.” he then said before sitting up and grabbing his glasses from the bedside table.

Phil could hear a faint sound from Dan, followed by Dan clearing his throat and rolling over to face Phil.

“Oh no, you are sick, aren’t you?” Phil said with a cringe.

Dan shook his head before attempting to speak again, choking out little incomprehensible noises. He looked up at Phil with wide, worried eyes. He began mouthing words to Phil and pointing to his throat. 

“Huh?” Phil let out, still a bit sleepy.

Dan huffed quietly before sitting up and snatching his phone from the bedside table.

Seconds later, Phil’s phone dinged and a new text appeared.

ive lost my voice 

“What do you mean you’ve lost your voice?” Phil asked.

i literally cant produce noise

“Dan, we’re supposed to be performing the song on the award show tonight. Do we have to cancel?” Phil asked.

It was then Phil’s phone was flooded with one frantic text after the other.

i dont think its gonna happen

i dont think we can do this

i literally cant even speak nevermind sing

wtf are we gonna do???

“Okay, just calm down, Dan.” Phil began. “It’s really early and your voice isn’t used to speaking this early in the morning. Stressing won’t help anything.”

Dan took a deep breath and let it out slow. The last thing he wanted to do was cancel their performance. Actually, scratch that. The last thing he wanted to do was go to this award show with hundreds of people and unwanted socialization, with having to perform a song and dance number on top of it all. But he and Phil had already committed and he didn’t want to let anyone down. Except, if his voice didn’t come back by the time they got to the venue in London, he’d have no choice but to cancel and they’d be dead.

“Dan.” he heard and was snapped out of his spiraling thoughts. “Didn’t I just tell you stressing won’t help anything?” Phil said and Dan lowered his head.

Phil’s face softened and he grabbed Dan in a hug. “Everything’s going to be fine, I promise.” he said before releasing the hug and looking at his boyfriend. “Let’s just get to the airport and grab some breakfast, yeah? We can just chill out before our flight.” he said and Dan nodded.

The two checked out and made it to the airport; and more importantly, made it to Starbucks. 

“What are you getting?” Phil asked, but got no response. “Oh yeah.” he remembered.

Suddenly, Phil’s phone dinged. 

can you order me a bagel and tea

“What’s the magic word?” Phil asked teasingly, hoping to get a laugh out of his boyfriend.

Instead, he got a death stare that was eventually followed by a laugh. 

“Go find us a table and I’ll order.” Phil said, shooing Dan away.

The two ate their breakfast and Dan hoped the tea would help sooth his throat and bring back his voice. 

It didn’t. The two had made it back to London and Dan still had no voice. There was no time to even go home to their flat, they needed to go straight to the venue to rehearse a song Dan was unable to sing. 

When they arrived, Phil had the unfortunate task of telling the people who were running the show that they might have to cancel their performance while Dan stood silently beside him. The only way Dan could describe their reactions were as if the the building and every single thing inside were currently on fire. 

They were told they had nothing else planned to end the show and if they didn’t perform, the entire thing was ruined. This caused Dan to walk away abruptly.

Phil was only a step behind his boyfriend, who had his back turned to him. “Dan?”  

Phil’s phone dinged. 

i was already scared about coming to this thing

And dinged.

because socializing

And dinged three more times.

and the stupid awards

and performing

and now im gonna ruin the whole thing because i cant talk

“You’re not ruining anything.” Phil began. “This isn’t your fault. Don’t listen to them, they’re just concerned with their show.” he said and gently grabbed Dan’s arm to turn him around to face him. “Everything’s going to be fine, I promise.” he said and Dan gave him a look that said you-said-that-already-you-spork-but-things-have-just-gotten-worse. “We’re going to do everything we can to help you get your voice back, okay? Let’s go buy some honey, lemons, lozenges, anything you need. Get some steam, that helped you loads on tour.”

Dan looked at Phil before looking down at his phone.

Phil’s phone dinged once again.

thank you <3

Dan spent the entire afternoon eating soothing things and inhaling steam, with Phil right by his side, trying to make him laugh and giving him reassuring shoulder squeezes every once in a while.

By some miracle, Dan’s voice had kind of come back just in time. The two decided they were just going to muddle through the award show and their performance. Dan knew he sounded like shit during the song, but it was better than the alternative.

Later that night, the two finally made it back to their flat. They tossed their shiny jackets on the floor and collapsed into bed.

It wasn’t until the next day that it all hit Dan. He was sat in his browsing position, minus his laptop. Instead, he was staring off into space, a slightly shaking hand gripping his mug of tea.

“Are you okay?” Phil asked when he noticed his boyfriend’s current state. 

“I’m just... processing... the fact that we... survived... yesterday...” Dan managed to get out.

Phil plopped down on the couch. He took the mug from Dan and placed it on the coffee table before wrapping an arm around his boyfriend. Dan let his head fall against Phil’s shoulder and the two just sat there in silence. 

“Yesterday was traumatizing.” Dan mumbled.

“But we survived, like you said.” Phil told him.

“Thank you again.” Dan then said.

“For what?” Phil asked with a shrug.

“You know what.” Dan said. “Just... everything.”

A moment later, Dan’s phone dinged. He grabbed it and saw he’d gotten a text.

Based on Phil saying this: “Please leave a comment telling Dan he’s very silly and not going to die out there.” in his Will Dan and Phil Survive Australia? video because I was rewatching it and that sentence stuck out to me and seemed weird so here’s my take on why Phil said it.

Phil sat in the lounge, pondering ideas for his next video. He needed to upload one before he and Dan left for TATINOF Australia in a couple of weeks. He sat there thinking while a head rested on his shoulder, attached to a formless blob that was hidden beneath a blanket and scrolling through its phone.

“Can you think of anything for my next video?” he asked the formless blob, but got no response. “Dan?”

“Hmm? Sorry, I was reading stuff.” Dan finally spoke.

“What kind of stuff?” Phil prodded.

Dan bit his lip. “About Australia. I’m getting nervous.”

Phil’s face softened. “Why, Dan? We’ve performed this show dozens of times. From what I see online, our Aussie subscribers seem really sweet.”

“It’s not the show I’m nervous about.” Dan admitted.

“Then what is it?” Phil asked.

Dan continued biting his lip, not wanting to answer. He knew it was silly; he knew he had nothing to worry about. But he couldn’t help blowing it up in his head and now the thought of leaving the safety of this apartment; this lounge; this blanket; this shoulder, scared him.

“What is it, Dan?” Phil pressed in the most loving way.

“I’m afraid of being on a cramped plane for all those hours and then getting there just to be eaten by a shark or a kangaroo or a freakishly large spider or something.” Dan rattled off.

“So, that’s what you were reading.” Phil said. “I was hoping you’d forget about the 23-hour plane ride or the dangerous wildlife part of the trip.”

“Well, I didn’t. What if there’s not enough leg room on the plane? What if a giant spider gets in our bed? What if it bites me and kills me, then what??” Dan asked.

“You’re being silly.” Phil told him.

Dan frowned at knowing Phil also thought this was silly. He wanted comfort from his boyfriend, not ridicule. Dan just sighed and threw the blanket over his head, hoping if he stayed there long enough he’d just disappear.

Phil looked down at Dan. He knew his boyfriend was being a tad over-dramatic; just over-dramatic enough to inspire his next video idea.

It was the day they were leaving for Australia and Phil had the perfect way to make Dan feel better about their trip.

Phil walked into the lounge and found Dan in his browsing position.

“Are you ready?” Phil suddenly spoke.

Dan looked up at him. “Our flight doesn’t leave until tonight. I’m not packed yet but it’ll take me 5 minutes, what could go wrong?”

“I’m not talking about the flight.” Phil said.

“Then what are you talking about?” Dan asked.

“My new video. You’re in it. Come on.” Phil simply said before heading to his bedroom, knowing Dan wouldn’t be far behind.

Phil was adjusting the lighting when Dan walked in and plopped down on the bed.

“So, what are we filming?” Dan asked.

“You’ll see.” Phil said before hitting record and sitting down next to Dan.

"Hey guys!" Phil began as he and Dan both put on their internet personas and Phil explained the concept of this video: Will Dan and Phil Survive Australia?

Phil proceeded to catch Dan off guard with things like having them both list off their tour dates in Australian accents and wearing Australian-wildlife-themed costumes, all in attempt to lighten Dan’s mood. 

They now sat on the bed, Phil wearing a shark fin headband and Dan in a full-on kangaroo suit that - although Dan complained - Phil knew he secretly loved. 

Phil named off things such as predators, the flight and spiders, most of which Dan said he would not survive and proceeded to put on a dramatized persona for the camera. Phil had to admit, if he came across a dangerous predator or ran into a creepy, big spider, he'd freak out too. But he tried his best to dissolve any of Dan’s fears and he could eventually see Dan noticeably warming up to the idea of going to Australia throughout the filming as he made snide remarks and laughed at the stupid things Phil said. 

Phil even agreed with Dan by the end and said they wouldn’t survive, but quickly made it known he was just joking. 

“Please leave a comment telling Dan he’s very silly and not going to die out there.” Phil said, hoping he got through to Dan. 

They ended the video and Phil got up to turn off the camera while Dan ripped off the kangaroo head and ran a hand through his messy hair.

“Thanks.” Phil heard and looked up at Dan with a small smile.

“So, do you feel better about going to Australia now?” Phil asked as he sat back down on the bed.

“Well, I mean, I did say I’d die from three out of five of those things, so...”

“Dan.” Phil interrupted and the two just laughed. 

“I do feel better. I don’t know why I was freaking out.” Dan said with a shrug.

Phil looked at him. “Do you know the most important reason you’ll be fine?” he asked, but didn’t wait for an answer. “I’ll be there, right by your side the whole time.”

Dan couldn’t help but smile.