Afire Love // Dan Howell

Chapter 8

"How are you enjoying my spaghetti carbonara?" Henry questions, rolling his tongue as he says each word.

"Amazing" Dan says, placing his knife and fork down on the empty plate in front of him.

"Glad to hear it Mr Daniel! It has my Grandmother's secret ingredient in it!" Henry responds, looking rather impressed with himself, "Bless her soul - she was a wonderful woman."

"Aw Henry, I'm sorry to hear that" Dan says sincerely, patting Henry's back, "How did she pass away - if you don't mind me asking?"

"Cancer." Henry sighs, taking off his chef hat, "And what a horrible thing that is. Completely knocked her confidence and then took her away entirely. She was so strong throughout though and I stood by her. She passed down all her recipes to me and told me to make her proud. That's how this place ended up coming about!"

You smile at Henry as you can see that although the memory still haunts him to this day, he has made something of himself in memory of his Grandmother. You look to Dan to see what his response to Henry's explaination is but you see that Dan is no longer looking at Henry but is looking rather upset all of a sudden. Is he okay? You hope that this isn't another one of his fits and reach out for his hand.

"Dan" You say softly, "Are you okay?"

Dan looks up at you and nods. You can see tears welling up his eyes which make you feel a little anxious.

"Thanks for the lunch Henry - your Grandmother would be so proud! You're a great chef!" You quickly say, "But I think we should get some fresh air and be on our way!"

"I understand completely! Glad you guys could stop by - have a great day!" Henry responds, getting up from the booth.

You go to pull out some change from your pocket but Henry tells you it's on the house. You insist but Henry just thanks you for coming and you guide Dan out of the cafè. You cross the road, still gripping tightly into his clammy hand and sit down on the park bench.

Putting one arm around Dan, you look straight into his eyes and put the palm of your hand against his cheek.

"Dan" You whisper, "Are you feeling okay?"

You can see Dan biting down in his lip as if he wants to say something but yet again, he is holding back.

"Do you feel nauseous or dizzy?" You question.

Dan shakes his head, still biting down on his lip.

"Got a headache?"

Dan replies with the same gesture. You lean your forehead against his so that he can't avoid eye contact.

"Please don't lie to me" You whisper, your eyes looking deeply into his, "What's wrong?"

"I don't know." Dan chokes out, letting a single tear fall down his cheek.

You sigh and lay your head on his shoulder with both arms around him.

You can just feel how hurt Dan is and not knowing why makes it worse. What set him off? If he doesn't feel sick, dizzy or have a headache then what could possibly make him feel this way?

"I'm sor-"

"I thought we agreed that that word was banned?" You joke, taking hold of his hand.

Dan just smirks and looks out across the road. It's almost as if he is thinking deeply about something. You wish you could somehow read his mind because you want to know everything going on in his head right now - his thoughts and his feelings.

"Hey" You say, making him look at you, "How about we visit 'Ye Olde Bakery' furthur up the road? I fancy a doughnut!"

Getting warm, sugary doughnuts from Ye Olde Bakery was always a weekly tradition for you and Dan. No place on Earth has doughnuts that taste as good as the ones from there! You and Dan would always have a competition to see who could eat a whole doughnut without licking there lips - you'd both always fail but it was after all a bit of fun!

Dan's eyes light up.

"I forgot about that bakery!" Dan says, now looking happier, "Let's go!"

Getting up from the bench, you both begin walking side by side up the street. Hopefully earlier was just a blip and won't happen again. You look up to Dan and he is definately looking less peaky.

What set him off anyway?

A/N Sorry this was a bit shorter compared to the other chapters :/ You're getting closer to figuring out the truth but you're trying to focus on your date - what do you do? Will anything happen between you and Dan? Will anything happen to Dan? Find out in the next chapter - don't forget to vote! Thank yoooou!

~ Katie :*