50 Shades of Howell

Chapter 57 - Rory

~Dan's POV~

*3 days later*

Phil was coming to visit. Apparently, he had something majorly important to tell me. My anxiety levels were higher than they had been in ages. I was home alone, and I had to have a serious discussion with Phil. I practically jumped off the couch when someone knocked on the door. I went downstairs, shaking. When I opened the door, Phil was standing there with a wide smile. Seeing him act so normal made me even more nervous.

"Long time no see. How are you?" Phil inquired, opening his arms for a hug.

I hugged him, "I'm alright."

"Can I come in?" He asked after we broke the hug.

"Yeah, of course."

Phil walked inside and started up the stairs. I closed the door and followed him. We sat next to each other on the sofa.

"You're probably wondering why I wanted to talk to you."

I gave a slight nod.

"Well I wanted you to hear this from me, rather than anyone else."

"What is it then?"

"Jack and I are getting married."

"Oh, when?"

"We don't know yet. Probably early February but nothing is official."

"Why then?"

"Well February 3rd is halfway between our birthdays so we want to try to do it then."

A knock on the door startled both of us.

"I'll be back," I said, getting off the sofa.

I opened the door and saw a stranger.

"Hi. I'm Rory. I just moved in across the hall so I thought I would introduce myself."

"Welcome to the building. I'm Dan."

"I know it's kinda strange for me to go door-to-door introducing myself."

"Yeah, a bit. But I don't mind. All the other people here aren't very social so I try to avoid them. You probably should too."

He smiled, "But we can be friendly neighbors, right?"

"Yeah. We can be the ones that constantly borrow milk for each other."

"Well, I'm lactose intolerant so that might not work."

"Would you like to come inside for something that isn't milk?"

"Yeah, sure."

Rory followed me upstairs. I had somewhat forgotten that Phil was on the sofa.

"Who was it?" Phil questioned from the lounge.

I walked into the lounge, "Phil, I would like you to meet my new neighbor."

Rory walked through the door with a nervous smile. Phil stood up and smiled back.

"Hi! I'm Phil, Dan's former flatmate," Phil beamed and extended a hand toward Rory.

Rory shook Phil's hand and replied, "Hi, I'm Rory. I just moved in across the hall."

Rory, Phil, and I sat down on the sofa together. We dove into a conversation, talking about everything from backstories to dreams. From what I could tell, Rory had a relatively normal past. He grew up in a neighborhood outside Portland. He went to a university in Oregon and had lived near there ever since. I found it strange that when he was talking about his childhood, he repeatedly mentioned a girl called Jeanette that he lost touch with when he left for university. I made a connection that it may be Jean. I looked at Phil to see if he had come to the same conclusion, but his eyes were glued to Rory.

Rory talked for another hour or so, miraculously keeping Phil's attention. After he finished his story, he looked at the dark window.

"What time is it?" he asked, looking at me.

I checked my phone, "It's five minutes until midnight."

Rory jumped to his feet, "My pug is probably scared to death by herself."

"Do you want me to show you out?" I asked, standing up.

"Nope. I'll see you later. Bye, Dan. Bye, Phil," he shouted as he bounded downstairs.

"Bye," Phil and I shouted back.

We heard Rory close the door to my apartment and go into his. I sat back down next to Phil.

"What's with you?" I inquired.

Phil looked at me, confused, "What do you mean? I'm fine."

"Oh please. You couldn't take your eyes off of Rory. Does Philly have a crush?"

"What?! No! I was just being respectful by looking at someone when they're talking."

I smiled, "Whatever you say, loverboy."

Phil rolled his eyes and fell back on the couch, "Don't start that again."

"Don't worry, loverboy. I'll keep your dirty little secret."

~A/N~

Aloha!

I want to apologize for updates taking forever. A lot of stuff has been going on in my life and I've been distracting me from writing. I will try my best to keep updates going at a somewhat normal pace.

Signing off,
Kat