Requested by leighisnotfunny
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Dan smiles widely at the man in front of him. Black quiff perfectly stood up, blue eyes sparking with mirth, pale face brightened in a laugh. Dan thinks he's made the right decision, planning to claim him as his own. His absolute best friend, only best friend, and boyfriend, Phil Lester.

Or, hopefully, soon Phil Howell-Lester.

He's vaguely aware that Phil is saying something as he's sat in the Starbucks booth, but Dan isn't really paying attention. He's more focused on the way his eyes light up with his story and his hands gesture around. He loves his high cheekbones and the crinkles beside his eyes.

Dan starts listening just before he finishes his story, enough to actually have something to say.

"-and the lady finally walked away, and I was left just standing there like an idiot, a half eaten muffin clutched in my hand."

Dan bursts out laughing, that single sentence being the most Phil ending ever.

"That's the most ridiculous story I've ever heard," Dan giggles.

"Hey it's not my fault!" Phil says, throwing out his hands and giggling too, "she's the one who wasted food."

Dan shakes his head, smiling down at his hot drink. He stirs it absentmindedly, thinking. Thinking about his and Phil's future together, thinking about how far they've come, thinking about how lucky he got in meeting Phil.

"What are you smiling so widely about?" Phil asks, taking a careful sip of his own drink.

Dan looks up, a small smile still on his lips. He's aware he's probably giving Phil what the viewers call "heart eyes Howell" but he didn't care. Go ahead, show the whole world know he loves Phil!

That was the plan later anyway.

"Just thinking," Dan says, staring across the table into Phil's crystal eyes. They looked particularly bright today, the natural lighting from the window magnifying Phil's already stunning appearance.

"About?" Phil asks, tilting his head to the side slightly. Dan's heart melts ever so slightly.

"The future," Dan says vaguely, taking a small sip of his drink.

"In a good way, or bad?" Phil asks, being the curious cat he is.

Dan smiles. "Good. Definitely good."

Phil giggles, his eyes scrunching up. "You're awful smiley today."

I have good reason to be, soon to be fiancé, Dan thinks to himself. But out loud he just says, "it's our anniversary," and taps Phil's nose.

"Fair enough," Phil says, smiling. They sit in comfortable silence, simply taking in the present. Being there with each other, no where to be, no need to rush. Sometimes the best time with someone was just knowing they were there.

Dan was thinking of his proposal to Phil. He had taken weeks to plan it. Not that it was anything off the hook and huge, but we wanted it to be perfect. He wanted to make sure it was the best way to do it, since it was such a big question. They had already begun their day full of fun with having lunch at Starbucks. The rest of the day would be spent walking around town, going in whatever stores they want and eating whatever they want. It was their refresh day, as they called it. Work was put in the backs of their minds and they focused on each other. These kinds of days don't come often to Dan and Phil. But they had both decided that today was the perfect day to take one, as it was their anniversary.

When they both finished their drinks, Dan picked his up and grabbed Phil's empty one. He was determined to make this Phil's best day, by doing as many nice things as he could for him. Nothing too big, though, he knew Phil appreciated the little things more than the big.

"Thank you, Dan!" Phil said, smiling up at his boyfriend. Dan smiles back before walking and throwing away their cups. He and Phil head out after that, jackets bundled around them. Dan takes Phil's hand in his, intertwining Phil's cold fingers with his. Normally they wouldn't dare hold hands in public, for fear of fans seeing, but they had both agreed they would tell them when they were planning on getting married. So it didn't matter too much anyway.

Phil squeezes his hand in response. He had never really cared if fans saw them holding hands. "Where to first?" He asks, looking around them at all the shops.

"The book store would be good I reckon," Dan says, pointing to it. "Ooh or we could geek out in the games shop."

"How about we go to the book store, then the game shop," Phil says, bumping into Dan slightly.

"Yeah, that works."

They head over to the book store, immediately going their own ways. Phil goes to the wacky fictional books, and Dan looks at the deeper non fiction books. (A/N btw is it possible to still find one of DnP's books on the shelves of stores?)

Dan finished browsing and went to find Phil, having not find anything that interested him. He found Phil sat on the floor, reading a book in his hands. Dan smirks and stands above him, hands on his hips.

"Found something you like?"

Phil looks startled at Dan's sudden appearance, then giggles. "Just rereading something I've already read."

Dan plucks the book from Phil's hands. He looks at the book in his hands. Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone.

"You've read this about 17 times already, Phil!" Dan says, handing the book back to Phil.

"Hey, it's a good book!" Phil says, still sat on the floor and now pretending to be offended. Dan snorts and shakes his head.

"You do realize that you are a 32 year old man, sat on the floor, reading a Harry Potter book?" Dan asks, still smiling down at Phil. Phil giggles in response.

"Harry Potter isn't just for kids! Lots of adults read it too."

"That's very true, let's not be ageiest," Dan says, reaching a hand down to Phil. Phil takes it and lets Dan pull him to his feet. Phil brushes himself off before putting the book back on the shelf.

"Did you find anything?" He asks Dan as they walk towards the front of the store.

"Nah, nothing really interested me," Dan replies with a shrug. They leave the shop, a chilly wind picking up their jackets.

"Wow," Dan says, drawing out the word while he blinks at the breeze blowing into his face. "Seems like today is going to be a breezy one."

Phil zips up his jacket fully and tucks half his face behind it. Dan chuckles at how cute he looks. They wander into the game store next, shelves and shelves of every board game you could imagine stacked all around them.

"Let's try to not spend our whole day in here, okay Phil?" Dan says, staring expectantly at Phil, who was looking like he had just walked into heaven. But he caught Dan's eye and nodded, pouting. They roam the aisles together, looking at whatever quirky game caught their interest. Eventually, after much deciding, they walked out with a game called The Settlers of Catan.

"Lets go home and play it right now!" Phil says enthusiastically. He had originally spied it out and was very excited about it.

"Not quite yet, Phil," Dan says, moving hand as if calming an animal. "I have a few more places I want to go to." One place is going to be a place where your life changes.

"Okay, where?" Phil asks, looking around as if the place would suddenly announce itself.

"You'll see when we get there," Dan says, grinning. He links their arms together and leads Phil down the sidewalk. He glances over at Phil while he walks, appreciating how the wind blows his quiff slightly wonky. Hair was always more beautiful when it was just a little bit messed up, Dan had decided, and especially Phil's hair. Phil catches Dan's eye and immediately gives him a smile. Dan smiles back, heart fluttering in his chest. He couldn't believe this gorgeous, bright man in front of him would be his soon.

Dan soon lead Phil into a little shop, full of sweets. The smell of fudge attacked their noses before they even entered the shop, and magnified wonderfully when inside. What's so special about a sweets shop, you're probably wondering? Well this was the place where Dan and Phil went to on their first date. They both got a sweet and took them to the park down the street. Blushing madly and giggling, they fed each other bites of sweets.

Phil smiled at Dan, remembering what he was remembering. But to Dan it meant even more, because Phil didn't know that this was their last outing as boyfriends. Soon they would be engaged, pledged to the other forever. The though made Dan's heart flutter and face break out in a wide smile.

They examined the seemingly endless variety of sweets. Dan had to restrain both himself and Phil from buying everything they laid their eyes on. It was nearing 4:30, getting closer to the sunset. Dan put his hand in his jacket pocket, feeling the small box. He opened it using his fingers and felt the ring inside. He hid his smile from Phil, who was practicing drooling over some chocolate covered pretzels. Dan took his hand out of his pocket and walked over to intertwine it with Phil's. Phil looks slightly surprised at first, but grins when he sees its Dan.

"Hey you," Phil says, placing a lingering kiss on Dan's lips.

Dan smiles in return, looking down on Phil slightly. "Have you decided on something?" He asks.

"Umm... no.." Phil says, giggling. "I haven't even narrowed it down to a few options yet."

Dan rolled his eyes fondly. He pulled his phone out of his pocket. "Well you better hurry up and decide. There's still one more place I want to go to."

Phil looked puzzled, but also excited. "Where?"

"I'm not gonna tell you! You have to wait and see!" Dan says, smirking. Phil playfully pouts before turning back to the sweets he was looking at.

After several more minutes, they leave the store. Dan had decided on some Carmel, dark chocolate treats and Phil had bought little marshmallow animals, each decorated with chocolate, sprinkles, and other toppings. They were very cute, and definitely something Phil would buy, as Dan had immediately pointed out when he saw them.

Dan now lead Phil down the street, to the familiar park. The dwindling crowds of people around them paid them no mind. Their hands brushed and Dan wrapped his pinky finger around Phil's. He could feel his nerves start to build up, now that the big moment was getting closer. He was more worried about messing up his words than being rejected, if you can believe that. He was sure that Phil would say yes, they had decided a couple months ago they were ready. Dan just took the initiative to go and do it.

They walk through the park, not saying anything but just taking in the nature around them. The sky was painted with streaks of pink, gold, and light blue. The sun was just just starting to set, casting out beautiful colors before it would say goodnight. Dan lead Phil up a hill to where a tree sat, a single swing hanging from its branches. Even after all these years, it was still here. Dan remembers sitting on the swing with Phil, his legs wrapped around Dan's waist. Dan smiles at the thought, turning his head to stare at Phil. Phil was admiring the sky, profile tilted to the sky. His face was made amber by the sun, sharp, blue eyes shining.

Dan bumped Phil with his hip. When Phil turned to look at him, eyes alight with happiness, he held forth the sweet bag he had picked out from the shop. Without Dan even saying anything, Phil knew what he was asking. With a giggle, he took the bag, opened it, and brought one up to Dan's mouth. Dan took a bite, chewed thoughtfully for a moment before groaning and rolling his eyes back in his head.

"Good?" Phil asks, grinning and popping the rest into his own mouth.

"Immensely," Dan says, licking a bit of chocolate off his lips.

"Here," Phil says, holding one of his own marshmallow creatures up to Dan's lips. Dan instead takes it in his hand and slowly brings it up to Phil's mouth, grinning. Phil giggles and takes a bite, decapitating what looked like a duck.

"Mm! That's good!" Phil exclaims, opening his mouth wide in a silent question for the rest. Dan sticks the rest of the duck into Phil's mouth.

"You planned this well," Phil says, looking into Dan's eyes. "A beautiful sunset, and a cheesy, nostalgic scene."

Dan chuckles. "Well it's not quite over yet.." he leads off, sticking his hand into his jacket pocket and feeling the box within.

"Dan! This day has already been incredible, I'm perfectly happy with just this," Phil says. "Besides, I don't think anything else you could do could make it better."

"No?" Dan asks, raising an eyebrow and smirking. Phil shakes his head, crossing his arms. "Nope."

Dan takes this as the perfect time.

He slowly draws the small box out of his pocket. Phil's eyes drift from Dan's face to the box. His eyes go wide, and both his hands fly to muffle a squeal. Dan gets down on one knee, looking up lovingly to Phil.

"Phil Lester," Dan begins, smiling wide. Just those couple words are enough to bring tears to Phil's eyes. "We've been dating for 3 years now. And during those 3 years I've had plenty of time to think about why I love you so much. But to this day, I still cannot come up with an answer that makes sense. You're literally indescribable, Phil. And our love, it just doesn't make sense. The person who's around me the most, loves me the most. I know how loud and annoying I can be. But you've stuck around. That just doesn't make sense to me, how I managed that. I'm not ever going to let you go, because you're a once in a lifetime chance. So Phil," Dan says his name with a tremor of emotion. Phil himself was practically sobbing into his hands, but he looked happier than Dan had ever seen him. "Will you give me the privilege of waking up with you every morning, cleaning up your smelly socks, and looking after your houseplants for you, for the rest of our lives?" Dan now opens the box, revealing a gold ring.

Phil couldn't even speak, so he just nods frantically, tears pouring over his hands. He removes one for Dan to slide the ring onto his finger. The other is now clenched against his chest. Dan stands and takes both of Phil's hands in his own, laughs in a choked tone, before kissing Phil gently.

Dan wraps his arms around Phil's lower back. Phil's hands come up and hold Dan's face. It was a wet kiss from Phil's tears, but they were tears of pure happiness. They break off, breathless, and Dan stares into Phil's glimmering eyes and smiling face. He giggles bashful before attacking Dan in a hug, wrapping his arms around the familiar form. Dan returns the hug.

"You never actually said yes," Dan says, grinning. Phil squeezes him tighter.

"I think you know what the answer is," Phil says against Dan's shoulder.

They stay like that awhile, rocking back and forth in the others embrace.

"You know what this means?" Dan asks, leaning away to look into Phil's eyes.

"We're getting married?" Phil says, then giggles, as if he can't believe it.

"No- I mean, yes, but it also means the fans are gonna know," Dan says softly.

"Oh! You're right!" Phil says, still smiling.

"You aren't phased by that?" Dan asks. He had been worried Phil would hold off getting married because he wasn't ready for their audience to know.

"Dan, I'm getting married to my best friend. Do you really think I care about a few million people?" Phil asks, kissing the tip of Dan's nose.

"Alright then, we'll tell them," Dan says, breaking into a smile. "How do you want to do it?"

"I have a few ideas.." Phil says, grinning before connecting their lips in another much wanted kiss.

~The next day~

"Hold it... okay, a few more.. and... done!" Pj announces, smiling at Dan and Phil. He hands them Phil's phone back and they look at the pictures.

They had called Pj to ask if he could help them take photos. They planned to post a picture on Instagram captioned, Its not 2022, but this is happening. The picture was a photo of them in a loving embrace, a thin sheet of snow on the ground and evergreen trees in the background. Phil's legs were wrapped around Dan's waist and he was fully leaning into Dan. His arms were wrapped securely around his fiancés shoulders, and Dan was holding Phil up by his legs. Their beaming faces were mere inches apart, seemingly only moments from kissing when the photo was taken.

They had to admit, it was definitely from 0 to 1,000, but they wanted to destroy the internet as much as possible.

"These are perfect, Peej!" Phil exclaims, looking at the different angles at which Pj had taken of them.

"Thanks! I'm proud to be apart of your guys master plan to totally obliterate the whole of the internet," he replies, grinning behind his glasses.

"I think this will definitely do the trick," Dan replies, bringing Phil closer to him by his waist. Phil smiles at him fondly, before quickly kissing his lips. A barfing sound was heard from Pj.

"You two are sickenly cute," he says, swatting a hand at them. "Get a room." Dan chuckles before returning Phil's gaze.

He was looking forward to their fan's reaction, all right. But even more, to spending all his life with his best friend in the whole world.