Alive (Phan)

SEVEN

I'm not sure how I intended for that day to pan out, but I am positive that I did not intend for it to end with me sitting in my pants on the sofa rubbing a naked Diana's back as she complained about Chris with the gentle patter of rain against the window in the background.

"I don't want to be mean, but that boy, God, he just drives me insane!" she said, "It's like he literally exists to fuck with me. And you know what makes absolutely no sense?" I might've guessed, but she didn't even take a breath before continuing. "How the hell did a smart, creative, hard-working guy like PJ end up with Chris of all people?"

"I thought you liked Chris," I mentioned feebly.

"Ugh," Di groaned, "It isn't that I don't like him; it's just that he's a lazy arrogant asshole," she said. Because that made a load of sense. I don't understand girls.

"I like Chris. I think he's nice," I said. I had to admit, it hurt my feelings a little to hear Di talk about Chris like this. He was the only person who had tried to be my friend since I moved to Manchester. If it weren't for Chris, I wouldn't have met PJ or Phil or "I wouldn't have met you if it weren't for Chris," I said in what I hoped to God was a flirtatious tone.

"I guess that's true," she said, rolling over and placing her head on my lap, leaving me in confusion as to where I should put my hands. "We do owe him for that don't we?"

I settled for her stomach.

"He'd told me about you before, obviously. We all knew about you; he's been saying he would bring you around for weeks but he never did. Leave it to Chris to-"

She was still talking. I was honestly in shock that she had the breath support to talk this much without taking a break. I tried to focus on the dull patter of the rain outside which was slowly getting louder. It worked for a few minutes until-

"Dan?"

"What?" I snapped back into the conversation, "I'm sorry, I'm just really tired. What did you need?"

"It's fine," she said, although the expression on her face said otherwise. "It's already 10 o'clock. Shit, how is that possible?"

Maybe because you never shut up.

"I was just saying I can't believe you're a virgin."

"Really?" I squirmed, "Why's that?" This girl really had no boundaries.

"I don't know," she smirked, "You're good with these," she bit her lip as she grabbed my hand and slowly drew in up her stomach.

"Yeah, well," I said, pulling my hand out of her grasp and placing it back on her stomach. Unlike Di, I was really not feeling up for round two of desperately making out and groping. "You demand excellence." I felt like that sounded like an insult, but she just grinned.

"Damn right I do."

It was silent for a moment, the first moment, actually, of the time that I had been there. I decided to seize the opportunity.

"I should probably get going soon," I started to scoot her off of me, but she grabbed my arm with a firmness that shouldn't have surprised me.

"Why don't you stay?" she asked.

Shit. "What?" I asked, straining to keep my cool.

"Why don't you stay here tonight?" she repeated, "Then you don't have to go home in the rain."

"I dunno, Di, I-"

"Oh come off it, it's already late anyway." Her grip on my arm was becoming worryingly tighter.