Author's Note: This fic was inspired by the "AmazingDan" video (even though that was shot in 2010), because Dan seems so easily embarrassed, and yet so saucy at the same time. Specifically, his face when Phil says, "Penis, Dan. Penis penis penis." He seems like this intriguing blend of provocative and innocent. Most fics about 2009 phan are from Dan's POV, and I tried to think what it must have been like from Phil's perspective.

Manchester Piccadilly to Starbucks

Phil hunches his shoulders a bit, not exactly hiding behind a pillar but just standing … really close to a pillar. And maybe a little behind it. Just a bit. But definitely not hiding. Definitely not hiding like some creeper waiting to meet up with a teenage boy he met on the Internet.

He's never done this before, actually arranging to meet one of his subscribers in real life. Dan has become more than just a subscriber to him over the past few months, of course, but he can't deny that the … relationship? friendship? … began with Dan stalking his videos and hounding him on Twitter like so many other subscribers had done before. Phil's had plenty of admirers as his subscriber base grew over the years, and a lot of them flirted with him, some outright propositioned him, but he was never tempted to take any of them up on their offers.

It's just … Dan is … different.

But Phil can't deny the power imbalance. He knows he's a well-known personality, even if only in a limited little sphere of the Internet. His YouTube channel has thousands of subscribers. Tens of thousands. He gets fan mail. Lots of it. Weird as it sounds to him sometimes, he has … fans.

And Dan is one of them.

And he's only 18.

And Phil, AmazingPhil from the Internet, has invited this teenage fan to come stay at his house. Overnight. For three days. While his parents are away.

Yeah, it sounds creepy. Which makes him incredibly self-conscious. What in the world do Dan's parents think about this? Phil hasn't asked, because he doesn't want to mess this up.

Because, despite the power imbalance, he's really excited and nervous to meet Dan.

Because while he may be YouTube's AmazingPhil, Dan is just … amazing. Their Skype calls have gotten flirtier and flirtier these past few weeks. Dan has always been a tease, right from the start. He knows how gorgeous he is, and he purposely posts selfies with his neck arched just so, his eyelids lowered as if he's just begging for someone to grab him by the hips and…

But he's 18. Phil keeps reminding himself of that. Okay, so maybe some of their Skype calls have gotten a bit racy, maybe Dan has been a bit provocative, maybe they've talked a bit about things that could happen this weekend, but Phil doesn't want to push him.

After all, Dan may decide that Phil Lester isn't as exciting as AmazingPhil. He might not be so interested when he sees Phil without a camera lens between them.

And that's what's making him most nervous, because he really tried not to get emotionally invested in this whole thing with Dan, but somehow it happened anyway. Somewhere along the way, he started really liking this smart, brash, outspoken, sarcastic, funny kid. They haven't even met yet, and Phil just desperately wants Dan to like him. He wants Dan to step off the train and see him and smile and for everything to be just as comfortable as it is on Skype, for them to just fall together like that's where they belong. He wants Dan to belong to him, and to want to belong to him. And he wants to belong to Dan, too. He wants Dan to want him, to want them to be together. And he's desperately afraid that Dan is going to change his mind when he finally meets the real Phil Lester in the train station.

He's got a crush, he realizes. He's 22 years old, and he has a crush on this boy.

Dan's train begins pulling into the station and sets Phil's heart rate racing. It's pulling to a stop. The doors are opening. People are beginning to stream out onto the platform. One of them is going to be Dan.

Phil steels his nerve and takes a step away from his protective pillar, making himself a bit more visible. He wore one of his brightest, most colorful shirts so that he would be easy to spot in a crowd. He chews on his lip, eyes flitting anxiously across the faces around him. His fingers tangle nervously into the hem of his shirt, twisting and pulling at the fabric.

And then suddenly Dan is there, standing right in front of him, a messenger bag slung across his body and a duffle bag in one hand. His hair isn't quite as dark as Phil had thought it would be—it has light brown highlights visible in the sun streaming through the train station windows. His eyes are even more beautiful than Phil had imagined, their color far more vivid than the word "brown" could ever convey, more than Skype could ever do justice to.

Phil realizes he's been staring. And not saying anything. He stammers out, "Dan! Dan! It's you! You're here!" And then he belatedly opens his arms for a hug, as he always does when greeting someone. Even just random fans who recognize him on the street get warm Phil hugs. But Dan hesitates, which makes Phil's stomach clench. Dan lowers his eyes, looking down at his feet, then leans in for an awkward hug with only one arm. Phil doesn't hug as warmly as he usually would, or as long as he wants to, because he can tell that Dan isn't comfortable.

It's like Phil's worst nightmare. He was right. Dan is disappointed.

He lets Dan go and steps away to make sure he isn't crowding the boy and freaking him out. He's feeling more like a creepy Internet predator now, because it sort of seems like Dan doesn't want to be here. And Dan isn't saying anything, which is only making it worse.

"Um," Phil begins awkwardly, "how was the train?" He reaches a hand toward Dan's duffel bag, but Dan ignores the silent offer, clenching the straps so tightly his knuckles are white.

Dan scuffs a shoe against the ground and looks away, reaching up to scratch the back of his neck and shrugging. "It was all right, I guess." Then he doesn't say anything more, still not meeting Phil's eyes.

Phil rapidly adjusts his expectations for the weekend. Maybe Dan won't even want to stay tonight. Maybe he'll want to catch the train home today, instead. Does he even want to leave the train station with Phil? Or should Phil just leave him here so he can escape this obvious horrible mistake as soon as possible?

"Is there a Starbucks around here?" Dan's voice cuts into Phil's racing thoughts. He certainly doesn't sound flirty now, just very young and hesitant. "I could use some coffee."

Phil smiles and nods, eager to please. "We can walk from here. Do you want me to take your bag?" He reaches a hand toward the duffle again and Dan lets him take it, which makes Phil ridiculously happy.

The walk to Starbucks is painfully awkward. Phil keeps trying to start conversations, but Dan is withdrawn and mostly monosyllabic. Phil notices himself nervously slipping into the zany AmazingPhil persona, which makes him feel a little less vulnerable to this slow motion crash and burn. After a few failed attempts to get Dan talking, he just starts telling a story about a weird woman he saw in the train station while he was waiting.

They place their order at Starbucks—the same order, in fact, which makes them chuckle and breaks the tension for a moment—then sit down with their drinks. A bubble of silence seems to encase them as the busy coffee shop bustles around them. Dan stares into his caramel macchiato and stirs it. Phil clears his throat nervously and Dan glances up at him through his lashes.

"This is so surreal," Dan mutters, as if to himself.

"What's surreal?" Phil asks, just glad that Dan has initiated a conversation topic.

Dan looks at him properly, but still not quite meeting his eyes, and says wonderingly, "I'm sitting in a Starbucks with AmazingPhil."

Phil immediately replies, "You're sitting in a Starbucks with your friend Phil from Skype."

Dan meets his eyes now, and he smiles properly for the first time since he first stood in front of Phil on the train station platform. Dimples appear in his cheeks.

Phil blurts out, "God, you're even prettier in person." Then he blushes, afraid that he's gone too far, that he'll scare Dan off, that he's being a predatory creeper.

Dan smiles wider and ducks his head, seeming embarrassed. He's staring fixedly into his macchiato when he says quietly, "Your eyes are even nicer than I thought." He glances up through his lashes again.

Phil begins to wonder if he's been misreading Dan. He's young. He's meeting someone—a guy he's been flirting with pretty outrageously—in person for the first time. Maybe he's just … nervous? Shy? He decides to take a chance. "I've been really nervous about meeting you."

Dan's head comes up and his eyes are wide. "Really? Why?"

Phil shrugs awkwardly. "Because I like you. And I wasn't sure if you were going to like me."

Dan's mouth drops open slightly, then he stammers, "I was worried about the same thing!"

Phil sighs with relief. "Can we start this all over again?" He stands up and holds his arms open for a hug.

Dan stands immediately and steps into his arms, and suddenly they're hugging each other tight in the middle of a busy Starbucks in downtown Manchester. Dan laughs, and he sounds happy. Phil squeezes him a little tighter. "Can't … breathe…" Dan quips, and Phil loosens his hold. Dan steps away slightly and Phil lets his arms fall to his sides. Dan's arms are still around his neck, though, when he says, "I wanted to do that at the train station, but I was too nervous." Then he finally lets go, and they sit back down.

Phil can't wipe the smile off his face, and he's just gazing at Dan's beautiful face unabashedly now. Dan keeps looking at him, then smiling shyly and glancing away. It's adorable. He seemed so confident on Twitter and Skype, and now he's just this insecure little bundle of … cute. It's not what Phil had expected, but he loves it just the same.

"Your eyes are prettier than I expected, too," he flirts, hoping that Dan will return in kind.

Dan does that thing again, that thing where he looks up at Phil through his lashes, and his smile is smaller now, like a private thing between the two of them. "I'm so happy right now." He takes a deep breath and lets it out with a whoosh. "I can't believe I'm here! I can't believe you're here!" His grin widens again. "This is … amazing. No pun intended." They both laugh. And suddenly they're just Dan and Phil again, like they were on Skype, and they know each other and they aren't strangers meeting for the first time. They smile at each other without reservation.

"I'm really glad to meet you, Dan Howell," Phil says.

"I'm really glad to meet you, Phil Lester," Dan replies.

And they each take a sip of their matching drinks and smile in the steam rising from their mugs.

Author's Note: I'm considering making this the first chapter in a longer story. Let me know if that interests you.