Stay With Me | Danisnotonfire x Reader

Chapter 6

"Hello, hello," you called into the microphone. "This is DJ..." You paused, thinking of a pseudonym for yourself.

"Lester Junior sounds like you're Phil's son," Dan commented, earning a chuckle from you and Phil.

Phil clapped his hands together. "Oh I got it. How about DJ Lestee? It sounds more feminine and exotic."

You let out a laugh and continued. "DJ Lestee here about to drop some sick beats under the guidance of DJ Howell and DJ Lester."

"Y/N, you sound like a natural." Phil nudged you with his elbow. "Maybe you should join us for an interview before you leave London. Our bosses already approved of the idea, actually."

"What?" You stared at him. Though you were a fairly known author among young adult audiences, you hardly considered yourself famous enough for an exclusive on BBC Radio 1.

"Told you, you should've prepped her in advance." Dan interjected. He turned to you. "You should consider it. Everyone who's been on our show has had a blast."

"Oh..." you stammered. After a lengthy pause you gave in. "Fine, fine. I'll do it. Have you even read my book though?"

"Of course I have!" Phil cried out, placing his hand over his heart. "I'm your biggest fan."

Dan smiled at you. "Good to hear it." He started to usher you out of the studio. "I hate to be rude but can you step out of the room for a second? I need to show Phil this broken speaker and there's not enough room for all of us once it's hauled out."

You saw Phil open his mouth to speak but closed it once he made eye contact with Dan. He smiled at you sheepishly before the door shut closed. You frowned. The way Dan acted was suspicious. You decided to drop it for the time being and settled on browsing your phone. A check on Twitter revealed excited fans from London and Paris, all eager for the book signing. You decided to hold off on the announcement for the radio interview.

A pair of footsteps that stopped in front of you caused you to look up.

Nathan peered at you with his green eyes and smiled. "I swear I'm not stalking you."

You smiled back. "I'll take your word for it."

"Want to get lunch sometime?" He leaned on the wall across from you.

"How about the day after tomorrow? I have a book signing tomorrow."

His smile got bigger. "Sounds perfect. Speaking of your signing—"

The opening of the studio door followed by Dan's voice interrupted him. "Y/N—"

"Oh, hey Nathan." Phil called from inside the studio, partially hidden behind Dan.

Dan stood with a grip on the handle of the studio door, half inside the studio and half out. He looked between you and Nathan, his eyebrows furrowed in slight confusion.

"Nice to meet you," Nathan greeted and stuck his hand out to Dan. "Friend of Y/N's?"

Dan took his hand gingerly. "Same for you. Yeah, I'm Dan." A pause. "Sorry, am I interrupting something?"

"No of course not." You interjected, waved your hand, then smiled up at Nathan. "We were just catching up, is all."

Nathan winked at you then took a look at his watch. "I gotta go fix a glitch but it was nice chatting with you. See you soon, yeah?" He tipped an imaginary hat to you, promised to text later, then strode down the hallway.

Your eyes flickered from his departing form and caught Dan staring at you. You raised an eyebrow.

Dan cleared his throat. "So how do you two know each other?"

You hesitated before answering. "Just an old friend."

Before any further comments could be made, Phil slung his arm around you and ruffled your hair. "I'm starving. How about some lunch?"

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Tap, tap, tap. The only sounds heard were your light breaths and taps on the laptop. You finished typing your message and tapped the send button, confirming your appearance for the signing tomorrow morning.

You expected a flash of the "sent" notification but instead met flickering lights. You had a second to look at the overhead lights of the office before the lights diminished and left you in the darkness. Your laptop and phone left a light glow in the room.

You gripped your phone, unsure of what to do. Phil was out on errands and Dan might have been in his room or living room. You closed your laptop and your palms sweated at the dimmed lighting. Flicking on the flashlight feature on your phone, you tiptoed your way across the office and down the stairs. Every creak, obviously made by you, caused you to jump.

When you finally reached Dan's room you knocked lightly on the door. "Dan?"

"Over here," Dan called from the living room.

You shone the light in the direction of the living room.

"Can you come over here? That light would be handy."

You maneuvered your way over to the living room, peering around the corner. You found Dan fiddling with the power box in the corner and shone the light to where he pointed.

After a few minutes of flipping switches back and forth he gave up and sighed. He plopped back into the couch. "Guess we'll just have to wait for it to come back on."

You paused then plopped down beside him. "Can I sit here with you? I'm scared of the dark."

"You are?" Dan chuckled. "It turns out that I am too. It probably has to do with how our ancestors' survival being dependent on light."

"Right? People tell me to just get over it but it's been ingrained within us from the very beginning." You felt warmth radiating from Dan and scooted closer to him. "It's a bit cold in here without the heater."

A pause. "You can use my arm if you want? I'm sure we don't need to break out the thick coats just yet."

You giggled at the slight nervousness in his voice. "That would be nice."

He draped his arm over your shoulders, being careful not to place too much weight on you. You smiled to yourself and leaned on him. A buzz from his phone caused him to fish out his phone and swipe through the screen. When he unlocked the phone the screen revealed prior text messages from you. It only appeared for a brief second before he switched apps, but you caught the content of the messages. They read:

You: Dan!!!
Dan: yeah?
You: I think you're really cute ;)
Dan: did you have too much to drink? haha
You: no!!!
Dan: for the record, you're pretty cute as well

Your cheeks flushed and you whispered, "Dan, what was that?"

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A/N: I am back from Vegas. The trip was tiring but it was pretty fun. A big thank you to everyone that commented, favorited, and added this story to their public reading lists! I appreciate all of your support :)