Your POV

"(Y/n)...wake up..." I groan, feeling something poking my ear. I swat it away precariously, but my attempt only results in someone's laughter, and the annoying poking resumes.

"What..." I moan, turning my head but not willing enough to open my eyes.

"We're going out today. Get up, get dressed, whatever it is you do before going out." My eyes pop open, only to attempt to close themselves again at the stunning light filling the room. I see a pale figure with dark hair hovering over me.

I scoot up until I'm leaning against the headboard, Dan straightening up. "I said, get up! We're going out! Having fun! If I stay in here for another minute, I'm gonna go fucking ballistic!" He shouts, marching out of the room.

"Are you sure you haven't already?" I mutter under my breath, sitting up and stretching.

"I heard that!" A disembodied voice shouts from the other side of the wall.

I sigh, and pull myself out of bed. I dress in a pair of high-wasted Levi shorts, a long sleeve striped shirt, and a pair of Nike Cortez's. I do a quick messy French braid down my back, and walk into the bathroom. While I start applying my makeup, Dan throws the door open.

"Hey! I coulda been peeing!" I yell, slapping him.

"Hey! But you weren't," he yells back, mocking my tone. I only roll my eyes, and go back to doing my brows. "You almost ready?" He asks impatiently, leaning against the doorway.

"I don't think you realize how long it takes to look as good as I usually do," I joke.

"Oh, whatever," he sighs. "You look perfect either way. Different, but equally as perfect."

"Aw, you so romantic," I say in a sickly sweet voice.

"I know," he chuckles, kissing me on the cheek and hopping out of the bathroom. What a fucking weirdo.

Dan's dressed in black skinny jeans, a white graphic tee, and a dark bomber jacket. "Wow, you're really dressed for the nice weather," I sneer sarcastically.

"Hey, there's a little bit of color!" He shouts defensively, pointing to the itty bitty bit of red on the otherwise monochrome graphic of his shirt. I only roll my eyes, laughing. He can have this one. I don't know what's gotten into him, but I'm just happy to see him a whole lot more chipper than he's been recently. He's been working on whatever project nonstop, and it's gotten to the point that I sometimes have to sleep on the couch, because he never goes to bed.

"Ayy! No!" Dan swats my hand away as I'm about to grab a box of cereal from the pantry. I raise my eyebrows, obviously offended. "We're going out for breakfast, dummy," he laughs.

"Oh, I'm the dummy, right, that makes sense," I remark sarcastically. However, instead of responding, he grabs my hand and starts pulling me through the hall and out of the apartment.

"Wait-Dan! Dan!" I try to pull myself back, but he's obviously stronger, and pulls me down the stairs and out of the apartment. Luckily I already had my bag on me.

We step outside onto the busy street, and Dan finally stops. "Jesus Christ, what was that about?" I ask, Dan now walking at a normal path down the street.

"Well, If we're gonna have fun, we gotta move as fast as possible!" He sputters, not turning to look at me.

"What are you on?" At first I mean it as a joke, but now I'm starting to actually consider it.

"What? Am I not allowed to be happy?" He asks in a serious tone, but I know he's joking by the stupid grin plastered on his face.

"Be as happy as you want. I'm just a little confused about where this Dan came from."

"Ah, here we are!" He exclaims, ignoring my previous statement. However, whatever I had been thinking before shoots out of my mind as we walk into a pastel cafe, walls lined with endless jars of candy and prepackaged baked goods. The actual stars of the show are in the glass cases in front of the cashier. Dozens of diverse doughnuts are laid out, each more intriguing than the one before it. I become hypnotized by all the bright colors and different candies decorating all the doughnuts.

I stand up, and Dan laughs at the astonishment in my expression. "How have I not seen this place?" I ask, stunned.

"It's kind of a hole in the wall sort of place, no one really knows about for some reason," he explains. "Phil and I didn't even know about it until, like, a year after we moved in." A large part of me believes there's no way this place isn't a large attraction, but as I look around, I notice it's basically dead. There's a couple sharing a doughnut at one table, a hipster typing furiously on a laptop while taking a bite of a bagel, and an old guy reading a newspaper while sipping his coffee. Other than that, this place is a ghost town.

I virtually press my face against the glass case like a kid in a candy store(which, I basically am).

"Pick one. Or two. Or however many you want," Dan says behind me, and I chuckle mischievously.

Five minutes later, we're sitting at a small metal table with two coffees and a baker's dozen doughnuts, ranging from PB & J to blueberry to bacon maple. I grab a chocolate cake doughnut with vanilla frosting and strawberry dust, labeled the Neopolitan. My teeth sink through the dough, and it instantly melts in my mouth, sending pleasure signals through my entire body. Why do people need sex, or entertainment, or travel, when you could always just have doughnuts?

Dan and I sit in the bakery for almost an hour, and after we finish taking aesthetically pleasing photos for Instagram, we try our best as a team to finish them all. However, when that's deemed impossible, we just give the remaining doughnuts to a homeless person sitting on the curb. 

"Normally I'd be wanting a nap from being this full, but now I just think I have a sugar high," I joke as we walk down the street.

"Good, because you might need the energy," Dan says, but laughs at the expression on my face. "Don't worry, that doesn't mean I'm planning on us working out."

I let out a dramatic sigh. Thank God. Dan grabs  my hand and starts swinging it back and forth, and I laugh as I worry we're going to accidentally hit someone. Mid-stride, however, Dan stops in his tracks, and I almost fall over as I continue walking while still holding onto him.

"Oh, can we stop at that store?" He asks, pointing at some mainstream clothing store I've never had the chance to stop at up the street.

I only shrug. "Up to you. I mean, I didn't even plan on going out today, so..." I reply passive aggressively. He gives me a look, silently telling me to stop being petty, then grabs my hand again and pulls me toward the store. We enter an industrial-style building, complete with exposed bricks and lofty ceilings. Generic indie pop music plays a little too loudly from invisible speakers. The walls are lined with trendy brands and new spring pieces. I walk over to a rack of red, yellow, and blue dresses, as it's pretty clear these are the three prominent colors of this season. A pastel yellow sundress with fabric flowers lining the waist catches my eye, and I pick it up, holding it up to myself in the mirror. Dan comes up behind me, a couple pairs of pants hanging over his arm.

"Is it your size?" He asks, meeting my eyes in the mirror. I nod my head. Not sure what he's doing, he takes the dress out of my hand, and drapes it over the rest of his clothes. "Then I'm getting it."

I turn on my heel, and attempt to pull it back, but he takes a step backward. "You don't need to do that," I instantly object.

"Oh, I'm not buying it for you. I'm buying it so I get to see it on you," he replies, giving me a cheeky grin.

I roll my eyes. "You're such a perv," I joke, and go back to browsing a bookshelf filled with self help books and small, overpriced succulents.

almost an hour later, we leave the shop, each with our own stuffed bag. Considering I don't know what we're doing, I just follow Dan, but he doesn't seem to know where he's going either. The sun blazes my skin, and as I catch my reflection in a shop window, i can tell my face is bright pink.

"Uh, Dan?" I ask, stopping him. "Are we gonna go inside at some point?"

He looks at me weird, then nearly bursts into laughter. I place my hands on my hips, scowling at him. "What, I ask sharply, narrowing my brows.

He points at my nose obviously. "You look like Rudolf," he laughs, and I feel the blood rush to my face.

I sigh, obviously annoyed. "Yeah, that's why I wanna get out of the sun, asshole," I snap. He chuckles all the way to the closest restaurant we find, which happens to be a rustic brewery that give the impression that we've just stepped into a train station. As the sign in the foyer instructs us, we seat ourselves at a booth.

"High, welcome to the Station. Can I start you two with something to drink?" A tall, lean waiter comes up to our table, placing a menu in front of us. His dark hair is styled in a perfect windswept quiff, even if there isn't even the slightest breeze out here, and for some reason my heart beats too fast, causing me to keep my eyes glued to a spot behind him.

"Sure, I'll have the Crossroads," Dan says, giving a small grin to the waiter.

"I'll, um, I'll have a lemonade," I stutter, meeting his sparkly blue eyes for just a second, before looking aimlessly around the brewery.

"Okay, I'll be back in a jiffy," he swings his arm dramatically before walking back toward the bar. Still looking at the grains in the wooden table, I feel Dan's eyes in me, and look up to meet his gaze. It only takes a minute before he snorts.

"What?" I ask, incredibly confused as to what he finds funny.

"Attractive people really intimidate you that much, eh? I think I'm a little offended you didn't act that way at least the first time we met."

"Oh, shut up!" I nearly shout, blushing as I see the couple sitting next of us look our way. I whisper, "For your information, when we met, I could barely talk to you, let alone look at you. So stop being so self deprecating."

He cocks an eyebrow at me. "Oh, really?" He asks cheekily, propping his chin up with his elbow on the table. "What did you really think of me when you first met me?"

"I thought you were a total dick, if you want me to be honest." He lets out a dramatic gasp as his mouth shapes itself into a large "O," and I laugh. "No, I actually did find you quite, you know, hot. But I obviously didn't think there was any way you'd feel the same."

"Hmm..." Dan sighs, acting as if he's lost in thought.

"What did you think of me?" I ask, looking at my nails as I try to look casual.

"I thought you were pretty brilliant, to be honest," he replies.

"Awww," I smile, and he gives a fake sigh, looking to the side, obviously trying to hide the smile on his face. A second later, the waiter comes back, giving us our drinks.

"You two ready to order?" He asks. Dan nods, and he pulls out a little pad of paper.

"I'll have the blue burger, with fries instead of chips," Dan says. He scribbled his order down furiously fast, before turning to me.

"I'm, I'll get the, uh, chicken apple sandwich," I blurt out, reading the first thing I see on the menu. The waiter walks away, and I ignore Dan raising his eyebrows at me as I take a large gulp from my drink.

After eating, we walk to the closest pharmacy, picking up the highest SPF sunscreen we can find. I basically bathe myself in it, and we go back out into the city. We walk around for a few more hours, continuing to stop at obscure stores, having conversations with random strangers, dancing like psychopaths in front of a live concert. Normally I'd be exhausted from this much activity, but the happiness pumping through me feels like I've consumed about three cups of coffee in one sitting.

Eventually, around nine o'clock, we end up at the same park where we had danced to imaginary music months ago, even though it feels like it was just yesterday. We find a small, deserted clearing surrounded by wild cherry trees. Dan dramatically drops all our bags on the ground as if they weigh a thousand pounds(I had forced him to carry my things only a few hours ago). We sit on the soft grass, leaning against a thick tree trunk, just as the sun starts dipping below the horizon. The orange-pink sky hypnotizes me, and I barely notice as Dan grabs my hand, our shoulders pressing together.

We talk about a whole bunch of nothing as we watch the sun set. I can't help but stare into Dan's dark eyes, watching the warm colors fill his pupils. Before I know it, the sun has completely tucked itself away, and stars start peaking out. Usually stars aren't entirely visible, due to London never truly going to sleep, but in this little secluded path of paradise, it's as if Dan and I are the only people in the world.

I lean my head against the trunk, focusing on the sky. Usually, looking at the sky, thinking about how tiny and irrelevant I am, would trigger quite a large existential crisis. However, it's different this time. It's gonna sound ridiculously cheesy, but as I look at Dan in my peripheral vision, I realize it doesn't matter how tiny I am in the grand scheme of everything. I have all these amazing things in my life, and if I'm happy, and they're happy, why does it matter how big of an impact I make?

I turn and realize Dan is looking at me, his gaze subtly darting from my eyes to my lips, and back again. "What?" I laugh nervously, even though I'm already pretty sure as to what's on his mind.

"You're fucking beautiful," he blurts, as if the words have a mind of their own and threw themselves from his mouth. I can't help but snort because of his bluntness, and as a heavy blush covers the apples of his cheeks, I can't help but look down at my hands. That is, until he takes my chin in his own hand, lifting up my face until I'm forced to look into his dark eyes. His warm breath grazes my nose, and I instantly catch the smell of the boba tea we had over an hour ago.

"I really wanna kiss you right now," he breathes in a low tone, and the corners of my mouth instinctively turn up.

"Then what's holding you back?" I ask, smirking slightly. I'm trying my best to seem confident, but my heart is seconds away from exploding. Dan only shakes his head, looking down as his forehead presses against mine. If he's not gonna make the first move, I guess it's gonna be up to me.

I duck my head down just a bit so my lips come into contact with him. A small swish noise is audible as he immediately gasps, obviously caught off guard. We both readjust our legs so we're facing each other, holding ourselves up with with each other's body. Even as a cool wind blows through me, warmth fills my entire body.

Dan hungrily presses his lips against mine as if he's been craving this all day, and our kiss grows more and more passionate. I'm basically on his lap as he places his hand under my shirt and on the small of my back, sending shivers throughout my entire body. My mind turns to complete mush, my hands still on his flushed cheeks.

A voice suddenly rings through the air, along with a beacon of blazing light, our bodies instantly breaking apart. "Hey! You kids! Cut it out or leave!" Dan and I both look behind me, and I see some sort of security guard, holding a flashlight over his shoulder with a scowl etched into his face.

"S-Sorry," Dan stutters awkwardly, standing up. I get to my feet right after him, immediately filled with embarrassment as my eyes are magnetically attached to my feet. Dan bends down and picks up our bags, and the two of us hurry out of the park. Once we get onto the road, I stop in my tracks, and burst out laughing. Dan stops, and I hear him sigh annoyingly, but I can't get myself to calm down.

"That was the most...embarrassing thing...to ever happen," I choke out, a couple tears rolling down my cheeks. Dan tries to look annoyed, but I see the shadow of a smile hiding behind his lips.

"Oh, shut up," Dan replies. "We just got kicked out of a park."

"What? Is that supposed to be a big deal?" I ask, still trying to catch my breath.

"You never know," he says. "We coulda gotten arrested or something."

"Last time I checked, it wasn't actually illegal to make out in public," I counter.

"Oh, and how many times have you had to look that up?" He questions, comically raising one of his eyebrows.

"You don't need to know," I laugh at the surprise that comes over his face, and walk past him in the direction of our apartments.

~~~~

Dan's POV

It's eleven in the morning, and surprisingly, (Y/n) is still asleep. It's kind of confusing, since she normally can't sleep in past nine, but I already checked her pulse, and she's snoring loudly. She must really be exhausted from yesterday.

We had gotten back home around midnight, to find Dodie and Phil drunkenly attempting to make pizza in the oven, nearly resulting in lighting the entire apartment aflame. After (Y/n) had magically saved their pizza before it was burned to a crisp, and was still even edible, we decided we had to catch up to Phil and Dodie's level of drunkenness. After a few shots and an entire bottle of wine between the two of us, there was a pretty high chance all four of us and were gonna wake up the next morning with hefty hangovers. And sure enough, as I had crawled out of bed, I had a pounding headache that not even three pain pills and two large glasses of water could help.

I upload a DanAndPhilGAMES video Phil and I had filmed a couple days ago, and check my phone. I had posted a couple pictures on Instagram; one of me posing with a chocolate cake doughnut with black frosting and edible glitter(to match my aesthetic), one of (Y/n) biting into a doughnut the size of her head, and a picture of the whole baker's dozen.

Turns out it's a lot harder for two people to eat a whole bakers dozen than we thought @yourusername

I click on (y/n)'s tag, and see the new post on her profile. She's posted a picture of me with frosting covering my face, a picture of her posing with all the doughnuts, and a photo of my posing outside the bakery. I didn't realize how much of an idiot I had looked in the picture, but it only makes me laugh.

I start scrolling through the comments on my post. However, I can't help but feel a little uneasy as I read a few of them.

So you guys are friends?

She seems nice, but if she gets in between him a Phil, I'll kick her ass

She's kinda gross looking tbh

The last comment sends agitation through me, and without thinking, I delete it, something I normally never do. Phil and I have been dealing with us being shipped together, but the rumors, conspiracies and accusations had always been easy to ignore, or even joke about, considering no one was really being negative about it. But now people are threatening and saying incredibly hurtful things about (Y/n), and that's not something I can tolerate.

"Mmph..." I look behind me from where I'm sitting at my desk, and see (Y/n) covering her face with her arm, stretching the other one straight into the air. She sits up, rubbing her eyes, before looking at me. I nearly laugh at the droopiness of her bloodshot eyes.

"'Mornin'. You doing okay?" I greet her, completely turning my chair around to face the bed.

"My back hurts. My arm hurts. My head hurts. Why does everything hurt?" She moans.

"Did you ever have to schedule a follow-up appointment?" I ask.

She shakes her head no. "They told me I didn't need one, and if I don't have to go back to that place, trust me, I'm not going to." (Y/n)'s irrational(or maybe rational, I don't know)fear of hospitals and doctors in general comes back to me. I instantly remember not only the panic she had when she was in the hospital, but also when I was there. The scattered nonsense of her words, the way her bloodshot eyes darted back in forth, her trembling in maddening fear. I have no idea why she can't stand it, but I definitely don't want her going back.

"You need Advil or something?" I ask, quickly bringing myself back from my thoughts.

"Um, yeah, that'd be good," she replies distractedly, already scrolling through her phone. I chuckle at her slightly, before walking out of my room.

I grab the bottle of Advil from the cupboard. It feels a lot lighter than I remember, and when I look inside, I realize there's only five or so pills left. Why does it seem like at least one of us is always in some sort of pain?

I grab a glass of water, and go back to my room. However, I stop in my tracks as I see her sitting at my desk, the light of my laptop screen reflecting in her glassy eyes. She turns to me, a mixture of panic and betrayal etched into her face.

"You're leaving?"

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Wow another cliffhanger, who woulda thought? Don't worry though I've been writing like it's going out of style(sorry I had to)and I'll most likely post another part tomorrow, so you don't have to wait to long! Sorry it's been so long since the last time I posted, I've had a bit of a busy week. I also have exams next week, so it might be the same then, but I hope you all understand.
Yeah boiiiiiiiiiiiii If you're liking this story, please comment, vote, and follow! See ya laterrrrr 💜