Sanctuary (A Dan Smith/ Bastille fanfic)

26. Chloe

“Dan?” I push my way through the sea of people in the busy club to find my way to him. I can’t believe I let him walk off. One minute he was right next to me, the next he had disappeared into the crowd. I can’t lose him, he doesn’t know his way around the area and I need to protect him.

Why have I got this feeling that I need to protect him? He’s big enough to protect himself. He’s not going to get in any trouble at all. He’s not the type to let himself get into any real trouble. He tries to act all cool and nonchalant but I know he would never attempt to throw a punch at anyone. So why do I want to protect him so badly? I don’t know, I just feel like he’s mine to protect, especially here where I, for once, know the area better than him.

I can feel my anxiety creeping up as I search everywhere for him. I’ve checked the bar, the dance floor and even the men’s loo’s, causing a lot of strange looks from men, but he’s nowhere to be seen. I find my friends but none of them remember the last time they saw him.

Fuck. I’ve lost Dan. He’s got enough common sense to just go back to Eloise’s house where we’re staying, right? But he’s so drunk that I don’t even know if he will be able to find his way back to there. I knew I should have stopped him from drinking so much, Eloise’s Long Island Ice Teas are always lethal and he was hardly taking it slow.

I go out of the front of the club into the smoking area and breath a huge sigh of relief to find Dan sat on one of the bench’s talking to a group of people. I eye them up closely and recognise them as people that were in the year above me at school, they’re completely harmless. I find myself watching Dan for a minute and the interactions he’s having with these, well, strangers. He looks relaxed and untroubled as he casually converses with the group. He’s laughing and chatting like he’s known them for years, whereas in reality he’s only known them for 5 minutes maximum. I begin to feel my cheeks ache slightly and I realise I’ve been grinning whilst staring at him. He glances up and our eyes meet and he echo’s my wide beaming smile.

‘Come here’ he mouths whilst waving his arm in my direction. Without hesitation I move towards him, stumbling slightly over the paved floor. I huff and swear as I straighten myself up and carry on towards Dan. Maybe I’ve had too much to drink too.

“Hello.” He pulls a purposefully cheesy grin at me.

“I was looking for you for ages.” I scowl at him. “You didn’t tell me where you were going, you dick.” I push his leg and let my hand linger on his thigh.

“Naww were you worried?” He teases me, placing his hand over mine and squeezing it. He leaves it there and I feel comfortable with his touch.

“No.” I pout.

“Sure.” He’s still grinning like a Cheshire cat, knowing fully well I was worried. I look down at our hands and somehow our fingers have found themselves entwined in each other’s. “I bet you were worried.”

“Okay, so I was worried. And what?” He dips his head closer to mine to hear me properly.

“Sorry can you say that again?! I just want to hear you say it again?!” He jokes.

“You’re pushing your luck Dan.” I move our hands to push him in the chest and he fakes being hurt.

“Well if I’m pushing my luck already, I may as well push it further.”

With no other warning than that, his lips are on mine. He pushes his other hand to the back of my neck as he holds my face to him. I open my mouth to allow him entrance and tilt my head to the side slightly. He groans gently and I moan his name before deepening the kiss further. I don’t know why, but this seems strangely familiar to me. It’s weird, because I know we’ve never kissed before. But this feels good. It feels right.

……..

“Woah.” The words have left my mouth before I’ve realised. “That was.. Woah.” I open my eyes and I’m not in the club any more. Dan is no longer attached to my lips. Instead he’s leaning over me with a slightly confused expression. We’re in his car. I look out the window to see Eloise’s house in front of me. “We’re here.” I rub my eyes to be sure that we are in fact here and not in a club. “We’re here.” I repeat, sounding like a complete and utter idiot. I put on a false grin and realise that I need to get out of the small confined space as quickly as possible.

As I walk up the pathway I try to go over the events of my dream.

I don’t really feel that way towards Dan. Do I?

Fuck..