pause // dan howell x reader

Chapter 28 - Echo

Your POV

You've waited ages for that, the essence of his lips on yours, and you realise how much you were a fool to not take a bite.

There's always been something there between you, yet you've pretended that being friends was good enough. But with Dan's lips close to yours and his heart even closer, you regret everyday you didn't tell him how you feel.

"You don't know how long I've wanted to do that." He whispers, his hot breath full of pure bliss. Flattered, you smile down at the ground.

"Mind if I guess?" You smirk and flick your eyes back up to his. He loosely shrugs his shoulders, keeping his hands softly placed on your face, sheepish smile playing on his lips.

"This may be a stretch but, since the supermarket?" You question.

"Not exactly..." He slurs as one of his hands lowers and sits on your neck.

"Since 2009." He adds and you frown, confused. Before you say anything, you take some time to piece it together. In 2009 you were in college, you didn't do much other than study. However, in your spare time you talked to YouTube through a camera, but there's no way Dan started watching you then.

"Did you watch my videos?" You ask, still confused yet the frown on your face slips away.

"Every single one." He grins and rests his forehead against yours.

"No way." You say in disbelief; a light chuckle under your breath.

"I did and I still do. I'm a massive fanboy." Dan slowly sways the two of you with the same smile plastered on his lips. You pull out your hand from his hair and place it on his cheek, steadily lifting his head off yours. You stare into his eyes, trying to decipher if he's lying or not.

His eyes are focused and assertive but full of whim. His eyebrow raises, attempting to challenge you further but it only makes you laugh.

"No way." You disagree again, this time with a brighter tone.

"What? You don't date fans?" He remarks, tilting his head and leaning back.

"Who said anything about dating?"

"You did kiss me." He argues with a coy smile and you lightly hit his chest, shoving him away. You walk past him, on your way to the exit of the arcade, and you smile over your shoulder. Dan laughs in return, shoving his hands into his coat pockets.

"Oh come on, you love me." He mocks and you shake your head, grinning

If only he knew how much.

(omg word count above is 420 also, how dare you say Gerard Way)

-

After doing some grocery shopping in the late afternoon, you opt for a cab to take you home so you hail one to the side of the road. You get in and set your bags on the seats, telling the driver the address to your apartment.

You huff and flop back into the car seat, taking out your phone. Before turning it on, you mindlessly stare at the screen and decide to look up instead. You gaze at the streets in front of you. While nothing is that interesting, you still peer upon the people walking past; their liveliness adding to the atmosphere of London. You turn your attention to the sky. The glittery sunlight about to die out and melodies of pink, purple, orange and blue blended in harmony across the horizon.

As you watch the colours change slightly, you think about work today, how you avoided Nick the entire time. How the thought of him dries your throat and makes your bruise hurt. The feelings come back and you squint your eyes, trying to weaken the pain. Slowly, it departs and leaves one final image. Not one of Nick hurting you, one of Dan hugging you and kissing it better - it's confusing but you like it more.

"Is this the place?" The driver asks as he peers over his seat.

"Yes, thank you." You nod and pay him whatever amount is registered on the meter. You sling the shopping bags onto your arms and slide out the car, stepping onto the sidewalk.

The door shuts and the car drives off. You lift your head up whilst taking a long breath. Smiling to yourself, you begin to walk up the front steps to your apartment until you hear a yell.

Sharply turning around, you see Nick chasing up to you.

"Y/N." He huffs as he tries to catch his breath. Surprisingly, your throat doesn't feel tense or dry and the bruise doesn't sting or beat with strain but, you feel angry.

"I- Can I come up?" He points to your building but you don't respond even though you want to protest.

"Why were you late to work today? I wasn't able to talk to you about the session plan, you know, like we usually would." Nick sweeps his fingers through his light brown quiff, obviously trying to clear the tension.

"I was with Dan." You say coldly. Nick's eye twitches and he takes a step towards you, his hand in a fist.

Some of the fear returned but you swallowed it down.

"Nick, stop. Don't do this. You shouldn't do this." You attempt to persuade him but his arm is already lifted. It starts moving towards you, but no matter who Nick is to you, you can't tolerate this shit anymore.

"Pause." You snap in a whispy breath; waves of emotion tugging inside you. His hand frozen in mid air seems like you could just break it off as if he's a doll.

And there was an echo.

You glance over to see Dan, panting with a smirk on his face. Sweat dampened his skin and frosty air puffed out with every breath he took. You smile back at him, his eyes reflecting joy, before you turn to Nick again.

You clasp your hand around Nick's arm and prepare yourself to block him and his violence.

"Play." You mutter with a more mischievous smile than before.

His strength drives powerfully against you but you twist his arm around and swiftly slap him across the face. The crisp noise rings in the air.

Nick falters backwards, cupping a hand to his cheek. You look over to Dan again, an even bigger smile on his face. He nods to you, wanting you to really make Nick pay.

You glare at Nick as he clenches his jaw. He removes his hand to reveal a large red mark, you can even see the outlines of your fingers.

"You're right Nick, you have changed. Now you're worse." You lift your knee and hit it into his stomach.

"Oh and also, I'm gonna make sure you get fired." You snarl. He drops to the ground with a groan and you smirk as you watch him clutch to himself as he aches.

"Pause. Y/N, that was amazing." Dan runs up to you, wrapping his arms around your back and picking you up, spinning you around. Though he says he's weak, he smiled through the pain. He slowly stops spinning, bringing your feet back to the concrete.

His eyes smile back at yours and his mouth weakly grins too. Your noses brush against each other and his hand runs to the lower of your back; before you can take another breath, his lips are firmly placed on yours. And even though the sunset is duller and the city is silent, you feel like you're in paradise.

You both pull away and Dan glances over to Nick.

"Although I'm as weak as my self esteem, may I?" He asks, gesturing his hand towards Nick. You nod and smile.

"He may not feel it now but, oh boy, he will feel it when we play time." You chuckle and unlink your arms from Dan's back.

"Yeah, when we play time." He smirks.  

Hey everyone! This chapter is finally up and oml I have missed you guys, but thank you for ALL your support and kind words on the last chapter.

You guys make me really happy and I'm so sorry I won't be able to update lots since I feel dead (not as dead as you TheKillersphan28) because of poor school, sleep and tv management - but the Australian school holidays are close so I'd have loads of free time :)

THis sToRY is nEArLy oN 100K whAT? ThANK yoU, I DOn'T deSErVe thIs.

Ooh also, what did you think of PINOF 8? 
Me: PHAN PHAN PHAN PHAN PHAN PHAN PHAN PHAN PHAN