Afire Love // Dan Howell

Chapter 7

Feeling rather comfortable in your attire, you walk down the stairs and take in the superior scent of Dan's aftershave. You see or hear no sign of Dan or Phil and so you push open Dan's bedroom door, making the smell of lynx become more pungent. You take a few steps into the room and see no sign of Dan.

You sigh and just as you go to leave the room, you spot a letter from the hospital on top of Dan's piano, along with some unopened medicine boxes and bottles. You try to tell yourself that it's wrong to look at the letter addressed to Dan but the overwhelming urge to look takes over and you pick up the letter.

Dear Mr D J Howell,

Continuing on from the previous letter, we have looked more into the results from your tests concerning your epileptic fits and have taken them into account based on your condition. We regret to inform you that the majority of the results are not showing positive outcomes.

We are aware that you have been regularily attending sessions for the past few weeks but we are still unsure to whether this is helping your situation. We ask that you attend more sessions and if these do not seem to be working, we will need to discuss furthur action.

Please ring us ASAP to arrange these therapy sessions as immediate attention must be seeked, considering the condition of the-

"(y/n)?"

Your face quickly turning red, you drop the letter in a fluster, bend down, pick it up and place it back on the piano.

"Oh sorry, just decided to uh..." You stutter, "Arrange things a little bit - shouldn't you put your medicine somewhere safer?"

Reeeaal smooth.

Dan just stands still, looking puzzled in his black jeans and moth shirt.

"Well I guess so..." Dan responds, scratching his head, "But I've not really been taking them so there's not much point."

You step away from the piano to prevent anymore suspicion and sigh.

"You really should Dan."

"I know, I know." Dan replies, pushing his fringe up, "Anyway, I'm guessing you're ready from the fact that you decided to tidy my things out of mere boredom!"

You let out an obviously fake laugh and avoid eye contact with him as you walk past him and into the hallway.

You feel incredibly guilty from looking at Dan's private things now and if anything, you feel even more worried. Whatever 'sessions' Dan has been attending, they've clearly been going on for a while which explains his random disappearances that Phil told you about. But what 'condition' were they for and if the results aren't looking so great (which Dan clearly knows) why won't he take his medicine? You feel the need to talk to Dan about helping himself more but you don't want to ruin the mood - if you haven't already!

~ Time Skip ~

Following Dan though the streets, you begin to feel more excited for the day ahead and seem to forget about what has been happening.

"So, where are we heading?" You ask, looking around at the blossom trees and busy roads.

"Well do you wanna get some lunch at Henry's?" Dan asks, looking back at you.

Henry's is a quaint, little cafè that you and Dan have been having lunch at for years. You have made so many memories there, like when the ketchup bottle exploded all over Dan and you sat laughing for ages. Not to mention, the food there is amazing!

"Sure!" You smile.

Dan smiles back but it's not a happy smile. It's more of a "what happened to those times?" smiles. It's true - you haven't been to Henry's in ages and to be honest, phone calls have been the only thing you and Dan have been  doing together.