When I Met Dan (A Dan Howell Fanfiction)

Seven

Grace's P.O.V

The days leading up to Friday went so fast it almost felt unfair and nothing could've prepared me for how disappointed I felt when I woke up on the Friday morning of Em leaving. Emily smiled loads, and she kept saying how great it had been, staying in London. I didn't need to look twice at her to know her smile was a cover up. It killed me inside to know how much she disliked being at home. I promised her that she could come and stay again whenever she had a free weekend.

I was helping her pack her bag, we had to be at the train station by 11:00am, so we had about half an hour before we had to leave. I had set an alarm this morning for 8:00am so I could be up in time. The alarm didn't work and I had woke up at 9:30. So we were kind of rushing around now.
"Em don't forget to pack your eight pairs of shoes you bought!" I shouted to her, while brushing my teeth.
"I won't!" I heard her shout back.
I looked in the mirror, frowning at my messy hair and sleepy blue eyes. I finished brushing my teeth and pulled my hair into a messy ponytail to keep it out my face. I went back into my room and checked my laptop, which was open on Twitter. I had another DM from Louise, we had been talking all week whenever we had the chance, we got on so well. We were in the middle of a conversation about how I would teach Darcy my name. Louise had said Darcy had trouble pronouncing her Gs.
Louise: Maybe she could give you a nickname instead so she doesn't have to struggle haha xxx
Grace: Maybe aha. I gtg to the train station to drop off Em with mum and dad. I'll speak to you when I get back xxxx
I closed my laptop and went to my mirror and put on a bit of concealer and mascara to brighten my eyes a bit. I looked at my hair, the ponytail looked okay. It was only the train station, then I would come home. I walked through to Em's room to find her trying to zip her very full bag up.
"Need some help?" I grinned.
"Nah I'm good!"
I laughed and walked into the living room, flopping onto the sofa and then staring out of the large window which took up most of the wall, it faced in the direction of the centre of the city. This view from this window was my favourite thing about my apartment, it was a dull, greyish Summer day but the city down below still looked amazing. The way the streets and buildings lay before me reminded me of a map a little bit.
I heard footsteps and looked up to see Emily with her bag dragging behind her.
"You ready to go?"
"Yep."
I grabbed my phone, slipped some black converse and grabbed my leather jacket from the back of one of the chairs. I also picked up my bag. Apart from that I wore black skinny jeans, and a dark grey Arctic Monkeys band shirt. Yeah, I owned too much band merch.
Em took one last look at my apartment, and opened the door and got into the lift I closed and locked it behind us.
We laughed at the voice of the lift lady when she told us that the doors were closing. We stood quietly, I felt the familiar jolt in my stomach as the lift began to go down. I took Em's bag for her and we made it outside after going through the medium sized, carpeted room that the lift opened out on. The sky was grey and a cool breeze made goosebumps prickle up my arm, summertime was fading quickly, it was still mid-August though.
Em looked at her feet while she walked.
"Y'know I couldn't sleep for most nights this week so I watched YouTube for ages." I said.
She looked up at me, her expression brightening, "Really?"
"Yeah there's so many people to watch, I don't know how you keep on top of everything."
"Yeah well you have to devote at least 2 hours a day, 5 days a week if you want to keep up with everything. Including daily vlogs which is just another level of stalking."
I held back a smile, "I don't understand how people could share their daily life with millions of people, yeah, maybe a few embarrassing stories and makeup tutorials but every single day? I would feel pressured into making my life exciting."
We kept talking and we caught The Tube to the station. I didn't use The Tube that much because it was so stuffy and crowded and Em hated it but it was the most efficient way to get there so we just went with it. The station was bright and spacious and quite calm compared to The Tube even though there were still hundreds of people rushing around and pushing past you, not to mention the advertisements that were blared out through the speakers which were the complete opposite to calm.
As I came out of the front entrance, I kept looking from side to side, looking for our mum and dad who had said they would meet us there.
"Where are they?" I asked no one in particular while examining each face in the crowd for one I recognised.
"Is that Harrison?" Em said, shoving me and pointing directly at an older man, waiting patiently with a kind expression on his face. It was in fact Harrison. Harrison was employed by mum and dad to drive Emily anywhere she needed to go. Mum and dad were so busy all the time, and were barely at home, and had too much money, so they employed Harrison. We had grown up knowing him, he was really lovely and kind, although I didn't really know that much about his personal life.
"Hello!" Em said going up to him and smiling.
"Hello Emily, hello Grace good to see you again." He was very formal and polite. I smiled in return.
"Your mother and father couldn't meet you today to pick Emily up because they are busy working, so they sent me." I felt a pang of anger and disappointment in my stomach, sending me into an instant bad mood. Of course they couldn't the find time. "Your mother sends you her love, Grace and..." He reached for something in his pocket and pulled out an envelope and handed it to me, "This too."
I was too annoyed to pay attention to the envelope which I shoved in my bag next to my phone and purse. "Thank you Harrison, lovely to see you."
I turned to Em, "Please feel free to Skype me whenever you want to talk."
She nodded, "Make sure you keep the Vlogger stalking going."
I hugged her, "Will do."
"I'm going to miss you." Said Em.
"I'm going to miss you too." I said into her shoulder.
I knew this was the last time I'd see her for a while, so I kept hugging her. I pulled away, giving Harrison her bag.
I said goodbye again and just as they were walking away, Em turned around and said, "Don't forget Dan's live streams are on Tuesdays at 9pm."
I grinned and she turned around, she climbed in the expensive car Harrison drove and they pulled away.

I left the station, getting The Tube back to the nearest drop off I could get to my apartment. I took my hair down from the ponytail as I came out of The Tube station and onto the busy streets, I shook my hair out, leaving it messy. The grey sky hadn't cleared up and the air still gave me a bit of a chill. I plugged one earphone in so I could be aware of what was happening around me, but then I listened to Fall Out Boy in the other ear.
I ran a hand through my hair, thinking a bit about mum and dad. Did they not care enough to make time to see us? I was slightly annoyed, but not that much, I had learned not to care too much.
I looked up at the large Starbucks sign, not far a head of me. Coffee would make me feel better. I was so caught up with my thoughts of coffee and parents that I forgot to look where I was going. I walked head on into someone, but the gorgeous smell of cologne seemed to hit me harder than the collision itself.
I recognised the smell immediately, "Sorry! Are you okay?"
I finally looked up.
No way.
I'm pretty sure realisation crossed my face at the exact same time it crossed his face.
Dark eyes. Dark fringe. Black shirt. Dimples.
"Oh my God, hi Grace." His smile made my knees weak, but I kept my cool.
"Hey Dan!"
Holy shit.