book store; phan

chapter three

I smiled to myself like an idiot as I let Dan drag me around the entire city. I looked up for a moment to see where we were heading for, and I raised an eyebrow as he lead me towards the river Thames. He pulled me over onto the bridge, and propped his elbows up on the railings. He glanced over at me, expecting me to join him. I giggled, before scooting over by his side to look at the moonlit river. I sighed in content, looking over at Dan only to find he was already staring.

"What?" I inquired, watching his gaze shift back to the water.

Dan closed his eyes, letting out a breath of cold air. "Nothing."

I quirked an eyebrow at him once again, before shivering as a blast of freezing air hit me right in the face. I wrapped my arms around myself in hopes to try and warm myself from the cold night. I saw Dan bite his lip before scooting closer to me and wrapping a protective arm around me. To my surprise, I was filled with warmth in the comfort of his arm, and realised I was grinning to myself like a madman.

"Is this okay?" Dan asked, nerves evident in his voice. Him being the taller of the two of us, I leaned back and looked up at him with a genuine smile still plastered across my face.

I realised I still had to give him a reply, as Dan started to grow nervous. "Yeah, it's fine." I watched closely as relief swept across his features, as I look back onto the star filled river.

The pair of us hopped as my phone began to ring obnoxiously, ruining the moment. I groaned to myself, before looking who the dickwad was who was ringing me. I sighed, and pressed the green button.

"Hi boss."

"Phil! Where are you? I've been waiting in the shop for over an hour, Jesus, how long does it take to get a coffee?! Imagine all the disappointed customers, oh m-"

"Calm down Peej, I felt a bit out of it and I went home, forgetting to drop you a text. I'll be there tomorrow." I bit my lip as I glanced up at Dan, who was awkwardly standing there rubbing the arm that was around me just moments earlier. He avoided my gaze, as his own was fixed on the horizon.

"Oh. Well then, that's fine. I think you need a break from the nightly shifts. You can take the next week off if you want, get some rest. I'll get that new guy - Chris, was it? Yeah, he can take over." My jaw dropped to the floor.

"Seriously? Oh my God, thank you so much Peej!"

"Don't mention it. Now fuck off before I change my mind." I heard him laugh before he ended the call. I smiled to myself, and then realising Dan was still there.

"Are you in trouble? I'm sorry, it's probably my fault - I pressured you into meeting me in the café, shit Phi-"

"Dan," I cut him off, "It's okay. He gave me the week off to get some rest." Dan calmed down immediately, relief flooding his face. "Speaking off, do you want to come back to my place to sleep for a bit? We can explore the city some more in the morning."

Dan's face lit up. "Yeah! I mean - I would like that." He says, grinning sheepishly. I smirked, and led the way back to my apartment.

--

"Welcome, to my humble abode!" I say theatrically. "My room is down the hall there, I'll sleep on the couch."

Dan frowned before looking at me, pouting. "No Phil, you don't have to do that. I can sleep on the c-" I shushed him, grabbed his arm and led him down the hall and into my room.

"Go on, I'll be fine." I said, about to leave before I heard his voice calling me back.

"Phil - could you, uh, maybe - you don't have to if you don't want to-" I rose an eyebrow at him, letting him continue. "Could you stay here with me? I feel too bad making you sleep on the couch, and -"