☾ ☽

"so, you're feeling better?"

eliza checked out someone's book, managing to do both things simultaneously, while still giving dan her attention.

"yeah. much."

dan ran his fingers through his hair, and then pulled phil's denim jacket that he had stolen tighter around his torso.

"i must have just been sick or something," he added. eliza nodded.

"that makes sense." something in her tone let dan know that she didn't believe him, but she didn't elaborate.

she finished off another customer, and then leaned on her elbows to give him her full attention.

"so, i have a question," he blurted before he could stop himself.

"yes?" she asked, raising her well-done eyebrows.

"well... i, uh..." dan suddenly didn't think this was the best idea. maybe he was making a mistake. "do you ever get a... like, a jittery feeling, when you're around someone? like, you're nervous, and you can't think straight and it's kind of scary but... kind of amazing?"

he didn't know how else to describe it. he tugged at his hair, watching eliza hopefully. realization melted on her features.

"ohh," she breathed. "sweetie, i'm not the person to ask about that." she grinned. "but i think i know what you mean."

"you do?"

she nodded.

"let's go on a walk. "

➸

dan stared at his feet, the brisk london breeze hitting him directly in the face. it was nice, kind of calming, to have a day that wasn't as hot as the last few were.

"so. you have a crush."

the bluntness in her words took dan aback. he blinked, his eyelashes fluttering.

"what-?"

"yeah." she glanced over at him, looking up to search his face. "that's what a crush feels like."

dan frowned. "it is?" he had never really met anymore that even had the potential of interesting him, he hadn't had many friends before. was this what it felt like to like someone?

"yeah." she grinned crookedly. "and, if i had to guess, i'd say he has it bad too."

dan chewed on the inside of his cheek nervously. what was he supposed to do? he had never been in this type of situation before... did he really like phil? he couldn't actually...

but it kind of made sense, the jitters, the hyper feeling around him. the fact that dan could hardly look him in the eyes without blushing.

"what do i do?" he asked softly.

"well, that's up to you." eliza shrugged, her brown hair blowing in her face. "you could tell him how you feel."

dan laughed out loud. "no way."

his heart thumped in his chest. he clung to the hope that maybe she was wrong. there was no way phil would ever like him... it would be better for both of them if he just got over this.

yeah. he would just have to get over it.

he was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't even notice eliza stopped walking. he turned around to see her kneeling on the pavement, peering at something on the sidewalk.

"that's weird." she pointed to something. a tiny... oh dear. a tiny rose. "they don't typically grow around here. or, like, in the middle of the concrete."

she laughed, but panic was surfacing in dan's chest, bubbling like lava. he looked down at his shoes. there was nothing physically wrong with them... while she was looking away he glanced at the bottoms. no, no holes or anything.

he took a deep breath, trying to convince himself it surely wasn't him.

they walked a little further, and dan calmed his nerves. everything was fine. he needed to stop obsessing.

they walked in casual conversation, the topic of him and phil (gratefully) dropped. they talked about his flower stand, which phil had told her about, and eliza's partner after dan learned that she was asexual, and platonic partners with a nonbinary person named avery. it all seemed so complicated, but dan payed attention and nodded at the appropriate times as she explained.

finally they got to her apartment, from the outside it looked much nicer than phil's, and said goodbye.

"it was really nice hanging out with you," she said, shoving her hands in the pockets of her black jacket. "we should do it again sometime."

dan nodded, smiling, happy that maybe he had made yet another friend. he watched her walk up the steps, swinging the door open and waving goodbye. that's when dan turned around.

there was a trail of roses, following him all the way up to where he stood, shellshocked, in front of eliza's gate.