Check Again

Softness and Stupid Butterflies

   "Can I sit here?" he asks, pointing at the seat across from you.

   You're speechless, and he must take that as a disgust, because he adds quickly, "I mean, everywhere else is full," he gestures towards the full tables, "and I really want to sit. Well, there's a seat next to that old man, but of course I'd much rather sit with you than him - gah, that came out wrong... no offense to him of course." 

   You stare at him in silence until you realize he's waiting for you to speak up. Dozens of replies flood through your head, but the thing you choke out is "Hey buddy you in London?"

   You cringe inwardly. WHY would you say something like that?! You could've just said "yes," or "Sure!" with an upbeat, happy smile, but instead you bring back an old MEME?! NOW HE KNOWS YOU'RE A PHAN. Great going, Y/N. To make matters worse, you had immediately spoken in an awful British accent.

   At first, Dan seems surprised, but then he smirks. "No, I'm still in Manchester."

   You gulp, then you get another wacky idea, and you say, "No, we're in uh-MER-eh-cah right now." You emphasize your American accent to make it more dra-MAT-ic and WEST-ern.

   He chuckles slightly, and your jaw drops open. Dan Howell is LAUGHING at a joke you made?!

   Realizing he's still standing and waiting for your answer, you motion towards the bench opposite you. "You can sit here," you say in your normal (but still garish) accent.

   He smiles, and the two little indents on his face pop up, making you melt. "Thanks," he says, sitting down and resting his hands on the table. The table is pretty small, and there are mere inches between your hands, since yours are also on that table, and your heart beats faster as your palms start sweating.

   Not wanting to be caught staring, you hurriedly try to start a conversation. "So, I guess you probably picked up that I'm a phan, huh?"

   He smiles again. God, those dimples are gorgeous. "Well, I knew you either stumbled across my twitter, watched the video, or yeah, that you're a phan." His smile widens, "honestly, I'm surprised you haven't asked me for something yet, given your state of shock." He cringes almost as soon as the words leave his mouth, as if he's said something he regrets.

   You immediately close your moth, which had been hanging open in shock, and your checks turn pink. He runs a hand through his gorgeous curls, and the phangirl inside you squeals.

   Before you can embarrass yourself further, he swallows, licking his lips, and asks, "so, what are you doing here in London? I mean, your accent's pretty thick." He cringes. "Gah, sorry for the innuendo."

   You laugh, and he seems to relax. "I'm with my friend, who's visiting her brother at university." You notice Dan is studying your hair, but once you try to meet his eyes he looks away. If you didn't know better, you'd almost say he was nervous.

   You decide to continue, "her brother is giving me a tour around London. London is huge, there's so much history and so many sights to see!" you exclaim, your inner scholarly tourist side coming out.

   He smiles again, but it's more shy and soft this time (please do not spam the comments with "soft and neat"). "Yeah, when I first moved to London I practically got lost trying to find a grocery store!" 

   You giggle, a high pitched, foreign sound. Since when did you giggle?!

   Dan leans forward, and his hands are centimeters from yours. Your heart starts to beat quicker. You're getting increasingly nervous and sweaty, and it's NOT because of the heat. You notice he has earphones in. "Hey, what are you listening too?" you ask.

   He takes his phone out of his pocket to show you. "I was listening to some classical piano music, but it's gotten so quiet you can barely hear it!" he jokes.

   You lean in and press the volume button on the phone, lighting up the screen. You smirk and raise it to full volume. Dan's face is placid for a second before he reels back.

   "Oh jesus that's loud!" he exclaims.

   "That's because I turned it up to full volume," you smirk, "it was on the lowest volume earlier, that's why you could barely hear it."

   Jesus Christ, since when were you this confident?!

   He laughs and his fingers reach to turn the volume down, but as you still haven't moved yours, his fingers brush your skin. Your confidence disappears as fast as it came.

   "Y-you play piano, right?" you stutter, trying to distract yourself from the contact. You can feel butterflies in your stomach, squirming around and trying to get you to say something stupid.

   Gosh dang you butterflies.

   "Yeah," he says, blushing ever so slightly, "but I'm not very good."

   "Well, you're probably better than me, with my clumsy fingers. I quit about a year ago," you explain. When you mention your fingers, his gaze is drawn to them and he realizes your hands are touching. You're sure your face is beet red, but before either of you can move, the phone buzzes in your hands.

   You're a bit scared for a brief moment, but Dan looks as if he's been electrocuted, and he slides off the bench and onto the ground, your fingers slipping off the phone.

   Silence stretches over you for a few seconds before you both burst out laughing. You hold out your hand to help him up as he tucks his phone into his pocket, then he takes your hand and you pull him to his feet.

   What happened next might've been the momentum, it might've been the heat messing with your brains (mother nature did often like to pull cruel tricks on you), but as you pull Dan up, he stumbles, his foot catching on God knows what.

   He plows into you and pushes you backwards, your legs tangling together. You grab the first thing you find for support, which just so happens to be Dan's waist. Well, what else would it be, a random dinosaur that has jumped out of the bushes? His hand gropes around in the air before he clutches at your shoulders.

   You're finally able to get your bearings, and thank goodness because you're about to collide with a tree. Your shirt lightly brushes against the bark.

   You realize that the two of you are pressed against each other. You suddenly find it hard to swallow as you realize one of your arms is wrapped around his waist, your other hand still holding on to Dan's. You feel sweat gathering on both of your palms, and you're sure it's yours, and that he's disgusted.

   Though Dan is around a foot taller than you, your faces are less than four inches from each other.

   Neither of you move, his fingers threading through your hair as it blows through the wind (if your hair is short then his fingers are tangled in your necklace, or if you don't wear jewelry, your shirt, and if you're not wearing a shirt in public, unless you're at a swim meet or something I'm a bit concerned). You know you should probably move, but you're still in chock. Plus, and you know you shouldn't be thinking this, but his skin feels nice against yours, and his shirt is so soft and his brown irises transport you to places far, far away...

   Before your thoughts can do down a very dark hole, you hear someone calling for dan. At the same time, out of the corner of your eye, you spot Stella coming towards the table where you were sitting.

   "Dan? Where are you?" As the figure comes closer, you realize it's Phil, as you would be able to spot his silhouette a mile away.

   Your heart hammers as Dan's jacket presses into your arms. You look into his eyes.

   Crap.

A/N Lol sorry it was so cliché, but I couldn't think of any other way for you to meet. Besides this provides some v nice feels. I promise it will be more interesting and stuff later on.

So I was thinking about writing a phanfic (yes like an actual phanfic with Dan and Phil kissing and whatnot) called "Lyrics don't Lie" or smth like that based entirely off song lyrics from different songs (one song per chapter) once I finish this one (so about five years), pls tell me if you want me to. Thanks!