absolutely smitten ➳ d.h.

[ 2.0 ] dan and phil's flat | dan

Dan was sat on the sofa, nervously awaiting Tessa's arrival. He pulled at his shredded nails with his teeth, a nervous habit he'd had his whole life and never been able to stop.

He couldn't stop thinking about her bright green eyes that shimmered in the full light at both parties. He thought about her hair that fell in long dark strands down her back. He thought about her lips, and the fact that he so badly wanted to kiss them.

The doorbell rang, stopping Dan's train of thought with a jolt, as if someone had pulled the red 'emergency stop' string.

This was it. This meeting was going to either make or break their friendship. Would they end up hating each other, or would something else blossom between them? Dan was hoping for the second one, but he knew there was always a possibility that he could get friend zoned. It wouldn't be the first time, after all.

Phil entered the room and gave Dan a thumbs up, before rushing off to get the door.

Dan heard a mumble of inaudible voices and a few laughs.

As he heard footsteps on the stairs slowly getting louder, a wave of panic(!) ran through him.

Did Tessa know Dan would be here? Did she know this meeting was just for Dan to get to know her, or did she just think she was coming to see Phil?

It came apparent that it was the latter when she waltzed into the lounge happily.

"Oh!" She exclaimed as she jumped at the sight of Dan.

"Er, hi." Dan awkwardly smiled at her, raising his hand to wave and immediately regretting that decision.

"Hello." Tessa uttered quietly, clearly uncomfortable.

There was then an incredibly awkward silence, only the sound of their breathing evident in the room. Tension and worry lingered in the air between the two of them, creating an atmosphere that neither of them could quite bear.

"I," Tessa began, finally breaking the silence. "I didn't realise you were going to be here." She told Dan, despite it being quite evident that this exchange was a complete surprise to her.

"Yeah, um, I can see that." Dan replied disappointedly. Maybe Tessa didn't like him as much as Phil had led him to believe?

"Oh!" Tessa exclaimed. "No, no, I didn't mean that in a nasty way. I just meant that it was a surprise."

Dan sighed in relief, looking up at Tessa and almost melting at the redness that had appeared on her cheeks. She was cute as hell and Dan was practically fighting himself to not kiss her.

"A nice surprise." Tessa mumbled, cursing herself afterwards and hoping Dan didn't hear her. He did.

And he was overjoyed.

The blush that was apparent on Tessa's cheeks seemed to have spread to Dan's and he didn't even care. He was too preoccupied with the fact that he was in the same room as her. Alone.

The only problem was, he had no clue what to talk to her about. He'd planned so many conversations in his head. (side note: all star just came on and i'm fighting the urge to scream it out loud but i'm on a bus send help) He thought about talking to Tessa about nerdy things, like video games or Star Wars, but decided against it because he didn't want to scare her off.

He thought about talking to her about dancing, but he didn't have the first clue as to what happened in dance. He only just knew about how 'Just Dance' worked, did he really expect himself to be able to carry a conversation about this topic?

He even thought about using a cheesy pickup line, like the heaven one, but quickly put that thought right to the back of his mind. That was a last resort. He'd never used a pickup line in his life, and he sure as hell wasn't going to start now.

In fact, he was so busy thinking about what to say to Tessa that he didn't realise she'd sat down next to him and was beginning a conversation.

"Dan? Hello?" She said, waving her hand in front of his face, making him snap out of his daze with a jump.

"What? Sorry." He replied, embarrassed.

Tessa gave him a large grin, giggling at his cuteness. "I was just saying that I like your socks."

"Huh?" Dan questioned, confusion present in his expression as he looked down at his feet.

He saw his large shoeless feet covered by a pair of green Slytherin socks and chuckled. That's the geek in her coming out.

"T-thanks." He stuttered, blushing slightly.

"Is Slytherin your house?" Tessa asked, curious.

"Uh, yeah. I took the quiz twice, though. It gave me Slytherin first and then Gryffindor." Dan explained. "I used to be riddled with guilt about being in Slytherin, so I told everyone I was in Gryffindor, but I guess it's not that bad."

"Slytherin is a great house! I mean, yeah, Voldemort was in Slytherin, but so were Snape and Merlin. And Slughorn! That's nothing to be ashamed of." Tessa reassured him.

"Wait, Slughorn was in Slytherin? No way!" Dan replied, his eyes lighting up at the fact that his house wasn't completely doomed.