TAMPONS | PHAN

eight; june

j u n e;

            

The air outside was clammy as Dan's palms. Dan almost regretted choosing his trademark black t-shirt and jeans, as he stood sweltering underneath the heat of the late-morning sun. England wasn't supposed to be this warm, though lately they had been experiencing a heat wave. Dan ran his hand through his fringe which was rapidly losing its straightness in the humidity.

He felt slightly queasy, and it wasn't because of the heat. It was from what he had come here –  to Kate's house – to do. He hadn't told anyone –not his Dad nor Mitch or even Phil— about how he felt. Now here he was, about to confess everything to Kate.

He raised his sweaty hand, to knock the immaculately painted cream door, when it swung open in front of him. A lean man with a blonde goatee stumbled back in shock as he saw Dan standing there.

"Hello Mr. Macks," said Dan politely – even though he was about to break up with his daughter, he still needed to be polite – "I'm here to see Kate," he added and Mr. Macks nodded slowly, as though he had just surfaced from underwater.

"Yes, yes of course," he said slowly. "She'll be in her room."

Dan bid farewell to the man whom he had only met on a couple occasions. Due to his job as a scientist Kate said his head was often up in the clouds. Dan headed inside the clean interior of Kate's home, taking care to remove his shoes. Kate often complained to Dan about how her mother was a neat freak, and needed to keep the house entirely clean.

He padded upstairs to Kate's bedroom, where Ed Sheeran could be heard crooning softly through the speakers. He knocked softly on the door, and the music paused as Kate opened it. Her hair was done up in a messy bun and she was wearing a tie-dye t-shirt and shorts.

"Oh!" she exclaimed evidently surprised. "Hey Dan," she said letting him into her room. Dan smiled, his inside churning nervously.

"You didn't text," said Kate confused, following him into her room. Dan let out a loud sigh.

"I know. I wasn't quite sure what to say," he said finally and her brow furrowed.

"I dunno. How about: Hey Kate! I'm coming over?" said Kate and Dan wrung out his hands as he shifted his weight from the ball of his foot to the other. Kate's teasing smile vanished as she saw Dan's expression. "Dan. Are you okay? What's going on?"

"I wanted to talk to you," said Dan slowly, purposely focusing on the large collection of glass dolphins on Kate's dresser.

"So then talk," said Kate challengingly. She seemed to have sense this was something serious, as she regarded him with the utmost attention.

"This isn't easy for me to do. I like you Kate. You know I do, but – "

"You're breaking up with me aren't you?" asked Kate, cutting across Dan. When Dan nodded slowly, she sighed heavily. "I should have known this was coming, you've been drifting apart for weeks. Months even." She said, her voice tight and heavy.

Dan dared to glance at her, just to see her rapidly swipe at a tear that tumbled down her cheek. It made things worse that she was crying. Dan just wanted to get the whole experience over with.

"Listen... it's not you. It's me," said Dan, wincing as he ran over the cheesiness of his words. "I now that's like the most quintessential breakup sentence ever. But its befitting to this scenario," added Dan and when Kate let out a hiccup – a noise that was caught between a sob and a laugh – Dan dared to look at her again.

"Please just explain. I accept your decision and I agree that it's probably what is best... but I need to know why. Just so I don't obsess over it," said Kate and Dan nodded. He owed her that much.