Afire Love // Dan Howell

Chapter 6

Walking back into the waiting area with a large smile on your face, you find Phil sulking in the corner.

"Phil?"

Phil looks up at you and puts his phone in his pocket, allowing him to stand up.

"What's up?" You question.

"I couldn't find Bulbasaur! All I could find was a stupid Magikarp!" Phil mumbles, dropping his head in shame.

"Oh Phil" You giggle, "Well I have some good news that may cheer you up!"

Phil lifts his head with a hopeful expression appearing on his face.

"What?"

"They are discharging Dan soon and he is becoming more like himself!" You say, still grinning.

"Aw that's good!" Phil nods, "I told you he was a fighter!"

Phil's right: Dan is a fighter and you couldn't be more proud of him for getting through all of this crap! You hope that he continues to make progress but something in the back of your mind is telling you that he won't and it's going to get worse. In fact, the more you sit and wait for him in the waiting room of the hospital, the more you realise that it's not your mind telling you this - it's your heart.

~ Time Skip ~

"Home sweet home!" Phil exclaims, running into his bedroom and diving onto his blue and green bed.

You roll your eyes and turn to face Dan who is taking it slowly and moving towards his own bedroom. You notice that he is squinting again but you decide to ignore it as you don't want to upset him and ruin the special day he has planned.

"So" Dan says, reaching for his door, "You still up for going out (y/n)?"

Taken by surprise, you spin around. Did you hear that right?

"Huh?"

"Into town" Dan says, furrowing his eyebrows, "Do you still wanna go?"

"Oh!" You say with relief, "Of course!"

Dan smiles, showing his dimples, and says "Great! Just gimmie a while to sort myself out and we'll go!"

You nod and walk up the flight of stairs, leading to your room. Closing the door behind you, you slide down to floor and sigh. What are you going to wear? Casual. You shuffle over to your chest of drawers and pull out black jeans and a white vest top.

Wait. Wouldn't that tell Dan that you're not interested? Formal. You throw the jeans and vest back into your drawers and pull out a red, lacy dress. It's not something you'd usually wear but you have to dress up nicely. Right?

No. That would make you look desperate and surely Dan would want you to be yourself! So Casual? You let out a loud groan and fall into a heap of clothes on the floor. What do you do? You don't even know what this 'special day' is. Is it a date or just a friendly day out? Why have things got to be so damn complicated?

Obviously hearing your frustrated groan, Phil creeps into your room and closes the door behind him.

"Lemme guess" He says, "You don't know what to wear."

Stressed and in need of help, you nod.

"Thought so! Which is why I came up to help!" He tells you, putting his hands on his hips, "The hallway reeks of Dan's aftershave so I'm going to say that going casual is not a good idea!"

Trying hard not to smile, you respond with "Yeah that's what I figured. But wouldn't going formal make it seem that I'm trying too hard?"

Phil bites down in his lip as if he is thinking hard and then his eyes light up.

"Exactly!" He replies, "Which is why you have to dress inbetween!"

You lift an eyebrow in confusion. How on earth are you going to make that work? As far as you're concerned you basically look like a potato and nothing really ever looks right on you.

Phil steps over the avalanche of clothes and begins searching through it all. Wrinkles form on his forehead as if he is mentally forming outfits as he looks through all the clothing. His face suddenly relaxes and you watch as he pulls out your white blouse with silver heart-shaped buttons and small gems along the collar.

"This is nice" Phils says, "When forming an outfit, you should start with a single item of clothing and add to it. This is fairly formal so for the bottom half of the outfit, you should go with something more casual to balance it out."

Surprised at Phil's fashion spark, you just nod and look around at the piles Phil has created. You look at all the potential shorts and skirts but none of them are calling you. Besides, you are only ever comfortable in your black jeans - they are a little faded but they are just the flattering fit.

"I could just wear my black jeans" You suggest, "They're casual right?"

"Indeed they are!"

Phil pulls the jeans out and lays them on the sofa bed, next to your white blouse.

"What shoes are you thinking?" He asks, looking over by the window sill, where your small selection of shoes lie.

"I guess my black flats?"

"Okay then!" Phil smiles, "Outfit sorted!"

Amazed at how easy Phil made that, you are now excited for the day ahead of you.

"Thank you Phil!" You say, giving him a small hug, "Who would've known that Philip Lester was such a fashion guru?!"

Phil chuckles.

"No problem but eh I'm not really" He shrugs, "I just buy a lot of colourful clothes so mixing and matching clothes is something I've had to pick up."

"Makes sense!" You nod.

"Well, I suppose I better leave you to it!" Phil sighs, getting up off of the floor.

"Thanks again Phil."

"No problem at all - it is a special day for you both after all!"

As Phil begins walking away, you stand up and cough awkwardly.

"Phil..."

He spins back around and replies with "Yup?"

"Can I just ask...why is this a 'special day'?" You question.

"I don't know to be honest" Phil responds, "You guys haven't seen each other in a while and from what I've seen you care about each other. It's almost as if you both lik-"

"Philip Michael Lester!" Dan calls from downstairs, "Where are my hair straighteners?"

Trying to hold back a laugh, you fold you arms and look at Phil's guilty facial expression.

"Coming!" Phil calls back, "I better get going!"

Phil quickly paces out of the room and closes the door behind him. You can't help but feel yourself blush at what Phil was about to say. Yes, you do like Dan - a lot. But Phil said 'you both' which suggests that Dan does like you back.

Taking a deep breath, you turn back around and face the sofa bed with your outfit layed out on it.

Today could change everything.

A/N So you are one step closer to an important moment between you and Dan. Will all go to plan? Will anything prevent it? Find out in the next chapter and don't forget to comment your ideas as well as vote if you enjoyed this chapter. Gracias!

~ Katie ~^_^~