Koala Style

Chapter 6

No one is in the flat when I get back. I got to leave an hour early after I received my pay cheque because of my arm. I knew PJ and Chris were going out to see some man about the hotel. Or so I heard.

"Hello?" I call out, putting my stuff on the breakfast bar beside the bowl where Dan and Phil keep their keys.

"Hello?" I ask again, shrugging off my jacket and hanging it up on the rack by the door.

"Weird." I mutter to myself. I get out my phone and ring PJ.

He picks up after a few rings. "Talk to me."

"Hey, Peej, where is everyone?"

"At home, like they're supposed to be, why?"

I mash my eyebrows together. "No one's here. I thought Chris was with you."

"Nope, they're all at home. Are you sure they're not there?"

"Well if they are they must be playing a game of hide and seek that I wasn't aware of." I say, looking into all the doors down the hall to check.

"Aren't you supposed to be at work?" he queries.

"Yeah but Jack let me go home because of my arm. I'm not exactly a useful waitress with one arm." I laugh down the phone, going back into the kitchen.

"OK, well I'm sure they'll be back soon. Take care, Liv."

"See ya Peej." I say before the line ends. I huff and slump into a kitchen stool, fiddling with my phone. The door loudly swings open and three laughing boys enter. I sigh in relief.

"Liv, what are you doing back so early?" Dan asks, crossing over to me, smiling.

"Jack said I could take the week off work so my arm can recover." I explain.

A wide grin spreads across Dan's face, making me smirk.

"Then you have the whole week to yourself?"

I nod, "Yep."

He grins again. "Good."

I twirl the stool round to face the others, who are already settled on the couch and playing Skyrim. "So what were you guys doing today?"

"We went to see The Dark Knight Rises." Phil says, not taking his eyes off the TV.

"Oh my God, I love that film!" I say, getting off the stool and sitting down on the bean bag on the floor.

"You've seen it?" Dan asks, flopping himself beside me.

"Yeah, saw it last week. I'm more of a Spiderman fan, but it was still good."

"What?" Dan says, looking baffled at me. "How can you prefer Spiderman toBatman?!"

"Well Spiderman is a much better hero, he doesn't have a ridiculously low voice and lets face it; Andrew Garfield? Miles better looking than Christian Bale."

Dan gasps. "You take that back!"

I laugh. "Um… NO!"

He grins evilly then starts tickling me. I squeal and squirm, trying to bat him off.

"Dan! DAN! GET OFF I'M TICKLISH!"

I notice that he's not being to rough, and everytime I move onto my arm he stops, but still; tickling is torture.

He laughs manically. "I would have never guessed."

He finally stops and we watch Phil and Chris play Skyrim for a while. I get up and announce I need the toilet.

"I need to check something on my computer as well," Dan mutters and heads over to his room.

I quickly go to the toilet and when I come back, Phil and Chris have stopped playing the video game and are talking in hushed whispers. I hear my name and duck behind the breakfast bar to eavesdrop.

"I don't know man, they're just really pissing me off."

My eyebrows draw together. Are they talking about Dan and me?

"How?" Chris asks, then gasps. "You're not jealous of Dan are you?"

I put my hand to my mouth. No way would Phil like me that way!

"NO! I'm not jealous of Dan!"

"You're jealous of Liv? I knew Phan was real!"

What the fuck is Phan?

"NO! I'm not jealous of either of them, OK. I just hate it how Dan throws himself at any girl who likes him. I mean, he isn't desperate or anything it's just… They barely even know eachother and they're fucking dating, Chris. If you asked Dan what Liv's favourite colour was, he wouldn't have the faintest idea." He huffed and sat back in the sofa, switching the TV back on.

"I guess you're right." Chris says. "But how do we tell them that? They're obsessed with eachother."

"That's the point. They just need to fucking slow down." Phil mutters angrily.

"Calm down, OK, man." Chris laughs.

"Sorry, it's just this has happened to me before with my ex Samantha. If you move to fast in a relationship, someone always winds up really hurt." Phil says, more calm now. "And I don't want Dan to get hurt."

"And if Dan ever did anything to Liv, PJ would murder him. Slowly."

I lean against the side of the breakfast and sigh quietly. He's right. He is so completely right. We are moving pretty fast. This guy is my boyfriend and I don't even know his fucking middle name. I have to go talk to him. I carefully get up and walk out of the kitchen, quietly. I find Dan's room and knock.

"Come in," he says. I open the door tentatively with no form of expression, despite being graced by someone as beautiful as Dan. Oh my fucking God did I actually just say that?

"Hey, Liv, what's up?" he says, gesturing for me to sit by him on his bed. I don't.

"Um, we need to talk."

His smiles fades and he moves his laptop out of the way. "Yeah, sure. Sit down."

I still don't sit down. "Look, Dan, I really really like you but-"

"Oh no," he breathes, his eyes wide.

"What?"

"'We need to talk', 'I really like you but', everyone knows what that means."

I bite my lip. "I'm sorry Dan, I just… I don't think it would work, you know, like this." I struggle to form my words right.

He shakes his head. I think he's refusing to look at me, for some reason. "What do you mean?"

I sigh. "I'll show you what I mean. What is my last name?"

"Muir."

"OK, what is my middle name?"

He bites his lip.

"Exactly."

"I'm sorry, Liv. I can't help but rush things sometimes. And that night in the living room with the kiss and… Ugh, I just. I had to have you. I know I barely know you but, I've been with girls that I knew for years and they never made me as happy as you make me. I really, really, really, really like you Liv. And I am so sorry if I came off too strong."

I stand in front of him, stunned. I really didn't know he felt like that.

"…And if ending what little we had is what you want, then so be it. Because whatever you want, I want."

The he leaves the room and slams the door.

"Dan!"