A/N: It’s back! I underestimated how long this chapter would take, but 4000 words later, and with a bit of help it’s finally done! Co-written with 2 of my followers who wish to remain anonymous. Hope you like it! :) 

Summary: My complete theory on what happened between Dan Howell and Phil Lester.

DISCLAIMER: Unfortunately, I’m not claiming anything I have written to be true/what actually happened. It’s just my personal beliefs. 

**SMUT WARNING FOR LATER IN THE CHAPTER** 

Dan gasps at the text, almost dropping his phone beneath the clamminess of his hands, and turns around to look behind him. The platform’s so busy, and he’s so flustered that he could recognize anyone’s face in the midst of the chaos, let alone Phil’s.
But as his eyes darted to the right, his heart stops, and his jaw drops open. He doesn’t even care about how idiotic he must have looked in that moment. He just didn’t care about anyone other than the angelic form standing only a few feet away from him. And he was actually there.
This is unreal. Dan thinks to himself, as Phil catches his eye, and shoots him a soft smile. He begins slowly approaching the nervous, younger boy, watching Dan being able to do nothing more than stand rooted to the spot, and concentrate on walking instead of fainting.
Their eyes never once break contact, and all of a sudden, Phil’s standing right in front of Dan, close enough to touch. Well, causing Dan to gaze up slightly to meet his eyes because of the height difference between them, but nevertheless, Phil’s just as nervous as Dan. The nervous-est he’s ever been before in his life.
“Hi…!” Dan whispers out in a small voice, although it came out as nothing but a squeak.
“Hi.” Phil replies in very much the same manner.
They stand close, studying each-other’s faces as if they were memorizing every single little detail. In a matter of hours, Phil wasn’t a bunch of pixels on a Skype call screen, and Dan wasn’t just a voice on the other end of the phone. They were real, and alive. And next to each other.
All of a sudden, Phil reaches out, and pulls Dan in for the tightest hug he’s ever given anyone. Dan stays frozen, slightly startled as he’s never the hugging sort, but Phil’s warmth radiating from his chest, and deliciously addictive scent causes him to relax into him, and hug him back as tightly as his arms could manage.
It’s absolutely unreal, feeling Dan’s warmth, feeling his arms wrapping tightly around Phil and keeping him as close to him as possible, as if he was scared he’d disappear 300 miles back down to Wokingham in one blink of his eye. He was scared this is all a crazy, hectic dream, and in a couple of seconds, he would wake up in a cold sweat, in nothing but the darkness of his own room, with only a pillow to cuddle up against.
After spending as much time as they could purely appreciating each other without getting kicked off of the platform, Phil pulls away and reconnects the eye contact again.
“So, er… shall we go and get a coffee or something?” He asks apprehensively, annoyed at himself that he didn’t have a structured plan for the day.
“Yeah, sure!” Dan replies a little too eagerly, relaxing Phil’s nerves slightly. They had already discussed their favourite coffee shop multiple times, so this wouldn’t be difficult.
“Okay. So, are you, erm… are you just cool with wandering round Manchester all day? I mean, I could show you around and stuff…” He trails off nervously, reading Dan’s expression.
“Of course I’m fine with that!” Dan loosens up a little, remembering that Phil was the same guy he had been talking to for months on end, and not a complete and utter stranger. “I’m fine with anything we do today.”
“Good.” Phil lets out a sigh of relief, grinning down at him as they begin walking through the bustling station, and out into the city. Dan’s immediately met with several sky-high buildings towering above his head, road after road full of street entertainers and coffee shops, and a huge shopping center to get completely lost in.
Wow… Dan thinks in his head, staring up at this strange new city. He’d never been to Manchester. He wasn’t even sure where it was, until he met Phil. But everything just feels too impossible. This doesn’t feel like the world he was so used to back at home. Maybe that was why Phil’s so different to anyone else he had talked to; because he comes from a completely different background.
“You like it?” Phil asks, amused at the way Dan’s taking everything in before his eyes.
“I love it.” Dan giggles shyly in response. He couldn’t help but continue to gaze up at Phil, just spending time secretly appreciating his face, taking in all his quirks, the way he skipped slightly with every step, the rise and fall in the tone of his smooth voice, and the unmistakable way he managed to fully captivate Dan with even the simplest of movements.

“Well, we’re here” Phil glances up proudly at the “STARBUCKS COFFEE” sign hanging above the prettily standing café, opposite what apparently looked like the Arndale.
They walk through the double doors, relieved to find the café wasn’t busy at all; with nothing but a couple of business-looking men and a few families.
“What can I get for you two boys?” The pretty looking waitress turns around from the coffee maker, eyeing them up and down.
Phil gives Dan a look; a look that he will never forget to this day, as he turns back to the waitress.
“Two Caramel Macchiatos, please” He orders, and Dan can hear the smile in his voice.
The waitress turns her back on them, obediently preparing their drinks as Dan can’t withhold his grin.
“You remembered!” he mouths, thinking back to their Skype call a few weeks back.
“How could I forget?!” He grins back, his eyes glittering. The bond between them is almost unbearably strong, already sending Dan into a fluster he hopes Phil can’t identify.
They take their coffees, Phil insisting to pay for Dan, and make their way downstairs to the less busy area of the café.
And much to their relief, it really isn’t busy at all.
“Can we sit over there?” Dan indicates over to a solitary sofa at the very back of the room, tucked away behind a corner.
“Yeah.” Phil’s voice suddenly lights up as they walk over, setting the mugs down on the wooden table, and letting themselves collapse onto the soft leather seats.
Phil sighs, settling into the sofa comfortably. “So how are you, Dan? Was the journey okay?”
Dan nods, thinking back to the sheer anxiety and nervousness he was feeling not even 30 minutes ago, with the thought of going up to a huge city all on his own, meeting someone on the internet that he’d never met before in his life, and alone with all of the other possibilities that could have happened.
Could have happened, but never did. He thinks to himself, smiling internally as he spins Phil a story about what happened with the train doors on the way up, although he wants to stop talking about himself. He wants Phil to talk about himself instead. He wants to know about Phil’s journey, not his own.
Phil seems safely amused anyhow, laughing at appropriate intervals, keeping eye contact with Dan throughout the entire tangent, which makes it even more difficult for Dan to talk without getting lost in those… incredibly…
“Dan…?” Phil prompts, a smile tugging on his lips.
“Hm?” Dan mumbles, still completely distracted.
“The story…?” Phil whispers.
“Wh… Oh!” He giggles, his face flushing a deep shade of red as he realises what he had been doing. Phil giggles along with him, and begins to playfully claw at him. Dan’s heart flips as he feels the sensation of Phil’s fingers adorably clenching up in little claws, ruffling along the edge of Dan’s jacket. He’s not quite sure why Phil is doing this, but he’s in no position to object. He also picks up on the fact that he and Phil were sitting closer than what would be considered as ‘normal’, on the sofa, which they both took extra advantage of.
“I’m hungry.” Phil mumbles, pretending to bite Dan on the cheek before pulling away to pick up his coffee. Dan is left with the ghostly sensation of Phil’s mouth against his cheek for less than a second, willing it to be for longer.
“Er, me too. We should have brought something to eat.” Dan comments, mirroring Phil’s actions as he picks up his mug of coffee to drink, watching the way Phil’s lips purse over the cup, taking dainty sips of the hot, fragrant liquid. Everything about this guy, was absolutely enchanting. Dan thought. He would be perfectly content with sitting and just watching him, although after the last encounter, it would probably weird him out a bit.

“Hey, I’ll tweet this!” Phil exclaims, pulling out his phone from his pocket and unlocking it to select the Twitter app.
Dan looks over Phil’s shoulder, watching him tap out the words before his eyes. “In Starbucks with Dan :]”
“Yay.” Dan giggled in response, only then realising how close he was to Phil, his head practically resting on his shoulder. Against his will, he pulls away from him to resume the coffee drinking.
“It’s so weird seeing you without any Skype glitches.” Phil smiles, taking in the sight of Dan sitting beside him as if it’s the last thing on the planet he’d ever see. And, if he’s honest, it’s the only thing he wants to see right now. Just him, Dan, and Manchester.

After a lengthly, and deep conversation about anything and everything they have in common, Phil drains his cup, and stands up beside Dan. “Onwards?” He offers, holding out his hand for Phil to take hold of.
Dan clears his throat to answer. “Yeah” was all he manages, taking Phil’s hand and feeling a huge rush of excitement jolt through him at the contact of their skin. In the Manchester air, Phil’s hands are cold about 99% of the time, so Dan’s warmth is easily an excuse to carry on holding his hand.

“You’re warm.” Phil comments shyly, giving Dan’s hand a quick squeeze of appreciation, before inevitably letting go to let another customer carrying a tray down the stairs.
“Where to now, tour guide?” Dan playfully teases Phil, giving him a confident nudge with his hip once they were up and out of Starbucks.
***
After a long, tiring but the most amazing day either of them had experienced, they wind up outside the Arndale, laughing at the lameness of a feeble joke Phil tells.

“Oh my god, Phil.” Dan sighs between laughs, gently nudging his hand inside the crook of Phil’s elbow so they were able to link arms.

He wants to act as close as he feels, to Phil.

“Well, there’s somewhere I haven’t taken you quite yet!” Phil comments suggestively, his eyes glittering wildly with every shade of blue.
“Where’s that?” Dan asks, his own eyes lighting up as he gazed at Phil. Phil smiles knowingly, nodding over to the huge wheel standing proudly opposite them both. “It’s the last one before closing time.” He explains. “Wanna go on?”
Dan gasps, looking up into the darkening sky, and then back at the magnificent landmark. He gives Phil an eager nod, his grin widening.
“Well come on, we’ll miss it otherwise!” Phil jumps up, holding out his hand like he had done earlier to Dan. He takes hold of Phil’s hand a lot more enthusiastically this time, and daringly keeps hold of it through the time it takes to walk to the wheel from where they are. He also had picked up on the fact that Phil’s hands had warmed up considerably from when they had first held hands.
“2 VIP tickets, please.” Phil emphasises the 'VIP’, as Dan giggles. He is so caught up in his own thoughts and enchantment that Phil managed to pay for him again without him realising. “We’re so important!” Phil jokea, earning another flustered giggle from Dan.

“Well, you are, anyway!” Dan replies. And then realises what he had just said, out loud. “Oh.” He adds in a small, guilty voice, awaiting Phil’s reaction.
Phil stares deep into Dan’s eyes for a few seconds, before a smile breaks out on his face. “You’re so cute.” He bites his lip, suppressing the urge to pounce on Dan there and then. Dan, recalling back earlier, feeling even closer to Phil. Closer than ever before.

He wants to act as close as he feels to Phil.

Disguising it with some talk about how much he loves Manchester, Dan manages to slip his arm around Phil’s waist as discreetly as he could. Phil gasps softly, responding to the touch as he adjusts himself to let Dan’s arm right the way around. He can’t believe this, he can’t believe it’s finally happening. Here he was, next to the most amazing guy he had ever met, with his arms wrapped around him as if they had known each other for a lifetime. The carriage jolts to life, slowly sending them upwards into the starlit sky, with nothing but the full moon’s light to guide them to each other’s faces.
Phil reciprocates, bringing his arm up and across Dan’s body, as if they were in a constant embrace. Just sitting in complete bliss, just Dan, Phil, and lights. Lights from the sky above, lights from the buildings in the city skyline down beneath them both, and lights illuminating their eyes. They’re approaching near the top now, and everything is in perfect view.
“Look over there.” Phil points over to a tall, intimidating looking building. “That was where I used to work.”
“You worked there?!” Dan repeats in almost disbelief, his gaze travelling to the tower Phil was talking about.
“Yep. It wasn’t that good, to be honest, I mean; I’ve had better jobs in the past, like the warehouse one was a bitch! But the stationery one was okay I guess, I mean; it’s not like I particularly like stationery. I don’t have anything against it though, although I didn’t like that chocolate orange being thr-”
“Phil…” Dan whispers soothingly, noticing the increase in Phil’s heartbeat as he desperately tries to keep up the conversation. “It’s okay.” He grins at him again, his dimple growing into his blushing cheek.
Phil breathes out a sigh of relief. “Sorry.” He apologises softly. “I’m just nervous.”
Dan pauses to take in Phil’s ever-changing expressions. The night is sparkling, as he realises that they’re nearing the top of the wheel. Everything is perfect, and nothing else matters apart from each other. Dan studies Phil’s eyes even deeper than before, taking in every little detail and sparkle as Phil does the same to Dan. He could spend hours in his eyes, as he desperately wishes the carriage would never stop rotating, and they could just stay lost in each other’s eyes forever.

But Dan wants to acts as close as he feels to Phil.

There’s a gap in between them that needs filling.
Without thinking, Dan gives up, and leans into him, their lips finally connecting. And it’s happening; it’s really happening. Phil’s heart flips over, which it had never really done before. Dan gives Phil his lips, tasting the traces of the coffee on Phil as he melts into him, working perfectly together as they act as if they had already rehearsed this a million times. Which they have. In their heads.
The kiss carries on for a few more heavenly moments before they pull away, still in each other’s arms in some kind of cuddle. They both remain breathless and speechless, neither of them really knowing what to say, or do next.
Without words, and to be honest, words weren’t needed now, Dan gently entwines his fingers into Phil’s. Like the hand holding, only a lot more slower, softer, and romantic. Phil strokes the palm of Dan’s hand with his thumb, as they gaze out at the beautiful view of Manchester. And Dan could tell that this won’t be the last time he’ll be coming to this breathtaking city.
***
“So yeah, that’s my house!” Phil concludes the tour with a sarcastic flourish, as Dan giggles in response.
“Are you sure you don’t live in the hotel from The Shining?” Dan asks, gazing around the room appreciatively.
“You’re not the first to say that!” Phil lets out a laugh, his eyes glittering with humour. “Are you hungry, Dan?” He suddenly checks, realising they hadn’t really eaten much throughout the day.
“Not really.” Dan replies. “I’m still full from attacking the oriental cracker mixes in the Skybar!”
Phil rolls his eyes. “Me too!“ He pauses for thought. “Do you, er… Do you want to go and watch a movie or something? It’s pretty late, and my parents are out.” His eyes glitter up as he awaits Dan’s reaction. Dan smiles, nodding eagerly at the sound of that. Just him and Phil, alone together surrounded by the distinctive colours of his bedroom walls. Dan walks over to his suitcase, pulling out a loose fitting t shirt and pyjama pants. He rarely wore pyjamas, or anything when he slept, but now wouldn’t exactly be an appropriate time to carry that through.
“Where can I…”
“Oh, just in the bathroom. You remember where it is?” Phil indicates out of the door.
“I think so, yeah.” Dan glances over to the door expectantly. “Just along the hall, and on the right?”
“You fast learner.” Phil teases, with a grin.
“Oh, shut up.” Dan giggles shyly as he walks over to the bathroom to change.
Opportunity time.
Phil glances over his shoulder to check that Dan was gone, before sneaking over to the bedroom windows, and opening them all. He wants to make the room as seemingly cold as he can, to make Dan feel the cold as well as him
Because cold, meant cuddles. And hopefully in Phil’s bed.
Once he had changed into the first items of clothing he could find in his wardrobe, he straightens up his own bed as best as he could. He hadn’t had time to do it this morning, as he was in such a rush. He hadn’t had time to do anything.
Including hiding the pictures of Dan that he had sent Phil, which Phil had then printed out and kept in his secret drawer, which he prays Dan won’t go into. It was evident that Phil does… things to these photos. Private things which he didn’t want Dan to find out about, especially not on the first day.
He stashes them all away along with his letters to Dan that he had never sent. And probably never will.
“Hi.” Dan greets awkwardly, a smile appearing on his face as he walks through the door, his hair lazily ruffled.
Phil can’t help but stop and stare at him; the way his t-shirt hangs loosely on his slim, tanned body, and the way he dresses as if he is just begging to be cuddled, which is exactly what Phil desperately wants to do. Well, Phil wants to do a whole lot more than that, but he wants Dan to be comfortable with him, first. He keeps forgetting he’s only 18. He’s still practically a teenager.
He only then realizes how long he had been staring for, and this would probably be considered rude.
He doesn’t know if he imagined it or not, but he could have sworn he saw a glint of disappointment flash across Dan’s face for less than half a second as he notices the other single bed that Phil had made up, which he only did in case things really didn’t go to plan.
“It’s cold in here… isn’t it?” Phil suddenly changes the subject, shivering slightly.
Dan notices it too. “Yeah…” He agrees slowly.
Phil swallows his fear, and shuffles along his bed, opening the duvet. “Do you…erm, do you want to…?”
Dan’s eyes light up, as he nods. “Yes, please.” He replies, and Phil can sense the nerves in his voice.
Dan gulps, gently nudging up the duvet and slipping himself inside it, beside Phil.
“God, you are cold!” Phil exclaims as he shuffles up closer beside him, gently feels Dan’s hands, which are now beginning to shake very slightly with the cold, and nervousness.
“Yeah…” Dan agrees, his voice no more than a whisper as he tries to get as much body contact and heat out of Phil as he possibly can.
They stare, captivated by each other’s eyes for what seemed like forever.
“Do you, erm… do you want to watch this movie, then?” Phil suggests, making sure Dan was comfortable with this.
Dan actually hesitates, biting his lip with thought, which drove Phil insane.
“We could, I guess…” He begins. “But I’d rather do something else…” He brushes his leg up against Phil’s.
“W-what?” Phil stammers.
Dan gives him a gentle smile, and lets his eyes flicker down to Phil’s lips. Phil freezes, rooted to the spot where only a very small nod of approval could be managed from him.
But that was all Dan needed.
Their lips collide for the second time today, only this time a lot slower, and more treasured than before. Phil gives out a short, sharp intake of breath as he leans over to Dan, taking his body in his arms and pulling him up closer against him. Dan let his legs tangle up with Phil’s, completely consuming himself in him as they move perfectly with each other.
Phil runs his fingers through Dan’s hair, bringing his hands down to cup the younger’s face as he tilts his head and deepens the kiss. In an instant, Dan gasps at the sudden feeling of Phil’s tongue begging for entrance, as he’d never experienced a kiss so intense as this, not even with his girlfriend of 3 years.
Dan opens his lips slightly, his own tongue gliding across Phil’s, before he brings out his teeth and bites repeatedly on Phil’s lower lip. Phil lets out a muted groan as he rolls over, pushing Dan onto the mattress beneath him and begins working his lips down to Dan’s neck.
“Ugh.” Dan grunts, lifting up Phil’s neck to give him more access to the sensitive spot that Phil was biting, and sucking at. He half hopes Phil doesn’t notice the sudden movement in his pyjama pants at such a small action. But it wasn’t just the action that was setting him off; it was the person doing it.
After moving down to his collarbones, Phil lifts his head up, the shine in his eyes very much lust-filled as opposed to how they shined on the Manchester Eye. Dan gave an immediate nod, and Phil began snaking his hands up Dan’s top, feeling up every inch of his torso, before taking the hem of the shirt and ripping it off him.
“Someone’s horny.” Dan giggles against Phil’s lips.
“Shut up.” Phil mumbles, his voice catching in his throat as Dan begins to do the same, feeling up Phil’s skinny, pale frame before pulling his shirt way above his head, and throwing it on his green carpet.
They connect lips immediately, the access to each-other’s bodies suddenly made a lot easier as Phil begins to take things up a gear, grinding his hips firmly into Dan.
Dan lets out a strangled moan at the much-needed friction, and the thought of Phil being just as aroused as he was, made his erection painfully hard.
“Phil…” Dan gasps out with need. “I need you.”
Phil smirks down at the boy lying underneath him, enjoying the dominance he suddenly found himself with.
Phil lets out a growl, his hands travelling down to Dan’s crotch, as he begins to palm him through the thin pyjama fabric.
"God, you’re hard.” Phil comments hotly, his hands exploring every inch of Dan’s cock through the clothing; which was the last and only barrier between them.

“You don’t say.” Dan replies throatily, his mouth latching onto Phil’s neck, his skilled tongue working against his skin. Part of him still can’t actually believe it’s happening; something that only existed in his late night fantasies about this absolutely amazing -no pun intended- boy, that only either ended in him waking up to lonely disappointment, or his bedsheets needing changing.
Phil’s hand lingers along Dan’s waistband, his fingers brushing against his hipbones.
“Oh, come on Phil.” Dan whines, his patience wearing thin. He was trying to put on a more confident image than what he was really feeling inside, which he hoped Phil wouldn’t identify. He didn’t want Phil finding out that he had never actually done anything like this with another guy. He knew all too well about Phil’s own experiences, nonetheless; he had given Dan a shamelessly graphic description over Skype, knowing it would turn him on. So Dan was trying to follow through with what Phil had described; and so far it was working. They had both agreed not to go all the way on the first night, much to Dan’s relief. He was nowhere near prepared enough to deal with that, yet.
Phil breaks the kiss, staring deep into Dan’s eyes.
“You’re sure about this?” He checks, caressing Dan’s cheek. Instead of anymore desperate begging, Dan can do no more than give a sheepish nod, realising how much more experienced Phil was compared to him. Phil could sense the nervousness Dan was expressing, and decided to turn this into something Dan would spend his time enjoying, instead of laying there completely nerve-racked. Gently planting kisses down Dan’s jawline, Phil slips his hand inside Dan’s pyjamas, immediately finding his cock. He wraps his hand around his length and begins pumping up and down to a slow rhythm.
“O-oh, fuck..” Dan swears in a low voice at the contact; his nerves easing very slightly. Phil gives him a cheeky half-smile, speeding up his hand movements as he flicks his thumb over Dan’s tip, emitting a loud growl from deep inside the younger boy’s chest.
Phil’s mouth travels along Dan’s chest, across his nipples, and down his ribcage until he reached his perfectly defined hipbones. He glances up at Dan, those eyes setting his heart aflame as he rubs along the inside of Dan’s thighs, pulling his legs a fraction further apart. With a swift movement, Phil pulls Dan’s pyjama pants all the way down, and with the help of Dan’s desperate motions of kicking the fabric off, manages to remove them completely, throwing them into the corner of the room. He smiles, the sight of Dan’s cock was already satisfying.
“Wow…” He purrs sexily.
“Shut up and suck me.” Dan orders, earning another small giggle from Phil at Dan’s attempt at dominance.
Phil licks his lips in preparation, before taking Dan in his mouth, hollowing his cheeks and opening his throat. His gag reflex kicks in almost instantly as Dan stiffens, suppressing another moan as his bit down hard on his lip. Phil begins bobbing his head up and down, as Dan becomes overwhelmed with intense sensations.
“Fu-uck…” He grunts, his hips bucking up into Phil’s mouth. Phil, feeling largely proud of the practice that had gone into his blowjobs, starts humming gently against Dan, sending out vibrations all around his naked crotch area.
“O-oh, Jesus… Phil…” Dan breathes out raggedly, grabbing the duvet in fistfuls in an attempt to control himself. Bobbing faster, Phil brings his other hand up past Dan’s hips until he finds his hardening nipples, which he then begins to pinch and tease repeatedly, earning another well deserved gasp of pleasure and shock from the younger boy lying beneath him.
“C-close…” Dan stutters, grabbing at Phil’s hair as he runs his fingers through it. He can feel Phil smiling into the blowjob again, picking up the speed, and flicking his tongue over Dan’s slit several times.
“A-aa-ah!!” Dan whines at the motions, his eyes squeezed shut with pleasure. With one more bob down onto his cock, Dan is sent over the edge, making the sexiest string of moans, whines, and Phil’s name, that Phil had ever heard from anyone he had sucked off. His mouth is suddenly full with Dan’s cum, which he takes in one go, lifts his head up from Dan’s cock to look him dead in the eye as he swallows right in front of him. “Delicious…” He purrs, admiring Dan’s newly curled hair from the friction of the head to the pillow for that amount of time. He shifts himself up to Dan’s level again, kissing him roughly as he strokes through his softly curled brown hair. Dan moans into Phil’s mouth as he deepens the kiss, making it more of a thank-you gesture.
“Did you like that?” Phil asks in a gravely voice.
“It was fucking insane, Phil.” Dan gives him a crooked grin, and another thankful kiss. “Good.” Phil grins, until he’s suddenly reminded of something as he feels the throbbing hardness in his own cock, begging for attention. He bites down on his lip, staring into Dan’s dark eyes. “But now, you have to sort me out!”