Don't Leave Me Hanging

When Someone Means Everything

Dan and I had left St. Louis the next morning, thankfully finding an extra seat on Dan's flight so I wouldn't have to keep him here for another day. The entire flight was spent with me running off to the bathroom since high altitude and nausea don't mix. I often found myself basically crawling over Dan while he was sleeping since I always found the greatest of moments to leave my seat, and that was always when he was fast asleep.

Thankfully, we had a connecting flight to New York and a layover of just an hour, so the six and a half hour flight went by pretty fast, the movies that were on the plane keeping both of our attention.

"This is your captain speaking, we are about five minutes from landing at Heathrow Airport. The forecast calls for a cloudy day with a high of seven and the possibility of snow later today," Called the captain over the intercom in the plane.

I smiled when he said the forecast, it definitely sounded like London, and I kind of love that. I glanced over at Dan to find him fast asleep, his glasses all askew which made me smile a bit. I felt pretty bad to have to wake him up, but I gently shook his shoulder. Dan's eyes fluttered open, a soft smile coming to his lips when he saw me. I couldn't help but smile back, a feeling of butterflies finding their way to the pit of my stomach. Why did this dork have to make me feel like this? "We're landing soon," I finally mentioned to him.

Dan gave me a nod before letting out a yawn and beginning to pack his things that were sprawled out between the two of us, "Did you sleep alright?" He asked softly, his voice raspy from his nap.

I shrugged, "I'm fine, but looks like you slept well," I remarked.

Dan chuckled, "Probably the best sleep I've gotten on a plane," He said, setting his backpack on his lap as we made out descent into London. We both stared out the window, waiting for the clouds to break and see how London was looking today. Which ended up being covered in snow, no surprise there.

 We landed pretty quickly and got off the plane in probably record time, which also gave us a head start to grabbing our luggage. As we were waiting for our bags to pass us, I felt someone wrap their arms around my shoulders and give me a big hug, causing me to let out a small squeak.

Dan couldn't help but laugh while I was panicking, but I quickly stopped when I turned around and saw Charlie and the rest of the guys. They were all smiling brightly at me, each with either a bouquet of flowers, a small little teddy bear or a balloon.

I grinned from ear to ear, "You guys..." I said softly before giving each of them a big hug, "You didn't have to do all this."

"Yes we did," Kyle said, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and giving me a squeeze, "You're finally back home, it's the least we could do," Charlie chimed in.

We stayed at the airport for a little longer before parting our ways, Kyle being kind enough to drive Dan and I back to Dan's flat. Once we got there, Kyle came out and helped Dan carry the luggage up to his flat since they both insisted I had a concussion and it wasn't good to pick heavy things up. I rolled my eyes a bit, chuckling before we got to Dan's front door, Kyle telling us a quick goodbye before heading home.

"Sorry if it's a bit messy," Dan said, fishing for his keys in his pocket. He unlocked the door and opened it for me.

The place barely changed from before I left, sure a few new things were placed around the sitting room and kitchen, but everything was basically the same. And a got an overwhelming feeling of finally being home, "I missed this place so much."

I could hear Dan chuckle from behind me, "And I missed you," He said so quietly that I had a hard time hearing him, but I couldn't help but smile.

We spent the rest of the night watching a movie of Dan's choice, which was a David Lynch film (shocker, right?). As the credits began rolling, Dan glanced over to me, "Do you want me to get your bed ready?" He asked.

I was a bit surprised by his question because I just assumed we'd share his bed, "I guess, I mean I thought we'd..." I began, my cheeks probably becoming a bright red at the slightest mention of it.

"Oh!" Dan called, his hand immediately coming up to the back of his neck, "I mean, we can, if you want..."

I shook my head, getting up from the couch, "No, it's fine," I said, giving him a forced smile. I was a bit frustrated with him since I was so confused as to what we were, but I saw no point in trying to push it.

Dan gave me a small nod before leading the way into his room where he grabbed several blankets from his closet. I stood at the doorway of his room, taking in that he has added a few vinyls and other things thrown around the room. He took the blankets and pillows into his guest bedroom.

"I can make the bed," I said as Dan set the blankets on the bed. He looked over at me and raised his eyebrows as if to say, 'are you sure?'. I smiled at him, giving him a nod.

Dan just gave me a small laugh before walking over to me and giving me a small hug as well as a kiss on the forehead, "Goodnight."

I gave him a warm smile before telling him the same and heading off to bed.

My night was spent tossing and turning due to this nightmare I kept having all night. I let out an annoyed sigh before glancing at my phone, 2:15, it read. I set down my phone and slowly sat up before finally getting up and peeking into Dan's room to see if he was awake. Cracking the door open, I found him slouched over his computer, the screen brightly lit.

I shook my head a bit, some things just never change. I knocked on the door lightly and saw Dan turn his head towards me.

"Why are you up?" He asked groggily, sitting up in his chair and running a hand through his messy hair.

I shrugged, "Bad dream. What about you?" I asked, stepping inside his room and glancing at his computer screen.

"This fucking song," Dan said with a forced laugh.

I shook my head before walking beside him and looking at what he had done, "Seems like it's going well," I mentioned, noticing that he had most of the song done. With Dan being Dan, he was able to quickly point out several things he hated about it, which I just responded by grabbing a chair and sitting down next to him and help him finish it.

It felt like hours since I began helping him, both of us throwing ideas here and there before we were finally happy with it. I let out a sigh and sat on the edge of Dan's bed, glancing over the title which was 'The Anchor'. "Can I hear it?"

He smiled and gave me a nod before pressing play and letting the quote play through before Dan's voice began singing. We both sat there in silence when the song finished before I finally spoke, "Who's it about?"

Dan let out a nervous laugh, "You actually."

I grinned from ear to ear, lying down on his bed and before I knew it I was fast asleep.

~~~

A couple weeks has passed since I first got back to London with Dan. The first couple nights were quite annoying, each night I'd get the same nightmare which slowly also sparked my anxiety, but thankfully Dan was able to calm me down. He was also sweet enough to offer to stay with me, which I denied the first couple nights, but later found myself saying 'yes'. The longer I stayed with Dan the more I felt back home like everything was going to be okay, even if I didn't have a job or really anything, but I felt okay. As for our relationship, things quickly fell back into place. We were sharing the same bed as well as stealing a few kisses from each other.

"How have you guys been?" Kyle asked when Dan left the room.

I smiled, "Good, really good actually. Things are finally back to normal."

~~~

(Let us just pretend The Anchor was never released....)

It's finally done!! Thank you so much to everyone who supported this book from the beginning, it's been quite the long ride. I'm really proud of this book, considering it's the first I've ever finished and also one I'm just really happy about! Anyway, thank you so much (I literally can't thank you enough) for reading this book, voting, commenting, really anything! Until next time my friends,

Lots of love, Vanina.