It's Not an Existential Crisis

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

*****ARIELLA's POV*****

So for the past four days, I have been meeting either with Dan and Phil or with Nikita and Thalia. Gosh, I LOVE England!

I walked down the sidewalk to this nice, quiet park. I set down my cup of tea and pulled out my sketch pad. I looked around for inspiration as everyday life was occurring around me. Birds were flying to the tall blooming trees while joyful children played their own little games. That morning was just so peaceful.

I began to sketch this grand tree with these branches that transcend off the page. I was shading in each individual leaf when I heard a notification of my phone. I pulled it out of my bag and saw that Dan texted me; he gave me his number yesterday morning. I opened my messages:

Hey Ariella, tonight some friends and I are going out to dinner. Would you like to join?

Do I even need to answer that?

I typed back:

Of course! When and where? ;)

Meet me by the Underground entrance at 6:00

Awesome! See you then!

I smiled as I put my phone away. I cant wait until tonight. Dan and Phil have been such great friends. While here in London, I have almost forgotten about Austin which truly helps my mental state. I don't know if my body can take anymore pain. So by surrounding myself with all these new people, and of course still talking to Artie, I truly feel like my life has been turned around for the better.

"Ariella? Hey girl!" I heard.

I looked up and saw Nikita running at me.

"Hi!" I stood up and gave her a hug.

"What are you working on-ooo! That's amazing!" she sat down next to me.

"Thanks," I smiled.

"So what are you up today?" She grabbed my tea and tasted it.

"Well, for today I was just going to relax but I just got a text from Dan seeing if I wanted to go to dinner with him." I grabbed back my tea and took a sip.

"Like a date?" She asked with excitement in her expression.

I almost choked on my drink.

"No- no, with his friends." I blushed.

"Oh ok," She looked around and leaned closer to me.

"Do you think Dan likes you?" Her smile was from ear to ear.

"What? No, that's crazy Niki" I began packing my stuff up.

"Do you like him?" I froze.

"I don't know, I have always had an Internet crush on him, but now that I know him personally, things are well- different." I shrugged.

"Alriiiight. What ever you saaaaay." She winked at me.

"Oh cut it out." I chuckled.

"Bloody hell, I'm late for University! See you later my darling!" She smiled, hugged me, and then shuffled down the street.

"Crazy girl" I said quietly to myself with a smile.

*****

I looked down at my phone.

5:55

Before turning the corner, I looked at my reflection in the window. I adjusted my outfit so that it was practically perfect. I was wear skinny blue jeans with a nice white blouse covered up with a chic black blazer. It was casual yet fancy at the same time. My short black boots clicked with every step until I reached the Subway, or the Underground. Dan informed me of the different terms for different things.

"Dan!" I waved as I held my small clutch in my other hand.

"Ariella!" He smiled and gave me a hug, "you look very nice."

"Thanks," I was pretty sure my cheeks were a red as a tomato.

"Phil is over there waiting for us." He pointed to Phil getting me my pass to go on to the underground.

"I'm excited! I have never been on a subway before." I squeaked.

Dan looked at me with a weird expression.

"I know, I'm lame. I get excited about typical things" I shrugged.

"You're not lame, it's what makes you special." He genuinely smiled.

I was about to compliment him back when Phil jumped in-

"Are y'all ready?" He tried to say in his best Southern accent.

"Whenever you are." I said in a British accent.

"Niiiice" He smiled and handed me my pass. I followed the boys into the car. Dan and Phil sat right next to each other, it's like they are connected at the hip. I plopped down next to Dan. He started telling me about what happened at their radio show when all of the sudden, the subway jolted forward amusing me to fall against him unexpectedly.

"Sorry, wasn't ready for that." I laughed.

"It's alright," He chuckled as he helped me sit back up.

"Anyway, so then what happened?" I crossed my legs and continued to listen to their story.

*****

"Bye! Nice meeting you!" We waved to the friends we ate dinner with.

"They were really nice, so you knew them from University?" I asked.

"Yep." Phil pulled out his phone, "We still have time to go get milkshakes before the shop closes!"

"Ooo a vanilla shake sounds great right now." I smiled.

"Wait-wait-wait- have you had a malteser milkshake before?" Dan put his hands on my shoulders.

"Um no." I laughed at his serious expression. He looked at Phil, then at me, then back at Phil.

"We need to get her a malteser shake, pronto." He said.

"Agreed. Let's go." We began walking down the crowded streets of London. I was following the boys once more but I couldn't keep up due to my heels.

"Wait up!" I yelled as some people stepped in between Dan and me.

"Here, hold on to my arm." He held it out and I looped mine through.

"Better?" He smiled down at me.

"Much." I replied.

We kept walking until we arrived. A big group of teens were standing right in front if the door and were completely ignoring Dan and Phil's pleas to move. Looked like we had to go single-file. Dan unattached our arms and ended up grabbing my hand. I wasn't expecting him to do that, so I stumbled as he lead me through the obnoxious teens.

We finally got inside to the ordering counter. Phil looked at us.

"Dan, you can let go." He laughed.

We both looked down at our hands and pulled away. I think Dan's face was a shade darker than mine for once.

A/N: I know this is short. Ugh my bad I'm so sorry, this whole month is like my busiest month ever and it's going to be worse next week. Thank you guys for 200 reads and thanks for the patience.

QOTD: Who would you date, Dan or Phil?

Hard question, right? ;)