Alan (Leave Me To Dream)

Chapter 3

Trigger warning: Light and legal Alcohol consumption.

The flat door slammed and a soggy PJ trudged in out of the cold.

"I see you decided Skyrim was more important than uni today." PJ, awaiting a response, walked over to Dan, blocking his view of the TV.

"Hey!" Dan craned his neck, trying to see around PJ, furiously pressing buttons on the controller with one hand and motioning for PJ to move with the other. "I'm trying to play here." PJ didn't budge and, exasperated, Dan paused his game.

"Now I have you're attention, it's six and I'm starving. So, what do you want to do for dinner? I'm assuming you probably haven't eaten since breakfast and despite what the video games are telling you there is a 100% chance you are hungry too."

"It's already six! I thought it was maybe two thirty or something..." Dan looked down at the controller, a little freaked out, before saving and exiting his game. "I am actually pretty hungry, let's just get Nandos or something, I can't be bothered cooking."

"Sounds great, and hey, what happened today? It's not like you to skip classes this far into the semester." PJ, sat in the armchair next to Dan, a concerned look across his face.

"Oh, I forgot to turn my phone off silent so I slept through my alarm. I didn't end up waking up until about eleven thirty and by then I would've only made the last half hour of the marketing lecture if I had bothered to go in. It wasn't really worth it so I just opted to stay at home and slay dragons." Dan shrugged and stood up. "Hey, can you catch me up on what I missed in the visual design class, the lecture stuff I'll just get off the student website."

"Yeah sure, but Nandos first. I could eat a dragon I'm so hungry!"

"Deal."

Dan quickly changed out of his pyjamas, spraying himself with a little deodorant in the hopes nobody at Nandos would notice he hadn't showered since yesterday morning. PJ, who was already at the door waiting, passed Dan his coat and rushed out the door, clearly eager to get some food. Dan, who had actually taken the time to get an umbrella, followed and the two made their way down the street towards the Nandos.

* * *

"And then at the end of the lesson she gave out Maoams to everyone as they left." PJ chewed the last bite of his pitta and sat back, full and greatly satisfied.

"I can't believe I missed out on free sweets! DAM YOU SILENT FUNCTION!" Dan yelled, dramatically shaking his fists. PJ laughed, and began cleaning up his section of the kitchen bench.

"So, did you want to see if Louise wants to do anything tonight? It is a Friday after all and I don't think any of us have work until tomorrow afternoon."

"Yeah, sounds good. What do you say to drinks, board games and DDR?"

"Sounds great, I'll text Louise now."

Dan went off to his room to grab some clean clothes, leaving PJ to organise the evening. He had higher priorities right now, like making sure he didn't start off DDR smelling like a pack of football players, otherwise he'd sure as hell finish off with two friends who wished they owned gas masks. He turned on the hot tap, letting the bathroom fill with steam before he adjusted it to a bearable temperature and stepped in.

* * *

There was a loud knock at the door and PJ jumped up to answer, letting Louise inside. The sound of glass rattling filled the room as she entered, the final crunch as she placed the bag of bottles on the bench. Dan stepped out of the bathroom, rubbing his wet hair with a towel.