blurry face - phan

chapter four

dan

The next morning, Dan has a headache - obviously.

Each time he gets drunk, every morning is the same; the pain never dulls or gets easier to handle. But Dan doesn't mind, in a way, the pain kind of helps.

"Morning sweetie, I'm just about to head out, see you later," his mother says when Dan arrives downstairs, kissing him on the forehead before rushing out the door.

Dan sighs. His father has already left for work so he is utterly alone. Dan wanders to the cupboard, tugging it open and wrapping his hand around a bottle of vodka and pouring a small shot, closing his eyes as he tips it down his throat feeling the burn, and then the alcohol enter his bloodstream.

The sun is too bright today, it's hurting Dan's eyes and despite downing two painkillers, his head is still throbbing like mad. But the vodka shot he had this morning dulls the pain a little. His whole world is slightly blurry and tilted, but that's okay, it's how he liked to live.

Dan crashes into something solid, losing his balance in his tipsy state and falling to the ground. Dan quickly jumps to his feet again, looking up to see a pair of slightly blurred, blue eyes.

"Look, I'm not going to bother you again," Dan mumbles, looking down at his shoes, "I don't need any crap today."

"Are you tipsy mummy's boy?" Phil asks mockingly, making Dan's heart skip a beat, "oh, bad boy. I can smell it on your breath."

"No, I- I'm not!" Dan lies horribly, but Phil just rolls his eyes.

"Don't worry mummy's boy, your secret is safe with me," Phil says, winking at Dan before turning and walking off down the street.

Dan sighs, shaking off his conversation with Phil - if it even counts as a conversation that is. Despite how mean and rude Phil is, Dan can't help but want to keep going back. Damn his beautiful, crystal clear eyes, damn his amazing, soft, pink lips; damn him and his perplexing, wonderful, impossible face.

Dan stops by a convenient store to purchase some breath mints and a bottle of water, just incase anyone else at school has a keen sense of smell. He downs a water bottle before popping in three breath mints, cringing at how the mints are so strong it almost burns.

"Dan, hey! You smell... Minty..." Pj says when Dan approaches him at school.

Dan recognizes him from his dark, curly hair and the enthusiasm in his voice. He is also wearing the same jeans and shoes as yesterday, but he has a different t-shirt on today. Dan also wonders what is it with this school and having an amazing sense of smell, like, are they all werewolves or something?

"Hey," Dan replies, smiling at Pj, and then to a couple of others he recognizes, "how are you?"

"I'm good, are you okay though? You look a little pale and... Wobbly," Pj says, giving Dan a concerned look - but Dan can't see that.

"Wobbly... Ha, that's a funny word!" Dan exclaims, giggling, "wobbly, wobbly, wobbly..."

"Dan are you sure you're okay?" Pj asks, grabbing onto Dan's shoulders and looking him in the eyes.

Dan stares back at Pj but all he sees is a blur where his face is supposed to be. Dan is not okay, but then again, he never is, so it doesn't really matter anyway.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Dan says, smiling at Pj, "I think I might be getting a bit of a cold though. I didn't sleep much and I have a slight headache, but it's okay."

"Well, I hope you're feeling okay, also, the group and I were going to go to the cinemas on Saturday night and we were wondering if you'd like to join?" Pj asks.