You open your eyes slowly and painfully, waiting for them to focus so you can see where you are. You blink a few times, and that seems to help you to see around you, although everything is still a bit blurry. You're in Dan and Phil's lounge, lying on the sofa.
Phil, previously on his laptop, looks at you and smiles. "Dan, she's awake," he says quite loudly, looking to the left of you.
You move your head to look in that direction, and see a sleeping Dan on the floor, leaning his head on the coffee table. He jerks awake, banging his head on the wooden surface and cursing.
Dan looks at you, the purple bags under his eyes prominent. "Are you okay?" he asks softly, concern etched on his face.
"Not really," you reply croakily, giving him a weak smile which he returns. "But I'll survive. How long have I been out?"
"About three hours," Phil says. He looks worried. "What happened?" he asks, closing the lid of his laptop and setting it on the floor.
You tell them all about what happened with the landlord, trying not to leave any details out. However, you leave the bit downstairs out. You doubt anyone would believe you about a pair of eyes in the dark.
During your explanation, you occasionally stop to cough, the rough exhale of air hurting your chest.
"... and then I blacked out on your step," you finish, coughing again.
Dan and Phil exchange looks for a few seconds, and then Dan looks back at you, a determined look on his face.
"You have to stay with us," he says firmly, his tone showing that he's not just making a suggestion of what you should do, he's telling you.
"You would do that for me?" you ask in disbelief. "I could just stay at a hotel or someth-"
"Don't be silly," Dan says, beaming. "We'd love to have you stay."
Phil nods kindly, smiling.
"Wow, thank you so much," you say, "I'd love that."
"Don't mention it," Phil says warmly. "Do you want me to go over and get your stuff?"
You frown at his words. "No, don't. I'm not sure if it's safe there... I don't want you to get hurt."
He smiles again. "I won't get hurt. I trained in karate when I was five."
"Really?" Dan asks sarcastically, raising his eyebrow at Phil and smiling.
"No," Phil admits, chuckling a bit. "But I'll be fine. Don't worry about me, Y/n."
"Honestly Phil, be careful. Should I come with you?" Dan asks.
Phil opens his mouth to refuse again, but you cut him off.
"That's a good idea, actually," you say, pausing to cough. "Everything I have over there will probably be too much for one person to carry. My suitcase is also quite heavy... I may or may not have packed all my books."
"Will you be okay here on your own?" Dan asks worriedly.
"Yeah," you reply, giving him a smile to reassure him. You suddenly remember the keys, fishing around for them in your hoodie pocket and giving them to Dan.
He takes them then looks at you for a few seconds more, his expression unreadable. He turns back to Phil. "Let's go, then. Put on your jacket, it's freezing out there."
They both leave the room, then Phil puts his head around the door. "We won't be long," he says, then waves briefly at you and goes out of sight.
Your hear the zip of a jacket, footsteps gradually getting quieter, and then finally a door closing. You shut your eyes in an attempt to ease the throbbing of your head and wait for them to come back.
A while later, you hear the door open and close, then footsteps coming up the stairs. You open your eyes again and try to see out of the lounge door.
Dan and Phil walk past, Dan carrying one end of your suitcase and Phil carrying the other. They both look a little red faced, making you feel extremely guilty.
Eventually they come back into the lounge, Phil sitting down on the end of the sofa again and Dan collapsing on the floor dramatically.
"That's the most exercise I've done in a year," he mumbles into the floor, breathing heavily.
"Sorry," you say quietly, feeling an overwhelming sense of guilt. "Thank you so much, both of you."
"What are you apologising for?" Phil asks. "I'm a manly man, it was easy to lift that."
"You need a cordless hammer drill to be a manly man," you tease with a smile, remembering back to one of Dan and Phil's 'phil is not on fire' videos.
Oh s***. They don't know I'm a fan.
Phil looks puzzled, but laughs it off. "Of course. I actually have a cordless hammer drill somewhere. I never use it, though."
"I'm pretty sure you're only keeping that to convince your parents that you're a 'normal' man, Phil," Dan says to him with a laugh, sitting up.
"Normal is boring," Phil replies, shooting a playfully angry look at Dan.
"True," Dan admits. He looks over at you. "We left your stuff in the spare room, Y/n. Do you feel okay? We can go now to the doctor if you need to, or we can go in the morning... at a reasonable time, not -" He pauses to check the time on his phone. "- four am."
"I don't feel totally like I'm dying," you say with a pathetic attempt at a laugh. "Can we go in the morning?"
"Certainly," Phil says. "We should probably all get to sleep."
"Yes, mum," Dan teases, getting up from the floor. "Can you walk, Y/n?" he asks.
"I don't know," you say, hoping your manoeuvring will have improved from when you were in the house. You sit up and push the blanket to the side, putting your feet on the floor.
Dan gasps, looking at your feet. You look down at them too, to see clusters of purple and blue bruises mainly around your ankles. Your right ankle is also red and swollen. Now you know why it was so hard to walk.
"Oh my god, Y/n," Phil says with an astonished look on his face. He furrows his brow, thinking. "We might have some cream in the bathroom cabinet that can help with the swelling - wait here."
With that, he leaves the room.
Dan looks at your ankle again, grimacing. "How?"
"The landlord kicked my ankle when I was trying to leave the room," you reply, looking down at it and tentatively touching a bruise, which hurts quite a lot.
Phil returns, holding a tube of ointment for you to put on your ankle. "This should help," he says, handing it to you with a smile.
"Thank you," you say gratefully, applying the cream to your ankle and trying not to wince too much. It really stings.
"I'm going to bed guys, call me if you need anything, Y/n," Phil says with a smile, leaving the room once again.
"I'm guessing you can't walk well then," Dan says, pointing out the obvious. "Do you want to just sleep on the sofa tonight?"
"I'll try to go to the spare room," you say, determined to get there. As you stand up, you wobble a little. Dan immediately comes to your side, supporting you by putting his arm around your waist. You put your arm around his shoulder, and with his help, you manage to limp to the spare room.
You climb into the bed in the spare room, Dan turning around and about to leave. You call his name and he turns back around to face you.
"Thank you both for everything. You're being so kind to me - I honestly appreciate it," you say sincerely.
"Well, we could hardly leave you in that dump with the criminal..." he says, shrugging his shoulders and giving you a small smile.
You pause. "Would it be inappropriate to ask for a hug?" you ask uncertainly, unintentionally holding your breath.
You hear Dan's breath hitch, which he badly conceals with a cough. "Not at all," he replies.
You sit up as he walks over to you, giving you a small smile. He bends down to your level and wraps his arms around your waist, resting his chin on your shoulder. You could just sit here in his arms forever, to be completely honest.
He pulls back and you both look into each other's eyes. You're only about five centimetres apart.
Dan looks away, and the moment is over. "Goodnight," he says, getting up and walking out.
"Night," you manage to reply, your heart thumping for other reasons than fear this time.