Picture Perfect

Chapter 22:

CRASH! It was like watching everything that mattered in the world get smashed into millions of pieces. Dan suddenly felt as if he couldn't breathe. His throat closed up, and his chest ached. Phil wasn't going with him. Why? He wanted to ask, but that didn't seem like the best idea. He feared that he wouldn't be able to handle the answer.

"I'm sorry," whispered Phil. "I just…I can't leave Britain. It's my home, and I'm not ready to leave it behind."

Dan felt himself on the brink of tears, but he swallowed it back. "You don't have to explain. I was just hoping, but I completely understand." His heart sent shooting pains throughout his body. He'd been heartbroken, and he'd known loss, but this was a different kind of pain. "I'm still going to take the job." His voice faltered slightly with his statement.

"I would hope so," Phil attempted to smile, "it's a great thing. You deserve it." He paused for a moment. The dreaded question was on the tip of his tongue, but he felt nauseas at the idea of having to ask it. "But…" he trailed off, unable to bring himself to say it.

"Where do we go from here?" Dan inquired. He knew Phil well enough to know what words were resting in Phil's mouth. "I don't know. What do you want to do? Long distance seems," he stopped, shifting his gaze to the floor.

Phil took Dan's hands into his own, pulling Dan closer. "I don't want to lose you, but I also don't want to hold you back. Your entire life is about to change. I know that you would need to be free."

Now the tears couldn't be held back. They dripped slowly down Dan's cheeks, despite his unchanging expression. "I don't want to hold you back either."

Phil pulled Dan to him, pressing their lips together. It was a sad kiss, a type of goodbye. He felt everything breaking, tearing, but what else was he supposed to do?

"Will you go to the airport with me? You know, when I go?" asked Dan.

"Of course I will," Phil rested his forehead against Dan's. "I promise."

It wasn't long before Dan was ready to head to Los Angeles. He and Phil drove to the airport, the entire ride silent and cold like a bitter winter night. They couldn't bring themselves to engage in conversation. It hurt too much. Once they arrived, time seemed to go by all too fast. Everything moved quickly, and before they knew it, it was time.

"Attention. All flights at B gates will be boarding momentarily," said a voice over the intercom.

Dan and Phil didn't dare look at each other. They knew that if they did, they'd probably burst into tears. Holding everything together was hard enough as it was. Phil felt his heart breaking apart in his chest. There was a painful sting, and he felt sick to his stomach. He'd been heartbroken before, but never this bad. It was unlike anything he'd felt before.

Dan thought he might be sick. Everything was falling apart. How could he do this? How could he leave? It was a mistake. It had to be.

"That's your flight," said Phil in a quiet voice. "You should probably go so you don't miss it." Keeping his emotions at bay was proving to be nearly impossible.

"Right," said Dan as he stood up. He made the mistake of turning to look at Phil. He felt everything ripping apart.

Phil stood up and met Dan's eyes. "I-I'll walk with you."

They walked together until Phil wasn't allowed any further. Neither of them said a word out of the fear of falling to shattered pieces, pieces that may never be picked up.

"Last call for all flights at B gates," said the voice over the intercom.

"That's me," whispered Dan. He looked at Phil, uncontrolled tears shimmering in his eyes. "I love you…"

Phil wanted to snap right there. He wanted to cry. He wanted to tell Dan not to go, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. "I love you too." Slowly, he brought himself forward, gingerly pressing his lips to Dan's.

Dan reciprocated, setting his luggage down and bringing his arms around Phil. He deepened the kiss, treasuring it. He pulled away, resting their noses together. Carefully, he brought the rest of his body away from Phil. He grabbed his suitcase and gave a small wave, turning away before Phil could see him fall apart. Approaching the entrance to the plane, he scanned his ticket. He looked back, meeting eyes with Phil one last time, and then he stepped out of sight.

Phil was laying on his couch watching movies on Netflix. He let various sad love movies play in the background as he drowned his sorrows in copious amounts of popcorn. Just as he felt himself dozing off, a knock at the door startled him. "Jesus, what now?" he angrily groaned as he got up. Going over to the door, he opened it, and his heart almost burst.

Dan.

"What the, huh, Dan?" he questioned as he threw his arms around Dan.

Dan returned the gesture, holding Phil as tightly as possible. "Not to sound like I'm quoting F.R.I.E.N.D.S. again, but I got off the plane…"

Phil pulled away to look at Dan, his expression showing a clear mix of joy and confusion. "But why? Why'd you get off?"

"Because you weren't on it with me." Dan took Phil's hands into his own. "I thought about what I wanted to say about a million times on the way here. Look," he squeezed Phil's hands. "No job is worth not being with you. I'd take being on the streets and having you by my side, over having my dream job for the rest of my life. I lost the love of my life once, so how stupid would I have to be to walk away from my second chance, the chance most people don't get." He then bent down, getting on one knee.

Phil's eyes widened with shock, his jaw falling agape. "Dan. W-what are you—?"

"I don't have a ring, or any real plan. All I know is that I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I'd be an idiot to try and live any other way. So, Phil Lester, will you please do me the honor of marrying me?" Before Dan could get the word "me" out of his mouth, Phil had jumped down and thrown his arms around Dan.

"Yes!" Phil nearly knocked Dan over from tossing all of his weight onto the younger man. "Yes, I will." He maneuvered to kiss Dan, bringing his hands to Dan's face. "I'm never going to let you go again; I promise."

Dan smiled, gently pressing his nose against Phil's. "And I'll never leave again. You've got me forever now."

"I think I'll live." Phil chuckled lightly. "I love you so much."

"I love you too."

Dan brought their lips together again. They lay there, not bother to move to a different space. All they could do was treasure each other, hold each other. Neither of them were entirely sure how, but it was going to be okay. As long as they stayed together.

~5 Years Later~

"Move over! It's my turn!" shouted a young girl. She was just over five years old, pushing her brother out of the way so she could play on the slide.

The boy, age 8, tried pushing her back. "Delia, you just took your turn!"

"Hey, hey, hey," said Phil as he walked over to them both. "I saw. Winnie, give your sister a turn, please."

Winnie huffed. "Okay." He moved aside, letting Delia slide down the slide. "Can we just put two slides in the backyard?"

"We'll see," said Phil with a smile. He ruffled Winnie's hair. "One swing set and slide was a big enough challenge for me and dad."

"Well," started Dan as he approached. "That's because we're both construction-challenged. Hopefully if I get the promotion we can afford to hire someone." He held up his camera. "In the meantime, your mum wants some pictures of you and the kids to put up around the house."

Phil laughed, "When does she not want new pictures?"

Dan shrugged, "Not entirely sure, but she's too much of a sweetheart to let down."

Dan began snapping pictures of Phil, Delia, and Winnie, smiling uncontrollably as he did so.

After getting engaged, it was only 6 months later when Dan and Phil got married. Shortly after that, Dan was hired at a different photography company, one that paid even better than the last one. After three years of saving up money and buying a home, they were able to adopt Winnie and Delia. The kids were growing up so fast. For the first time in a long time, everything was wonderful, and they couldn't have been happier.

Once Dan was done taking photos of Phil and the kids, he decided to take a few candid shots as the kids played on the swing set. He took a few candid pictures of Phil, but then he decided to take a regular photo. There were a dozen different things he could have said to get Phil's attention.

"Phil!"

"Smile!"

"Look over here, you spork!"

He had used each of these in the past, but this time he knew exactly what he wanted to say to get the most beautiful smile possible from Phil.

"Hey, Phil," he called out, getting his husband's attention. "I love you." Snap! He took the picture right as Phil grinned, and just like everything else in that moment, it was perfect.

~The End~

Well, that's the end everyone. smile emoticon I hope you enjoyed that story. It was quite a journey to write it, and I had an amazing time heart emoticon I'm so happy that I got to share it with all of you.