Can I Be Your Number One? (Dan Howell aka danisnotonfire Fanfiction).

Chapter Twelve.

"Please be home," I murmur to myself as I approach Dan and Phil's apartment door. "Please be home."
I knock loudly four times and wait with bated breath.
"Phil, get the door!" I hear Dan yell inside.
"You get the door!" Phil yells back. "I am busy making cereal!"
"Fuck your cereal! You wouldn't have it if I didn't go to the store to get it." Dan replies.
I hear Phil say, "Fine." And then I hear the sound of stomping feet.
Phil opens the door, his black fringe slightly messy.
"Zo? Oh my God, what happened?" Phil asks, his blue eyes widening. "Hurry and come in."
New tears have started streaming down my cheeks and he places his hand gently on my elbow.
"Dan! Come quick, something's happened to Zo." Phil calls out. Phil leads me into the living room and Dan comes running in.
"Zo!" Dan says and sits down beside me. "What the fuck happened? You've got a welt on your cheek."
He reaches towards me to wipe my cheeks and I flinch.
"Dan, it might be best not to touch her right now." Phil says, sitting next to me on my other side. "She's clearly just had an traumatizing experience. Tell us when you're ready, Zo. I'll go make you some tea. Tea makes everything better."
Phil leaves and Dan looks at me, a mix of different emotions showing on his face. Confusion, worry, and there are traces of anger.
"I'm sorry," I say, breaking the silence. "I didn't have anywhere else to go."
"You came to the right place, Zo." Dan says, gently brushing a piece of my hair back. "I'm glad you came here. Whatever happened you can stay with us as long as you need to."
"Tay--Tay hit me, obviously." I begin to tell him. "He somehow found out I was with you. He said he could smell your cologne on me." Dan looks down at his shirt and pulls it up to his nose to sniff it. "And he took his belt off and started beating me with it. He smacked me in the face with his hand first, and then his belt. He beat me all the way down both of my legs. I smashed a plate over his head and then stabbed him in the leg with a fork."
Dan's eyes widen, and he smiles a little bit.
"You stabbed him in the leg with a fork?" He asks, incredulous. "Damn."
Phil comes back in suddenly with a steaming cup of tea.
"Here you go, Zo." He says, handing me the cup. He grabs a blanket off the back of the sofa and drapes it around me. "You're shivering."
I hadn't realized I was shivering until Phil said I was.
"Thank you, Phil." I tell him. Dan then informs him what happened and he looks even more incredulous than Dan did.
"You can stay with us as long as you like, Zo." Phil tells me, gently taking one of my hands in his. "We can make up a spare bedroom in the den."
"She can sleep in my bed," Dan says.
Phil narrows his eyes and opens his mouth to say something.
"I won't be sleeping in it with her," Dan interrupts him. He rolls his eyes at Phil. "I'll either sleep in here or the den."
"I didn't grab any of my clothes or anything," I tell them. "I don't want to go back to get them."
"You don't have to," Dan tells me, rubbing my hair soothingly. "I'll go get some of my clothes that you can wear."
"Can I take a bath too?" I ask, looking up at Dan as he stands from the sofa.
"Of course, Zo." Dan tells me, reaching for my hands. "Make yourself completely comfortable. What's ours is yours. You're safe now, don't worry."
I smile feebly, feeling tears come to my eyes again. Dan gives me a dimply smile and kisses my forehead.
What would my parents and Olive think of all this?

I look at myself in the bathroom mirror. I wiped away the steam from my bath and was surprised when I saw a nice purple bruise on my cheek bone. It's sore, especially when I smile (which I'm not doing a lot of that anyways). There's a knock at the door, followed by Dan's voice asking me if his clothes fit. I look down at the neatly folded clothes on the counter.
"I'm not dressed yet," I answer. "Hold on."
I pull on a pair of boxers he says are too small for him now. The places on my legs are swollen, colored purple and black. I then slip the Joker shirt he gave me over my head and lastly put on a pair of gray sweatpants. I put my other clothes in the hamper, hang my bra inside the towel closet, and then open the door to reveal Dan patiently waiting.
"You look like you feel refreshed," Dan says as I reach for his hand.
"I am, thank you." I say, feeling my stomach gear up for a rumble. Dan hears it and asks if I want anything to eat. In all honesty, no I don't want anything, but I have a feeling Dan will insist on me eating a little something.
"We've got some left over pizza from last night if you want me to heat you up a slice," Dan says, pointing his thumb over his shoulder to the kitchen.
"Can I eat it in your room?" I ask.
"Just don't get any crumbs in my bed," Dan says, smiling.

A little while later two slices of pizza is devoured and Dan is sitting beside me on his bed. His pulls the blanket up around my shoulders. I stick my hand out from under the blanket and twine my fingers through his.
"I'm sorry," Dan says suddenly.
"For what?" I ask, frowning.
"For what Tay did to you," he answers. "I feel like it's my fault because you were with me and he found out. None of this would have happened if I hadn't persuaded you to come with me."
"It's not your fault," I tell him. "I don't regret what I did with you. So don't blame yourself."
Dan nods his head and I lean over to kiss his cheek. I glance over at the piano he has in his room and ask, "Can you do me a favor?"
"Anything you want," Dan says. "I'm at your disposal."
"Can you play the piano for me?" I ask.
"Of course," he answers, getting up from the bed. He goes over to the piano and sits down in his butt chair.
"What do you want me to play?"
"Hmm....Moonlight Sonata?"
He nods his head and I settle down under the duvet, resting my good cheek against one of Dan's pillows.

Later that night I get woken up by nightmares of Tay. I find that I'm alone in Dan's room but suddenly the door opens and there's a Hobbit haired, bleary eyed Dan looking at me worriedly.
"Are you okay?" Dan whispers. I hold my arms out, indicating I want him to comfort me. He does so without hesitation and I finally go back to sleep embraced with Dan.