Never Let Go - Danisnotonfire x Reader

Soggy Cereal

"Sorry," you apologise, laughing at the face he's pulling. "Do you want it back?"

"The damage is done now!" Dan says dramatically, putting one hand on his forehead and swooning.

"How can I ever make it up to you?" you ask, deciding to play along.

He thinks for a moment. "You could make me a bowl too."

You laugh and roll your eyes. "I thought you had some already. But yeah, sure," you say, getting another bowl out of the cupboard.

"I didn't get round to it yet," Dan says after a moment of silence. "Thanks," he adds, stringing out the 's' sound.

"You're welcome," you reply, copying him and stringing out the 'm' for as long as you can. You pour the milk into the bowl on top of the cereal, get a spoon out and hand everything to him.

"Thank you," he thanks again, stringing out the 'you'. He winks at you as he leaves the kitchen, making your heart skip a beat and your actions cease. Absent-mindedly, you put on the tap and fill your cereal bowl with water, immediately realising what you've done and cursing.

You don't want to waste Dan's cereal, so you decide to eat the slightly soggy flakes rather than throwing them in the bin.

You walk to the lounge, expecting to see Dan there. He's not, but his bowl of cereal is sitting on the coffee table and the TV is on, showing that he was playing Mario Kart before he disappeared.

You quickly finish your cereal, not really wanting your mouth to notice that the texture is like mushed up cardboard. You check your phone when you're done, and becoming bored of that, you go back to the kitchen to put your bowl in the dishwasher.

You hear shuffling and Dan comes into the kitchen, wearing some bunny slippers. You stare at his feet, stifling a laugh.

"They were the only ones I could find," he grumbles. "Don't laugh at me."

"Sorry," you apologise with a small chuckle, closing up the dishwasher again.

"Do you know where I left my cereal?" Dan pipes up, sounding confused.

"It's in the lounge, on the coffee table," you tell him. "I went in there a while ago but only your cereal bowl was remaining. Where'd you go?"

"I was murdered by a cereal killer," he says with a laugh. "No, I went to get the post."

"Nice pun. You went in your pyjamas?"

"Thank you. Yeah... the neighbours are used to it by now."

He laughs again, looking down at his pyjama bottoms. There's a pause, in which he looks up at you, a strange look on his face.

"What's that face for?" you ask, laughing awkwardly.

"Nothing. Care to join me and watch me eat my probably-soggy cereal?" Dan asks, smiling.

You don't even know the meaning of 'soggy'.

"Sounds like fun. Of course," you reply with a smile in return, following him down the hall.

When you get into the lounge, Phil is sitting on the sofa. His eyes are glazed over and he's not blinking at all, just staring at a singular point on the wall. You decide that he must just be thinking and has zoned out.

"Hey, Phil. You okay?" you ask with a smile, sitting down beside him.

He doesn't notice your presence.

"Phil?" Dan asks worriedly, his brow furrowed in concern.

Suddenly he snaps out of it, looking startled and dazed. "Hm? Hi, you two... sorry about that, my mind is somewhere else. I'm still half asleep to be honest."

"Do you want a cup of coffee?" Dan offers.

"Don't worry, I'll go get one." Phil gets up and walks out, shifting his glasses and rubbing his eyes.

"Is he usually this zoned out in the morning?" you ask Dan.

"Yeah, pretty much. He mustn't have slept well," he replies with a shrug. "I guess that makes three of us."

You chuckle as he picks up the remote and turns on the TV, putting Adventure Time on.

*le time skip*

You go into your room again after a few episodes of Adventure Time and turn on your laptop, intending to check your YouTube channel.

An update screen pops up, showing a percentage. After about five minutes, it goes from 5% to 6%. You groan. You need a new laptop.

While you're waiting for it to load, you hum a song. Gradually, the humming turns into real words, getting louder and louder. Without thinking, you get up off your bed and begin dancing around the room, still singing.

Suddenly, you glimpse someone standing at the doorway. You jump out of your skin, cursing and nearly falling over. Dan laughs at you, leaning against the door frame and wheezing.

"Jeez, you scared the crap out of me!" you exclaim breathily, clutching your heart, which is thumping wildly. You finally regain your balance and try to catch your breath. "How long were you there...?" you ask him, feeling your cheeks get warm.

"Too long," he replies, his laughs having died down to chuckles.

"Rude!" You grab a pillow and throw it at his face.

As the pillow falls to the ground he laughs again, but stops shortly afterwards, clutching his side. "Ow, I have a stitch."

"That's karma," you tell him, rolling your eyes.

Dan groans in pain. "I'm sorry... I don't think I'm gonna make it..." he says quietly, dropping down to the floor and reaching his arm out to you dramatically.

You smile and begin to laugh, but then you're reminded of Dan's harsh fate in your dream and immediately stop. Painful feelings come rushing back, feeling like little knives stabbing into your heart.

You sit down on the floor as you feel your eyes watering. You silently will them to stop, telling yourself that it's not real. It's not working. You close your stinging eyes.

"Y/n?" Dan says softly. You hear him get up, close the door and move closer to you. "What's wrong?"

"My nightmare," you choke out, laughing bitterly at yourself. You frantically try to wipe away your tears. "I'm sorry. Just give me a minute."

Dan seems to understand, nodding silently. He sits down and gently takes your hand, holding it until your tears die away.

You take a final deep breath to steady yourself and squeeze his hand briefly. "Thank you," you whisper, not quite sure why you're speaking so quietly.

He nods again, smiling at you with concern lingering in his brown eyes. "I'm here any time you need me."

You sit in comfortable silence for a few minutes, your head on his shoulder and your hands joined.

"I was coming to your room to ask you if you wanted to film a video with me and Phil, on his channel this time. It'd probably be a challenge video or something along those lines," Dan explains with a small smile.

You smile back and nod. "Yeah, that sounds fun, I'm up for it."

Dan's smile grows wider and he stands up, helping you up too. Once you're both standing, he lets go of your hand.

"How's your ankle, by the way? And your wrist? You were dancing pretty steadily," he asks.

"It feels fine, I can put most of my weight on it. My hand feels alright too, although sometimes there's an occasional twinge of pain," you reply.

"That's great!" he replies happily. "Should we go and find Phil now?"

"Good idea."