Painted Smile | Dan x Reader

Coffee

Hi again.

Yet another chapter.

Keeping it lit.

Woot woot.

Enjoy~

Dan's POV

I draped the blanket over her sleeping form while Phil put the tea in the kitchen. She looked so peaceful when she was sleeping. Not so anxious and worried, nor was she ignoring us.

I could tell she was not really willing to let us in as friends no matter how hard we try.

"Alright let's go." Phil whispered to me, and I followed him out, careful to lock the door. "She doesn't like us too much huh?" Phil said.

"No, no she doesn't." I replied.

"And...you like her?" Phil asked. I looked over at him in total shock.

"What?! No." I said as we entered our flat.

"Then why are you hugging our calendar like it's the last reminders of her?" Phil asked, a smug grin on his face.

"I--" I looked down at the calendar clutched to my chest and I quickly tossed it to the coffee table. "Hardly."

"Yeah okay. I saw you staring at her when you tucked her in." He argued.

"She's just interesting is all. I'm not in love with her Cupid." I insulted.

"Hey, I'm not doing the matchmaking." He said, " you're doing that yourself." I gave a good smack to his arm, telling him to shut up and I disappeared into my room.

Did I like (y/n)?

It sounded ridiculous in my head, considering 1. I barely knew her and 2. She practically hates us. She refused to look at us, refused to talk, refused to like us. She was outwardly displaying acts of hatred towards us and yet I still wanted to come back.

Over and over again.

It wasn't that I 'liked her' as Phil speculated, but it was rather some weird fascination with her. This quiet girl next door with the mysterious boyfriend hated us for no reason and I intended to find out why.

I admit she was pretty, there was no denying it, but she was hiding something and...I worry that it may be hurting her in some way. She was bottled up and frightened and I desperately wanted to figure out why and help. She seemed...almost in pain half the time.

"Hey Dan?" I looked up towards the doorway and Phil was leaning it, his arm on the frame to stop him. "Do you think she actually hates us?"

I knew Phil never handled people hating him very well, especially since she was our neighbor and she gave no reason.

"I'm sure she's just not used to us. She doesn't hate us." I reassured Phil, but rather I was reassuring myself. Who knows if she really did hate us or not?

Phil nodded solemnly and I watched him disappear from my doorway, shutting the door for me. I shut off my lights and eyes, trying to sleep. I was failing miserably, staring at my blank ceiling my mind racing.

~Time Skip~

I groaned and grabbed my keys and wallet. Phil had commissioned me to retrieve coffee which I was in desperate need of, but I was less than willing to walk all he way down there in my tired state. I sucked it up anyway, opening the front door to a quieted hallway. I glanced at (y/n)'s still door for a moment.

"Coffee. Don't be long."

"Your usual?"

"Duh."

"Yeah. Fine"

The still door now swung open and (y/n) came out, swinging her keys around her finger slightly.

"Be quick!! I have work soon!" Who I assumed was Cayden called. She just shut the door without responding, grumbling slightly. She didn't seem too happy and I'm sure it would help if she knew I had been standing to listen to her conversation. I quickly started down the hall, pretending I hadn't heard.

Her footsteps stopped and I realized she must've noticed me now. Her footsteps continued, reluctant and uneven.

"Hey!" She called out once we were further from the flats. I stopped and turned to look at her hurrying to catch up to me. Maybe it was her boyfriend that disliked us, but still... even when he wasn't there she was still distant.

"Hey?" My greeting posed more as a question as I was confused as to why she had stopped me. She clearly didn't want to talk most of the time and now she was just...calling me.

"I just wanted to uh..." her hair fell in her face, but she glanced up at me, pushing it away. Did she actually listen to what I said? " to uh thank you for cleaning up. And tucking me in." She said her face flushing red. "I mean you could've obviously robbed me so thanks for...not robbing me?"

"You're welcome? Not something that we'd really do." I replied. She nodded as we reached the front door.

"Thanks anyways. So I'm just going to, uh, get my coffee and I'll catch you later." She said. I watched her cringe at her own speech, her wide (e/c) eyes barely visible over the embarrassment. Even for just waking up she seemed pretty.

Wait. What am I doing?! She's no. Boyfriend Dan. She's just interesting. You DO NOT like her.

"You okay?" She asked, showing her first move of compassion since the dogs yesterday. I nodded, now becoming the one to look away. "Okay I'm just going to..." she started off.

"Wait! I'm getting coffee too!" I called back. She glanced at me uncomfortably, but walked with me anyway. It was a painful silence as we walked along. I was worried of what she was thinking during this time and already dreading the walk back. Maybe I could just go a different route. I may want to figure her out, but this was too stressful.

"Why do you do YouTube?" She asked. I glanced over at her pushing her hair back to show her curious eyes.

"I was a really big fan of Phil and people convinced me to give it a try and I immediately loved it." I responded. She nodded.

"Seems hard. Dealing with fans. Video ideas. Being able to laugh at yourself."

"Yeah, but I guess that's just what I love about it. Performing like that is just what I live for. I mean Phil and I have a radio show on Sundays at BBC."

"Really??" She asked.

"Yeah. I should take you sometime. Or--we should. I mean like just not me I--" I shut myself up and looked over at her, glossy eyes, curved lips, and pink bitten cheeks and ears.

"Sounds cool" she replied and we both fell silent again, but this time it was much more comfortable. Just 2 people walking.

After coffee, walking, and islands of silence, I said my goodbyes to (y/n), leaving her to Cayden. I watched her slip into her flat, her face silent and solemn, unlike the girl before who had laughed and snorted as she spilled coffee on her pants. There were such drastic differences in her that I just didn't understand.

There was the happy girl with dogs, cracking jokes. There was the girl interested in what I do and why. The girl that spilled something hot on herself, but still managed to laugh.

But there was that girl next door.

Secluded.

Distant.

I watched her change after she laughed as if laughing was wrong. I watched her change after I told her I'd walk with her as if it were wrong. And I watched her slip away into the gray flat, face low and hair shielding her.

And it was heartbreaking.