Readers -[ Dan Howell AU ]-

-{Leilani}-

    "I really enjoyed the movie," I whispered, walking next to Dan. We were in a park that I'd never heard of. There were willow trees surrounding a creek, which was filled with lily-pads and cattails. There were fish swimming around in the water, in and out of the cattails. At the moment, Dan and I were standing on a bridge that overlooked the creek.
    "I thought you would. Most people do, it's a pretty good movie," Dan grinned at me as he spoke.
    I leaned forward on the rail of the bridge, closing my eyes and breathing in the evening air. It was perfect outside. Dan soon joined me, resting his arms over the edge, and we watched the water in a peaceful silence. Dan sighed.
    I glanced at him out the corner of me eye, I didn't want him to be bored. I rested my head on my hand. Dan and I gazed out down the creek. It was almost wide enough to be a river, it just wasn't quite there yet. Maybe one day.
    I sighed and glanced at Dan. I never thought I'd have to say this, but I'd give anything to know what he was thinking. To me, everyone is an open book, literally. Dan, though, Dan is an Elite. I'll never know what he's thinking, even though he's the only person I've ever wanted to read.
    "What're you thinking about?" Dan asked, not taking his eyes off the creek.
    "What do you mean?" I absentmindedly mumbled back.
    "You've been staring at me for a good minute or so, I'm sure you're thinking about something."
    Oh, Lord. Have I really been staring? For that long?
    "Sorry," I whipped my head back to the creek. Dan shook his head and chuckled. I raised an eyebrow at him. "What?"
    "Nothing."
    "Why are you laughing, then?" Dan covered his mouth to hide his smile.
    "I'm not laughing!" His voice came out muffled.
    "Sure."
    "I'm not!" He whined. I laughed and rolled my eyes.
    "What did you do then?"
    "I just giggled a little..."
    "Just giggled?"
    "Fine, chuckled."
    I rested my head on my hand, my elbow balanced on the rail. "What did you chuckle at, then?"
    Smiling, he gazed out down the creek again. "I don't really know... Maybe it was how upset and embarrassed you looked. Maybe it was thinking of the fact that if, a week ago, someone told me I'd be on a date with a woman as beautiful as you, I would have laughed in their face.
    The compliment wen't straight over my head. I could only focus on one thing.
    "Date?" I mumbled, suddenly glazed over.
    "Well, yeah, this is a date. Isn't it?" Dan laughed. When I didn't respond, he finally turned to look at me. My eyebrows where furrowed, it probably looked like I was staring through him, not at him.
    "No," I replied in a hollow voice. This was not a date. It could not be a date. As much as I was beginning to wish it was. Dan saying that was a reality check. I shouldn't get involved with a guy like him. He's an Elite, and he hates Readers. He may not be dangerous yet, but as soon as people find out what he is, he will be deadly. I can't risk that.
    "Lani? What's wrong?" His soft, seemingly innocent face came into view as he turned me to face him. "I'm sorry, this doesn't have to be a date. I just... I don't know, I guess I thought you fancied me."
    "Dan... I do like you, a lot." What little hope was left in him slowly crumbled away. His face sunk, he knew what was coming. "There are so many reasons we wouldn't work out. I'm sorry"
    "Like what? I'm sure we could figure something out. We could get through it." Dan fought.
    "Um," I began to panic. Obviously, I couldn't tell him that I was a Reader. "Phil and I..." Dan's look of sadness turned into sock and anger. "We dated... In Uni. Last night he told me he wanted to try again. We only broke up because we had so much work."
    "Oh, I see," Dan turned back to the creek. It was only then that I realized he had been holding my hands, only having dropped them when he turned. "Friends, then?"
    "Friends."

-={}=-

    Dan didn't speak to me for the rest of the night. Not long after our talk on the bridge, he called a cab. The ride back to the flat was silent. As soon as we got there, Dan locked himself in his room. I went to the lounge and wrapped myself in the blanket I've been using.
    I felt terrible. Both for hurting Dan, and for using Phil to do so. I just couldn't think of anything else to say. Now, I was going to have to figure out how to keep Dan from finding out I never dated Phil... Phil! I need to talk to him about this.
    I made my way to Phil's room, careful not to make a sound when I passed Dan's room. As I passed it, I couldn't help but stop. There was the faint glow of what I assume was a lamp coming from under the door. The only noises coming from the room was quiet, muffled music, probably coming from his headphones, and the occasional sniffle. Did I hurt him that badly? It broke my heart to hear him cry.
    "I'm sorry, Dan," I mumbled under my breath. I let my hand gently rest against the door before I turned away. My eyes landed on Phil's room. I sighed. Making my way to his room, I thought over what I should say. How could I explain my bullshit story I had told Dan? I rolled potential words around in my mouth, testing them out. I have to get Phil to play along.
    When I reached his door, I hesitated. I knocked gently on the door, almost hoping he wouldn't hear me. To my disappointment, yet also relief, he opened the door.
    "Leilani?" He asked, his voice coarse as if he'd just woken up. Was it that late? Judging by Phil's baggy plaid pants and old, yet brightly colored shirt, it's safe to assume that it was past 11 p.m.
    "Hey, Phil," I sighed.
    "Is something wrong?" He questioned, commenting on my obviously distressed state.
"You could say that."
"What happened?"
"Well," I averted my eyes, staring at the ground. "Um, can I come in, first?" Phil shrugged and opened the door a bit wider so that I could enter. I gave him a weak smile. "I messed up."
"I doubt it was that bad," Phil half-heartedly laughed. "What did you do?"
"I- Um- I kind of told Dan that you and I were dating." I mumbled.
"You what?!" Phil shouted, in shock of course, not anger. I didn't think he was capable of anger. I quickly shushed him, slapping my hand over his mouth. He glanced down at my hand, then back up at me, with his eyebrow raised.
"Right, sorry," I removed my hand. Immediately, Phil grabbed my shoulders and sat me down on his bed. Phil pushed a desk chair in front of me and sat down.
"So-"
"Shh!!"
"So," he lowered his voice. "You told Dan that you and I are... Dating?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"It's a long story."
"I have time."
With that, I began my story. We were up until all hours of the night, talking, planning. Phil had eventually gone along with it, although he didn't like the idea of lying even more than we already had.
We came up with the plan to 'fake date' for a while, maybe a couple of weeks, until I can get a foothold on life, find a new place to live. Phil was wholeheartedly against the idea, saying that I could stay with them as long as I needed, forever if I wanted. He said I could start a 'Youtube channel,' whatever that is. I promptly rejected his request. I'd caused him enough trouble, I'd be leaving as soon as possible. Anyway, after a couple of weeks, we'd pretend to have a big fight, I'd move to my new place, and that'd be the end of that. I'd never bother them again, much to Phil's apparent dismay.
"That's our plan then. No ifs, no buts, no errors?" I asked Phil. It was nearly 4 a.m., I needed a break. I collapsed back on his bed, saying I was just resting my eyes, and that I'd go back to the lounge later.
"I suppose that's it," Phil said apprehensively. He gave me a weary smile, he looked like he was about to pass out. "What could go wrong?" He sighed, scooting next to me on the bed and relaxing, instantly falling asleep.
"Yeah," I agreed. "What could go wrong?" Then I fell asleep, forgetting to leave Phil's room.