Misfit (Phan AU)

Chapter Nine

I only realized how far I'd drifted into my thoughts when a loud blood-curdling scream left the television speakers, making me startle considerably. The popcorn bowl flew just like I'd expected it to, my legs and arms flailing to the point I ended up kneeing myself in the face at the height of my fright. I gave a low whine as I pressed two fingers to the space just above my upper lip, holding my breath as I waited to see if I'd managed to give myself a bloody nose. Much to my delight, my hand pulled away clear from any of the crimson liquid, relief spreading through me at a quick space. I wasn't exactly good with blood, which was funny considering how many accidents I seemed to have resulting in it. However, this was not one of them, so instead the worst of my problems were simply to live through the rest of the episode without another scare like that and to make sure I cleaned up the mess I'd made of the living room, noting the fact the rogue popcorn bowl had also knocked over my tall glass of water.

I leaned forward to pick it up, my eyes widening considerably when I spotted my phone amid the mess, the water soaking through the carpet toward it. I gasped, jolting forward to grab it. My fingers had only just wrapped around the rectangular object when a loud noise echoed through the room and had me jumping with a squeal all over again.

"Phil!" It was only after a few more seconds of panting with my hand clutching my chest that I realized the loud noises actually took on the forms of words, realization washing over me as I slowly looked over my right shoulder. Sure enough, Dan appeared in the doorway a few seconds later, making it clear he'd been shouting on his way to the room. I was still breathing heavily and my heart was still racing, but I definitely wasn't as scared now that I knew it was a possessed angry demon or burglar or something. 

Then again, after a moment studying his features and realizing what kind of mood he was in, I had to wonder if it really was such a relief to see him instead of the former. His usually calm and indifferent exterior had morphed into a completely irritated one, his eyes narrowed into dark slits and hands balled into fists at his sides. I was confused as to why until I let my eyes wander from his face, realizing he was now wearing a much baggier shirt and lacked pants as far as I could tell, though they may have just been very short shorts considering the shirt covered everything above mid-thigh. If it were anyone else, anyone I was remotely close to, I might have made a jab or laughed about how it looked like he was wearing a nightgown. But this was Dan, a very upset, eyeing my mess with an unimpressed expression, clearly stirred from his beloved sleep, Dan, that was not something to be messed with.

"Yes?" I asked, pride surging through me when my response came out smoothly without interruption, despite how incredibly nervous I felt under his harsh stare. He narrowed his eyes once more before letting them flicker away from me, raking them over the condition of the room yet again. They landed on the screen in the end, a foreign spark of interest causing them to alight as he watched the events take place on the screen. I knew I was hardly in the position to feel that way, but there was no denying the niggling hopeful feeling the longer he let his gaze linger on the television. It was a treacherous emotion, especially when deep down I knew there was still next to no chance he'd ever consider spending time with me and watching the show, but that didn't stop me from feeling it.

"What the hell are you doing?" He replied finally, tone a weird mixture of indifferent and amused, oddly lacking the anger I'd expected to hear. That really didn't help that stupid feeling washing over me, thinking he might actually be opening up to me in the slightest, but I brushed those thoughts off, steeling myself instead as I thought out the way to word my explanation.

"Watching a show." I answered simply, deciding he probably didn't care enough to hear any further details. He nodded slowly, seemingly distracted as he studied the screen again. I waited patiently for him to speak another time, but when the seconds multiplied into minutes without any interruption, instead I found myself sinking ever-carefully back against the couch. My heart was racing with excitement to the point I had to fight to keep a stupid kind of grin off my face, but I somehow managed to pull it off and continue watching the show in silence with a relatively casual expression. After all, it's not like he'd launched himself onto the couch and asked to watch with me or anything, he was still lingering in the doorway and ready to leave at any time. Still, it felt like some sort of progress, however small, that he was willing to even be in the same room as me for longer than a minute.