letters to dan // dan smith

Chapter 4

A/N
This chapter is around 2 weeks after they first met :)

The last guitar lesson Beth runs on Saturdays is at 12, so she should be home by 12:30. That's how it normally is. After she arrives home, she eats lunch, and then does whatever she wants. Normally she'll watch TV shows for several hours, or sit in her kitchen writing whatever.

Today, however, she wants a change of scenery, so after the lesson is over, she buys hot chips from the local fish and chip shop and heads to the park. She finds a grassy corner near the lake and takes her guitar out of the case. As she plucks a random melody, her mind wanders to Dan. She's only known him for about a week, but it feels like she's known him forever, and he's such a nice guy and he's so cute. Beth couldn't decide if it had been long enough to develop a crush, or if it was just a he's-kinda-cute type of crush. As her chips lying forgotten, a song starts to form in her head.

Paralysed, I'm caught in the headlights,

Unexpected, but it feels like you already know,

What you're doing to me.

You're a hit and I'm addicted,

Couldn't quit you if I wanted,

But I don't...

Her stream of thought is interuppted when someone sits next to her.

"You didn't tell me you could sing," the person says.

Beth looks over and sees a tall man wearing red Converse and a denim jacket.

"Do you not own any other clothes?" She asks Dan as a way of greeting him.

"Well...yeah, but I don't really wear them? Are you going to eat those chips?" He asks, gesturing vaguely in the direction of the greasy bag.

"Nah, you can have them," she replies, rumaging through her bag in search of a notebook to write down the new song.

"So, I repeat, you didn't tell me you could sing?" Dan asks again.

"That's because I can't," Beth says bluntly.

"Well you were singing just then. Either that or I'm hallucinating." Dan says, smirking.

"Shut up and eat your chips," Beth tells him, sighing in defeat.

"Yes ma'am," Dan replies, saluting towards Beth.

Beth starts writing down the song, and Dan pulls some papers out of his bag and starts to read.

What Beth doesn't know, is that Dan is reading the next letter from the parcel. He's still not sure if this is the same Beth, even though all signs are pointing to yes. Her name, her friend's names, she plays guitar. And there's something about the way she speaks that's similar to the letters. A really blunt, direct, no-bullshit kind of way. She cuts the crap and gets straight to the point. Usually. He doesn't know how to bring up the letters, because there's a chance it's not actually her. Dan decides to let Beth ask for herself, let her ask the question. But Beth is so absorbed in her writing, there's no chance of her noticing what he's holding. He rustles the paper a bit, hoping to get her attention. She either ignores him, or doesn't hear. He rustles a little bit louder, and when that fails he coughs. Still Beth doesn't look up. Dan crumples up the paper bag from the chips.

"Dan! Stop making such a bloody racket!" Beth says, finally looking up. When she sees what Dan is holding, she flinches and looks down at her notebook.

"What- what are you reading?" She asks, carefully.

"Oh... Just some fan mail, you know?" Dan replies, trying not to make things too obvious.

"Can I read?" Beth asks, trying to sneak a glimpse of what was on the page, written in hand writing very similar to hers.

"You know... that hand writing looks a lot like mine..." She mumbles, craning her neck to get another look.

"Yeah, and the girl who wrote this is called Beth..." Dan says, hoping she'll say something. Instead her eyes widen, and she snatches the paper out of his hand.

"Hey! Give that back!" He exclaims, grabbing for the sheet that Beth is holding out if his reach, her eyes sliding over the paper, widening more and more every second.

"How many have you read?!" She asks, urgently.

"This is the third one..." Dan says, wondering why she could possibly care how many he's read.

Beth drops the letter, her back slumps, her eyes looking towards the ground, hair falling around her face.

"Beth?" Dan asks, sounding concerned.

"If you don't want to be friends anymore, I get it. Too much of an emotional load," she says, sounding emotionless, although the tears dripping down her face stated otherwise.

Dan stands up, sighs, and walks away. Beth bursts into tears, wetting the page, making the ink run. Someone sits down next to her, awkwardly wrapping an arm around her, dabbing her face with a tissue.

"Shhh, Beth. Calm down, I still want to be your friend. Beth. Listen to me. I don't care that you're depressed. I mean, obviously I care, but it's not going to affect our friendship in any way. Okay?" Dan murmurs in her ear.

Beth doesn't reply, but blows her nose.

"Hey, Beth. Look at me," he says, his thumb under her chin, lifting her face and looking into her eyes.

"I'm looking. I'm looking and I can't look away," she whispers, tears still dripping, and then they're kissing.

Neither Beth nor Dan are actually sure who initiated the kiss, but that doesn't concern them. Beth can taste the salt of her tears, Dan's breath for some reason smelling like apples. All too soon, Beth pulls away.

"Wow," she breathes, eyes still closed.

When she opens them, she sees Dan putting away her guitar.

"Hey! Don't touch Woody!" She growls protectivley, gesturing at her guitar.

"Woody?" Dan asks, smirking.

"I told you, I was a fan of you guys before, and well, my guitar is wooden and like Woody... You know?" She explains, blushing slightly.

Dan's musical laugh fills the air as Beth finishes packing away her stuff.

The two of them spend the day together, joking around, eating more chips and drinking cheap coffee.

It's not until Dan arrives home, later that day, that he realises Beth still has the letter.



A/N

oh my gosh its so fluffy gjklv wvjwvpqbmr

feelsfeelsfeelsfeels

also, thank you for 400 reads!!! i love you so much omg

kira xx

ps, im going away from september 3 - october 5, so im not sure how often ill be able to update! ill try get another update in before tuesday, but throughout the trip, updates will be irregular. mind you, ill write during the trip, so hopefully by the time im back, ill have PLENTY of new chapters!