Chapter Text
“Stop fidgeting.”
“I can't, what if they cut through the plaster and end up cutting off my arm?” Dan asked in a panic.
“It doesn’t work like that.” Phil reminded him. “The saw is perfectly safe, just relax.”
“Oh, god, I thought it was embarrassing having to film videos looking like a bloody transformer with these casts, it’s going to be so much worse when I have to admit that the doctor sawed my actual arm off. Do you think they’ll at least numb the area first?” Dan asked.
“You won't be losing anything today, except your consciousness if you don’t calm down.” Phil threatened.
“Rude.” Dan muttered. “You don’t threaten to knock out a guy who is literally about to lose an arm. Talk about kicking me while I'm down.”
“I’m going to kick you in a minute.” Phil muttered. “I mean seriously, for a guy who spends hours going on ‘epic’ Wikipedia quests, you would think that you would have a little more knowledge on this sort of thing.”
“First of all, I can sense your scepticism about the epicness of my quests and that’s rude, and second of all, do you really think anything I learn from those two in the morning browsing sessions is useful?” Dan asked. “I can tell you that Xenodochus is a genus of beetles in the family Carabidae, but I don’t know anything about evil cast saws.”
“I’m so glad that you're putting your time to such good use.” Phil said wryly.
“Fine then, ‘o wise one, what do you know about the cast saw?” Dan asked.
“I know that the blade vibrates instead of spinning and that means that it cuts when there is resistance, which means that the cast gets cut but your skin doesn’t because it’s much softer and elastic.” Phil said.
“How the fuck do you know that?” Dan asked, staring at Phil in shock.
“I did break my hand once,” Phil reminded him, “and I think clumsiness is just a Lester genetic trait.”
“Oh yeah, you and your bloody university life.” Dan smirked.
“Hey, I was a good student.” Phil protested.
“You stole a road sign.” Dan deadpanned.
“Shh,” Phil said quickly, “the internet still thinks that it was my friend who stole that.”
“Of course, those sleepless night videos, seriously I always know when you’ve been filming one of those because you end up leaving random crap all over the place, and there’s never any cereal when I wake up either.”
“Is this just attack Phil day?” Phil muttered to himself.
“If the shoe fits.” Dan grinned cheekily, poking Phil in the side.
“You know, whenever someone says ‘if the shoe fits’ I always think of Toy Story 2.” Phil said.
“Of course.”
“Daniel Howell.” A short man holding a clipboard called out as he walked into the room. Dan screwed his nose up but somehow managed to stop himself from correcting the man, and telling him to call him Dan.
“That’s me.” He said.
He had walked a few steps before noticing the empty space at his right side, he paused and turned to see Phil sitting in the uncomfortable plastic chair still.
“Aren’t you coming?” he asked him.
“Do you want me to?” Phil asked, looking unsure of himself.
“Of course I do, you spoon.” Dan said rolling his eyes. “Do you seriously think I’m going to go in there and let them cut my arm off alone?”
“You’re actually worried aren’t you?” Phil asked quietly as they followed the man out of the waiting room.
“What? No. I'm just having a laugh, obviously.” Dan said instantly but Phil saw straight through it, and he just gave Dan an understanding smile and linked his pinkie finger through Dan’s as he knew that holding hands was too risky in a place like this, anyone could be a possible viewer and they just had to assume that everyone was carrying a phone and had the potential to take a sneaky picture of them holding hands and uploading it to the internet. It wasn’t that they were trying to hide their relationship per se. not at all. They had spent a long time discussing their relationship though, before coming to the agreement that if they were outed then so be it, they weren’t ashamed of their relationship and they didn’t care who knew about it, but it had only been just over a month since that night when Phil had taken the clumsy, awkward initiative to change everything, and they had wanted to spend some time with it being just them for a while.
It was actually rather amusing to see all the speculation on Tumblr now that they knew it was real. The theories ranged from being spot on and so accurate that it was actually slightly intimidating to being so out there that they didn’t know whether to laugh or shake their heads in baffled confusion.
Dan relaxed minutely as he felt Phil’s finger link with his and flashed him a grateful smile. It still amazed him that he could just reach out and touch Phil whenever he wanted. A few days after they had ‘officially’ gotten together, they had been lying on the sofa together while, totally legally, watching a movie and Dan had reached up and poked Phil’s cheek. For no other reason than to prove that he could. Phil had found it greatly amusing and thus the great poking war had begun. It had even managed to infiltrate some of their videos and they didn’t even care.
Anyone could see that they had changed, their relationship was different, they were somehow different, but no one was able to pin down exactly what it was. A lot of the speculation suggested that maybe he and Phil were testing the waters so that they could come out, others suggested they had secretly gotten married, others thought they were buying a house together and getting a dog. It was amusing because all of the theories were based on the fact that they had been together for years, not weeks.
“Right here we are, Daniel, I’ll just get you to have a seat there and we’ll get that cast off in no time.” The man said as he rushed around the room, grabbing all the bits and pieces he was going to need. “Right now, pop your arm up on this pad here.”
The intimidating saw with its circular blade was placed beside the cast along with a pair of large, dangerous looking scissors and a metal contraption that looked like something out of a saw movie.
“Right then, it’s the left arm cast coming off today?” the man asked Dan.
“Yeah, I was told that I would have to keep the one on my leg for a little longer.” Dan said.
“Quite right, that was a much more complicated break from what I’ve read.” The man said. “It’ll be a bit of relief to get the use of your arm back, though.
“Definitely.” Dan said, as he wriggled the fingers poking out the end of the cast.
“I’ll give you a little booklet that has a list of exercises for you to try because your arm will be weak after spending so long being immobilised.” The man informed Dan. “I would also recommend that you invest in a good moisturiser as your arm has been kept completely dry for weeks and your skin might be dry and itchy.”
“Ew.” Dan muttered as he imagined the cast coming off and a wave of dry skin coming off his arm.
“Don’t worry, it won't be nearly as bad as your leg.” The man said in a tone that Dan assumed was supposed to be reassuring. It wasn’t reassuring in the slightest.
The blade whirred to life sounding louder than Dan thought it should, and if Dan’s free hand found its way into Phil’s then that was just something that they would conveniently forget to mention later on. Fortunately he had nothing to worry about, the blade went nowhere near his skin, and instead it just cut the tough outer layer, revealing the softer fabric on the inside.
“Wait that’s it?” Dan asked.
“Yes, we don’t need the saw anymore, I’ll use these scissors to cut the ends of the cast, and then I’ll use this,” he waved the scary metal contraption in the air, “to separate everything. Then you’ll have your arm back.”
It didn’t take as long as Dan thought it would for his arm to be freed and in no time at all he was holding it up in front of his face, it was so much lighter without the bulky cast weighing it down. He removed his hand from Phil’s to touch his arm, it was drier than usual which was irritating.
“Don’t worry, I have some moisturiser that you can use.” Phil muttered quietly to him.
“I don’t know if I want my cast off my leg.” Dan groaned.
They booked an appointment for Dan’s leg cast to come off, he still had a while before it was due but the way their schedules were it was best to plan things well in advance. Once that was done, Dan was told to go easy on his arm for a while and that he would get another crutch once his strength was built up enough. Once that was done, they found themselves slowly wandering back down the corridor back towards where their taxi was hopefully waiting.
“You’re going to have a cool scar.” Phil said as he glanced down at the cast on Dan’s leg.
“I keep forgetting that I had actual surgery on my leg, it’s going to be weird to see the scar.” Dan admitted.
“You can tell people that you have a bionic leg now.” Phil suggested.
“Of course that’s what you would think of.” Dan smirked. “Although, I guess I do have metal in it.”
“We’re going to get stopped at every airport now, thanks Dan.” Phil smirked.
“We just have to make sure that we leave earlier from now on.” Dan shrugged.
“Oh that’s rich coming from you.” Phil snorted. “You're the one who tried to film a video before leaving for the airport, making us nearly too late to get through the gate.”
“Nearly being the key word there.” Dan said. “Anyways it wasn’t my fault, it was my deodorant’s.”
“No, you were drunk and sprayed deodorant in your eye, even if you hadn’t done that, you were still running late just from the filming.” Phil corrected.
“Lies.” Dan said. “Listen I have a broken leg, you can't just drag me like this, it’s just cruel and unfair.”
“How many times are you going to play the ‘I have broken bones’ card?” Phil asked in exasperation.
“Until the cast comes off my leg, and then maybe still a little longer after that.” Dan said, pretending to actually think about it for a moment.
“Shut up.” Phil laughed.
Dan snickered at him, knowing that if they weren’t walking then Phil would have probably shoved his shoulder. There was a comfortable silence between them and Dan loved it, he loved all the time he spent with Phil. From the conversations that interested the two of them all the way to the silences that permeated the room but were never overpowering or unbearable. They really were a perfect match, in Dan’s opinion.
The taxi ride back home was comfortable. It pretty much summed up their lives; comfortable. They were comfortable in their relationship, their friendships, they slotted into each other’s lives perfectly as though they were always meant to be there.
In fact, they had spent a few days laughing over the fact that they could have been dating each other for years if they had only removed their heads from their asses and noticed what was right in front of them. Their friends, family, and viewers had noticed the chemistry and attraction long before they had. They were two of the most shipped YouTubers and yet they hadn’t even noticed it until recently. They had to laugh about it though, otherwise they would have ended up feeling too much regret over the time they had lost.
“Home sweet home.” Dan announced as Phil paid the taxi driver and helped him out of the vehicle.
“I guess now that you don’t have that cast on your arm you’ll be a lot more independent with things.” Phil said once they were comfortably sitting – or rather, slouching – on the sofa.
“Hm, you would think that, wouldn’t you?” Dan asked wryly, turning to smirk at his boyfriend. “However, it just so happens that this hand is still incredibly weak.”
“Is that so?” Phil asked, arching an eyebrow.
“It is, sadly, it means that I might need even more help, if anything.” Dan grinned.
“More help, I’m sure that could be arranged.” Phil said. “What sort of help are we thinking?”
“Well, now that my arm is fragile and bare, at the mercy of this cruel world then a fall would be very bad. Especially a fall out of my bed.” Dan said.
“Definitely, you could risk re-breaking it. We don’t want that.” Phil said with a smirk in Dan’s direction that made his heart start to race. “It would be more convenient if there was just someone who was willing to make sure you don’t fall out of your bed during the night.”
“Where would I find someone that brave and strong?” Dan asked rhetorically.
“I wonder?”
“It’s not only that, I'm at a higher risk of falling in the shower now, too.” Dan said with a sigh of faux sadness.
“Yes, we all know that a man’s ability to balance in a shower is tied to the plaster cast on his arm.” Phil said with a solemn nod.
“I need someone to stabilise me.” Dan sighed.
“Just to be clear, you are asking me to shower with you and sleep in your bed, right?” Phil asked.
“Jesus Christ, Phil, you're such a dweeb.” Dan laughed.
“Is that a no?” Phil asked, looking worried.
“How do you even live?” Dan laughed. “That’s exactly what I was asking you.”
“I just wanted to make sure!” Phil defended himself. “It would have been a little bit awkward if you had meant something different and then all of a sudden I decided to start stripping and climbing in the shower with you.”
Dan’s face went slightly pink and he gaped at Phil, his mind occupied with thoughts of Phil stripping. It’s not like he hadn’t seen Phil naked before but somehow just the thought of him purposefully stripping was enough to short circuit Dan’s brain.
“What?” Phil asked, feeling slightly unnerved by the staring.
“Nothing, it’s nothing.” Dan said quickly.
“Come on, tell me.” Phil insisted, poking Dan’s dimple. “Tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tel-”
“Fine! I swear to god you act like you're five sometimes.” Dan snorted.
“I know, but I don’t care. Now come on, tell me.”
“Fine, alright, you win. I was thinking about you stripping.” Dan admitted.
“Really?” Phil asked. “Huh.”
“Was that a ‘good huh’ or a ‘bad huh’?” Dan asked.
“That was a ‘I’m going to have to keep that in mind huh’.” Phil smirked.
Dan laughed and shoved his shoulder.
“I can't believe you, one minute you're acting all innocent and wondering whether I am actually asking you to shower with me and permanently share my bed and then the next minute you're insinuating that you're going to strip for me at some point. Fuck me, you’re so hard to keep up with, I swear all our viewers who call you a cute cinnamon bun are deluded. You're the epitome of teenage hormones.” Dan laughed.
“Anyway, I’m only going to do that on one condition.” Phil said.
“What?” Dan asked warily.
“You have to give up The Deal.” Phil smirked.
“What? No way, that’s cheating, it’s against the rules.” Dan protested.
“Nope, there was no such rule that said I couldn’t do this.” Phil said smugly.
“Damn it, you already know I’m going to agree.”
“Wow, I never thought I’d see the day where you willingly dropped The Deal.” Phil said with a grin.
“Shut up, you literal Spork, it’s your fault.” Dan muttered but he was still smiling.
“I still can't believe this.” Phil murmured. “We’re actually dating, you're actually my boyfriend.”
“If it helps, I can't believe it either.” Dan said. “Sometimes I’m actually glad that I got hurt during that video, it sure helped speed things along.”
“Well, that and my mum.” Phil agreed.
“We should just agree that we are hopeless and if we were just left to it we wouldn’t have figured out what the hell we were feeling for another ten years probably.” Dan said.
“We should not be classed as adults.” Phil agreed, pulling Dan closer to him.
It was nice. They had spent so long dancing around each other and going through phases of wishing they could say something about their feelings and then not wanting to say something out of fear of ruining their relationship, so it really was just nice for Dan to be able to look at Phil and think ‘damn, that’s my boyfriend’ there was nothing more satisfying.
They still had so much ahead of them though. Phil was planning on telling his mum the next time they went to visit her, and then there was Phil’s brother to tell, although knowing Martyn, he had probably been plotting and scheming with Phil’s mum for years. Dan needed to tell his family who, if they were as observant as Phil’s family, probably also had a vague idea. Then there would be their closest friends. Finally their viewers.
There was still so much to do and so many people to tell, there would be questions for the longest time and Dan and Phil were both prepared for the high possibility that a group of people would reject them, that didn’t matter though, because if people wanted to unsubscribe because they came out then they were more than welcome to. Dan and Phil didn’t want those sorts of people to subscribe anyway.
They were happy and that was all that mattered. Everything and everyone else could wait, they didn’t care about the drama or speculation or even the people who would say that they were lying and had been together for years. No, they only cared about each other and the fact that they were hopelessly in love and no one was going to be able to say anything that would change that for them.