phandomroundrobin

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Top 5 Favorite songs in different languages

Here are some of my favorite songs in some languages I love, let me know about yours!

English:

Desert rose – Sting           Hotel California – Eagles                               Wind of change – Scorpions Machines – Crown the empire Surrender – Bruce Springsteen

French:

Caravane – Raphaël                         J’ai demandé à la lune – Indochine           Jeunesse lève-toi – Saez               Les lumières dans la plaine – Mickey 3D                 J’temmène au vent – Louise Attaque

Spanish:

Despacito – Luis Fonsi El mismo sol – Alvaro Soler Reggaetón lento – CNCO               Enamorate – Dvicio   Subeme la radio – Enrique Iglesias

Portuguese:

Amar pelos dois – Salvador Sobral           Ninguém é de ferro – Wesley Safadao   Samba do Brasil – Bellini Você partiu meu coração– Nego do Borel, Anitta             Nao se passa nada - Piruka

Greek:

De fevgo – Michalis Hatzigiannis               Kati Dynato - Michalis Hatzigiannis Nihta ki alli nihta – Giorgos Sabanis         Ligo akoma – Thanos Petrelis Thelo na me nioseis – Nikos Vertis

Italian:

Con te partiro – Andrea Bocelli   Vivo per lei – Andrea Bocelli       Occidentali’s Karma – Francesco Gabbani             Vietato Morire – Ermal Meta Ti amo – Umberto Tozzi

A few other languages:

Japanese:           We are - One ok rock     I was king – One ok rock              

Korean: Not today – Bangtan Boys            Spring day – Bangtan Boys

Yemenite Arabic:             Habib Galbi – A-WA

German:               Feuerwerk – Wincent Weiss       Nur ein Herzschlag entfernt – Wincent Weiss Ist da jemand – Adel Tawil

Turkish:               Küsme Aşka – Oğuzhan Koç

[phandomroundrobin]

LYRICS/TRANSLATION

Le ciel bleu sur nous peut s'effondrer

The blue sky can collapse on us

Et la terre peut bien s'écrouler

And the earth can crumble

Peu m'importe, si tu m'aimes

It doesn’t matter, if you love me

Je me fous du monde entier.

I couldn’t care less about the entire world.

Tant que l'amour inondera mes matins

As long as love floods my mornings

Tant que mon corps frémira sous tes mains

As long as my body shivers before your hands

Peu m'importent les problèmes

I don’t mind the problems

Mon amour, puisque tu m'aimes.

My love, since you love me.

J'irais jusqu'au bout du monde

I’d go ‘till the end of the world

Je me ferais teindre en blonde

I would dye my hair blond

Si tu me le demandais.

If you asked me.

J'irais décrocher la lune

I would take down the moon

J'irais voler la fortune

I would steal the fortune

Si tu me le demandais.

If you asked me.

Je renierais ma patrie

I’d disavow my motherland

Je renierais mes amis

I’d disavow my friends

Si tu me le demandais

If you asked me.

On peut bien rire de moi

They can laugh at me

Je ferais n'importe quoi

I would do anything

Si tu me le demandais

If you asked me.

Si un jour la vie t'arrache à moi

If one day, life takes you away from me

Si tu meurs que tu sois loin de moi

If you die from being far away from me

Peu m'importe, si tu m'aimes

It doesn’t matter, if you love me

Car moi je mourrais aussi.

Because I will die too.

Nous aurons pour nous l'éternité

We’ll have eternity to each other

Dans le bleu de toute l'immensité

In the blue of all the immensity

Dans le ciel, plus de problèmes

In the sky, no more problems

Mon amour, crois-tu qu'on s'aime?

My love, do you believe we love each other?

Dieu réunit ceux qui s'aiment.

God reunites those who love each other.

FOOTNOTE

Edith Piaf was madly in love with Marcel Cerdan when she wrote the song in France. After playing it for the first time in New York (in September 1949), her lover was supposed to come see her but he died in a plane crash (in October 1949). She recorded this after his death, in 1950.

Also this is a classic of French music. So, yeah.

[phandomroundrobin]

When's the next chapter happening?

we’re so sorry, we won’t be able to update for a while because the writers are all busy with their irl duties!! but once some of us are freer, we will really get back on this ~

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literally nobody on this website says fam and I've finally found another person who says it ironically plz

hey fam

[phandomroundrobin]

WELCOME TO HOWELL’S

TITLE: Welcome to Howell’s AUTHOR: @trashcanpunk

RATING: Eventual M

WORD COUNT: 1k

WARNING(S): None for this chapter SUMMARY: Dan Howell works as a waiter in his family’s diner, appropriately named Howell’s Diner and is enamored by Phil Lester, a school crush who is a year older than him and just so happens to be a regular customer. AUTHOR’S NOTE: For those who don’t know, PRR is a huge collaborative fanfiction where writers contribute one chapter to the story – it is literally Dan and Phil’s One Word Story Game, except on a much larger scale. Sorry this is late! (again)

Chapter Navigation: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

AO3

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

The feeling of waking in an old friend’s house prompted things to click in Dan’s mind. He had been a bit too impulsive last night – stupid, even. Granted, the fear of coming out to his parents when he hadn’t even come out to himself was still there, but if you asked him why he thought running away in the middle of the night was a suitable solution then he wouldn’t be able to give you an answer. Maybe an excuse, though.

Would he do it again? Probably.

“One date and you run away for him,” PJ had said. When you put it like that, it does sound ridiculous. Adrenaline doesn’t have regrets though, and it’d be a miracle if Dan had managed to look past his fear and settle the irregular beating of his heart without attempting something so drastic. 

The night has a habit of doing that, of making anything seem logical.

Staying at PJ’s house felt like last year all over again. 

The two still kind of stayed in contact, occasionally messaging each other on Facebook or having brief conversations when PJ’s mum would come into the diner with him for a quick chat with Mrs Howell. This would only occur a couple of times a month though, just so their mothers could make empty plans to get together for a coffee sometime.

It never happened. 

Friendships drift apart, but at least they tried harder than Dan and PJ did to salvage what was left. It didn’t make sense for the boys to stop talking, considering they had been so close. Even Phil knew Dan as the guy who hung around with PJ last year before he knew him at all. 

It was nice to wake up in that bedroom again though. 

Dan peeled the duvet off of himself and slowly swung his legs round to touch the floor. His body ached as a side effect of falling asleep in his day clothes, his muscles feeling weak as he supported his body with his slightly shaking arms. 

A hint of a smile came across Dan’s face as he felt the weight of another person shifting momentarily on the opposite side of the bed. It brought back memories of the nights where the two boys would lie there and talk about the craziest things. His smile fell as a pang of disappoint struck in his stomach. 

Dan never really had a good friend after that. 

He still blamed himself (and only himself) for letting all of that fade.

By the lack of sun streaming through the window, Dan knew it was still early. His phone confirmed that; 06:29 and a Muse lyric he’d saved as his lockscreen lighting up the darkened room. 

If he hurried, he could still make it home before his parents woke up – but Dan felt like he’d done enough running for now. 

The aching in his body continued and a yawn pushed its way out of Dan’s mouth without warning. He contemplated getting up and leaving, covering his tracks, just pretending nothing happened. 

However, as his eyelids fought against him – desperately wanting to shut – he gave into that feeling of exhaustion; pulling his feet back up, the duvet back over him, falling back asleep.

“Dan.”

A voice cut through the darkness. Dan stirred in his sleep. His dream started to blur before his eyes; one which he would most likely not remember later. 

“Daaaaaan.”

The voice was there again, eventually pulling him into consciousness. He opened his eyes as daylight shone through the window, illuminating his surroundings. The first thing he saw was PJ’s hair – which was even more curly than usual.

“Good morning sleeping beauty,” he joked as Dan made an assortment of noises to indicate his displeasure at having to wake up.

Gently PJ sat next to him on the bed, sinking down into the soft mattress. “I called your parents. Your mum said she didn’t even know you weren’t at home, but she also said she wants to talk to you at the diner.”

Dan laughed an empty laugh. It was one of amusement, yet carried sadness at the same time.

He wasn’t even slightly surprised at the fact his parents didn’t notice he was gone – they’re busy people who probably just got ready really quickly then left for work without caring. To be honest, if PJ hadn’t informed Dan’s mum that he’d stayed at his, then last night’s misadventures could’ve been completely covered up.

“What’s the damage?” Dan asked drowsily, slowly sitting himself up against the headboard.

He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t scared. Running away, even if for only a night, isn’t something you just get away with – and along with the gay worries?

Well, to put it bluntly, Dan was shitting himself about having to face this head on. 

Unfortunately for him though, there was no way out of it, at least none he could see. He was just going to have to go to that diner and speak to his mum, no way around it. 

Of course, those anxieties about his parents being homophobic were still there but he didn’t have many other options. Dan had never known their opinions on these things and although his mother did like Ellen Degeneres, it’s entirely different when it’s your own kid. 

Maybe he was overthinking it, but getting kicked out was definitely a concern. Where would he go? Could he lie to his mum and say he’s straight? Would she believe him? So many thoughts were swimming around Dan’s mind that he thought his brain would explode any second now.

“Actually,” PJ replied, scratching the back of his neck, “She seemed more concerned than anything. When she said she wanted to talk, she sounded pretty chill. I’d say you don’t need to worry.”

“Easy to say,” Dan scoffed, but PJ’s words helped a little. If she didn’t sound angry, maybe she would be fine with him liking boys? Well, one boy. Or maybe Dan was being too hopeful. 

In the end, he’s worrying about the people he loves not loving him anymore because of who he loves, which is absolutely ridiculous. The conversation at the diner could go either way and Dan had to be prepared for the worst. 

And deep down he knew he wasn’t.

[phandomroundrobin]

WELCOME TO HOWELL’S

TITLE: Welcome to Howell’s AUTHOR: @phantasmogenetic

RATING: Eventual M

WORD COUNT: 1k

WARNING(S): None for this chapter SUMMARY: Dan Howell works as a waiter in his family’s diner, appropriately named Howell’s Diner and is enamored by Phil Lester, a school crush who is a year older than him and just so happens to be a regular customer. AUTHOR’S NOTE: For those who don’t know, PRR is a huge collaborative fanfiction where writers contribute one chapter to the story – it is literally Dan and Phil’s One Word Story Game, except on a much larger scale. Sorry this is late! (again)

Chapter Navigation: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

AO3

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

“Dan!” the voice calls, and Dan could hear a pair of feet dragging against the icy ground, the sound getting louder and louder as the owner comes closer and closer. “Dan, wait up!”

Dan decides to slow down until he comes to a full halt, but his back is still turned away from the source of the voice. The steps are louder and closer until they stop right behind him, replaced by a panting and a whoop.

“Dan,” the voice gasps out, “what are you doing out here, it’s snowing--” their scolding was interrupted by a hoarse cough. Now that made Dan turn around to see who was trying to follow him.

It was PJ.

“PJ!” he exclaims, “PJ, are you okay? Oh my goodness, you have to get inside.”

PJ looks up from his bent body, red eyes glaring at Dan, “you’re one-” he coughs, “-to talk,” he says, before he continues to cough his lungs out. Dan does not answer, instead putting his arm around PJ’s hunched back to keep him upright. Well, half-upright.

Dan leads PJ towards the snow-covered tree a few steps back, sitting him underneath it on the cold grass. PJ hisses at the contact, but does not protest. “Do you know how awful it is to run in the cold?” PJ wheezes, “makes your lungs dry, I feel like I’m going to have a nosebleed.”

Dan’s eyes widen, “nosebleed?” he puts his bag down and opens each and every zipper to search for tissue paper PJ could wipe his nose with. “Wait, wait, tilt your head back and pinch your nose, I’m looking for tissue paper, wait.”

PJ squints at him. “You’re worrying for me? When you’re the one who’s outside at one in the morning?”

Dan freezes in his movements, and refuses to meet PJ’s eyes as he says, “did my parents send for you?”

There is a silence between them, PJ staring at him with an intrigued expression and Dan toward the grass with a guilty one.

“Parents ask for you?” PJ demands, when the lines connect in his head. “D-Did… Are you… Are you running away, Dan?” he inquires softly, his head bobbing closer towards him.

Dan does not answer.

“Why are you doing that?” PJ adds, inching closer. Dan still does not answer. “If there’s something wrong at home I’m sure you guys can fix it, you’re the happiest family in the whole town; your parents are the loveliest people, they’ll understand--” “I’m dating Phil, PJ.” “...What?”

Dan huffs out a breath, still not making eye contact with PJ. “I’m dating Phil.”

“O-kay...” PJ furrows his brows, “what’s the problem in that, Phil’s nice and surely he won’t make you run away from home—”

“You don’t understand, PJ!” whines Dan, “you don’t understand, you have it easier because you’re straight, and I don’t know what my parents think if they find out their son’s a poof and he stole from the pantry—” “You stole from the pantry!?” “—just so he can have a picnic date with his boyfriend who doesn’t even know that he did all this for him!”

PJ stares at him. “Wait, wait, slow down and explain this to me,” PJ requests, amusement evident in his voice, “so you and Phil went on a date which you answered to by stealing from your family’s diner’s pantry?”

Dan nods morosely. “And I think my parents found out because they tried to ask me if I was gay--actually no, I don’t know, I was too scared and I ran off-- and then my mum saw that I called Phil my boyfriend on my phone but I don’t know if she hates it and—”

PJ waves his hands over Dan’s face to shut him up, “you don’t know what your parents think, you assumed, and then you ran off?”

“What was I supposed to do!?” shrieks Dan, “they sat me down in the living room when I got back and they just stared at me and it was all awkward and quiet and then my dad was all like, ‘Dan, are you-‘ and I panicked and ran away—oh.”

Dan looked around the surroundings sheepishly, avoiding PJ’s eyes again. PJ rolls his eyes at Dan.

“Do you hear that?” PJ inquires after a moment of silence. Dan turns to look at him. “It’s the sound of you being stupid.”

Dan slumps in defeat, “I know,” he mumbles.

“Of course you do,” PJ replies. “How many dates have you guys been on, anyway, that you’re so ready to defend your love for him by running away from home?”

Dan whispers something to the grass, and PJ presses closer to hear. “What?”

“One.”

PJ erupts into boisterous laughter loud enough to wake the nearby homes. PJ was always loud and happy and shameless like that unlike Dan. Dan throws himself onto PJ to put a hand over PJ’s open mouth.

“One!?” PJ demands, amused beyond measure. “One. One date and you run away for him.” “PJ—” “Oh, Dan, this is rich!” “PJ—” “This is like Romeo and Juliet: oh, Philip, my parents hate you, my parents hate me too! I know, I’ll run away with you!” “PJ, shut up, seriously; my pride has been tainted, I don’t need you to rub it in,” Dan snaps, sneering at PJ. PJ raises his hands halfway in the air in relent.

“But it’s not that...” Dan utters ruefully, “I know it looks like that, but trust me, it’s not.”

“Then what is the reason, pray tell?” asks PJ in a posh-sounding voice.

“I told you!” Dan flails his arms around, exasperated, “they were going to confront me about being gay and having a boyfriend and I don’t know if I’m ready for that; I don’t even know if I’m actually gay.”

PJ snorts, “right, explains why you like Phil perfectly.”

Dan glares at him, “I might be bisexual, or pansexual. Hell, I might even be asexual with an eye for cute boys.”

“Touché,” PJ nods slowly, “but you can’t stay out here in the cold for long. Come to my house instead.”

Dan freezes at the suggestion, “come to your house? But they’ll yell at you too...”

PJ snorts again, “They can’t yell at me at my own house, and besides, I think your parents are kind of scared of my dad, so there’s that.”

“Of course they’re scared of your dad!” Dan exclaims, “it’s not every day your neighbour introduces himself as the Ambassador of Italy to the UK and chose to live here and his son ends up befriending a kid whose parents are probably offending some sort of child or family labour law by making their child work at their diner.”

PJ chortles before patting Dan’s knee and getting up, “right, Howell – let’s get out of here?” PJ offers a hand to Dan, who takes it and stands. “Yeah.”

He and PJ make their way out of the snowy park together in comfortable silence.

“Wait,” Dan snaps, “why are you out here?” “Sophie saw you sneaking out and called me right away.” Dan groans, “Sophie...”

“Hey,” PJ shoves Dan, “you can’t blame her, she’s only looking out for you. We all are; your family too. We’re your friends, Dan. We care about you.”

Dan is quiet.

“I know,” he smiles, “thanks, PJ.”

PJ beckons Dan closer and puts an arm around his shoulder, “now come on, you’re sleeping at my house. I’ll get my mum to call yours in the morning.”

[phandomroundrobin]

WELCOME TO HOWELL’S

TITLE: Welcome to Howell’s AUTHOR: @balordin​

RATING: Eventual M

WORD COUNT: 1k

WARNING(S): None for this chapter SUMMARY: Dan Howell works as a waiter in his family’s diner, appropriately named Howell’s Diner and is enamored by Phil Lester, a school crush who is a year older than him and just so happens to be a regular customer. AUTHOR’S NOTE: For those who don’t know, PRR is a huge collaborative fanfiction where writers contribute one chapter to the story – it is literally Dan and Phil’s One Word Story Game, except on a much larger scale. Sorry this is late! (again)

Chapter Navigation: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

AO3

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

There was nothing. 

Nothing except the feeling of falling as Dan realised what had happened. The moment stretched out as if it were an eternity and in perceived slow motion Dan’s hand moved to the glowing device. 

His mother stared wide-eyed at the phone and then at Dan’s face. A look of horror crossed with confusion and relief laid bare her emotional tumult and threw Dan deeper into his own. She started backing up and stuttered, “I’ll. I’ll just. Good night, Daniel.”

Once Dan’s mother had left the room he buried his face in his pillow and let out a quiet but meaningful scream. What had he done? What on earth had he gone and done now? Those and infinitely many more questions that were all infinitely unanswerable ran rampant in his mind. 

There was no way to fix this. This was it. His parents would surely throw him out to the streets. They’d refuse to care for him, refuse to offer even a single word. The consequences thought up by his manic mind replaced the questions as he got deeper and deeper into a state of pure panic. The night with Phil was wonderful but it seems to have come with a cost and that cost was his parents. A single tear sprang from his eye and moistened the pillow case. There had to be something he could do to fix this. Dan was willing to turn anywhere and do anything.

Two hours later and Dan heard his parents go to bed. They hadn’t been talking very loudly so he couldn’t hear a thing they had said. A reflective badge on the back of his rucksack gleamed as the dim moonlight caught it. With as little force as possible, Dan opened his bedroom door and stepped into the hall outside. 

He made his way through the house and out into the diner, his rucksack on his shoulder and his shoes in his hand. He had his biggest and warmest jacket on his back and comfortable, warm clothes on underneath. He didn’t think to take food as he put on his shoes and turned the key in the lock of the diner’s door. He locked it from the outside and paused with his hand hovering by the letterbox. 

This was the point of no return, right now he could unlock the door and walk back in as if nothing had happened. He could put the key back and go to sleep. And then he’d have to deal with his parents. That thought put his train of thought back on the rails as he refocuses. The key went into the letterbox and so did his note. No return. He was locked onto this track with no way of going back. His breath was visible as he turned to the road outside. Deathly, empty quiet.

He had made a mistake. 

The time was not 3 A.M. and he had no idea where he was. He had planned to go to Phil’s house but he’d noticed several flaws in his bodged-together plan. Firstly, what kind of weird-ass boyfriend shows up in the dead of night to your house after the first date? And secondly, he had no clue how to get to Phil’s. He wandered in the general direction that seemed right not knowing what to do anymore. 

Going back to his parents was a big no and so was staying outside. He was at rock bottom, effectively homeless with no food, drink and barely any warmth. To add insult to injury, the dark clouds above deigned that the night was worthy of snow. Thick, fast and cold snow. 

After another hour of walking Dan had made it to some park that he didn’t recognise under the thin blanket of white. He was cold beyond belief and while sleeping on a park bench would have been pleasant, sleeping on a park bench in the snow would only serve to give him frostbite.

Set against the white of a snow-covered tree there was a figure. Dan almost jumped in surprise and he started to walk away in fear when he realised that the tall silhouette was pleasantly familiar.

[phandomroundrobin]

WELCOME TO HOWELL’S

TITLE: Welcome to Howell’s AUTHOR: @afadingheart

RATING: Eventual M

WORD COUNT: 1k

WARNING(S): None for this chapter SUMMARY: Dan Howell works as a waiter in his family’s diner, appropriately named Howell’s Diner and is enamored by Phil Lester, a school crush who is a year older than him and just so happens to be a regular customer. AUTHOR’S NOTE: For those who don’t know, PRR is a huge collaborative fanfiction where writers contribute one chapter to the story – it is literally Dan and Phil’s One Word Story Game, except on a much larger scale. Sorry this is late! (again)

Chapter Navigation: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1112

AO3

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Phil had dropped Dan off at his house, after a half hour in the car park. They had dragged out the time enough for one evening, even though they sat together in Phil’s car until Mrs Howell came out of the front door; telling Dan to get his ass inside in an instant. Phil drove off with the stupidest grin on his face, and laughter lit up his eyes after seeing Mrs Howell scold Dan for being out too late.

The walk up to the front door seemed to be the longest walk Dan ever walked. The longing for Phil and the good times made the fact that he probably was grounded for stealing food from the pantry ten times worse. The burning looks from his mum didn’t make it any better. He was about to go to bed when Mrs H told him to go in to the lounge, and to sit down in the sofa. Dan didn’t realise that his dad was sat down in a chair in the other end of the room, until his butt touched one of the cushions in the sofa. Once his mother came in the room, Dan could feel something were about to happen.

For ages, they were sat in silence, and all you could hear were the slow breathing of the 3 people in the room. Once in a while it seem that they were all going to say something all at the same time, but they reconsidered it when they looked at each other. 

The silence in the room was starting to get uncomfortable, and Dan had no clue of why he was where he was. He could feel his toes pressed together in his shoes, his ass-crack about to get revealed to the world and his eyes struggling not to fall asleep. The position he was sat in made his back sore, but Dan feel too awkward to try and move. Why hadn’t his parents said anything?

The grandpa clock in the hall came with its answer to the silence, and Dan counted the dings. 6 – 7 – 8 – 9 … 11 – 12. It was midnight and Dan had a desperate need for sleep. As he stood up about to leave the room, his dad opened his mouth; “Dan, are y…” Afraid for what was about to come, Dan said: “I’m going to bed, cuz’ I am about to die from sleep deprivation.” He looked his parents into their eyes to kind of give them an answer, and then walked out of the room.

As soon as he closed the door to his room, Dan laid flat on his bed. His body was telling him to go to sleep, but his mind had other plans. His brain was working non-stop to try and find an explanation for what just happened. What were they about to ask him? Was it what he thought I was? If so, how could they know? Had someone told them? Had someone seen him and Phil together?  Then, who? 

He had come to accept the fact that he was gay, but that was only with Phil. With everybody else, he was still ‘straight’. With Phil everything was fine, but he wasn’t ready for that with other people. He and Phil was his secret, and he wasn’t okay with spilling that yet.

He took his phone out of his pocket, and opened the message app. Not surprisingly, Phil was his most recent. He scrolled through their old messages, just because he felt so nostalgic. He was basically the definition of the sappy boyfriend type.

Until now, Phil’s contact name had just been Phil, but now Dan felt a desperate need to change it to something else. Now that they had made it official, at least between them, he wanted to do something that showed that. One personal, intimate and this is it kind of thing. But the only thing he could think of was the contact name. Just as he was about to do it, his phone slipped out of his hand and hit him right in the face. He let out a roar that could probably “Arrrrrrghhhhh! FUCK!”

While lying there with his phone still on his face, bathing in agony and the feeling of betrayal, his mum rushed into his room. “Dan, are you okay?”

He rolled over so he could see her. “Yeah, I’m fine. I just dropped my phone on my face.”

His mum shifted her gaze down to his phone, who had slipped down his face when he’d turned around. The screen was still on, and it showed a half done contact.

Boyfrie …

[phandomroundrobin]

Welcome to Howell’s

TITLE: Welcome to Howell’s AUTHOR: @whiskerphan

RATING: Eventual M

WORD COUNT: 1k

WARNING(S): None for this chapter SUMMARY: Dan Howell works as a waiter in his family’s diner, appropriately named Howell’s Diner and is enamored by Phil Lester, a school crush who is a year older than him and just so happens to be a regular customer. AUTHOR’S NOTE: For those who don’t know, PRR is a huge collaborative fanfiction where writers contribute one chapter to the story – it is literally Dan and Phil’s One Word Story Game, except on a much larger scale. Sorry this is late! (again)

Chapter Navigation: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

AO3

CHAPTER TWELVE

Dan jumped, startled, as Phil quickly grabbed his phone from the pocket of his jeans, tapping the screen and cutting off the annoying ringtone. ‘Sorry.’ He mouthed at Dan, an apologetic expression on his face.

‘It’s fine.’ Dan waved a hand as Phil started to speak.

“Hi!... Ah, no, I can’t right now, I’m sorry… No, I really can’t leave right now, it’s important… Seriously, I’m sorry that I can’t, maybe later, okay?” Phil frowned, a troubled frown on his lips as his cheery mood dampened considerably. He slumped against the bench, letting out a frustrated sigh. “Look, I said no, okay? I… I don’t want to do that again.... Yeah, sure, whatever. I’ll see you... whenever.”

Phil shook his head as he ended the call, flicking his fringe out of his eyes as he put his phone back in his pocket. “Sorry.” He met Dan’s concerned gaze. “I wasn’t expecting them to call.”

Dan shrugged, looking away from Phil for a moment. “Can I ask who that was?”

“No one important.” Phil smiled half-heartedly, reaching out and grabbing Dan’s hand. “You’re more important than them, anyway.”

“Really?” Dan let out a brief laugh as he blushed, glancing at his and Phil’s hands. “I hope they won’t be mad at you, whoever they are.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Phil reassured, turning his head to look at the sky, before sitting up suddenly. “Wait!”

“Jesus- what is it, Phil?” Dan put his free hand on his chest, trying to calm his racing heart.

“I missed my chance at being smooth, let me rephrase that.” Phil cleared his throat as Dan let out an exasperated, ‘are-you-fucking-kidding-me’ laugh.

“Don’t worry your pretty little head about it.” Phil said proudly, puffing out his chest.

“Oi, I’m not pretty, I’m handsome.” Dan rolled his eyes but didn’t bother to try and hide the blush still on his cheeks.

“Pretty sounds better, plus, you can be pretty and handsome- you’re pretty handsome!” Phil clapped his hands together, and Dan tried to ignore the cliche-ness of the way his hand felt cold without Phil’s.

“You’re too nice to me and too proud of your stupid jokes.” Dan chuckled as Phil stuck out his tongue as he grinned brightly.

“They aren’t stupid, they’re clever, okay?” Phil insisted as he laughed. “Humor me, why don’t you?”

“Whatever, you spork.” Dan smiled.

The two continued to banter and laugh as it got later and later, but for some reason Dan couldn’t forget the phone call. It lingered in the back of his mind like a bad memory- but maybe that’s what it was.

But he had no reason to doubt Phil, Dan thought. Phil was honest, even if he screwed up with the whole ‘I-abandoned-you-after-we-slept-together-because-I-was-scared’ thing. He made mistakes like any human being, and if the call really was terribly important he could have left his and Dan’s date, or get together, or whatever the ‘two massive twats who don’t know how to articulate their feelings well’ called it.

“Dan? I hate to cut this party short, but it’s getting pretty late, and you look like you’re going to freeze to death soon.” Phil asked, mildly concerned at the bluish tint of Dan’s skin. He shrugged off the jacket he was wearing and handed it to it’s rightful owner. Dan tugged it on with a grateful, “Thanks,” as Phil brushed the crumbs off his own jacket and shrugged it on. Dan was warm.

“Should I drop you off at the diner?” Phil questioned as he stood, grabbing Dan’s hand again and helping him up. Phil didn’t let go, and Dan was thankful for that as he stood up.

Dan licked his dry lips as he hesitated. “Do you mind if we, like, um, drive around for a bit?” He took a breath and spoke before Phil could respond. “Because, this night has seemed, kinda like, endless I guess and I don’t want it to end if that makes any sense?” Dan laughed awkwardly, not meeting Phil’s gaze.

“...Yeah, I get what you mean.” Phil smiled, shivering slightly. “Let’s head to the car, okay?” Dan nodded, and Phil led the brunette to his car.

After driving around for a minute or so, Dan turned down the music so he and Phil could talk. He paused, thinking about what he was going to say.

“Can we ta-”

“Is something wro-”

They spoke at the same time and Dan felt a sense of deja vu wash over him. He smiled sheepishly despite his nerves. “You can… You can go first.” He offered, reaching out and fiddling with the heating control. Click click click clickclickclickclickcli-

“Is something- Did I do something wrong?” Phil asked, turning his head to quickly look at Dan before turning his gaze back to the road. “I feel like… I dunno, I feel like I somehow screwed up.”

“No, no!” Dan shook his head quickly, looking at Phil, who was focused on the road. “It’s not you, I’m just- the phone call threw me off.” Dan fiddled with his fingers that now rested on his leg. “Honestly, I know you said it wasn’t important, and maybe I’m just being a possessive, over reactive, creepy boyfriend or something but-”

“You want the honest answer?” Phil cut Dan off. “It was someone I slept with a while back, okay? And we had a friends with benefits type of thing going on but I don’t want that anymore.” The car stopped as Phil pulled into an empty carpark, turning to stare Dan in the eyes. “I really like you, Dan. I… I don’t know what we are, and we’ve already talked about this, but communication is important, right?” Dan nodded slowly, absorbing what Phil was saying.

“I hope you trust me enough to believe that I want nothing to do with them anymore. I want to… I really want to try a relationship with you, and I know I’ve made mistakes, but I just-”

“Phil?” Dan broke in.

“Yeah?”

“Can we just… be boyfriends?”

“Is that allowed?” Phil exhaled slowly, calming down from his outburst.

“There aren’t rules to being boyfriends, you spork.”

Dan reached out, wrapped his arms around Phil’s neck, and kissed him.

[phandomroundrobin]

Welcome to Howell’s

TITLE: Welcome to Howell’s AUTHOR: @phairylights

RATING: Eventual M

WORD COUNT: 1k

WARNING(S): None for this chapter SUMMARY: Dan Howell works as a waiter in his family’s diner, appropriately named Howell’s Diner and is enamored by Phil Lester, a school crush who is a year older than him and just so happens to be a regular customer. AUTHOR’S NOTE: For those who don’t know, PRR is a huge collaborative fanfiction where writers contribute one chapter to the story – it is literally Dan and Phil’s One Word Story Game, except on a much larger scale. Sorry this is late! (again)

Chapter Navigation: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

AO3

CHAPTER ELEVEN

“Right, okay, I might have a plan,” Dan spoke. “So, there’s this little storage room behind the counter where we stock food, and I was thinking…” He trailed off, biting his lip.

“That we steal food from your family diner?” Phil said, raising an eyebrow.

“Wow, that was blunt, but yes.”

“Resistance” played through the speakers, as Phil drove back towards the diner.  It accompanied the seemingly peaceful night sky. Their conversations were endless, with endless banter, laughter filling the small, tight car. But to Dan, everything felt loose, as if he had everything that he wanted.

The diner was somewhat packed, with people busy eating and chatting. Perfect for slipping past and into the little room.

On the left of the room, from Dan’s point of view, there was a small door, leading to, well you’ve guessed it, the fabled storage room. It was full, with shelves leading up all the way to the top. Obviously, there would be no excitement without conflict, and the conflict was the counter/bar thing right next to it, where his mum was. Dan definitely knew that he wouldn’t be allowed to escape with without a questionnaire. He quickly shoved Phil in front of him, after all, who could blame a regular for coming?

Sticking as much as possible to the sides of the room, they squeezed past the multiple rows of booths before standing before the door. They were just about to unlock the door when—

“Boys! Stop what you’re — Dan, dearie, I thought you were in your room! And who’s your friend over there?”

“Um, well, uh, that’s Phil?” Dan said, although his sounded like he was asking a question.

“Oh, it’s you, Phil, didn’t know you two were friends! I hope you both weren’t thinking of stealing anything from the storage room, right?” Dan’s mum said with a twinkle in her eye, even though she meant the opposite.

“Well, um, we were going to get some food for um,”

“A project that we’re doing for school–”

“–yeah, that.”

Dan’s mum shook her head, and smiled. “Darn it!” Someone said, spilling their drink. She hurried over, giving the boys the perfect chance.

They ran into the storage room, taking handfuls of everything off the shelves that they could find – cake, fruits, bagels, sandwiches — and went out of the diner.

“Quick, quick, into the car!” Phil almost screamed as they got in.

“To the left! Right! Straight! Left again!” Dan shouted, full of excitement. Phil drove as quickly as he could, laughing.

“Alright, stop here!” Dan said, and the car screeched to a halt.

“Seriously, a park, Howell? Can’t believe you’re that cheesy.”

“Shut up, this was the first place I thought of. Besides, you love this.”

“In fact, I do.”

They walked towards a bench, that squeaked when they sat on it, but Dan didn’t care. He was with Phil.

“Hey, where are we going to put the food?” Dan said, remembering that they were still holding on to it with their bare hands.

“Good question, I don’t know. Maybe we could use my jacket and sort of place it here?”

“But it’ll get dirty and you’ll be cold and—“

“Don’t worry about me Dan, you have much more to worry about.” Phil removed his jacket and spread it out on the bench.

“Here, take my jacket.” Dan offered.

“But now you’ll get cold—“ He was cut off by Dan shoving his jacket in his face. “No, you keep it!” Phil said, muffled.

“Nuh-uh, I’m fine, I’m hot enough,” Dan winked.

“Ugh, fine,” Phil pouted, putting it on, although it was a bit too tight, it felt warm and cozy.

Dan giggled and poked his cheek. Phil swatted at his hand with fake annoyance and started to lay out the food. Slowly, the food began to diminish as they talked. Their voices sang in harmony with laughter filling up the empty park.

The silence inevitably came, along with the questions Dan wanted to ask.

“So, Dan—“

“So, Phil—“

Stares were exchanged. That feeling of wanting to know, but the fear of the harsh reality of their messed up relationship washed over Dan. Was he going to ask it now?

“I just wanted to ask, why?”

“‘Why’ what?” Phil said slowing, although he knew exactly what he was asking.

“Why,” Dan breathed, “why did you run away? Was I a drunk mistake, a careless thought? What was I to you? Someone who you could take advantage of? Why do I feel this way?”

“Dan, I —listen to me—“

“No, I won’t, I mean yes, sure, I don’t know!”

“Calm down, alright, I am here—“

“But you weren’t last night, Phil, how do I know if I can trust you?”

“I was scared.”

“Scared of what? You’re the most flamboyant gay around here, you’re out, and I’m not, this is all so new to me and I haven’t even started and you—you messed with me and my feelings and everything and argh!” Dan swallowed, throwing away his calm composure and replacing it for hysteria. “Don’t get me wrong, you make me so happy, and every time you talk I get this stupid smile on my face, but why do you have to be so confusing?”

“Fine, you want an answer? As I told you I was scared. Scared of you, scared of you being too close to me, I can’t deal with that. I am not worthy of you, you deserve better than me, someone with no commitment issues. I was scared of you leaving me, so I left first, so you wouldn’t care about me. But, evidently, you do, and I’m so sorry about what I did. You don’t deserve that, you don’t deserve me.”

“Of course I care, you doofus, I’ve been a blushing idiot every since PJ made me talk to you! And I’m pretty sure it’s the other way round, I’m definitely not worthy of you.” Dan’s heart softened, as he realized how irrational his thoughts were.

“So, what are we? Friends, boyfriends?”

“I don’t know, let’s just go with “massive twats who don’t know how to articulate their feelings well”.”

Silence again fell upon them, but yet they were filled with completion, with answers (albeit not clear), and the slightest twinge of remorse. But it didn’t matter, they had each other.

And then Phil’s phone rang.

[phandomroundrobin]

Welcome To Howell’s

TITLE: Welcome to Howell’s AUTHOR: @thelazytrash / @helloits230am

RATING: Eventual M

WORD COUNT: 1k

WARNING(S): None for this chapter SUMMARY: Dan Howell works as a waiter in his family’s diner, appropriately named Howell’s Diner and is enamored by Phil Lester, a school crush who is a year older than him and just so happens to be a regular customer. AUTHOR’S NOTE: For those who don’t know, PRR is a huge collaborative fanfiction where writers contribute one chapter to the story – it is literally Dan and Phil’s One Word Story Game, except on a much larger scale. Sorry this is late! (again)

Chapter Navigation: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

AO3

CHAPTER TEN

Instead of making any attempt to get up and wash the hangover off of himself, he sat on his bed for an hour, staring at the ceiling. The goofy smile was still stuck on his face from when he hung up, looking out of placed with the deep bags under his eyes. He really just accepted an official date from Phil Lester. The “incident” was slowly being washed away from his mind and was replaced by excited thoughts.

It took another hour for him to start worrying.

What if Phil didn’t like him after the date? What if it was all a dare? Was he just a pity date? Dan shudder at the last question, but it would make sense. Phil leaves him in bed, he feels about it, so he asks Dan out in hopes that it would make it up to him. Dan quickly shook his head, no, he wasn’t going to let negative thoughts get to him.

Around six, he received a text from Phil.

From: Phil

Hey, what’s your address, I can come get you around eight?

Dan quickly responded with his address, and saying that eight was a perfect time. Eght was a perfect time, and Phil is the perfect person to go on the perfect date with. Well, it probably wouldn’t be a perfect date.

An hour before Phil was supposed to come get him, Dan finally got up from his post on the bed. He took a quick shower, not bothering to attend to his hair yet. He threw together an outfit once he got back in his room, a black jumper with green japanese characters across it and some black skinny jeans. Too quickly, he only had twenty minutes before Phil came to get him, and he still hadn’t straightened his hair.

He quickly scrambled to open his drawer, pulling out the straightener and cord and plugging it into the wall. His hair had dried quickly, but it was a messy mop of curls on his head. He waited a few minutes for it to heat up, and then took it to his first bit of hair. As he pulled it, the curl stayed in tact.

“The fuck,” Dan whispered as he looked at the straightener. He touched the inside of it, only to find that it was just as cold as when he plugged it in, even though the orange light indicating that this was “a hot item”. He groaned, finally realising that it was broken.

Dan sighed looking at the time. He didn’t have time to look for his mom’s, he was going to have to go out like this. As the clock ticked for him to have five minutes left, Dan took one last look in the mirror. He looked fine, other than the mess of brown curls on his head. He went through his mental checklist, finally deciding he was fit to go outside to face the world, and Phil.

Dan heard a loud knock at the front door, and he flew down the stairs. He opened the door quickly with a smile plastered on his face. In front of him stood Phil, which his hands in his pocket in an awkward way. He was wearing a blue shirt with stars on it, which contrasted against his black skinny jeans, which were even darker than Dan’s.

“Hey,” Phil said, with the same goofy smile spread across his face.

“Hey.”

“You ready?” Phil asked. Dan quickly nodded, yelling into the house that he was leaving, if anyone was even home to hear him. They walked to Phil’s car, their legs moving in sync like they had rehearsed. They got into Phil’s car, buckling their seatbelts.

“What music do you want to listen to?” Phil asked, plugging his phone onto the radio speakers.

“Do you have any Muse?” Dan asked. He was bright red, no one probably listened to Muse anymore, he should’ve just asked for Kanye.

Phil’s face seemed to brighten more, which should be impossible from how happy he was already. “Muse is like, my favorite!” He blurted out excitedly, quickly going through his music and selecting one of their songs. It wouldn’t be until later Dan would realise that he already knew aphil liked Muse. Phil then started the car and they were on their way.

As “Uprising” played quietly through the speakers, they talked. They talked about school and all the bitchy teachers and the stupid classes. Their conversation lingered on for about twenty minutes, until Dan finally asked a question that had rested on his mind since he got into the car.

“So where are we heading?” Dan asked, excited.

Phil’s face fell and he bit his lip, “Well,” he started, “I hadn’t figured that part out.”

“‘You hadn’t figured that part out’?” Dan asked, making sure he heard his (hot) date correctly.

“Well, I just kinda, like I thought-” Phil was cut off by Dan’s laughter. Phil smiled sheepishly.

“I can’t-believe-you-really”, Dan tried to formulate a sentence but couldn’t stop laughing.

“Well, I was busy planning conversation starters, and then there was this really cute video of a dog-”

“Phil- stop, I can’t- breathe,” Dan’s laugh blocked out the music from the radio. Soon, Phil was laughing too. He struggled to keep his eyes on the road, having to pull over to an empty lot so they could just laugh.

“Wow, nice place you picked Phil,” Dan said sarcastically, commenting on the place they had pulled into so they didn’t crash. Phil laughed harder, almost doubling over in his seat. Dan’s laugh had simmered down to a chuckle, but his face was bright pink.

“You really asked me out with no plans what-so-ever?” Dan asked, smiling.

“Well, what ideas do you have?” Phil asked, looking for any suggestions at all.

“Well…” Dan bit his lip, thinking. The only place he ever really ate other than his own kitchen was at the diner, but that was out of question. His whole family worked there, he would never bring a date there. But, if they did eat there, they would get free food- no, his dad would make him pay. Then it hit him.

[phandomroundrobin]

WELCOME TO HOWELL’S

TITLE: Welcome to Howell’s AUTHOR: @runyoubastards RATING: Eventual M WORD COUNT: 1.6k WARNING(S): mentions of sex SUMMARY: Dan Howell works as a waiter in his family’s diner, appropriately named Howell’s Diner and is enamored by Phil Lester, a school crush who is a year older than him and just so happens to be a regular customer. AUTHOR’S NOTE: For those who don’t know, PRR is a huge collaborative fanfiction where writers contribute one chapter to the story – it is literally Dan and Phil’s One Word Story Game, except on a much larger scale. Sorry this is late! (again)

Chapter Navigation: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

AO3

CHAPTER NINE

Neither of them said anything for a few moments. For what felt like an eternity, all they could hear was silence on the other end of the line.

“Phil…?” Dan tried again, panic beginning to flare in his chest. Crap crap crap this was a mistake you shouldn’t have done this what the hell were you thinking did you really—

Dan’s mental tirade was interrupted when Phil’s voice came through the line. “Y-yeah, I’m still here.” Phil sounded… lighter, Dan noted. He couldn’t sense a single iota of the confidence that came so easily to Phil that he’d grown used to over their strange friendship. If he could call it that, at least. The way things stood now, he doubted that whatever higher power existed could put a label on whatever it is they had.

Silence, once again. Dan began to wonder if this was a good idea, if it was better off for him to just rattle off some half-assed excuse to get off the phone and forget the whole thing. It was an impulsive decision, in hindsight. After deciding he was all but useless in the state he was in, he told his mom that he wasn’t feeling too well. Dan figured she probably saw right through him, but thankfully, she let him take the day off, sending him off to his room with reminders to drink as much water as you can! and if you need, me just holler, alright?

Dan had shuffled off to his room, unceremoniously dropping himself on his bed, staring at the ceiling. His mind was racing with a million thoughts per minute, and it was getting harder and harder to get them to slow down.

Phil seemed to star in a majority of his thoughts. He had easily settled a prominent place in his head before last night, but now, it seemed as though he’s cemented himself firmly in place. Dan sat up, drew his knees to his chest and buried his face in his hands, taking a deep breath. He stayed that way for a few minutes, trying his best to block out any thoughts of that black haired, blue-eyed boy.

Eventually, Dan slowly began to straighten himself out, pulling out his laptop and booting up one of the games he had on there. It was a welcome distraction for however long it lasted; he could pretend that nothing at all was wrong, that he was playing because he wanted to, not because he wanted to take his mind off someone.

A little after he beat the boss for one of the levels and he sat back to watch the cut scene, the dialogue between the characters began to remind him too much of exactly what he was trying to forget. He hastily hit the pause button and slammed the laptop closed, pushing it away from him. Against his better judgment, he took his phone from his side table and opened it, seeing yet another barrage of Phil.

“Tch, doesn’t he know when to just stop?” Dan muttered to himself while flipping through the texts. He didn’t bother with the missed calls, numerous as they were; none of them held any voice messages, so he ignored them. The texts weren’t too different from the last ones he saw, until he reached the last one that Phil had sent.

Dan, it read, look, I get it if you hate me right now. Frankly, I do too. But… please, just talk to me, okay? I don’t want to leave things the way we did. I’m sorry. Really, I am.

It was as though his hand had a mind of its own. Before he knew it, his finger was hovering over the call button on Phil’s name and his phone was suddenly pressed against his ear, his heart beginning to race a million miles per minute when Phil picked up. Never before did he think anyone could make him simultaneously feel both thrilled and nerve-wracking at the mere mention of his name, but this was Phil. If he had to be honest, Phil seemed to have awoken a whole new range of emotions he found both enthralling and terrifying, but no one needed to know that.

Now there he was, his back pressed against the headboard as he clutched at one of his pillows, biting his lip nervously, trying to think of something to keep the conversation going. You made it this far , he thought to himself, just don’t freak out, and it’ll be alright.

“Dan, are you still there?” Phil asked, a hint of concern lacing his words. “Yeah, I still am. Did I… space out, or something?” Dan replied, already feeling the beginnings of a cringe attack.  Phil chuckled softly and Dan picked up on it, a slight blush beginning to grow on his cheeks.

“Yeah, a bit.” Phil said. “You weren’t answering for a minute or so. I just thought the reception went bad,” he laughed dryly, keeping quiet for a few seconds before continuing. “But yes. I really think we should. Talk, I mean.”

Dan took a deep breath, steeling himself for what was to come. “Okay.”

Phil sighed heavily, while Dan waited in anticipation. Just as Dan was about to say something, Phil’s voice came through the line once more. “Last night was… something, wasn’t it?”

Dan raised an eyebrow, wondering where this was going. “I guess you could say that,” he replied, images of the night before flashing in his mind’s eye. He found his blush beginning to intensify as he remembered the last stretch more vividly, the needy movements and desperate moans, the three words that he couldn’t get out of his head. He probably didn’t mean it, the rational part of himself thought. He was drunk, and we were in the heat of the moment. It doesn’t matter.

But what happened to ‘Phil was still Phil’? The more hopeful, albeit tinier part of himself countered. There’s still a chance he meant it.

Phil gave a half-hearted laugh in response, sending butterflies up Dan’s stomach. “I… crap, why is this so hard?”

“What?” Dan asked, “We’re just talking, aren’t we? What’s so hard about it?”

“No, it’s just that... I don’t know, I feel like it’s better if we do this face to face.”

Oh . Dan definitely wasn’t expecting that. Face to face?

“Dan.” Phil said suddenly. “I understand that I’m the last person you want to see now.  I get it, I do. But… I like to think we’re friends.”

“Yeah, it’s an interesting friendship we have, huh?” Dan thought, unknowingly saying it aloud. “I guess you can say that.” Phil said, accentuated by an amused chuckle. And damn it, Dan could practically imagine Phil’s face as he realizes what he had done. He can see Phil’s cocky smirk, his arms crossed and his eyes narrowed, as though he’s saying he caught him in the act.

“Okay, what I’m trying to say is, I want to make it up to you. But not like this. This feels like a cheap break up, and well, like I said, you’re one of my friends. At least, I still hope you are,” Phil said the latter part significantly quieter than the rest. Dan couldn’t help the sharp exhale at his words. “Phil…” Dan began, beginning to piece together where this was going. “Are you trying to ask me out on a date?”

Phil chuckled airily before he answered. “I… I guess so, yeah. I did say I preferred to deal with this face to face. And last night was hardly a proper first date, was it? At least, I thought there were some things that could’ve gone better.” He paused, before continuing. “So, what do you say Dan? Would you like to go out with me tonight? Your pick. You tell me where we go, what we do, all that.”

Phil mulled over his next words. “Think of it as a redo, a new slate.”

Dan remained silent, trying to wrap his head around the words. Would you like to go out with me tonight? Phil on the other hand, was beginning to grow anxious. What if he’d fucked up too much that Dan would never want to see his face ever again? What if this was it, this was the one that was sure to---

“Okay.”

It took Phil a few seconds to process the two syllables. “W-what did you say?”

“I said okay. Yes, you can take me out. Would you want me to say it in a Northern accent so you’d understand?” Dan said, rolling his eyes as a nervous grin began to grow on his lips, a flare of excitement beginning to grow in his chest.

Phil couldn’t help but laugh. “No, I understood perfectly. Alright then, I’ll see you tonight? At the diner?”

“Yeah, alright. Sounds about right.” Dan replied. Phil smiled, laying back in his bed. “Okay. I’ll make this up to you, I promise. I’ll see you tonight, Dan.”

“Tonight.” Dan confirmed. “I guess I better get cleaned up. I still scream hangover. Bye, Phil.” He pressed the end call button after, not waiting anymore for Phil’s goodbye. He took a deep breath, running through—he squinted at his phone and saw that it had been a half hour long conversation, which surprised him; it seemed like less—the past half hour, flopping onto his bed. He couldn’t help the hopeful laugh that escaped his lips as he stared at the ceiling once more, a grin decorating his face as one thought ran through his mind over and over again:

It’s a date.

[phandomroundrobin]

WELCOME TO HOWELL’S

TITLE: Welcome to Howell’s AUTHOR: @danhowellster RATING: Eventual M WORD COUNT: 1k WARNING(S): n/a for this chapter SUMMARY: Dan Howell works as a waiter in his family’s diner, appropriately named Howell’s Diner and is enamored by Phil Lester, a school crush who is a year older than him and just so happens to be a regular customer. AUTHOR’S NOTE: For those who don’t know, PRR is a huge collaborative fanfiction where writers contribute one chapter to the story – it is literally Dan and Phil’s One Word Story Game, except on a much larger scale. Sorry this chapter is a few days late!

Chapter Navigation: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

AO3

CHAPTER EIGHT

“Why do we smile? Why do we laugh? Why do we feel alone? Why are we sad and confused? Why do we read poetry? Why do we cry when we see a painting? Why is there a riot in the heart when we love? Why do we feel shame? What is that thing in the pit of your stomach called desire?”

― Benjamin Alire Sáenz, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

When Dan slept, he dreamt of the one thing he was sure of-

Black hair.

Blue eyes.

Everything else was a mystery. Dan felt as though he would never figure out his feelings, like the millions of questions in his mind would go unanswered.

The sudden buzz of his phone caused to jolt upward. The night prior, Dan had went to bed early- which was a first for the boy, knowing that he usually stayed up all night playing video games or browsing the internet. His mother always scolded him for this- “You’re going to turn into a walking zombie!” She would say with a teasing smile. Dan had hoped that when he when he woke up the world would be different, to no avail.

Grumbling, Dan grabbed his phone and checked his messages.

Ten to none.

That was the ratio of Phil texts to Dan texts.

They mostly consisted of “Heys” and “Can we talk?”s or even the occasional “I’m sorry”.

Dan decided to ignore the texts.

You could say it was because he knew it wasn’t Phil’s fault, or that he still felt betrayed and hurt, or maybe because Dan knew that he was so much in love with the older boy. Still, it was probably just because Dan didn’t know what to say.

Looking at the clock, he saw that it was past opening time for the diner. He pulled on a pair of baggy sweatpants and a wrinkled t-shirt and dragged himself downstairs. When he walked into the diner he earned some strange looks- he still appeared extremely hungover, after all. His cousin, Louise, strolled over to him with a grin on her face. Dan hated whenever she smiled like that.

“Wow,” She said, looking Dan up and down, “You look fucking rough.”

“Thanks.” Dan grabbed a coffee, took a sip, and then decided that his stomach wasn’t up to the task.

“Your boyfriend didn’t come today,” Louise announced, leaning her hip on the bar counter.

So Phil hadn’t come into the diner today. Dan wasn’t surprised.

“He’s not my boyfriend,” Dan grumbled, but the look him and Louise shared told her otherwise.

Louise raised her eyebrows, and gave him a look that said Yea, sure he isn’t. Dan took a seat at the breakfast bar. There weren’t many people in the diner today, and Dan was glad for that. Mrs. Howell, Dan’s mom, served him a plate of steaming pancakes and some water.

“You wanna talk about it?” She asked. What would he even say? “Oh hey mom, I went to a party with this guy I liked and we got drunk and had beautiful, life-changing sex. Also, I think I’m gay.” Dan could see that that conversation wouldn’t go well. His mom would definitely be more upset over his drunkenness than his queerness, though. Instead, Dan just shook his head. Mrs. Howell shrugged and went on to serving the rest of the customers.

Dan’s phone buzzed in his pocket and Phil’s number popped up on the screen. Without hesitation, Dan hit the reject button. Maybe, if Dan felt up to it, he would call him later. Maybe.

------------------------------------------

Phil sat on his bed as yet another call went to voicemail. Hey, this is Dan’s voicemail, please leave a message after the beep! Phil didn’t leave a message.

What do you want, Phil? He kept asking himself. What do you want?

“Like I know the answer,” Phil grumbled. He was being honest- he didn’t know what he wanted. He had never wanted to hurt Dan, that’s for sure. Other than that, Phil didn’t know much. Dan hadn’t been answering his calls, texts, or any other form of communication Phil had tried to get a hold of Dan. Anyone not knowing the current situation would probably think Phil was a crazy stalker. Maybe Phil was a crazy stalker. Who knows. Mentally, Phil made a list of what he didn’t know: if he loved Dan. If Dan loved him. Hell, Phil doesn’t even know if Dan even likes him anymore.

Phil sighed, and flopped onto his pillow and thought. Phil has been thinking a lot lately.

He thought about Dan. He also thought about his marks in school, and how his college applications were due soon,  But mostly, he thought about Dan.

Phil threw his phone onto his bed and decided that waiting for Dan to call or text or do something was useless. He turned on his favorite show, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and snuggled up to blankets. There were three things that Phil loved most in his life: warm blankets, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and cereal. Well, four, technically, if you counted Dan. Phil was unsure about that one.

Three seasons into the show, Phil’s phone buzzed. He paused the tv and looked at his phone- Dan was calling.

“Dan?” Phil asked, trying to keep himself from sounding surprised. For a moment, there was no response.

“....Phil?” Dan breathed from the other end of the call. “Can we talk?”

[phandomroundrobin]

Hey there! My name is Remy, and I’m from @phancyclopaedia. We’re trying to provide a directory of phandom resources, blogs, and articles. We wanted to check in and ask your permission before we add you in as a resource blog. Also, we'd really appreciate it if you would let your followers know about us so that we can help more people within the phandom!

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[phandomroundrobin]

WELCOME TO HOWELL’S

TITLE: Welcome to Howell’s AUTHOR: @farawayphan RATING: Eventual M WORD COUNT: 1k WARNING(S): n/a for this chapter SUMMARY: Dan Howell works as a waiter in his family’s diner, appropriately named Howell’s Diner and is enamored by Phil Lester, a school crush who is a year older than him and just so happens to be a regular customer. AUTHOR’S NOTE: For those who don’t know, PRR is a huge collaborative fanfiction where writers contribute one chapter to the story – it is literally Dan and Phil’s One Word Story Game, except on a much larger scale. Sorry this chapter is a few days late!

Chapter Navigation: 1 2 3 4 5 6

AO3

CHAPTER SEVEN

Phil pushed himself up hastily and chased him down the street, raising a lot of strange looks from any passers-by. He didn’t care. They could think whatever the hell they wanted; all Phil cared about was fixing this mess he had created.

Dan listened to the heavy footsteps getting closer and closer in annoyance, waiting until Phil was only a few metres away before whipping round to stop him in his tracks. “Quit chasing me!” he yelled, catching Phil by surprise. “I don’t want to talk to you right now! Why is that so difficult to understand?”

Phil opened his mouth to speak but quickly shut it again with a worried frown. It killed him to see Dan like this- curling, greasy hair, ghostly pale skin, dark eye bags, cracked lips, dull and lifeless eyes- but still so, so beautiful, and Phil wanted nothing more than to run over and hold him in his arms but the truth hurt, and the truth was that he couldn’t. Not now. Maybe not ever. And it was all because of him.                        

“Dan, I’m sorry, just please, let me explain,” he said, barely louder than a whisper. Dan met his gaze and sighed. “I can’t do this,” he uttered, and Phil’s heart shattered at that because Dan just sounded so scared and vulnerable and he knew what it felt like to feel so screwed over and it was the worst feeling in the world- it truly was- and he would never wish for it to happen to anybody else.                                                                  

“I never meant to hurt you,” he replied, voice shaky. “I don’t know what I wanted out of last night but it definitely wasn’t to hurt you.” His eyes glistened with tears yet to fall. “I could never bring myself to do that.”

Dan broke their eye contact and exhaled heavily, lifting a hand to his face and wiping his eyes. “I’m sorry, Phil. I just can’t do this now. If you want to fix things then please, just give me time to think.” With a final sigh he turned around and started walking back home, not once looking back at the boy he had left behind him. Phil watched him go in silence, despite the voices in his head urging him to run after him again, and stayed there for about 10 minutes after Dan had walked out of sight, before following a similar path back to his own house, a storm of guilt raging over him.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Dan turned into his street and headed towards the diner, bumping into a few people due to staring at his feet the whole time. He peered in through the window, letting out a sigh of relief when he saw how few people were inside. There never normally were many at this time in the morning. He pushed open the door and stepped inside, relaxing a bit at the comforting warmth and familiar smells. He tugged back his hood and walked swiftly past the booths, ignoring the glances he received from the nosy customers, looking to his left to see who was currently working behind the counter. It was his mum, her hair rolled up with a spotty bandana into a traditional 40’s style, sporting her checked work dress and a bright red lipstick. She stared at him with a concerned expression but said nothing. That was what Dan liked most about his mum. She knew when not to get involved; when to let him sort things out himself, which wasn’t a quality mothers tended to have. It was clear judging by how dreadful he looked that Dan hadn’t had the best of nights, and despite Mrs Howell’s instincts she kept her mouth shut, but Dan could see the worry in her eyes. He had seen that look countless times before and it wasn’t one he liked, as it meant anxious parents and a tidal wave of questions yet to come from his dad.

Dan figured she deserved an explanation but he wasn’t in the least bit willing to give her one, so simply decided to continue to his bedroom without so much as a smile.

It was now 11:45, one and a half hours since Dan had left the party venue, and he was sat on his bed with his head in his hands, feeling overwhelmingly nauseous.                  

He didn’t know what to do. The kiss he had longed for since he set eyes on Phil had finally happened, but the event was bittersweet. Phil had been hammered; it had meant nothing. Nothing that happened that night had meant anything- not the kiss, not the breathless ‘I love you’ , not even how careful and gentle Phil had been. Dan had really thought that what they had was going somewhere but after waking up alone this morning that hope had been ripped cruelly away from him. The very reason he had fallen for Phil in the first place was because of how genuine and kind and sweet he had seemed, and it felt like he had known him forever.

It felt like he had known him forever.

In that moment Dan knew that this wasn’t just some silly crush. He wasn’t some 9 year old girl who has her heart set on marrying her favourite band member. He was bloody in love with him, because that’s what it felt like to be in love- you feel like the person has been with you since birth, like they know all your little quirks and embarrassing stories, always there to make you happy when things get rough.

But Dan couldn’t find any comfort in that knowledge because despite knowing deep down that it wasn’t really Phil’s fault (he had gotten drunk, had sex with a boy he could barely call his friend, and woken up in a bed next to him with a very vague recollection of the previous night’s events so running away was quite rational), he still felt so betrayed and confused. An endless amount of questions were rushing through his mind and it seemed like his entire world was about to fall apart.

[phandomroundrobin]

Welcome to Howell’s

TITLE: Welcome to Howell’s AUTHOR: @tinyspacehoe RATING: Eventual M WORD COUNT: 1k WARNING(S): n/a for this chapter SUMMARY: Dan Howell works as a waiter in his family’s diner, appropriately named Howell’s Diner and is enamored by Phil Lester, a school crush who is a year older than him and just so happens to be a regular customer. AUTHOR’S NOTE: For those who don’t know, PRR is a huge collaborative fanfiction where writers contribute one chapter to the story – it is literally Dan and Phil’s One Word Story Game, except on a much larger scale. Sorry this chapter is a few days late!

Chapter Navigation: 1 2 3 4 5

AO3

CHAPTER SIX

Phil crept slowly through the mansion, looking back towards that room every few minutes, starting to regret his decision to leave Dan in that bed alone. His stomach rumbled and his head lightly pulsed, reminding him of how last night even happened. Finally finding the front door, Phil wished he hadn’t left his jumper with Dan last night, as he shivered in the fresh morning air and sat down at a bus stop pulling out his phone to check the time. 10:23am flashed up on the screen in front of him as well a number of less and less coherent messages from Chris.

Dan woke up in an unfamiliar bedroom; bed sheets wrapped around his long legs and his arm draped over an empty bed. His clothes were strewn around the floor, and Phil’s jumper was left over a nearby chair.

“Shit,” he muttered as he remember the events from the night before, the panted I love you and now Phil’s disappearance. He was drunk, did he not really enjoy it why doesn’t he want to talk to me now, why has he run away? Dan doubted himself as he started to realise the mistake that he has made, and now probably ruined friendship between him and Phil. It is sure going to be awkward the next time he comes in to order his regular bagel, maybe he should change the line from “Welcome to Howells, Howell can we help you?’, to “Welcome to Howells, Do you want an ex with that?”.

He got up slowly and walked over to his phone, hoping for maybe even a message of explanation because he sure as hell deserved that. You don’t just sleep with one of your “friends” and leave. Dan quickly got himself dressed and walked out of the mansion, saw empty bottles and rubbish everywhere, along with the occasionally passed out teenager.

Pulling his- no, Phil’s- hood up over his head, he walked home, checking his phone every 5 minutes in a desperate attempt to even try to get some contact from the boy he liked. Eventually Dan cracked and gave in typing a short message asking what exactly is going on.

Phil sat on a bus his, head hurting and stomach churning with every movement, typing and deleting a message to Dan, who he believes does deserve at least some form of contact instead of just leaving him lying in a strange bed reeking of sex. But he couldn’t bring himself to do it so that message just lay in his drafts folder waiting to be sent, reply to the short but clearly upset one the boy had sent him earlier, when out the window he saw a tall and familiar figure wearing a pretentious space jumper reserved for only hipsters and nerds. Head down and upset looking, and it broke Phil’s heart to see a usually happy and cheerful boy so down, and knowing that it is his entire fault. This is why you don’t become friends with cute boys, and then drunkenly lead them on because it always ends up messing you over in the end.

It had been two hours, so why hasn’t he responded? Phil is the kind of guy who usually responds within 5 minutes, so this is very out of character of him and probably means that he is avoiding Dan’s question. Fine then. If he doesn’t want to respond, Dan is just going to have to get over his little crush and move on because clearly Phil really isn’t interested.

So he decided, Phil pressed the stop button on the bus handles, and decided that it was time to save a friendship. Finding a new second wind he ran down that street, his feet slapping against the hard concrete as he chased after that tall boy, the one that he messed things up with so badly. He spots Dan’s body and stops running to try and get his attention, the momentum causing him to quite literally knock them both over.

Dan felt the wind get knocked out of his lungs and looked up to see this pale face staring back, and a black fringe tickling his face. Phil. “Fuck off,” he said, spitting the off and getting up, walking away. Clearly it is fine for him to come back whenever he wants, but no I try to repair things and he ignores me, well now he is going to have to wait.

[phandomroundrobin]

Welcome to Howell’s

TITLE: Welcome to Howell’s AUTHOR: @ghiblilester RATING: Eventual M WORD COUNT: 1k WARNING(S): n/a for this chapter SUMMARY: Dan Howell works as a waiter in his family’s diner, appropriately named Howell’s Diner and is enamored by Phil Lester, a school crush who is a year older than him and just so happens to be a regular customer. AUTHOR’S NOTE: For those who don’t know, PRR is a huge collaborative fanfiction where writers contribute one chapter to the story – it is literally Dan and Phil’s One Word Story Game, except on a much larger scale.

Chapter Navigation: 1 2 3

AO3

CHAPTER FOUR

The stench of beer was intoxicating, and already strong in the front room of the house. Dimmed pink lighting flashed from spinning strobe lights. Teenagers littered the room, dancing to the beat of a popular song, sloshing drinks in red plastic cups and speaking in loud, slurred voices. Dan slunk a bit behind Phil. While the older boy seemed like a creature in its natural habitat, Dan felt like he was in a place he never would belong.

“Come on, just follow me.” Phil tugged the sleeve of his shirt on Dan, causing the younger boy to obediently follow.

They emerged into a large, grand room. Furniture was stacked and pushed aside, except for a long table covered in red cups, beer bottles, and bags of Doritos.

Tall girls in skirts swayed from side to side, and older, taller boys eyed them while nudging one another. Dan could almost feel classmates staring, and likely judging, him as he stumbled beside Phil. The awkward waiter from Howell’s didn’t feel as comfortable as he wanted to be beside his upperclassmen.

“Hey, Phil, that you?!” A boy with fluffy, brown hair and a tall, strong figure steadily walked towards Phil. “I thought I was the only sober person at this party.”

“Pj,” Phil turned towards the boy and bumped his shoulder with his fist. “How’ve you been?”

“Fine as ever,” Pj continued, noticing Dan behind Phil. “And there’s Dan.”

Dan shook a bit at the mention of his name.

“Yeah-” Phil hesitated for a bit, then walked on. “See you Pj.”

To Dan, it seemed as if Phil talked about him to his friends. A lot. Blood rushed to his cheeks, but as soon as he felt the warmth, he shook his head. How stupid, he thought, remembering he was only there as Phil’s friend.

“Ever been to a party like this before?” Phil asked, voice slightly raised over the tone of the music.

Dan shook his head slightly, and opened his mouth to speak, when Phil suddenly grabbed him.

“Then let me teach you how to fit in.”

The crowded room, full of screaming teenagers, seemed to fade into the noise of the music as Phil pulled Dan to dance. Forgetting the other boys and girls, Dan imitated Phil’s movements. His stomach fluttered, and he felt numb. Phil’s hands, holding onto Dan, left a sensation Dan had never felt before. The room of drunk students danced, limbs of all kind in the air and against the walls. The house vibrated, music beating like blood flowing through the heart. The room grew fuller and fuller as more students entered the dancefloor.

“Phi-- Phil…” Dan started.

“Relax I’ve got you.” With both hands, Phil turned Dan’s shoulders around, away and back to face him. He pulled Dan closer and closer until the two tall boys loomed over the other party-goers almost as one.

A new song started to play, more upbeat than the last. The crowd of students got rowdier and rowdier. Drunk students, reeking of beer, spilled their drinks out of their cups as they moved to the music. The wooden floors of the grand vibrated with the stomping of feet, and the crowd grew more and more violent.

-------------------------------------------- The sounds of the music beat through Phil’s ears. He felt himself being compelled by it, his desires drawn towards the rhythm. Usually, at a party like this, he would be beside some drink table, surrounded by a couple of females-- and males-- as well as his friends, flirting and spilling drinks to collect a couple of phone numbers and future dates. Tonight was different though, he had a partner to dance with. Dan Howell was an interesting boy, the waiter at the diner. The awkward boy no one really talked about unless they were going to make a joke about his height or his clumsy nature or his antisocial tendencies. Phil wasn’t really thinking however, nodding his head violently to the beat of the music, surrounded by intense partying drunks, he felt more alive.

“Hey, Phil,” a jock called, snapping a cap off a beer and tossing it.

Catching the bronze, already opened bottle, Phil chugged some down his throat. The liquid surged through his system-- he could feel himself losing his sense with every swig. -------------------------------------------- Dan watched Phil’s Adam’s apple heave up and down with every sip. His defined, sharp edges shifting under his skin.

“Want a sip?” Phil asked, stifling down a bit from his jump to offer the bottle to Dan.

“Uh.. no thanks,” Dan pushed the bottle back, a bit nervous. Phil was getting drunk. And Dan had no idea how drunk Phil would behave. Shrugging, Phil took another sip. The liquid from the bottle spilled a little as he drained it fast. He tossed the bottle aside, and it crashed on the wooden floor. Pieces of glass littered the ground, teens sweeping it aside as they danced.

Grabbing Dan’s arms, he turned and twisted Dan around as they neared towards the edge of the room. Phil pinned him against the wall, sweating and breathless.

“Now, Howell, let me show you how to party.”