You all finish your drinks and food, walking out of the warmth and cosiness of the cafe into the chill and desolation of the street. You pull your coat tighter around you to save some heat, shivering slightly.
"What now?" you ask Dan and Phil. "Back to the flat?"
"I thought it would be nice to go to Hyde Park, or something like that," Dan replies, shrugging. "What do you think?" he asks both of you.
You nod, giving him a small smile. "Yeah, that would be great."
You both turn to look at Phil, who frowns. "Actually, I have to get back and edit some videos," he says, giving you both an apologetic look. "I don't want to leave it till last minute."
"Oh, okay. That's understandable. Do you want us to come back with you?" Dan asks, looking a little disappointed at Phil's words.
"Of course not," Phil replies. "Go to the park, don't worry about me. I'll see you later, okay?"
Dan smiles, a hint of sadness behind his eyes. "Okay. Bye."
He shoots you both a final smile as he walks away, waving. You and Dan both wave back, smiling too. Suddenly the wind picks up, making the air around you cold and nipping at your fingertips. You secretly ache to hold Dan's hand again, knowing that it'll give you a little warmth.
"Okay..." he says, partly to himself, breaking the short silence. "Hyde Park is this way." He gestures to his left, smiling at you.
After a short walk, you arrive at the gates of Hyde Park. There aren't many people about, which isn't surprising, really, as it's extremely cold now.
Dan shivers, zipping his coat up. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea." He frowns, sighing.
You feel a burst of sympathy for him. "Don't worry," you say softly. "We'll warm up as we walk."
He smiles at you briefly, looking over into the trees and quietly laughing to himself. You look over at him, puzzled.
"What're you laughing at?"
"We've only known each other for a few days, yet you always seem to know exactly what to say," he replies, suddenly looking shy. "How?"
You're stunned, finding it hard to form a reply. "I don't know... I didn't think I was very good at saying the right thing."
Dan scoffs quietly. You know he doesn't mean it in a bad way, however, as he smiles warmly at you afterwards. As you walk (or limp again, in your case), your feet fall in time with each other, making you both laugh childishly. A warm feeling settles over you, adding a sparkle to your eyes and a bounce to your step.
Dan finally comes to a stop near a weeping willow tree, towering over you both and nearly covering the small wooden bench underneath with its long hanging branches.
He sits down on the bench and pats the space next to him, gesturing for you to sit down. You do, silently waiting for him to say something - all conversation starters have completely disappeared from your mind, leaving you speechless.
"Have you found a new job yet?" he asks out of the blue, crossing his legs.
You sigh slightly, feeling the familiar weight of procrastination on your shoulders. "No, a lot's been going on recently... I just haven't really had the time. That last interview put me off looking for a job, but I'll have to get one at some point."
You look over at Dan, who looks deep in thought. "I don't want to sound like I'm pressuring you, but you could always try making videos," he says, looking at you. "YouTube videos, that is," he adds, laughing quietly.
You chuckle at his joke, too lost in thought to reply.
"If you enjoy that sort of thing, then go for it. At least until you find a job - or feel ready to find a job," he continues. "I don't really know how you feel, but I can imagine how difficult it is. Maybe YouTube would give you a break from all that?"
"If I gave it a go, would you maybe help me with it?" you ask.
"Of course," Dan replies with a dazzling smile, making your stomach flutter. He pauses. "When did you move to London? If you don't mind me asking."
"Only a couple of days before I met you, actually," you reply, chuckling at the absurdity of it.
Dan laughs too, wide eyed. "Really? Wow... so you didn't even get a week's worth of nights in your new place?"
"Nope. That's probably a good thing though." You sigh again, remembering the whole landlord ordeal.
Dan's eyes turn stormy and he looks away. "He shouldn't be able to get away with that. Why haven't we done anything yet?" He looks over at you and sighs softly, his anger seeming to melt away. "Sorry. We have to alert the police, though."
"I know," you say, barely audible. "Should we call at the police station on the way back to the flat?"
"Yeah. You remember your address still, right?" Dan asks you, to which you nod. "Okay, good. Just checking."
There's a comfortable silence between you both, the only sound the rustle of the leaves and the occasional bark of a dog.
"Did you leave home to move into London?" Dan asks suddenly. "Was it your first time away from your parents?"
"Yep," you reply. "I was living with just my mum, my parents are divorced so my dad lives somewhere else."
a/n: your parents in this story are divorced, apologies if they aren't! also if they are divorced irl, i'm sorry, i know how hard it is <3
"Oh, I'm sorry," Dan says sympathetically. "Do you have much contact with him?"
"No, not really. He cheated on my mum, so I don't really want anything to do with him," you explain, looking over at Dan briefly. "He hasn't expressed that he's sorry for cheating, either, which makes me even more reluctant to see him. I used to see have to see him every other weekend when I was younger, but now that I'm older I don't want to."
"Yeah, I can understand why you wouldn't want to..." Dan says slowly. "Will your mum want to come up here and see you because of what happened?"
"I haven't told her," you say sheepishly. "We had a falling out a few days back, and we haven't talked since. If I did tell her, she'd probably want to come up, though."
Dan says nothing, giving you a small smile instead. He puts his arm on the back of the bench behind you, looking deep in thought again. You take your phone out of your pocket, tap on your mum's contact, and freeze up.
What am I going to say to her?
You feel a hand on your arm, and you look up to see Dan's warm brown eyes looking into yours. "Y/n? Are you okay?"
You nod, pausing slightly before putting your phone back in your pocket, making a mental note to sort it out later. Or maybe you'll just leave it. "Y-Yeah."
Upon hearing your reply, Dan takes his arm off you, your skin immediately missing his soft and gentle touch. He still looks a bit worried for you. He cups both his hands to his mouth and blows warm air into them, trying to warm up. He seems to decide that stuffing his hands into his pockets is the best idea.
"Now that we're sitting down, it feels a lot chillier," you comment, your teeth chattering with the cold.
Dan hums in agreement, seeming to hesitate for a moment before scooting over closer to you, so your shoulders are touching. The movement is so simple, yet leaves such an impression on you.
"We're like penguins," he jokes, shivering. "Huddling."
You laugh at him, your breath emerging in wispy white mist that unfurls its finger like tendrils and writhes around in front of you. You watch it for a moment until it disappears into the atmosphere.
"Should we go now?" Dan suggests, rubbing his hands together.
You nod in agreement, your nose beginning to go numb. The young man you're slowly but surely falling for offers your his hand, which you gladly accept, getting carefully to your feet.
"The police station is only a five minute's walk away," Dan says. "We should make it back to the flat in time for tea."
"Okay."
*le time skip*
Dan holds the door of the police station open for you, the rush of warm air from inside comforting you. You step in and walk up to the desk. Your ankle feels a lot better now, so you can more or less walk normally without it hurting.
The young man at the desk looks up from his paperwork, adjusting his glasses. "Hello," he says politely. "Can I help you?"
"Yeah," Dan says, stepping up to face him. "We'd like to report some abuse."
The man sits down at his computer. "Okay. Who was the victim?"
"Me," you say quietly, but loud enough for him to hear.
"Can you please tell me what happened?" he asks.
As you tell him what the landlord did, he types it all into the computer, only looking up to ask the address of the house. Once you tell him, he sighs.
"His name is Charlie Stevenson, right?" he asks, and you nod. "He has been accused of abuse before, but he was declared innocent by the court," he explains. "I don't know how he got away with it, there was loads of evidence to prove him guilty." He pauses, looking sheepish. "I probably shouldn't have told you that."
Suddenly another man comes into view. "Charlie Stevenson?" he asks, a hint of a Scottish accent with his words. "You've heard the stories about him, right?"
"Be quiet, Jerry," the first man says with a sigh. "This is serious."
Jerry rolls his eyes. "Sure, Derek, I just thought they might want to hear the rumours." Without waiting for an answer, he continues, clearly eager to tell you. "Apparently, he lures young people who've just left home into that house - usually women - with promising glossy photos and an irresistibly low price. Enticed by the pictures on the website, people buy into his perfect façade. Shortly afterwards, the new resident arrives and discovers it's all a lie - those who are smart enough to leave immediately and seek other accommodation are lucky. Those who don't... well, you know what happens to them, don't you? You're just lucky you weren't killed," Jerry sneers, enjoying the look of fear on your face.
"That's enough!" Derek snaps at him. He turns back to you and Dan. "Don't listen to Jerry. He loves to tell that story, and each time he does something always changes about it. I wouldn't believe it, if I were you."
Swiftly moving on, Derek continues to question you and Dan on what happened, gradually building up a report on his computer. Eventually he stops questioning and sits further back in his chair, looking up at you both.
"Okay. My colleagues will go to Mr Stevenson's place of residence tomorrow morning and bring him in for questioning. If what you've told me today is proven to be true, he will be arrested. Thank you for alerting us to this matter. Hope you have a safe journey home," he concludes, offering a small smile.
"Thank you very much," Dan says sincerely.
Derek nods in acknowledgement and goes back to his paperwork as you both walk outside again. Dan looks perplexed, leaving you curious.
"What is it?" you ask him.
"I don't know... that story really bothered me. True or not, I hope he gets proved guilty... he doesn't deserve to take advantage of people like that. He didn't deserve to take advantage of you." He shudders, a disgusted look on his face. "Murder stories just give me the chills."
"I know what you mean," you reply. "Hopefully there's enough evidence to prove him guilty." You pause. "I'm scared, Dan."
"Me too," he replies quietly.
a/n: eek okay so this whole 'arrest the landlord' thing is gonna be really unrealistic because i don't have much knowledge on it - sorry in advance for all the facts i'll probably get wrong
love u