Dream a Little Dream // Daniel Howell x Reader

Chapter 9

Dan continued scrolling for a couple more minutes, taking the time to favorite a few of the posts that caught his eye. During his time on Tumblr, he found a few moments to slip away to Youtube and watch some videos featuring the latest memes. It was mostly memes that belonged in the trash, but they would serve for some sort of entertainment for the time being. Besides, in a month they would become stale and dead, a new one popping up to replace it for the month. Ah yes, a vicious cycle of meme garbage.

He was secretly grateful for the distractions, the thought of the dark surrounding him beginning to fade away as he sunk into the comfort of the digital world. He felt at home when on the internet, probably due to the fact that he was literally on it for almost every one of his waking hours. It was probably unhealthy to be staring at a bright screen that long, but Dan just figured that he had adapted to it at this point in his life.

Dan's eyes lazily drifted to the digital clock displayed on his phone, expecting only a few minutes to have ticked by. Turns out he had been browsing the internet for over an hour; it was now 10:30pm with no sign of his friend. Dan's heart stopped, his blood running cold at his carelessness on his phone.

Shit.

He quickly found Phil's contact in his phone, silently praying that he had texted back within the hour. Yet it was highly unlikely since his phone would've shown him if he had indeed texted back. Just as Dan had predicted, there hadn't been a response from Phil; he hadn't even read the message yet! "Dammit Phil!" He muttered to himself out loud, the panic in his voice beginning to escalate as he searched for the green phone icon.

Once he found what he was looking for he fumbled for Phil's name, pressing the button and bringing the phone to his ear. Dan could feel himself shake with each one of his frantic heartbeats, the blood draining from his face the longer his phone went on without an answer. If this continued any longer, he'd get Phil's answering machine. He wasn't prepared to leave a message, his words no doubt going to come out in a flurry of stuttering panic.

"Hello?"

Dan almost dropped his phone when a familiar voice sounded in his ear, his voice sounding a little worn and tired. "Phil? Is that you?" croaked Dan, his words cracking slightly as he tried to stop himself from coughing. He took in a deep breath, slowing his breathing down to a calmer pace.

"Yeah, who did you think it was? How are you feeling, better I'd assume since you're actually up and not stuck to your bed." Through the line Dan could here the faint sound of some metal objects jingling together. Were they his keys?

"Yeah I'm feeling better now. Phil, where the hell are you? You didn't even read any of my texts!" Even though his voice was coming out as sharp, he was honestly relieved that he was talking to Phil right now. At least he knew that he wasn't dead somewhere on the side of the street.

"Hold on, one second-" Dan could hear Phil fumbling with the metal object, muttering something under his breath as he seemed to struggle with something. It was at this point that Dan noticed the front door opening, his previously missing flatmate coming into view, his phone stuck between his teeth as he balanced a few bags in his arms. Once he walked through the doorway he grabbed his phone from his teeth, hanging up on Dan as he smiled in his direction. "Hey, sorry I'm late. I had a few things to do before I came home."

Dan couldn't help but scowl at Phil's nonchalant entrance. "Phil, you had me all riled with worry! I had no idea what happened to you while you were out, something bad could've been happening to you! Not answering my texts doesn't help much either..." Phil looked at Dan, biting his lip as he turned his head to the side in shame. His eyes were cast downwards, guilt evident beneath the ocean's blue surface.