Koala Style

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

I sigh and stare into the mirror, cocking my head.

"How did you," I say, pointing at my reflection, "get that?" I finish, pointing in the direction of the kitchen. I sigh and dunk my head into the full sink. I pull up and dry my face then brush my teeth and hair.

I check the time on my phone. I have an hour until work. I also have three messages from Hannah, my best friend. I smack my head and open my phone.

I completely forgot about Hannah. I was probably supposed to go see her this weekend. Maybe she'll forgive me if I explain myself. I ignore the messages and call her straight away. She picks up after the second ring.

"Hey," she says, sounding calm. "You still alive?"

"Oh my God, Hannah, I am so sorry. Steve said I couldn't stay in the house for the weekend and he gave me seven minutes to get out so I went to this place where PJ is staying and I kind of lost track of time. Do you wanna hang out when I get back from work?" I gush down the phone.

"Liv, relax. I don't mind. I was only worrying, well not exactly, um… Look, I saw you drive past and you had your arm in a pot. I'm just making sure you were OK."

"Yeah, I'm in safe hands. Don't worry." I say twirling my toothbrush in my fingers.

"Yeah, that's another thing I wanted to ask you about. Um, correct me if I'm wrong but did I see you in the car with danisnotonfire?" she asks.

"Dan is not on what?" My eyebrows mash together from confusion.

"Danisnotonfire. From YouTube. Dan Howell?" she explains. What the hell is she even talking about.

"Yes Dan Howell. Not Dan Isnotonfire. I have no idea who he is."

"It's his YouTube username."

"That makes… kind of sense." I am so confused.

"Liv?" Dan asks from outside, knocking on the door. "Are you OK in there?"

"Who's that?" Hannah asks, interested that she heard a boy's voice. I don't really hang out with boys so this is a first for her.

"Look, Han, I have to go." I say into the phone before pulling it away to address Dan. "Yeah, fine, Dan!"

"Wait, Liv, are you in his house?!"

"I have to go." I say, and hang up before she can gush anymore. I slip my phone into my pocket and walk out the room.

"Hey," Dan says as I leave the bathroom. "You were in there a while."

"Yeah, I was just calling a friend. She saw me in the car with my broken arm and was really worried." I miss out the part about him, which was the main reason.

"Good." he gestures to the breakfast bar where two bowls of Cookie Crisp are waiting for us. I sit down on one of the stools. "Phil bought these and hated them so I figured we'd eat them."

I scoop up a spoonful. "It's just cookies in milk." I laugh, eating it. It doesn't taste half bad.

He laughs as well. "It's not bad."

"I agree."

We eat in silence for a bit, but Dan breaks it. "So when do you get back from work?"

"Three, usually."

"You doing anything after that?"

"Nope."

He grins. "Good."

I raise an eyebrow, spooning more Cookie Crisp into my mouth. "Why? Do you have something planned?"

He nods, grinning wider. "As a matter of fact I do." He finishes his cereal quickly and puts it on top of the dishwasher. "Is your arm OK?"

I stretch out my arm and it doesn't hurt. I nod. "Yep."

"OK, but take it easy, yeah?" he says, using his stern face again. It just makes me laugh.

"Dan, you don't need to worry about me so much. Seriously." I get up to put my bowl away but he takes it off me, putting it away himself. I sigh and roll my eyes.

"For fuck sake," I mutter.

"Liv, I can't stop worrying about you OK! After what happened, I can't even think about leaving you alone. There are tonnes of guys out there exactly like the man in the park, some worse. I can't begin to describe how scared I am about something like that happening to you again. Don't you realise that?!"

I'm taken aback by the sincerity in his voice and eyes. "Look, Dan, I realise that that wasn't exactly the kind of thing you'd want to happen but it was just a piece of bad luck OK. There isn't much chance of it happening again."

"How are you not in an emotional coma?! You practically got raped!"

"He barely did anything other than break my bones OK! I've been beat up plenty of times before, I'm basically used to it."

"You're not supposed to be used to something like that, Liv. That's not…normal."

"For some people it is," I say. "Look, Dan, I'm sorry if I worry you too much. I'll just go back home so I don't cause you anymore trouble."

I get up to walk out but Dan grabs onto my arm before I can.

"No, I don't want you too leave."

"Then what do you want me to do?" I try to flail my unbroken arm but Dan has a firm grip on it.

"I'm sorry. I'll…" he lets go of my arm. "I'll stop being so protective over you then. It's just. I don't know, you're just so…"

"So, what?"

He bites his lip.

"'So' what, Dan?

Instead of finishing his sentence he leans in and kisses me on the lips. Not the rough kind of kiss with tongues and everything, but a long, sweet and lingering kiss. I wrap my good arm around his neck and lean into the kiss. He was just… so perfect.

We finally break away for oxygen, and when we do, Chris pops up behind Dan with a massive grin on his face, clapping.

"AWWWW!" he exclaims, hugging us both. "You two are the cutest! OTP right here, everybody."

Phil and PJ laugh, tiredly from the living room. I roll my eyes.

"I should get to work." I state, grapping my purse from where I left it on the counter. Dan gives me a weak smile.

"I'll take the bus." I promise.

"Thank you." he smiles.

I turn and walk out of the house.

"AWWWHH! I ship it so much!"