In Another Life (Dan and Phil X Reader)

Chapter 12: Wake Up

Then, all at once, her calm demeanor shattered. It was like watching a beautiful and flawless glass sculpture break into a million pieces.
Your mom was always so strong and prepared, and she wanted you to be like her. She wanted you to be normal. But now, you were seeing your mom as she truly was, without that flawless mask she wore every day. And this mom, this new side of her, was a lot like you.
She was sobbing, tears rushing down her face. "Oh God, oh God, I'm so sorry. So sorry, (Y/N). I know that you didn't do it on purpose. And I can't keep this a secret from you any longer. I tried, I really did, and you probably hate me because I was always so strict with you-"
You watched as your own mother curled up into a little ball on the couch, looking very weak and vulnerable. You often lied like that yourself when you were upset. Heck, you'd curled up like that a bunch of times when you were with Dan and Phil. Your mouth was open in shock, and finally, you made your way over to the couch. "Mom. I don't understand. What secret? You're not going to tell me that we're secretly time travelers, are you? Although I guess that would explain a lot..."
Your mom laughed and sat up, trying to wipe tears away. "Sorry. I just had a bit of an existential crisis there. No, we're not time travelers, although that would be cool."
You stared at your mom in confusion. Had she really just used the phrase 'existential crisis'? "Look, I don't know if you're really my mother. You're acting all weird. And you always said I was the weird one!" you exclaimed. "(Y/N), I was just so worried about you. I'm sorry. That's why I cried. But there is a secret, and now that you've experienced it firsthand, it's time that you knew the truth."

****
Your mom's story was long, and you found it hard to believe. But in the end, it was the only plausible explanation to everything that you'd been through.
"It's our family's duty to look after Dan Howell and Phil Lester. We're... Their guardians, if you will."
"Like guardian angels?" you interrupted. Your mother sighed. "Not exactly. You see, all of this is my fault, and that's why I tried so hard to keep it from you. I used to live in England, and I was in high school with Dan. Later on, I was in the same college as Phil. Both in high school and college, I was kind of a stuck-up bitch."
Your eyes widened.
"I was in one of the popular cliques, and later on a popular sorority. I made fun of both of them. They were nerds, and I was cool and pretty. Or, I thought I was, anyway."
"After college, while I was pregnant with you, I had a weird dream in which I was approached by a shadowy figure. It told me that I'd have to make up for what I'd done by being a guardian to both Dan and Phil. I'd have to protect them and look out for them, make sure that they were happy."
"I didn't believe the dream at first. After all, it was just a dream. But a few nights after that, I was transported to a world in which I was Dan's best friend. The next day, I was Phil's best friend. It was horrible. Every time I saw them, I was burdened by so much guilt. I tried to apologize, but they never recognized me as the girl who had teased them."
"One day, I woke up and I was back at home. I ran away. I left with you- you were really still a newborn- and I went to America. I wanted to start over, without feeling the burden of watching over those two men."
"You left Dad?" you asked, shocked. Your mom shook her head. "I'd been missing for months while I was still pregnant with you. He thought that I'd run off, so he left. I guess it's good that he's gone, if he wasn't willing to stay and look for me."
"Why didn't you just stay and protect Dan and Phil?" you said, angrily. Your mom breathed in deeply. "I was young and stupid. Who knows? I was visited one more time by the shadowy dream figure, who told me I had not yet repented and that my burden was not lifted. Over time, though, nothing happened. I began to forget. Then you grew up, and you found those YouTubers. Dan and Phil. I knew them right away, and I knew it wasn't over. You'd now have to carry the burden for me."
Your mom sighed and dropped her head to her hands. "I'm so sorry, (Y/N). This burden is now yours, and if I could take it back from you, I would."
Your mom probably expected you to feel bad for her, to forgive her now that she'd told you the truth.
But you didn't.
You got mad instead.
"But there's something different about me," you practically hissed. "I love them. I loved them from the screen long before I met them, and I love them still. This isn't a burden to me, it's the best possible gift. Thank you, Mom. Thank you for being mean to them all those years ago so that I could have the chance to be with them. I thank you for that, but I don't forgive you, because you were a jerk. And not only were you a jerk, but you were a coward. You ran away! You couldn't even live up to what you did, so you ran to another fricking country. Are you kidding me?!"
Your mom stared at you, her mouth open in shock. "(Y/N), I was just trying to-"
"What? Protect me? Bullshit. You were just trying to run away from your problems. Well, guess what? Dan and Phil are not problems to me. I love them. And I would be their guardian willingly, whether or not you'd been visited by a shadowy figure and blah blah blah. Just so you know."
You tried to turn and storm off to your room, but your mom grabbed your wrist, yanking your arm. "(Y/N), no. We have to leave the country again. What do you think about going to Canada?"
"I will leave the country, Mom. But not with you. If you need me, I'll be in London, with Dan and Phil." You twisted your hand and pulled it out of your mom's grip, the way you'd been taught in your school's self defense class. "You won't find them, (Y/N)!" your mom called. "They won't remember you in this world!"
You slammed your door shut so hard that you were afraid it was now stuck in the wall. You didn't really care. At least that meant your mom couldn't get in.
You rushed over to your laptop, trying to get it started up as quickly as possible.
You checked Dan and Phil's YouTube channels. They were back to normal, with no sign of you on them anywhere. Any new videos that you'd made with them were just... gone. Just in case, you checked your phone.
Aha! All of the videos were still safely on your phone! You'd kept your phone in your pocket the whole time, so the footage must have safely traveled with you from universe to universe.
Your mom was pounding on your door. "(Y/N), open this door! I just want to keep you safe!"
You moved quickly and pushed a chair up against the door, then went back to your computer.
You opened up your email, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Snapchat all at once. Time to go to work.
You bombarded Dan and Phil with messages. You spammed them. You sent them hundreds of copies of the videos from your phone. Your messages were rushed with plenty of typos, all to the soundtrack of your mom hammering on the door, but you still managed to express who you were in a few short sentences.
"This is (y/f/n) (y/l/n). Hi Dan. Hi Phil. I love you both. I need you to try really hard to remember me. I know you can."
You added little key words in your messages that might help them remember their time with you. For Phil, you wrote things like, "Cookie dough, lions at the zoo, our hamsters, the Panic! concert. Please remember me, Phil." For Dan, you wrote things like, "We caught Pikachus together, you made me mac and cheese, you saved me from that idiot at Starbucks. Please, Dan."
You sent them rapidly, glad that all of your time on the Internet and resulting typing skills were paying off. Your door began to shake. Would it hold? How long would it take Dan and Phil to respond? They could be doing anything right now, they could be in the middle of a live show. You couldn't afford to wait that long.
You pressed your laptop to your heart, pretending like it was Dan and Phil that you were holding there. They definitely needed protecting, but the only thing they needed protecting from was your own mother. "(Y/N)!!" Your mother's voice was a scary and hoarse scream at this point. She sounded crazed.
Your phone vibrated, and you unlocked it quickly. It was a private message from Dan on Twitter.
"Don't worry (Y/N). We could never forget you. And we're coming to get you."