The Boy Upstairs (DanXReader)

Chapter 7: Anxiety

Preemptive A/N: You're spared of a bad chapter title because A) I didn't think it would be appropriate for this chapter. And B) I couldn't think of one tbh...

I wasn't sure what to say as Dan continued to lead me around the now sunny streets of London. I didn't necessarily want him to stop holding my hand. I actually quite liked it. It made it so I was sure to stay close to him so I wouldn't get lost in the crowds walking about as well as added a slight feeling of intimacy. But I also wasn't sure he realized he was still holding my hand. He seemed a bit distracted as he led me down the road.

After a few minutes of seemingly aimless walking I decided to speak up. "Hey Dan..."

"Hm?" Dan asked, glancing back at me.

"N-not that I'm not enjoying being led around and all but... where are we headed?"

Dan stopped walking and looked back at me, blushing slightly as he glanced at our hands. I slightly regretted mentioning anything as he loosened his grip, leaving my hand to gently fall to my side. Oh well... it'd been nice while it had lasted.

"S-sorry..." he mumbled awkwardly. "I kind of just started thing about these different places I could show you when you were talking to Robert and well... yea... I sort of just started walking towards one of them..."

I smiled, thinking it was sweet that Dan had wanted to show me something enough to just start leading me to it. It was a bit off task since we'd been planning to do my errands, but sweet all the same.

"Well let's go then," I said, finding some courage and taking hold of Dan's hand again. "I'd love to see wherever you were so keen on showing me!"

Dan smiled and nodded. "Okay, well... I have to ask you something before I choose which one to actually go to. Are you still really into movies?"

I suddenly remembered all of the movie marathons I'd had when I was supposed to be packing my stuff for the move. I also remembered going without anything but ramen for weeks on end just to go to the movies for every single movie that came out over winter break. And then I remembered failing a test from having gone to a midnight release the night before. The list of poor life choices involving movies went on for miles in my mind.

I smiled awkwardly and nodded. "Yea... you could say that..." I said,

"Good," Dan said, turning around and beginning to lead me again. "I know just where to go then!"

I looked at Dan with curiosity as he led me to his surprise location. He seemed very excited about it but was extremely secretive about what was to amazing about it. I kept asking where exactly we were going but Dan would always deny me any answer other than, "You'll see when we get there!"

We finally came to a stop after about fifteen minutes of walking in seemingly random directions. I quickly spotted what Dan was so excited to show me. "There's a lot of really cool cinema's in London, but this one is my favorite by far..." Dan said, looking back at me with anticipation.

I grinned excitedly and began running towards the BFI IMAX, Dan laughing slightly as I pulled him along with me. We quickly reached the building, leaving me to suddenly feel very small in its presence. I'd seen pictures before, but I'd never imagined it being quite so large in person. I stared up, wide eyed as I imagined how big the screen must be inside.

I quickly looked at Dan with an excited expression. "Do you want to see a movie?" I asked, probably looking like a child who want to go into a toy store. "I don't really care what they're playing... I've never been to an IMAX and I really need to see something here!"