Splattered Paint - Dan Howell

The Sleeping Angel

Darcy’s P.O.V

I woke, a yawn escaping my lips and my eyes and pillow noticeably wet. I must have cried myself to sleep. The bedside clock read nine in the morning and I knew I should get up. As I removed the duvet, memories from last night crept their way into my train of thought. Suddenly my stomach started stinging and I sighed, another day alone with Dan. I was no longer happy that Phil had gone, in fact, I wanted him back now.

I grabbed my phone from beside me and realised Phil had messaged me eight times. I frantically read each text, each one saying nearly the same thing.

‘Darcy are you okay? You still haven’t texted back yet! Is something wrong?’ I knew Phil was probably still on his flight so I couldn’t call him. I resorted to texting him back, at least so he knew I was okay.

‘Hi Phil! I’m feeling fine don’t worry, just been busy watching TV and stuff’

I felt bad about lying to Phil, but goodness knows how he would react if I told him the truth. I put my phone back down and decided to shower. I walked to my door before exiting my room and going to the bathroom. As I walked in, I found myself in a thick fog. Dan must have just used the shower, not bothering to open the windows. I opened the windows and turned the fan on before locking the door and turning the shower on and stripping my clothes off. I tested the water with my hand until it was luke warm, my body instantly relaxing as I stood under the flowing water. It felt like all my worries were being washed away, the cut on my stomach stinging incredibly, but I tried to ignore it as best as possible.  

After washing my hair and body, I turned the shower off and stepped out, squeezing the water out of my hair and reaching across to the towel holder. I opened my eyes and realised I hadn’t got one. I didn’t want to go out of the bathroom naked, but I needed a towel. I had to yell for Dan.

I hesitantly opened the bathroom door, only creating an inch wide gap.

“Dan!” I screamed. I waited a few seconds but here was no response.

“DAN!” I screamed again, this time a lot louder than the first. I waited again but like the first, there was no reply. Maybe he had gone out. Could I just quickly rush to the cupboard and grab a towel? It was my only option. I sighed and collected my courage before sprinting as fast as my body could down the hall. I opened the cupboard and grabbed the first towel I saw, quickly wrapping it around me, wanting to be covered as soon as possible.

I ran back to my bedroom, changing and doing my hair before sorting out the bathroom. I had no idea on what to do that day. After remembering my text to Phil earlier, I grabbed my phone and read Phil’s reply.

‘That’s good! My flight is ending soon, I will text you later’

I sighed. What could I do? Not having any ideas, I walked into the living room and found my sketch from yesterday where I had left it. The picture wasn’t creepy, in fact, I thought that Phil would like it. But as I thought about it more, I began to realised that Phil would never want a sketch of himself so without any doubts, I scrumpled it into ball and threw it in the bin. What was I even thinking?

I spent the next few hours watching TV before grabbing some lunch. After the ‘Dan’ incident, I hadn’t eaten dinner yesterday or breakfast this morning, but after four years of starvation, it wasn’t much of a bother. I knew that Phil would check my weight when he got back though, so I needed to eat.

I made and ate a sandwich in peace before resuming my position on the couch. I casually doodled pictures on the paper I had left out from the day before and before I knew it, it was the evening, and I decided to go to bed as I had nothing else to do.

I woke up, not bothering to check the clock. Instead, I grabbed my phone and checked the messages from Phil as I had replied to him before I went to sleep. He said his flight went well and he had arrived at the airport where his family greeted him. I texted him a hello, not sure of the time in America. I didn’t bother waiting for a reply, instead, I left my bedroom and walked down the hall to the living room where I was met with an asleep Dan on the couch. His legs were tangled in a mix of cushions and blanket while his head lay perfectly still on the arm of the couch. His hair was messy and mouth slightly open. I watched him, not yet realising how weird it was to do so. He looked so peaceful and adorable, and for a moment, I forgot how much of an ass he had been. Butterflies erupted in my stomach as I stared at the perfect angel sprawled lazily in front of me. I felt something just click inside me, and I knew that my feelings for Dan had multiplied by a million. I found myself just wanting to crawl in beside him, for him to hug me whisper me sweet nothings but I knew that was impossible. He still hated me, and I realised I had been staring at him for over a few minutes.

I sighed.

What the hell just happened?