Dan and Phil had hoped that the lunch wouldn't be awkward, and that they would talk about everything that they had missed and recount each other's lives like lost relatives. However, this was not the case.
The lunch was very, very awkward. They spent half the time avoiding each other's eye contact and the other half making stilted small talk. It was good stilted small talk, though, and Dan figured he was almost ready to just go back to texting him every once in a while. Maybe.
"So you liking the North okay?" asked Dan, trying to keep things simple.
Phil shrugged, "Not bad, really. I actually got a boyfriend. How about you?"
Dan laughed, "I've been a mess, which is probably my fault. I'm doing better now, though." Phil smiled.
"That's good. What are you doing next at the convention?"
"I don't know," Dan said, shrugging, "I have it written down somewhere. I really wish I'd made an all-revealing post on Tumblr after this whole thing."
Phil pursed his lips, "I think you did the right thing. Maybe now people won't ask as much about what happened between us."
"I just want you to know that I'm really sorry, Phil, okay? I think au have to go now because panels and stuff, but I'm really sorry. We should talk more often."
Dan got up and left. He did actually have a panel that he was rather late for, and now he'd probably have to run to make it unless he wanted to stumble onto stage out of breath five minutes into the talk. Phil waved as he left.
-
Meanwhile, Charlotte was pretty busy with everything in her life. A recording company had actually liked her demo, and now she was being asked to play it for them live. She hadn't told Dan yet, though. He had his own shit to worry about.
For the first time since she'd met him Dan was actually acting like an adult, taking his life into his own hands and making changes without Charlotte telling him to. She liked that. And, without being a total mess who acted like a baby, he was actually really nice and mature and sweet. Before she'd treated him like her son, but now he was practically her best friend. Maybe more.
She'd always known that Dan liked her. She was his kind of girl, and they spent all their time together. It would've been hard for him to not like her, she supposed. But that wasn't something she needed to worry about. She had a show to play for some very important people, and music always came first.
