pause // dan howell x reader

Chapter 29 - Strange Adventure

Dan's POV

"I have an idea." I announce, looking over my shoulder to Y/N. I punch Nick one last time before loosening my grip on his shirt and slowly standing upright.

"Hm?" Y/N mumbles with a cute smile on her face.

"Have you ever robbed a store?" I grin. She quirks an eyebrow and pretends to act surprised but I can see through all her blubbering.

"Uh- heh, no." She drags out unconvincingly and crosses her hand over the other to seem innocent.

"Sure, and I didn't put brussel sprouts in Polly's coffee."

"You put brussel sprouts in P-"

"I don't recall saying brussel sprouts." I avoid her glance playfully and she slaps my arm.

"Anyway Daniel, we are not robbing a store." She leers at me and I roll my eyes in return.

"Please." I beg, taking off my black scarf and wrapping it around her neck in a swoop.

"No." She shakes her head with a smile.

"Come on, you've done it before."

"Dan-"

"Just one place, it'll be fun." I grab her hands tugging her forward a bit, making her falter a step.

"It sounds like you're trying to get me to join a cult." Y/N chuckles and buries her face slightly into my scarf.

"Oh yeah, we meet every Saturday for brunch it's very lovely- no, come on. Let's go." I pull at her arm again and she begrudgingly follows.

"Where are we going?" She groans.

I press my lips together and keep marching forward. Still, Y/N keeps pestering me, the unknown mystery to getting to her.

"Danny." She whines, putting both hands on my arm. I look over to her, a dumb grin painted on her face.

"Okay, I'll talk to you but I won't tell you where we're going." I negotiate and loosen my grip around her arm, letting my hand fall into hers.

"Is it a surprise? Don't tell me. Tell me. Wait no- are you gonna murder me in a warehouse?" Y/N splutters jokingly. I give her hand a squeeze.

"It's not a surprise but I've just always wanted to do this."

-

"Really? McDonalds? Yeah noice." Y/N says sarcastically as I open the door for her.

"Hey, Mac-D is pretty grand. Don't go dissing it." I defend, following behind her.

"I know, I was totally agreeing with you." She laughs and accidentally bumps into a person near the door. The guy nearly topples over like a mannequin but she quickly steadies him upright.

"So, what did you want to do? Burgle some chicken nuggets?" Y/N laughs again and I elbow her arm. She's getting too sarcastic and it's worrying me. I start to look around the room but I can't find what I'm searching for.

"Follow me. It must be in the back." I grab Y/N's arm again and we sneak our way past the cashiers who are frozen in time. We run into the kitchen and I immediately spot it.

"There it is." I huff dramatically. She follows my gaze only to meet her eyes with the soft serve machine.

"Soft serve?" She raises an eyebrow and I spin to her, latching onto her shoulders.

"Yes, soft serve." I exclaim and sprint over the the machine, grabbing a nearby waffle cone.

"Dan, are you 9?" Y/N comments and I nod whilst licking my lips. I hold the cone under the dispenser and press the green button. Soft serve ice cream starts swirling out and into the cone.

I keep it going and going until I have a mountain of ice cream balancing on the cone. I glance over to Y/N who is trying her hardest not to laugh.

"You're not getting any." I grin and poke my tongue out. She doesn't whine or snap a remark back, instead she crosses her arms and tilts her head to the side, keeping a steady gaze.

I look her up and down, and then I look the ice cream up and down; contemplating whether I should be greedy or generous.

"Fine, you can have some." I cave.

-

Your POV

You shuffle your back to press it more against the counter wall and cross your legs in front of you.

"It's melted, let it go." You pat Dan's leg as he pathetically licks the liquid ice cream resting in the cone. He stops to look at it and then sighs.

"Goodbye my friend." He stands up and walks over to the bin, throwing the waffle cone through the opening - it's oddly depressing.

"Alright, let's leave." Dan strolls back over to you and holds his hands in front of you. You grab onto them and he helps pull you up to your feet.

He breaks off, heading to the door to continue his strange adventure of things that he wants to do. You're about to follow him but you notice something in the corner of your eye.

Sat in a booth, in the middle of wiping his face from tears, is Alfie. You haven't seen him in so long and he looks like a wreck. His hair is scattered and tangled, his skin is unhealthily pale and even though his hands are covering his eyes, you can imagine that he's tired.

You aren't sure what would have made him this way and you aren't given any time to find out.

"Y/N, who's that?" Dan questions, holding the glass door.

"Oh nobody, I thought he was someone I knew." You lie in a mumble and pace towards him. Both of you step out into the soundless city and you feel his cold and soft hand tighten around yours.

Sorry for the kinda short chapter and the cheese :)

But I hope you liked this chapter even though it wasn't very eventful, please vote and comment if you enjoyed it or because you love me!

*cough cough* nobody does *cough cough*