Not On Fire (Phan AU)

02 | smoke

Between smoking and burning things, Dan goes through lighters fairly quickly, and because he can't ask his parents to drive him to the store every time he needs a new one without it sounding suspicious, he has to walk to the store in the cold January weather.

                He leaves without telling his mom or his dad where he's going and slips out the back door unnoticed with a flimsy leather jacket on.

                It's a particularly windy day that's needle-sharp and pricks his skin with every blow. The frost-covered grass crunches under foot as Dan works his way from his backyard to the sidewalk in front of his house. He has to duck his head down to cover his face and he can already tell his cheeks are going to be a nice rosy pink color. He watches as the grass abruptly switches over to sidewalk and lifts his head so that he doesn't run in to anybody.

                The store is a few minutes away on foot, luckily, but by the time he reaches it, he's shivering, his teeth chattering uncontrollably. His fingers feel almost numb even though they've been in his pockets the whole time.

                It's brighter inside than it is outside, with harsh lights shining down over head, as it's nearing nighttime. Dan has to squint his eyes to adjust at first, and he pauses near the doors to give him some time to warm up.

                He always buys more than just a lighter because he doesn't want to explain why he's in constant need of a new one, so he goes to a new cashier each time and hides the lighter under snack food in the hopes that no one thinks anything of it.

                He walks the store without any specific path and comes across items that he wants to buy randomly, ending up with a basket full of various junk foods. Once he decides that he has enough in his basket to make the lighter seem insignificant, he ends back to the front.

                The cigarettes catch his eye and he moves to turn away, but he can't even remember the last time he bought a pack as he's been living off of the same one for a while now, but he's running low. He doesn't smoke that much, maybe a pack every few months, and only when he's stressed and doesn't have something else to burn.

                He heads for the cash register with the cigarettes instead and picks up a lighter when he gets in line. Now he has a solid excuse as to why he's buying the lighter (of course he would need it to light the cigarette) but he keeps everything in his basket anyway, deciding to splurge and treat himself.

                The lighter is an essential part of burning something, but gasoline is also important in getting the fire to spread. However, Dan's dad keeps gas in the garage on a regular basis ("You'll never know when you're going to need it," he always says) and never notices when it goes missing, so long as Dan fills it up every so often.

                "I'm going to need to see an ID," the man at the cash register—his name tag reads Matt—says when Dan asks for a pack.

                "Here you go," Dan says, offering a fake smile as he pulls his fake ID out of his pocket and hands it to the guy.

                Dan had gotten one shortly before his seventeenth birthday over the summer when he grew a foot. He uses it to buy cigarettes and nothing else, which he considers is pretty mild considering he could be using it to get a lot worse stuff, but he's not sure his parents would see it that way. They'd probably flip if they found out he smokes.

                The guy gives him the ID back and allows him to go through with his purchase.

                The sky has only gotten darker, the moon visible above the treetops, and with the dark sky, the temperature has dropped considerably. It's started snowing, too; it's a light snow and has barely covered the ground, but it's cold to touch. The wind has calmed down to a slight breeze, but the temperature and the wind are still a sharp combination.