Simply Meant To Be ||Dan x Reader||

Chapter 4 - The Truth

I was rudely woken up the next morning by the sound of people shouting outside. Closing my eyes, I sat up groggily and rubbed the tired away from my orbs. I could hear laughter from the kitchen, and the memories of Dan and Phil from last night flooded my memory. At the sound of his laughter I was eager to see Dan again. I scrambled up, slipping on a pair of sweatpants a size too big and careened through the stairs and around the corners of the house to turn to the kitchen, but right as I got to the doorway I felt my nose and forehead bounce back. A thud boomed throughout the flat, and Dan and Phil's attention diverted to me as I fell to the floor, holding my nose that I'm pretty sure was bleeding.

"Aw, what the hell!" I howled in anguish.

"Oh god," Dan gasped, pushing open the glass door that was now smudged with my face print. He helped me to my feet, "I'm so sorry about that, we really need to get rid of that glass door." I grumbled, pinching my nose as blood trickled out, appearing as dark, thick droplets of crimson.

"Fine, it's fine." I muttered. My voice appeared nasally with my nose sealed. He sat me down on a chair to the table and fetched a rag, soaking it in cold water and handing it to me. It stung a little, but I applied it to my nose anyway, because now it was gushing blood. "Thank you." I turned the rag over when the one side I was using got too bloody.

"It's no problem." After I stopped bleeding I held the rag up to see it was soaked in red. It was dripping so much that it seeped onto my hands, staining them red as well. I held the rag by the corner.

"Sorry..." I murmured as Dan took it and tossed it in the trash.

"Nah it's fine, it's just a rag." After a few minutes of applying pressure, my nose ceased to gush blood.

"Good morning," Phil smiled at after my little episode was finished. I chuckled at him when he tried to bring things back to normal almost instantly, "I see you had a fun time getting to the kitchen." Dan slid me an empty mug and poured me a steaming cup of coffee.

"Obviously," I looked down at the coffee in the mug and took a swig. I grimaced, reaching for a few sugar cubes. Dan offered some cream and I happily took it and added it to my beverage. Then I took a slender tea spoon and stirred it to mix everything together, "So how's your guys' morning?" I changed the subject, desultorily stirring my drink without thinking.

"Well, it was quite strange for me, really." Phil admitted, looking in his mug to make sure nothing was in it but coffee before lifting it to his lips.

"Really? Mine was, too." Dan chimed in. I gave them both uncertain looks.

"Mind telling me about it?" I crossed my legs in my chair and stared at them expectantly. Phil looked uneasy, but continued his story nonetheless.

"Well, I was woken up at around 5 A.M.by this car alarm and some distant shouting. I tried not to think about it and went back to sleep, but I was woken up again fifteen minutes later by the sound of banging on our apartment door. I opened it, but no one was there. Then I repeated the process. Went back to sleep, then woke up fifteen minutes later to gunshots. I couldn't go back to sleep after that, and wandered here into the kitchen to relax." Dan's eyes widened.

"I was woken up by gunshots too.." Phil's eyebrows knit together.

"At what time?"

"I don't know, 6:20? Around that I suppose." Phil shook his head.

"I didn't hear anything around that time..."

"I was woken up by shouting as well." I blurted.

"When?" Dan asked.

"Like twenty minutes ago." Phil and Dan exchanged an uneasy look.

"Do you think?.." Dan started, gripping his mug tighter at the thought.

"No," Phil stated sternly, "they went to jail, remember?" I stopped stirring and dropped the thin spoon.

"Jail? Jail?! Who went to jail?!" My voice was panicky. Did I bunk with people who were being chased by criminals?

"Nothing, it's nothing." Phil waved a hand at me to dismiss the discussion.

"We gotta tell her, Phil." Dan leaned in and whispered to the shorter male, but I could still hear him clearly. He sighed. The chair grated as he scooted back and got up, setting his empty mug in the sink and leaning on the counter to look out the window. The sun was shining bright today, but there was nothing bright about the topic.

"Awhile back we were being harassed by a group of thugs, and since we were actually quite scared for our lives, we called the cops and got them arrested. That's the short, nothing else." He was quick about it, and my anticipation dropped with the lack of detail.

"Tell her what they did." Dan said, and Phil cringed.

"I don't want to talk about this." He stood up straight and simply walked out of the kitchen, not wanting another word of the conversation. Dan frowned.

"What happened?" The grip on my mug was vice like now. Dan looked down at me pitifully.

"Do you really want to know?" I nodded. The taller man sat down next to me and reached for his own mug.

" Well, those 'thugs' were a little more than just thugs. They were criminals. Quite a few of them have been charged of theft, murder, and rape. They had stolen several of our belongings while we were out and hacked into our savings to take money," I looked at him with a deadpan expression, but on the inside I was full of pity and grief for them, "We were both jumped by them once, got hurt pretty bad. Phil had to go to the hospital and get surgery. But we were able to get them put away for a good long time. So you shouldn't have to worry about them." I took a deep breath. Yes, I was worried, but he said it would be okay, and that was enough for me to relax. But regardless what I said or did, he could still read the anxiety in my eyes.

"Hey, would you like to pick up some tea or a bagel or something? Maybe I can show you around London, your own personal tour. Would you like that?" I simpered.

"Yeah, I'd like that." He interchanged his coffee for a blue card that said 'oyster'.

"We'll use the tube." He flashed me the card, then slipped it into his jean pocket. Never would I have thought that Dan would give me a private tour.