Readers -[ Dan Howell AU ]-

-{ Leilani }-

First, I want to say that I changed the last chapter a bit. DAN DID NOT KISS LEILANI. I felt like it was way too soon and it was bothering me for a while.

Second, I saw that I hit 5,000 reads! That's so... I never thought I'd even make it to 100. I mean, in the beginning, I was in the 20s on reads for so long and I just- I almost gave up, yah know? I almost deleted it. Then one person came along and commented that they actually liked the story. I think that was my push to continue it, and now here I am! It's so amazing! Thank you all so much! I love you guys:)

P.S. I changed the book cover! Do u like?

-={}=-

I heaved a sigh and trudged over to the couch. I suppose... for a little while... I can stay. I smiled to myself. They care about me. He cares about me. He's so nice... And mysterious. I want to get to know him. I want him to like me-

My smile faltered. The makeup on my wrist had smudged a bit, revealing a faint outline of the dots. Oh, right. I grabbed my wrist and squeezed it so tightly that my knuckles turned white. Fuck this. Why should these mean anything? I can read minds, so what? I can turn that off. I just want to be normal.

I reached under the couch cushion. Buried in it was my concealer, hidden in case of emergency. I twisted the cap off and dabbed the artificial colour on to my skin. I rub it in until nothing is there. Nothing to cause me to be treated differently. I breathed out. I'm okay, everything's going to be okay. This will work out.

I laid myself on the couch and let myself drift away. I'll ask for my stuff back in the morning.

-

By the time morning came, I had only gotten three hours of sleep. Not ideal, but I've had it worse. I get up and rub my eyes. Neither Dan nor Phil were in sight. Where were they, you may ask? That was answered when I heard a screech coming from the kitchen.

"Oh dear lord." I groaned and got off of the couch. I made my way to the kitchen, where I heard two voices bickering.

"I just want to make her breakfast!"

"But I was going to do that!"

"So? I was here first!"

"Oh my god, fine! Can I at least help?"

"Hell no, get out of here! See if she's awake! I want this to be my surprise for her!"

I hopped away from the door just as a grumpy Phil swung it open. I muttered a few curses as I lost my balance and fell to the ground. Phil jumped back and squealed when he saw me, seconds later scrambling to help me. "I'm fine! Phil, I'm fine!" I giggled through his relentless apologies.

Dan peaked his head out of the kitchen, "Phil! What did you do!?" He rushed over to help me up as well, which resulted in me being rapidly pulled up by two boys who didn't know their strength combined. If I was in a cartoon, I would have been catapulted into a wall. Luckily, I'm not. I just wobbled and almost fell forward. Dan put his arm out in front of me to keep me from collapsing to the floor once again.

"Jesus, guys, do you not know your own strength?" I smiled. Phil laughed awkwardly, while Dan just rubbed his neck and looked at the ground. "What are you guys doing, anyway?"

"Uhm... I was trying to make you breakfast, but Phil and I got into a bit of an altercation-" Phil rolled his eyes, "-and, well, there ended up being a small food fight... N-nothing serious! Don't worry!"

"What!?" I pushed past him slightly and peeked into the kitchen. There were eggs splattered against the wall, flour dusting the floor, milk spilled across the counter. "Oh, my god... Guys!" I whipped my head towards the boys. Phil was giving me the best pouty eyes he could muster, while Dan was avoiding all eye contact. He was staring down at a whisk in his hands, fiddling with it and spinning it around. He paused for a moment and scrunched up his nose, shaking his head and putting the egg covered whisk in a puddle of milk that was slowly dripping onto the floor.

I gave them a pointed stare. It was silent for a few minutes until a quiet giggle broke the silence. They both jumped and looked at me in shock. I covered my mouth and giggled so hard I could feel my body shaking. I leaned back and pressed my hand to the counter, putting all of my weight onto it. I spun around and reached, with my other hand, to get some paper towels. I began to wipe down the counters. "You two don't worry about this, I'll clean it up. You guys can go to the store and get whatever you... destroyed."

Phil nodded and awkwardly rushed to the door, wrapping himself up in a coat and disappearing into the brisk winter air. Dan stared at the front door for a couple of seconds, then shook his head. I turned back to the counter and began cleaning, assuming he was leaving, only to be surprised by two large hands grabbing more towels and assisting me in cleaning up.

"It's only fair, I did make the mess." I smiled and shook my head. We cleaned in a peaceful silence, the light from the early morning sunrise shone through the kitchen window, causing the icicles to glisten like crystals. Yellow leaves shook outside the window. Dan's soft breathing and the spritzing of cleaning solution were the only sounds to be heard. We were doing a small task that had become so familiar to me throughout my life. Although I had gone through these motions so many times, this time was different.

At first, I didn't know what it was, but, I think now, that it was that I was finally, truly, at peace.

Sorry this is so short, more to come.