Intriguing (phan)

6 - pretending

(dan)

dan sighs as the skype window opens. he doesn't want to do this, but he knows he needs to.

he presses the call button next to a tiny picture of his sister, that dan doesn't think particularly flatters her, and listens to the rhythmic ringing sounds. after a few minutes, the ringing abruptly stops and an image of a girl with flowy brown hair and beautiful green eyes fills the screen.

"hi," dan mutters, rubbing his neck.

"hey, dan! long time no see. are you coming to see me soon? you know, i saw this advert yesterday that reminded me of you. it's like an artificial skylight that you put in your room and it kind of has a fake sun and i know you don't go outside so i think it'd be perfect for you. do you want me to get it?"

dan genuinely laughs, "you know i have windows, right?"

"yeah, but there's no sun in london. i would know because when i'm watching the news they spend like 10 minutes talking about the weather in london and like 2 minutes talking about the whole rest of the uk. like why is london suddenly more important? the rest of us need to know whether or not to bring umbrellas. so inconsiderate of them..."

dan lets her talk, laughing when she says something ridiculous or encouraging her with more questions when her rambling falters. dan laughs as loud as he can, making sure that phil can hear that he's talking to someone.

after half an hour, the conversation has died down and instead of spurring it on some more, dan finally asks the question that's been on his mind the entire time.

"addie, how's mum doing?"

addie goes quiet for a second, as if deeply pondering the question. "has she still not talked to you?"

"not for years, addie," dan answers, his tone slightly reprimanding.

"well, she's still not over dad, and it's slowly driving her mad."

dan sighs. his father walked out when he was 18, claiming that dan's abnormal telekinesis was unnatural and disgusting. dan's mum responded by sending dan to uni as soon as he could go, in the hope that dan's father would come back.

unfortunately, when she contacted him again, he'd gotten a new girlfriend and had a child with her. all this information had been relayed to dan via addie, because ever since dan's mum found out that dan's dad had moved on, she had refused all contact with dan.

that was dan's explanation why he didn't really try to make friends at uni, and now it was too late and he was all alone.

"have you been to see her?"

addie only sighs and places her head in her hands. "dan every time i talk to her, all she does is complain and cry or yell. it hurts, dan, it really hurts. and what am i supposed to do? zach wants to meet her and she hates him." addie sounds a bit flustered when referring to her boyfriend, and dan suddenly feels sympathy for her, which wasn't very common. addie was the perfect sibling - pretty, sociable, smart, sporty and most importantly, normal.

"you need to go see her, addie. maybe tell zach she's going through a lot right now," dan suggests, trying to be the helpful older brother.

"and for how long? you said it yourself, it's been years and she's getting worse by the day."

"addie, just go see her by yourself. she won't say it, but i know she'd definitely apreciate it."

another long silence passes, before addie asks. "do you miss it? how we used to be?"

dan chuckles bitterly, "of course i do. every single day."

"even though--"

"yeah, even though the end was messy. i remember what it was like before we told dad. i helped mum with the dishes and i flew you all over the place when you were too lazy to walk. i wish i could see them one last time, and apologise for being..."

what? a freak? an accident of nature? an inconvenience? a mistake? a disappointment?

dan shakes his head and continues. "that's why you shouldn't take the fact that mum will let you into the house for granted."

addie sighs again, her eyes watery, "ok, i'll go do it."

dan laughs, trying to lighten the atmosphere, "and next time don't make me have to guilt trip you."

addie laughs, a single tear trailing down her cheek, "alright," she says, voice an impossible mix of genuine happiness and sorrow so deep, done by repetitive years of constant hurt.

dan hears a bark in the background, "is that charlie?"

"yeah. charlie, come."

a golden retriever runs onto the screen and starts jumping on addie, licking away her tears and nudging her with her paws. and suddenly a sense of relief settles over dan. his sister will be fine.

"how old is she now?" dan asks.

addie pulls charlie into her arms. "four, but really close to five. zach wants to throw a massive party for her, but i'm trying to convince him that it's a bad idea. she doesn't really like crowds, although, if it's people she knows..."

dan settles his face in the palm of his hand and watches addie talk, all her past worries gone.

***

a few hours later, dan leaves his room to grab a drink, telling addie he'd call her again tomorrow.

he strolls into the kitchen, with a smile on his face, but is stopped by phil, who is leaning on the counter in front of the fridge.

"you were talking for a long time. didn't think you'd ever come out?" he says and his tone is very strange and makes dan rethink his first answer.

"yeah, i was catching up with an old friend."

"oh, right," phil says, nodding his head understandingly.

"i mean we're still friends," dan quickly adds.

"yeah, obviously," phil says, furrowing his brow.

"in fact, i'm seeing her tomorrow," dan blurts before he can help himself. he just wants phil to know that he does have friends, even though he really doesn't.

"that's nice."

"we're going to a café together."

"ok," phil nods.

"yeah," dan answers and leaves the kitchen, before he can embarass himself further.

well at least now he has plans for tomorrow.

going to the coffee lounge, by himself.

**a/n hi, sorry it's been a while. i'm in the middle of exams. i'll return to the update schedule in my bio as soon as my exams are over. thanking you for sticking around, and for all the votes and comments ❤️️

what do you think will happen tomorrow? (in the story^)**

🔮rachel