The Criminal's Eyes - Daniel Howell

Chapter 3

"D-Dan? That's.. A nice name" she says, simply for the purpose of something to say.

"Yeah, yeah I know it's about the most common name there is, on line with 'John' - but, then again, I guess having a common name makes me harder to track, right?" He says, laughing slightly.

He had no idea why she had stayed, and neither did she, yet there was a thick mask of curiosity lingering in the air; for some reason there was an urge in her, compelling her to continue interaction with this mysterious and, for all she knew, dangerous boy.

Maybe it was purely for the adrenaline rush, for the fact that she'd always been that girl. The one to know all the answers yet never volunteer. The one to pick up the pieces of someone else's wreckage. The one to let people assume what they wanted from her appearance, merely because she didn't want anyone to make assumptions from her words in case she messed them up. Yet, at this moment in time, it was as if none of that existed. This boy had no idea of her quiet reputation - she could be whoever she wanted without anyone else telling him beforehand what she was known for being: "The Quiet One" . This was her chance to reinvent herself and be daring. Confident.

After a brief yet comfortable silence filled by their contemplation, she changes her uncomfortable position, now leaning back on her legs and putting her legs out in front of her with crossed ankles. She then brings her hair to the front and says "So how long have you been here?"

As soon as these words escape her mouth, he instantly notices her change in presence, posture and that the air of shyness that once hovered around her had miraculously disappeared. He can't deny he likes this new persona. He silently raises an eyebrow at her, to indirectly let her know that he's noticed her personality change, but continues to answer the question. "Only just set up here yesterday. Originally it was just going to be somewhere to catch my breath, but then I looked around and realised it wouldn't be a bad pit stop." He says, brushing his hand through his hair. "I'm only planning to stay here until I stock up on supplies again, although..." He moves forward to whisper in her ear again, wanting to test whether her new attitude will match her actions "...if someone special were to persuade me, I might have a new motivation to stay" he says, and, as he predicted, she doesn't pull away when she feels his hot breath on the side of her ear. He looks up and their eyes interlock. Some may say it was the heat of the moment, some think it was their longing for intimacy that hadn't occurred in so long, but something compels him and their lips crash into a hot whirlwind of want and freedom.

Once she realises what's happening, she puts her hands on the back of his neck and kisses him back furiously, his fingers laced in her hair. All the years of third-wheeling couples and of being unwanted seem to disappear from her memory. At this moment in time, all that matters is the feeling of his lips on hers.
When their lips part, their eye contact still remains, thousands of emotions being shared in just a look. Confusion, pent-up stress, compassion. Yet every feeling registered is mutual.

They don't say anything. As if words would break this fragile illusion of happiness that had formed a bubble around them. They felt no need to ruin the moment with words, just to revel in whatever was between them while they could. She moves closer to him, shuffling to the side, and rests her head on his shoulder while he puts his arm around her and lets out a breathy sigh. The slight drizzle turns into a downpour, and she spends her time embracing the feeling of his arm around her, watching the droplets in the yellow light of the streetlamp on the corner of the alley, while he rummages through his backpack, producing an e-cig and breathing in to exhale a cloud of smoke.

The more time passes, the more speech seems more relevant, so she breaks the silence. "you smoke?" She asks casually, as if they'd known each other for ages and this scenario was completely normal.
"Rarely. That's why I just have the e-cig, because it's barely ever. It's not as if I'm so badly addicted that I'm gonna blow all my money on cigs and use two packets a day, yknow?" She nods, hoping he won't make her try it, as she's always miles away from her usual comfort zone, she isn't prepared to be galaxies away from it.

"So... what... is this?" He asks, being the first one to acknowledge their situation. "Honestly, I don't know. Trust me to have a criminal be the only one I'm comfortable around." She replies, saying the second statement to herself, but he still hears.

"I'd prefer it if you stopped calling me a 'criminal' but... thanks." He says, making her realise her unintentional compliment.
"The truth is, it's been so long since I've spoken to someone, let alone felt chemistry with a pretty girl and I guess I just got caught up with the heat of the moment and I'm just... sorry." He says, looking down at the mud on his boots for a distraction.

"Dan..." She begins, sighing "you don't have to apologise or explain yourself because I'm the one who kissed you back. And I can understand the feeling of not having anyone for a long time. It's okay. I just think it's one of those wrong place, wrong time things. The reason we're feeling so strange is because we've just met, practically and it was unexpected. Don't worry about it. I, for one, don't regret it." She finishes, smirking at the end as he looks up, looking less disheartened than before.
"You're totally right about the wrong place, wrong time thing. We don't know each other but it felt right... I guess you could call it love at first sight?" He says, and she playfully pretends to punch him on his arm for his cliché.
"And I don't regret it either" he says, bringing his face closer.

"Fuck it." She says in a soft whisper before forgetting all they had just discussed, and kissing him again.

They sit in the rain for a while, before her phone rings and she sees that it's nearing 1:00am.

"Shit." She says under her breath before answering the phone to Ciara. "What you doing, man? I mean, your parents called a few hours ago to make sure you were still here and staying over, and I said you were even though you'd left because I thought you were camping out for concert tickets or something, but you could have at least called to tell me if yore okay. What if some creep had kidnapped you and your parents thought you were with me?!" Her shrill voice echoes through the phone.

"I'm sorry, I just... lost track of time. I'm with... a friend" Kira tries to make up an excuse while choosing her words carefully.

"Do you make out with all your friends?" Dan says in the back playfully, while being shushed by Kira. Unfortunately for Kira, Ciara had been able to make out a deep muffled voice in the background.

"A friend? A male friend? Do you have a boyfriend?! I-"
"Thanks, bye Ciara!" Kira interrupts hastily before ending the call, which is a shock, as she's never had the assertion or courage to do something so brash. Dan laughs, allowing Kira to see his smiling eyes in the lamplight. After a hopeless attempt at pretending to be mad, she gives in and laughs with him, eventually collapsing in hysterics at nothing against his side.

Once the laughter in them subsides, the pair sit against each other, once again just enjoying the company.

"Look, I don't know what this is. I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow, or in the future, and frankly I don't care. For now... can I just stay with you?" She asks, her doe-like eyes staring up into his mesmerising brown ones.
"I thought you'd never ask" he says, fingers laced in her hair once again.

She slips into a daydream, not worrying about what's to come in the morning. Wanting to freeze the moment and keep it in a glass orb, to come and go from it whenever she pleases. Drowning in her thoughts, she finds herself back to thinking about his brown eyes. But that's the thing - they're not brown. She thought brown was brown until she met Dan, and it suddenly transformed into pools of hot chocolate, muddy puddles in wet Autumn messing around in the rain, oak on a tree that's probably been a beautiful part of nature for who knows how long. It takes the smallest bit of light to turn it into the dewy honey-hazel colour and one bit of shade to turn it into the deepest shade of almost coal black. Brown is beautiful. Especially in Dan's eyes.

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A/N: thank you sooo much for reading this :) but I'm so sorry for rarely updating for so long; here's a nice long fluffy 1500 word chapter for you. If you have any ideas about the plot, don't hesitate to suggest them. The more comments I get, the more likely I am to update faster as I actually know there are people reading this somewhere, and if you're enjoying it please tell me <3 - I love you aaaallll ❤️ 💙💖😊 :D