Charlotte finished after almost and hour and a half, but it felt too short for Dan. He could've sat all night and watched Charlotte play. As the crowd started filing out, he dashed down the stairs, making his was to the stage. His roommate was busy unplugging amps, putting up her microphone.
"You were amazing!" exclaimed Dan, taking her by surprise. Her hair was wild, some sticking to her face in sweaty clumps. She swept it up into a bun in one swift movement.
"Shut up... It wasn't that great, I think I'm getting a cold. Or something." She busied herself putting her guitar into its case.
"So, do you need help carrying anything?" asked Dan, eager to help her out. Plus, it had to be difficult carrying around three guitars and an amp on the streets of London.
"Erm, yeah, just grab the broken guitar. And maybe the amp, please." They set out, laughing and chatting through the doors. A few people stopped Charlotte and asked for an autograph or guitar pick, but no one recognized Dan. That was for the better.
They arrived at home after a particularly stressful ride on the Underground, collapsing on the couch, for a moment, Dan just took a deep breath and realized that he actually felt really great. Not depressed, not upset, just happy. It was great. Maybe it was for the better that he had a roommate now.
"Are you hungry?" she asked, suddenly sitting up from the couch.
"Yeah, actually," replied Dan, sitting up with her. In the late night delirium, they both found that hilarious, cracking up for absolutely no reason.
"What even is this?" asked Charlotte, wheezing for breath, "Anyways, I think you have some Ramen noodles. The good kind, too."
"There's a bad kind?" asked Dan. Charlotte nodded vehemently.
"Of course! You can't eat off-brand Ramen, Maruchan is the only acceptable noodle." Dan smiled.
"Seriously?"
"Yeah."
They set about to making the only acceptable noodles, and ate them sitting on the couch, still talking and laughing like children during recess. Charlotte turned on the TV, navigating to Netflix.
"Do you want to watch a movie or something?" she asked, browsing through the hundreds of titles. Dan shrugged.
"I don't know. What do you want to watch?"
"Have you ever seen Notting Hill?" she asked, scrolling down to the Chickflick category. Dan made a bit of a grossed out face.
"Seriously? A chick flick?" Charlotte rolled her eyes, "If you don't like it, we can watch something else. Like the Avengers or something like that. But I did just give a killer performance for fifty people. So that has to be worth something."
Dan sighed. "Fine..." Charlotte started the movie. At first, Dan was apprehensive. It was a girl movie, after all. But then he realized that it was just a movie, with a plot and characters that could be just as interesting as an action film. So he calmed down and just watched.
It was good. Funny, romantic, a nice plot. He was on the verge of yelling at the characters like Charlotte was, even though she'd already seen the movie and knew what would happen in the end. By the time the end did come, Dan was really enjoying the movie.
"So I'm guessing you liked it?" asked Charlotte, lying back on the couch in the dark. The movie was long, and they'd stayed up to almost two AM watching it.
Dan nodded, "Yeah. I thought I was great, honestly. Are you going to bed now?" Charlotte shrugged.
"Probably. I'm pretty tired from that performance and all. Goodnight, I guess." Dan smiled.
"Yeah, goodnight, I'll see you later." She went off to her room and Dan stayed on the couch, staring at the darkened television. He knew she was there because Pj had told her to help him. That was the problem with her, and psychiatrists. You could never tell if they actually enjoyed your company, or were just trying to get into your head. He hoped it was the first.
PSA I didn't have a suitable photo for this chapter so have this work of art XD
