Chapter Text
'the video big.'
Screenshot. Cut.
"You think you're funny?" Dan mumbles, glaring at Phil as he continues pacing behind the couch, occasionally glancing at the 'Uploading 68%...' on Phil's YouTube tab.
"Well, it's not like I can do anything to make it upload faster, Danny," Phil claps back and looks briefly at Dan before uploading his Instagram story. He giggles at several accounts freaking out and locks his phone before turning back to look at his boyfriend. "They're probably freaking out waiting for it. I don't want headlines about the phandom burning down a city before they even get to see it."
"As if you wouldn't love the engagement." Dan kisses his forehead quickly and peeps at the 'Uploading 70%...' before walking to the kitchen. "You're also the chaotic bitch that started it with that 'If you've ever been into dan and phil' tweet!" he yells out as he opens the fridge and pulls out a bottle of rosé.
He ignores the slight shake of his hand as he pours himself a glass, thinking: 'If this will take a while, I might as well..."
"We've been doing this for 16 years, Dan. You don't think Linda from Nantucket that watched us draw whiskers on our face on 2012 might want to know?" Phil says as he unlocks his phone again to check Twitter. "Besides, I think we deserve the views after all the work we've put into this."
As he logs in, the first tweet on Phil's FYP says: 'THEY'RE GOING TO HIT THE SECOND TOWER' with a GIF of people freaking out around a fire.
Phil laughs and bookmarks it to show it to Dan later, when he suddenly feels a slight pressure behind his eyes. He winces and takes off his glasses to rub between his eyebrows.
Hoping it won't turn into a migraine and feeling too lazy to talk, he unlocks his phone and texts Dan:
"Just a sec, bub," Dan says, running out of the kitchen and into their office. He remembers seeing Phil's 'We are doomed' cap on their desk the last time they filmed a gaming video.
"Thanks, love you," Phil whispers with a smile, looking at his boyfriend leaving in a hurry to get something for him and feeling pampered.
He peers at the 'Uploading 96...' on his screen before closing his eyes with a frown. He starts massaging behind his head and on his temples to see if it can help with the pain. When he feels the pressure receding, he slowly opens his eyes and breathes out.
He starts feeling better and texts Dan to let him know. He doesn't want Dan to hurry and accidentally break something. He laughs quietly at the thought of his clumsy Dan.
And then he sees the sky through their window.
"Sorry bub, I had a clumsy bitch incident again and dropped my rosé on myself but I found- Phil?" Dan looks up from the cap on his hand. He tilts his head in confusion when he finds...
Nothing.
Phil's glasses, his phone and his laptop are all in the living room. But there's no sign of Phil.
To other people, this may not seem alarming. These aren't signs of... anything really. Probably just of their partner leaving to have a wee or them just misplacing their things, specially taking in mind how forgetful his partner is.
But there's one thing Phil isn't.
Quiet.
And it's quiet.
Maybe too quiet.
"Phil?" Dan calls out, glancing at the 'Uploading 99%...' on his laptop (he ignores his slight anxiety at the sight of that number) and at his phone, still unlocked with an unsent text on it. He is just about to tilt his head to look at the screen, when the lights suddenly go out.
"What the fuck," Dan whispers and tries to look around to see if he could see anything, but everything in their house seems to have gone out. He can't even see their microwave or the red light on their TV.
There's no light except for the error page on Phil's laptop.
And Phil's phone.
"Phil?" Dan yelled out as he looks back at the iMessage screen. He feels even more confused when he finally reads what Phil wrote.
Not even his degree on danandphilism can help him with this. He assumes Phil wrote it on accident (he once made fun of him one for texting 'ily' with his ass), so he decides to just turn on the flashlight on his phone and look for his boyfriend.
"Phil?" Dan calls out with no answer and sighs. "Thess ky iswier," he mumbles under his breath as he looks around their house. "Thess ky iswier..."
He slowly lowers his phone when he realizes what Phil wanted to say.
"The sky is weird."
He walks to the window and finally sees. On the sky there are several parallel lines of white gas between the clouds. And not only that. When he squints his eyes, he can see that every house in the neighborhood has gone out as well, and he can swear he sees fires in the dist-
Dan suddenly hears a loud thump from their room, as if someone has dropped a piece of furniture on the floor. He blanches and starts running to their room.
He feels empty boxes of takeout and the remote dropping to the floor as he brushes past the couch but he can't give a fuck. He has a really, really bad feeling after hearing that sound.
When he reaches the door frame of their room, he yells out for his best friend and raises his phone to light the room.
For a second Dan can't understand what he's seeing, but he starts running again when his vision clears. Phil is laying on the floor with his eyes shut and unresponsive. This is the calmest Dan has even seen him, and it's scaring him to death. He quickly kneels down next to him and starts checking for any injuries.
"Phil? Buddy? Please wake up, you're scaring me." Dan can't find any blood or bruises on his head, so he lowers his head on Phil's chest to check for a heartbeat. When he hears a faint heartbeat, he finally allows himself to breathe.
"When you wake up, I'm going to kill you," Dan threatens as he starts lifting his head, when he abruptly feels Phil hugging him tightly, pulling him back to his chest. Dan exhales in shock and shakily whispers: "You are going to be the death of-" when he feels Phil's arms suddenly give out. He sits up and looks again at his partner, confused.
Phil is still laying on the floor as if nothing has happened. Dan dials 999 on his phone and waits, every second feeling like hours.
All of a sudden, Phil opens his eyes and sits up with the calmest expression Dan has ever seen on his partner of 16 years.
"Hello, Daniel."
Dan doesn't miss a bit.
"Who the fuck are you?"