Dan and Phil imagines

Fairy Lights

'Phil, is the tree up?'
'Check.'
'The decorations on the windows?'
'Check.'
'The fairy lights?'
He looks at me timidly, then quickly throws his eyes to his tapping foot.
'Phil! Not again!' I whine. He did this last year and almost ruined Christmas for my niece. 'You know how much she loves the lights!'
'Sorry Y/N. I just couldn't find them.'
'What about Dan? Does he know where they are?' I'm starting to panic now. My niece is coming in less than an hour, and if we don't have fairy lights, she's going to cry and hate me forever. I sigh sadly.
'Dan's not coming back tonight. Remember?' Of course I remember, he's been spending more and more time at that girls house. We haven't even met her! Phil's been a complete wreck as he's been gone, and he's trying so hard to hold himself together.
'Not if I have anything to do with it,' I mutter, reaching for the phone and slamming in Dan's number. I step out of the room and press the phone on my ear. After about three rings, a female voice picks up and sighs.
'Can I help you?'
'Yeah, actually. I need to talk to Dan, urgently.'
'Yeah, well,' she says, childishly mimicking my snide tone. 'Dan's kind of busy right now.' You know when you can hear that someone smiles? Yeah, she smiles wickedly and slams the phone down. Ha. Thought you could get rid of me that easily? I think not. I ring again. And again. And again-
'What do you want, Y/N?' ouch, someone's in a bad mood.
'I need you to come home for Christmas. My niece loves you and we've lost the fairy lights!' I lower my tone and pout a little. 'You know how much she loves the fairy lights.'
'Who even is that?' I hear the Devil's mistress call from the other side of the room. Dan pulls the phone away for a minute and I hear the hushed side of a conversation before she storms out, slamming the door behind her.
'Y/N, listen. I'd love to come home, but this is my life now. I haven't slept at home in months, it's not like I live with you guys anymore. Now, I appreciate that you want me there, but I'm spending Christmas here, end of. I'm sorry, Y/N.'
'But what about Phil?!' I cry on a final whim, knowing that I'll have to admit defeat soon.
'Phil...' He whispers, then hangs up. Leaving the room with an empty, eerie silence.
I can't mention anything to Phil, so I'll just tell him that the lines engaged, not an issue. I'm sure that the last thing Phil wants to hear about is Dan's, um, recreational life.

'What did he say?' Phil says, bouncing into the room and sitting next to me.
'The line's engaged, sorry.' I say, visibly sighing. I didn't want to let Phil down. This is the first Dan-less Christmas that he's had in, like, eight years.
'Oh, no, that's okay. Guess it's just going to be us versus these lights then,' he tosses an arm around my shoulder and smiles, giving me a quick squeeze before rushing to the dreaded store cupboard.
I'm so disappointed in Dan. I know he grew up, but he still ought to visit us. I mean, we would see him, if he gave us the she-devil's address.

'I found them!' Phil squeals, hauling a huge line of lights through the hallway. I, in return, squeal too. 'Everyone's going to be so happy.'
'Yeah.' Except I know that's not the truth. Phill not going to be truly happy without Dan. No-one will be.

***
'Aunty Y/N!' My niece grips my legs a little too tightly and I almost topple over- thankfully Phil loops his arm around my waist and keeps me steady.
'Thank you,' I whisper, and he touches my hand as he leaves to greet some of the other family members that are only here for the free food. 'Hey Sweet, how are you doing?'
'Wonderfully thank you,' she's grown so much since I last saw her. Her hair is already starting to go curly -just like mine- and' when she speaks, she sounds so confident.
'That's good. Hey, how about we go pick a channel, yeah? We just got a pop music channel, and I know how much you love that.' Lies; we've had that channel for over a year now, but last time the music was so bad that I would have preferred to listen to cheesy Christmas songs than the charts.
'Thank you!' And I'm dragged over to the sofa.

***

Drinks are topped up, stories are told. There's a comforting warmth to the room, yet it feels so cold at the same time. It's obvious on Phil's face that he feels the same way. Nothing feels complete without Dan.

***

Four knocks on the door. Phil glances over quizzically at me and I nod, giving the signal that I'll get it, even though I know that's not what he was asking.
The doorknob seems even colder than before and I get an odd sick feeling in my stomach.
'Merry Christmas,' I say drably as I open the door, sticking my head into the corridor. 'Oh my god.'
'Hey, Y/N.' He says, smiling. I slam the door shut and tackle him in the corridor, allowing myself to be enveloped by his aura.
'Where's the she-devil?' I ask without thinking, squeezing Dan tighter.
'Who?'
'Oops, sorry. I mean your girlfriend, I've never really met her so...'
'Oh, she's gone. If you know what I mean, she kind of ditched me this Christmas.'
'Who for?'
'Her ex.'
'Oh God,' just one look at Dan's face shows he's been crying, so I squeeze him even tighter than before - if that's even possible - and grab his hand, dragging him towards the door. 'You're celebrating with us now, okay?'

***

'Look who's here, everyone. It's Dan!' Parents and relatives - all of whom have never even met Dan - smile and greet him with happy words. Phil runs up and bear hugs Dan. I toss myself into the muddle and we all hug for longer than we probably should.
The crew's back together.
Merry Christmas everyone.