Just came up with about 20 possible endings for this. It won't be ending soon, but I have a big decision for the end I have to make.
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Dan POV:
"Nothing." That's one of the worst words. I can tell she doesn't trust me. I know she's only 'known me' for twenty four hours, but I think she can at least tell me what she's thinking about. Maybe she secretly thinks I'm the worst and would rather go back to Chicago than back to London with me.
"Who's up to order food?" Will says, breaking the 'after an awkward laugh' silence.
"I doubt anything's open." Laura says. "And besides, we just ate." Kyle hops over.
"Yeah, but the amazing pizza place takes a really long time to deliver. Probably longer with the terrible roads." He says. "And we'll have time to explore the hotel."
The door slams open. "HAVE YOU GUYS SEEN THE 6TH FLOOR?" Woody yells.
"No." Will replies for us.
"Theres a huge ballroom and nobody is in there and it has really cool stained glass windows and a ITS SO FREAKING COOL!" Woody says. Chrissy runs out after him.
"Yeah. The ballroom has a concert area." She says, swatting hair out of her eyes.
"It's the size of the place we first played here in St. Louis." Woody says. Everyone looks at Woody like he's just announced that all of us got immortality.
"Really?" I ask, "Tell me the details, Christopher."
"Nobody ever seems to go in there. We were alone for like, an hour." Woody says.
I tap my fingers together like Mr. Burns from The Simpsons. "Excellent." I reply.
"Release the hounds!" Laura shouts. Kyle buries his face in his hands.
"If anyone wants to make any more Simpsons jokes, you can leave." Kyle looks at all of us, one by one.
Chrissy backs up to block the door. "Doh!" She yells.
"Are you actually kidding? Okay," Kyle says, changing his tone to a kindergarten teacher voice. "First person to do that again gets a hug." He says.
"I was wondering if you could sing the entire score of the H.M.S. Pinafore." I say.
"DYLE." Will, and Woody yell as Laura whispers it.
"I'm actually done with you guys." Kyle says.
"Oi, where's my hug?" I ask, chasing him.
"Man child!" Chrissy taunts.
"CRUSTY SNAIL!" Kyle screams back at her.
She sighs. "How much did I miss?"
Kyle POV: (After the Dyle chase, which resulted in me being 'forced' to hug Dan, even though I secretly wanted to. I KNOW. STOP. SHUT UP.)
"Come on, come on, don't stop a-running with me.." Dan sings softly to himself. His smooth voice echoes in the empty ballroom. We all (minus Will, who went into the hall to order the pizzas) crane our necks to see everything. Dan hops onto the stage, which doesn't have a clear spot to come up on. I watch him help Laura on. Woody and Chrissy are talking to them, climbing on as well. I wonder what Charlie's doing. He's probably on the flight back to the UK right now. I check my phone. 12:15. He just left. I hear Woody start talking about how this isn't as cool as blah blah blah in Plymouth.
"I swear, Woody, that's pretty much your catchphrase. We need to make it tee shirts or something."
I hear Dan say "Yeah! And have a picture of him in sunglasses on it." I say, now devoting my attention to this conversation. I run up to the stage so I won't be awkwardly screaming my replies from halfway across the room. The closer I get, the taller the edge of the stage gets. It's at least a meter off the ground. I eventually climb up, and by that I mean I had to get a running start and use all my energy to flop embarrassingly onto the stage, but I was there.
"Graceful." Laura says. Dan and Woody are still planning the tee shirts like overexcited third graders who just learned school is cancelled. (I just realized how terrible of a metaphor that is.)
"And they'll come in grey or black?" Dan asks. "Black, obviously." Woody says, flipping his hair.
"You realize there's stairs on this side of the stage, right?" Chrissy says from the far side of the stage. Everything goes quiet. The 'we are idiots' silence is broken by the thin sound of a piano. My head whips around the room and I see Laura in a far corner, halfway behind a curtain playing the piano. It's a beautiful grand piano that looks like it has been touched in years only by the warm sunlight streaming through a nearby window. Will walks in.
"Sou-..." He stops talking. "I ordered the pizzas!" He says.
"They'll be here in like, 45 minutes." He says, shoving his phone in his pocket.
"Is that the 1975?" He yells across the whole room to Laura.
"Yeah!" She yells back, her voice echoing and the piano stopping.
"Don't stop!" Chrissy yells. "It sounds really good!"
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A picnic in the middle of a ballroom wasn't how any of us planned on spending our Saturday in St. Louis, but I think it's even more fun than what I had planned. (Which was to visit every little shop in town as well as the Arch) It's really loud in here, because right in the middle, there's a circle on the floor that echoes around the whole room. I really want to scream loudly, but Dan would probably call me a 'crusty snail' or something. Will apparently decides to change the conversation. From the silence of 'this pizza is good and I just want to inhale it'.
"So," He starts. Everyone looks up from their phones. "What did you lot do while I was ordering the pizzas?" He asks.
"Woody has a wonderful idea for new merch." Laura says.
"So imagine this: A black-" Woody's voice gets cut off my the sound of a fire alarm.
"GRAB THE PIZZA!" I yell, slamming shut the boxes. Everyone runs hectically gathering their things. The fire escape door flies open. Will sets his foot out first. "It's really slippery." He announces.
"I think we know that, William. NOW MOVE YOUR ASS!" Woody says, pushing past everyone.
Laura POV:
As we rush out of the building (the smell of smoke fills the air quickly), Dan grabs my arm.
"Don't slip." He says.
"Wasn't planning on it." I snap back.
"And if I slip, if you're squeezing my arm I'll pull you down with me." I reply, pulling my arm back. Woody is already 3 flights below us. Chrissy is screaming at him to slow down and that he's gonna kill himself.
"I'D RATHER DIE TRYING THAN DIE WALKING." He says back.
"Valid point." Dan replies (to I think me) we walk a little faster than we should and are about a flight above the sidewalk, which the brits call the 'pavement'.
"LAURA!" five voices yell. Crash.
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FALLINGFORYOU BY THE 1975 IS STUCK IN MY HEAD AND ITS LOVELY
"I DONT WANNA BE YOUR FRIEND"
******"I WANNA KISS YOUR NECK"******
YOU ARE READING
Lost Dad: Dan Smith
Fanfiction"Hello, Mr. Smith. We're calling about a child you had with..." Theres a pause, "Ashley Caraway." - "Laura, about your Dad... He wants to meet you."
