Simply Meant To Be ||Dan x Reader||

Chapter 7 - Depart

It turns out that the family I was babysitting for was filthy rich, and Lilith's parents were constantly going on dates and short vacations so I had more than plenty of job opportunities. It was nice, not just all the extra money in my pocket, but that the parents were still so in love with each other, despite what they might have gone through. Each time I babysat the payment went up and the parents were asking me to do more tasks for them like mowing the lawn and getting groceries. I even stayed over a few nights, making me a part time nanny every once in a while. Before I knew it I had already gathered well over 2,000 dollars. For a split second I thought to myself, why don't I just live here instead of with Dan and Phil? The idea had kept coming to my attention to the point where I was more than considering it. As long as the Burnush family (Lilith's family) was okay with it, then I had another place to live for a while.

I had returned to our flat after a long day of walking Lilith around the mall, only to arrive seeing Dan slumped on the couch. It was still covered in slashes and stains. Over time we had cleaned the apartment up, but refrained from buying anything new that we didn't need until we found our new home.

"How was today?" He said, impulsively flipping through television channels.

"Long." I fell face first into the couch he was on then flipped over onto my back.

"That's not new." He continued to channel surf and never removed his eyes from the TV. I watched the garishly bright colors flash by as he continued to search for something interesting. We didn't say anything for a while, and I thought that that moment was as good a time as any to tell him about how I wanted to move out.

"Hey, so you know that babysitting job I got a while ago?" Dan simply nodded.

"Uh-huh." His attention was focused onto the TV, and that started to irritate me.

"I'm thinking of becoming Lilith's nanny."

"Uh-huh." Did he even care? I thought.

"That means I'm moving out."

"What?" He stopped flipping through the channels but still held the remote up in the air, "Why would you do that? Don't you like it here?" I shrugged.

"I do. I really do," I started, trying to sugar coat my reason, "It's just, I don't know, I feel like a burden to you guys, and I feel like if I'm a nanny then at least I have a purpose where I'm staying. I'm not just some bum mooching off of people I just met."

"You're not mooching off of us, I really like you," he stuttered, "I-I mean we. We really like you staying here." I tilted my head back from the position I was in to see Dan's face. He had set down the remote and was facing me now instead of the TV.

"I still can't help but feel that I oppress you guys."

"You're not a bother!" Dan's voice was gradually raising, and he was on his feet now. He was already tall, but a living skyscraper when I was lying down. I went silent for a moment.

"I just... I don't know. It seems like the best option."

"Not to me, it doesn't"

"Well this isn't your decision."

"Well I deserve to have a say in it."

"I don't have to listen to it." Dan winced when he realized that his power was draining, and there wasn't much he could do to change my mind.

"I just... I..." He trailed off, and sat back down. Closer to me this time, "I... I really like you, okay?..." I was caught off guard and managed to clumsily sputter a pathetic response.

"H-huh? W-what?" Dan cast his gaze to the floor to avoid my eyes.

"I... Just don't leave, alright? I don't want you to go.." I didn't ask him to repeat what he said, although I wanted to hear it again. I heard him clearly. But for some reason I doubted it. He never acted interested in me before until I broached the subject of me leaving.