the city // dan howell

Part 7// Packing

"Forget about me already?" I ask. "No, haha,  definitely not." Dan winks. "Sure. Cute hair, by the way." I mentally admire his adorable curly hair. "Fuck off." Dan retorts. "No, it's adorable." I walk over to Dans bed, and sit next to him. I run my fingers through his hair, watching a blush slowly creep onto his cheeks. I laugh, patting his bangs back down, placing my hand in my lap. We stare for a second- then Dan speaks up. "Wanna, like, watch something? We can watch Attack On Titan, since you t-told me you liked it earlier." He stutters. "Yeah, sure." I move to get off of his bed, but his arm around my waist pulls me back down, almost onto his lap. My arm rubs against his bare chest, and my heart melts at the contact. "Stay." He commands, but nicely. If that makes sense.
He uses the remote to flip through channels until he finds the one AOT is always on. He pulls me closer to him as the familiar theme song plays, indicating he wants to cuddle. At least, I think that's what he wanted. I snuggle into him (yes, making sure to keep a hand on his chest), tugging the blanket over us for more warmth on this cold wintery night. I hum along to the catchy tune, him joining in.
We laugh, humming all the way.
-
About halfway through the episode, Dans lightly sleeping. I can feel his steady breathing through the vibration his chest sends to my hand. I take out my phone and type in the standard '3 2 6 4' code. I open up Twitter, and hit the 'new tweet' icon. I open up the camera and aim it at Dan, snapping a photo. I smile at his adorableness, and then quickly compose a tweet. "Look at this idiot xx @danisnotonfire" I click send, and then carefully make my way out of the bed. I slowly flip off the covers, and twist out of the bed as carefully as possible. I then tuck Dan back into the covers, bringing the blanket up to his chin. I watch him twist and turn for a second, and then realize it's kinda creepy. I give him a simple goodnight kiss on the forehead, and even in his sleep he blushes. I turn the lights off and jump into my own bed, almost passing out immediately.
Dans POV:
I close my eyes, lightly pushing myself into Tyde. I inhale her almost perfect scent, and enjoy the warmth her hand sends to my chest.
I'm actually pretending to sleep to see what she'd do. I can hear keyboard clicking- she's taking a photo. Of course. I'll have to check that out, probably on Twitter, tomorrow. I feel her slowly shift away from me, and my happy mood goes down a bit. Why would she move out of the bed?
Oh, yeah, we're not dating. We're strangers. I should fix that.
I flip myself onto my back just as Tyde pulls the blankets up to my chin.
And then, she kisses my forehead. I heat up and replay the moment in my head. Does she like me too?
I hope so.
I think about her and the way she's managed to make me have 'a thing' for her in just 10 hours, until I fall asleep.
Magical, isn't it?
//
Tydes POV:
I'm falling. I can't see a bottom to this pit I've seemed to have fallen down. Or, something deep down inside me, is saying I've been pushed.
I hit the ground hard, pain jolting through my entire body. Shock in my right arm, left knee, everywhere possible, it hurts. I try to scream, but it doesn't come out. I lie there, numb. I lightly flutter my eyes open, to see him standing there, right next to me, but facing the other way. The person I loved and trusted, now gone from my life, is standing right in front of me. I try to get up, but it doesn't work. A sense of paralyzation runs through my brain. I literally can't move. I try yelling for his attention; but no sound comes out. I cry, I cry so hard because he's right there and I can't seem to get his attention. I sob, and I wail as he walks away, never to notice me.
So close, yet so...
Far.
-
I wake up, tears streaming from my eyes. Dans still asleep. I check my phone; 5 am. No wonder. I sit up in the bed, wiping at my tears. A soft sob escapes my lips, and I try to quiet myself as fast as possible. Dan can't know, and I shouldn't cry. Maybe... I should leave. It'd be better for us both, I think.
I slowly start to get out of bed just as Dans eyes fly open. "Don't leave." He hoarsely whispers. The thought of him wanting me to stay pounds my mind until I gain the courage to look at him. He sees my tear stained face, and his eyes open just a little bit more. Then, he gets out of bed and sits next to me on Phil's. "Shh, it's okay." He pats down my hair, rubbing circles into my back. "It's not, but whatever." I yawn, closing my eyes, leaning on Dans shoulder. "It'll be okay, I promise." He whispers in my ear. Then he picks me up and places me back down in bed, returning the forehead kiss. I weakly smile and mumble a thank-you, returning back to sleep.
//
"Wake up, Tyde. It's late, and I know you wanted to pack. Plus, Phil's gonna come back soon, and something tells me he's be pissed if he found out I kept a girl in here for the night." Dan lies down next to me, explaining the situation. "Okay, I'm up." I open my eyes, and snuggle into Dans jumper a little more. He gives me a smirk. "You can keep it, if you want. I have another one just like it at home." I roll my eyes. No way could I do that, I'd feel wayy too guilty. I'm a naturally guilty person. "No, I couldn't." And then, something unexpected happens. Dan puts on the most sincere, pleading face I've ever seen and says; "Please."
//
I walk the streets of the upper west side in Dans galaxy jumper and my black ripped jeans from yesterday. I walk into a small little home shop, where I know they have plane-safe boxes I can ship my stuff in. I giggle at the little doorbell ring as I open the door. I always take a deep breath when I walk in- compared to out there, it smells like heaven in here. Lilac and rose water overwhelms the place.
I walk down the little corridor, all the way to the end. That's where the boxes are. I grab about 3 from the top shelf (benefits of being tall) and secure them in my arm. The pieces of hard cardboard slightly chafe my hand and I go to ring them up at the cash register. I place them down on the small counter and look up at the cashier. Cute guy, black hair, blue eyes, just a smidge taller than me.
Not as cute as Dan, though.
The cashier tries to flirt with me (I think..), "So, what're these for?" "You have a cute smile." "Nice hair."
I just nod and give a small laugh to everything, not bothered enough to be rude but not intrigued enough to flirt back.
He finishes ringing up my boxes and, damn, I don't think I've ever gotten out of a store faster.
I hear the fading jingle of the door bell as I emerge further into the cold weathered streets. I feel my phone vibrate in my back pocket- nobody EVER texts me, because if it's for a job it's always a call. So, no clue who that could be. Whatever. I'm just gonna enjoy this nice, chilly weather before I get back inside. I love winter, especially this snowy time of the season. It's more than perfect, I'd say.
I breathe the crisp, cool air for the last time as I enter my house. 'That was quicker that usual' I thought to myself. I know that my apartment-thing is really close, not even 5 minutes, from the shops, but that still was a short walk. Just.. felt different today. Whatever. I should just check my phone and get packing.
I walk into my bedroom, and flop onto my bed. I unlock my phone and open messages.
It was Dan? Why would he want to talk to ME, of all people?
His text read:
"Would you want to send me and Phil off when we leave in two days? x"
There's an.. x. An actual X.
"Of course I want to be there when you guys leave! How are we gonna do this? x"
Is the X too risky? Damn, this kid plays with my emotions.
Whatever, I'll send it anyways.
"We'll figure it out later, if that's okay? I'm in Radio City with Phil & we're about to film. Sorry x"
Okay, so the x IS intentional. It's good that I sent one back.
"Talk to you later, Dan x"
And back to packing I go.
-
I shove in the last of my black skinny jeans. Time to move onto shirts, I suppose. I take a look at the shirts I had already laid out on the floor. An assortment of about 100 flannels and band shirts, a bunch of different shades of black plain shirts, a couple of black or gray sweaters, and my trusty black leather jacket. Not colorful, I get it. Sorry.
I give up on the mindless hours of folding and decide on [properly] shoving the clothes into the empty section of my suit case. It seems to work, at least I think so. I pick up a red and dark green plaid muscle tank top, twirl it in my fingers, and shove it into the corner of the suitcase.
I wonder how London will be. I mean, I'm sure it can't be too different from the bustling city of New York, but I'm not going to now my way around, or how people act there. I'm not going to know customs or anything. I'm realllyyy going to need help from Dan and Phil. I could get them into a couple of concerts for free in return. I don't know. Id have to check in with the show managers, but... whatever.
Before I know it, I'm all packed up. All my clothes packed away, shoes, other accessories (??) and makeup in my carry on. I also happen to have a lot of money I need to convert into euros. Okay, whatever, whatever, I'm just gonna sit back and relax for today, I think. You know, draw, watch Doctor Who, shit like that. It'll be a good day. I hope. Maybe.