Home, Sweet Home

I woke up around seven in the morning. It was much earlier than I normally would wake up. About three hours earlier, but that would give me time to get ready.

I made my way to the kitchen and started up the coffee pot. I prefer real coffee to that instant stuff. I got out all of the ingredients for pancakes. I also grabbed eggs and bacon. I got the bacon going and also at the same time started the pancakes. I was almost finished with the pancakes when I heard foot steps behind me. I looked over my shoulder and saw a very sleepy looking Phil.

“Hey.” I said. Phil walked closer to me. He put his chin on my shoulder like he was using me as a pillow and breathed in deeply.

“Mmm, it smells so good.” He said quietly.

“I know. Go wake up Dan and we can have breakfast.” I said to Phil. He shuffled off and I finished the last pancake and started on the eggs. I was flipping that last egg over when I heard two sets of footsteps.

“Just head into the lounge.” I yelled out hoping they would hear me and follow directions. I had already set the table and there were three orange juices and a hot pot of coffee already there.

I carried all of the plates of food in and the boys looked up.

“Oh God, you made bacon.” Dan said, moaning the word bacon. I didn’t let the moan get to me like I normally would.

“And eggs and pancakes.” I added.

I sat everything down. Dan instantly went for a pancake and some bacon. Phil waited. I
grabbed eggs and bacon for myself.

“Dan are you having any more pancakes after that one?” I asked.

He shook his head too tired to actually talk.

“Phil, they are all yours.” I said.

Phil’s eyes widened. He waited only a nanosecond before pulling the plate to him and loading them up with maple syrup. I had to smile at him. Soon the only sounds coming from us were cutlery against plates and Dan’s moans while munching on the bacon.

After breakfast the boys helped me clean up the table and take care of dishes. Then they both went to their rooms so that they could continue editing. I, on the other hand started packing a cooler bag with a bunch of different types of cheeses and crackers.

I ran out of the house for a bit to go and pick up some fruit and some cans of soda. When I got home I packed those along with the stuff to make sandwiches.

I ran upstairs and grabbed my black backpack and stuffed my picnic blanket in it. I grabbed a notebook, a few pens and my camera. I was hoping to take some pictures. Once everything was packed I looked up directions to Hyde Park. I knew the guys could get me there but I wanted it to be somewhat of a surprise.

At about eleven thirty I went into Dan’s room. He had just taken his headphones off and was stretching.

“Dan!” I yelled causing him to jump.

“Fffffffff! Sam!”

“Get dressed! We’re going out.” I stated.

“Do I have to?” Dan asked.

“Yes!”

“Okay. Stop yelling.” Dan said.

“Oh sorry.” I said with a sweet and innocent smile. I left his room and went into Phil’s.

“Phil!” I yelled. Phil just looked up at me.

“Yeah I heard. Get out so I can change.” I smiled.

I liked when I got my way.

I went into the lounge and waited for the boys. Phil joined me a few minutes later but Dan was taking forever.

“Daniel!” I yelled down the hall.

“Samantha!” I heard muffled by a door.

“Hurry up!” I yelled back.

“I’m done.” said Dan walking into the lounge.

“Okay let’s go.” I said jumping up off the couch. Phil following right behind me with Dan dragging his feet pulling up the rear. I grabbed my backpack and the cooler bag then led the boys out the door.

It wasn’t that much later that Dan started complaining. “So where are we going?” he asked.

“We’re almost there so just be patient.” I said as we entered the park. We walked a bit until I found a nice grassy place where we could lay out the blanket. I picked a spot under a tree so that we would have some shade. It didn’t take me long to shed my jacket to soak up as much sun as I could.

That morning I had put on a black tank top that was very plain on the front but the back was cut up and knotted down the middle and showed a little bit of skin on each side of the knots. I paired it with some dark blue shorts and a really cute pair of strappy sandals that my best friend from back home sent me. My makeup was very minimal and I only had on lip balm and I just left my hair natural and didn’t bother putting it up.

I pulled the blanket out of my bag and started to set it up. When I had the blanket laid out perfectly, I sat the bag of food in the middle and sat down.

“Well, are you going to sit?” I asked looking up at the boys. Phil sat next to me.

“Seriously? A picnic?” said Dan scoffing.

“Yes, a picnic. Now sit your ass on the ground and enjoy it.” I said giving Dan my “I’m serious” look. He sat without another word.

“So Sam, how’s work going?” Phil asked.

I laughed thinking back to my last day of work and my run in with a couple of Dan and Phil fans. Looking back at it now, I realized just how funny the situation was. They looked at me questioningly.

I explained about the fan interaction I had at work and about my reaction. Dan looked a little guilty but that didn’t stop him from laughing along with Phil who thought it was hilarious. We all talked about random things. After a while Phil picked up my camera and started taking pictures of some flowers off to our right. I’d probably end up using them for Instagram or something.

I laid on my back and Dan did the same. His head was next to mine but he was upside down. We just kind of laid like this for a few minutes in a comfortable silence.

“Sam?” Dan asked.

“Yeah?” I replied looking over at Dan to see he was looking at me. When I met his eyes, it felt like I had the wind knocked out of me.

“We’re going to miss you while we are in California.” He said.

“I’ll miss you guys too, but I feel like I also kind of need a break from you guys. I love you both but sometimes it gets kind of crazy.” My heart was fluttering when I said the “L” word but in my head I was screaming at it to shut the eff up.

“Yeah, with us filming all the time it can be crazy but it seemed like you handled it well. Except for Llama Hat.” At the mention of her I just couldn’t help but laugh which caused my head to bump into Dan’s.

“Owww” we both said at the same time and then dissolved into a fit of giggles.

“Motherfucker. That really hurt.” said Dan once the laughter subsided.

“I’m sorry.” I bit my tongue before I asked if he wanted me to kiss it better. No! Bad brain!

I looked back up to the sky which you could just barely see through the tree branches. I started to think of my best friend back home, Lily. I needed to call her. She would have advice for me about the Dan thing.

“What are you thinking about?” Dan asked softly.

“That’s not any of your business now is it?” I said with a little more sarcasm than I intended to, causing it to sound mean.

“Sorry, you just looked like you were going to bite through your lip. I know you do that when you’re really thinking hard about something. I just wanted to help.” Dan said with a look of hurt in his eyes.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for it to come out like that. I was just thinking about Lily.” I said.

“Isn’t that your friend from back home?” Dan asked.

“Yeah, I just realized how much I miss her. I was making a mental note to call her later.” I explained.

I had been so focused on Dan that I didn’t realize Phil was there until it was too late.

“Phil, did you just take a picture of us?” Dan said. I felt my stomach drop.

“Phil, give me the camera. No more picture taking for you.” I said to him holding out my hand for the camera. He looked sad but he knew how I felt about having my picture taken. I really don’t like pictures.

“Can I see it?” Dan asked. I handed him the camera. He looked at it for a minute.

“I like it, please don’t delete it.” Said Dan handing the camera back to me. I looked at the picture. Dan and I were looking at each other both with slight smiles on our faces. Dan’s dimple was very pronounced. It didn’t look like me in the picture. It looked like the badass I wanted to be. You could see my little triangle earrings in the one hole that I had and the little ear cuff that Lily sent me a couple years ago.

Dan was right, I couldn’t delete this picture. It was too good of a picture to delete but I could never post it or show it to anyone and Dan definitely couldn’t post it. Actually, I have the perfect idea. I decided I was going to add it to my pictures on my dresser. I played with the camera settings a little and then took a picture of the sky through the branches. Now this I could put on Instagram.

We had lots of fun with the camera. Dan went for a walk and got a ton of amazing pictures that he was never going to post to Instagram. I got a few candids of Dan and Phil talking. If the Phandom ever got a hold of these they would probably freak out and add this to their proof that “Phan” is real. Either way they were still really good pictures of my friends.

The sky was starting to darken so the three of us decided it was time to go home. I had one more surprise for the guys. When we got home Dan made his way to the kitchen to make supper, but I stopped him.

“No, I want to make supper tonight.” I said to Dan who looked very confused at my request but stepped aside anyway.

“What are you making?” Dan asked. The curiosity was clear on his face.

“It’s a surprise so go away.” I said with a mischievous smile. He raised his hands in surrender and left the kitchen.

I got to work getting everything together to make one of the only things I knew how to make. Mac n’ Cheese. But it was homemade so it was better. I used the cheese that we didn’t eat at the picnic and the cheese I saved especially for this. I cooked the macaroni and started in on my cheese sauce. When the macaroni was cooked, I mixed the cheese in but not before I took some of the macaroni out because there is something wrong with Phil’s taste buds.

Once the cheese was mixed in I added more cheese in and put it in the oven so that it would melt. Then with the macaroni I saved for Phil, I put spaghetti sauce in it and covered it in tin foil and put it in the oven with the Mac n’ Cheese. I grabbed plates and silverware and brought it all out to the lounge to set the table.

I asked the guys what they wanted for drinks and then went back to the kitchen and poured the glasses. I grabbed a leftover soda from the picnic and just poured it in a cup for me. I carried all three of the drinks to the table and I didn’t even spill any. I was so proud of myself in that moment. Yay for no spillage.

When both dishes were done I carried them out to the table. One at a time of course. I’m not that talented and I didn’t feel like burning myself today.

“Okay guys, it’s time for food.” I said to Dan and Phil who were lounging on the couch. As per usual we had a new episode of whatever anime Dan and Phil were watching now. I never really paid much attention to the anime but sometimes I was just forced into watching it with the guys while we ate. It was like their tradition, before I moved in.

Dan really liked the Mac n’ cheese and Phil was thankful that I had thought of him and made him something else. All in all it was a good end to a good day. After supper dishes were picked up and loaded in the dishwasher, the three of us dispersed to our separate room. I assumed the boys would be editing.

I went up and loaded the pictures on to my laptop and sorted them into folders. There was Dan’s pictures, Phil’s pictures, and my pictures. I sent both the boys their pictures. When I was going through mine I came across the one Phil took of me and Dan. As if he knew I was thinking about him, Dan sent me a message.

D: Where is the picture of us that Phil took?

S: Oh I didn’t know you wanted it.

D: Well yeah I want it.

S: Okay sending it now.

I quickly sent the picture to Dan.

D: Thank you :D

I could feel the exhaustion taking over me while I was staring at the computer screen. I decided that I should probably go to bed. I closed my laptop and started to get undressed. I put on shorts and a tank top. I was warmer than usual and I attributed it to the fact that I got a lot of sun today. I fell asleep quickly.



I woke up to a terrible pain in my back. I tried to change position but when I moved I wanted to cry. I slowly and carefully climbed out of bed and walked over to my mirror. I looked at myself in shock. My shoulders and my upper back were as red as a lobster. I wanted to facepalm myself but I decided against that because it hurt to move my shoulders.

I carefully took off my tank top and put on a strapless top so that I had no clothing touching the burned areas. I grabbed some aloe lotion and started to make my way to the bathroom. When I started the decent of stairs I literally ran into Dan. He touched my shoulder causing me wince and want to cry.

“Oh sorry, what happened to your shoulders?” asked Dan noticing how red they were.

“I think I laid out in the sun writing for too long.” I replied showing him the aloe lotion.

“Do you need any help?” Dan offered.

I turned to show him my back and nodded. We went down to the bathroom. He was extremely
gentle while he rubbed the lotion on my back. I let out a moan when the cool lotion touched my back and I don’t even care how it sounded. The lotion just felt so good.

“There. All done.” said Dan moving to wash his hands. When he was done we made our way back to the lounge. I laid on my stomach on the couch and closed my eyes.

“I’m such and idiot.” I mumbled to myself.

“Hey now we can recreate The Skin Fic.” said Dan. I looked up at him disgusted.

“That’s gross. No!” I said pointing my finger at him and wincing, instantly regretting it when I moved my shoulder. Dan laughed at me.

“Of course we would have to wait for it to start peeling.” said Dan with an evil grin.

“NO NO NO NO NO NOOOO. No.” I said loudly trying to block out Dan words while plugging my ear. This caused him to laugh even harder.

Dan left just after that and I laid on the couch with no intentions of moving all day. I wished I
had thought to grab my laptop or something so I could watch Netflix. I reached for the remote and turned the TV on. I just put it on a random channel and zoned out. Apparently I fell asleep on the couch because soon I was awoken by Dan moving my foot.

“Do you need more lotion?” he asked me. I nodded my head.

The cool lotion literally felt so good. I moaned shamelessly.

“What is going on in here?” said Phil rounding the corner. When he saw my shoulders and back
he understood.

“Oh now I get it. I was scared there for a minute.” I glared at him.

“Sorry, sorry. The moaning just sounded suggestive.” said Phil backing away with his hands raised. I would have flipped him off if Dan hadn’t moved on to my shoulders just then. I could feel Dan laughing as he rubbed the lotion in. Phil left and Dan finished rubbing the lotion on and got up to wash his hands.

Before long Dan was back with his laptop this time. I moved so that he could sit in his sofa crease. My face was incredibly close to his butt and the only thing that I could think was “I really hope he doesn’t fart”.

We sat like this for a while, just enjoying each other’s company without having to fill the silence with conversation. I felt myself dozing off again.

“Hey Sam, can you sit up for a second?” Dan asked. I groaned but sat up.

“Okay so don’t be mad at me but I just finished editing my video that I want to post tonight and I have a hilarious clip of you and I really want to use it. It makes the video.” Said Dan talking kind of fast. I sighed.

“Okay let me see it.” I said reaching out for his laptop.

The video was called Things Not to Do in Public Bathrooms. It was funny and I really enjoyed but, I didn’t notice the part with me in it…until the end. After his channel name pops up on the screen with the explosion it cuts to a view of the bathroom. I hear myself sigh on the video and then in a very angry, slightly loud voice I say “I just want to pee” with a groan after it.

I literally facepalmed myself. It hurt. I could feel the blush creeping up on my face but also it was hilarious and it really did make the video.

“You better upload it now before I change my mind.” I said my voice muffled by my hands. Dan hugged me without thinking. Luckily he missed all the burnt parts.

“Oh sorry, I’m going to go upload it now.” Said Dan getting up and going to his room. I groaned and laid back down on the couch.

Phil made supper that night. I only got up to use the bathroom or have Dan put more lotion on my back. Dan came out for supper with a huge grin on his face and I couldn’t help but feel like I was one of the reasons it was there and that made me so happy.

Both of the guys had to go to bed early because they were getting up early to get on the plane
to Vidcon so after supper we retreated to our rooms. I wanted to get up with the boys and say good bye to them before they left.

I didn’t realize how early they were actually getting up. When I woke the next morning I felt like my limbs were tied to rocks. My back felt significantly better but I still didn’t want to put a t-shirt on.

I went down and helped Dan finish packing because no one wanted him to forget his socks on this trip. Dan didn’t appreciate the comment I made about that while helping him pack.

“You know, everyone went crazy for the video last night.” stated Dan while I was folding a t-shirt and putting it into his suitcase.

“Oh, did they?” I asked.

“Yeah they are all shocked that you’re American and any suspicions that you’re actually one of
our YouTuber friends is completely debunked because no one recognizes your voice.” Dan added. I just nodded. I could see that Dan was really happy and I didn’t want to dampen the mood with my internal struggle he had pulled me from.

We finished packing and I went to see if Phil needed any help. He seemed to have everything under control. And the boys were ready to go in what felt like five minutes.

“I’m going to miss you, Sam.” Said Phil wrapping me in a hug and squeezing tightly. He let go after a couple of seconds and then I moved on to Dan.

“We’ll Skype when we have some free time.” said Dan. I hugged him too. He breathed in tightening the hug. I held on to him a bit longer than I did Phil because I wanted to commit Dan’s scent to memory.

“I’ll see you soon. Have a safe flight and have fun.” I said stepping back from Dan and Phil.

They smiled and then walked out the door. I watched the door close behind them and then I just stood there. Staring at the closed door. They were gone.