Intriguing (phan)

7 - mistakes

(dan)

dan had called his sister addie again, the day before, and luckily she was free, meaning that dan wouldn't have to go to the café alone. she was bringing charlie, her dog, however, and dan was fairly certain that charlie hated him.

he was waiting on a bench in the park, which was next to the café, when addie finally arrived, running next to charlie. dan could tell by her outfit that she intended to spend most of the time in the park with charlie, rather than in the café with dan. he sighed. why didn't he have anything in common with his sister?

"hey, dan," she greets breathlessly, falling onto the bench next to him. he wants to get up and hug her, after all, they haven't seen each other in a while, but he thinks that she might be sweaty, and the thought repulses him.

instead, he opts for patting charlie on the head, but charlie only growls before straining against her leash.

"i hope you don't mind me bringing her," addie says, having finally caught her breath. before dan can answer, addie's digging around in her rucksack.

"it's fine," dan mutters as she pulls out a tennis ball. she then unclips charlie's leash, gives her a good rub behind the ear, before throwing the ball as far as she can. the wind picks up, however, and the ball starts spiralling towards the ground, so dan gives it a small shove with his mind, ensuring it goes a little further.

addie gives dan a cheeky grin, before asking, "so, how's it going?"

"well..." dan's at a loss. nothing new ever happens in his life. "it's going," he mutters, kicking the ground with his worn out trainers.

addie laughs, "no shit sherlock. how's your new flatmate? you got a new flatmate right?"

"yeah, figured i'd start saving money. phil's fine."

"fine?" addie raises an eyebrow. "you can dish the dirt, it's only me."

dan chuckles as charlie runs up, ball in her mouth. without addie asking, he helps her get another long throw. "nothing really to dish. i mean he leaves his socks everywhere and always eats my cereal for some reason, but that's it," dan claims, watching charlie's legs as she runs away to get the ball again.

"look at me." addie says in a firm tone and dan complies. she inspects his face for a minutes, before saying, "you're lying."

"what?" dan asks, immediately looking away.

"there is something to dish," addie claims with a triumphant grin on her face.

"no there isn't," dan protests, looking anywhere but addie's face.

addie giggles sweetly, covering her mouth with her hand. "dan i'd know that look anywhere." dan raises an eyebrow in question. "that's the look you had when tommy moved into the house next to ours, when we were like 10."

"hey! i thought we'd agreed not to bring that up. ever."

addie laughs, throwing the tennis ball again. "so it's true then. you have a crush?"

dan looks at the wide smile on her sisters face. she's having too much fun with this. he sighs to himself. she'll probably figure it out anyway.

"he's hot, ok?"

"like tommy-hot?"

"no, like a different hot. more like beautiful." dan covers his mouth immediately after the words escape.

addie only laughs again. "beautiful, huh? maybe this is a little more than a crush?"

dan sighs. "it will never happen. i was hopeful for a while, too, after that night, but then pj-"

"wait, what night? did you guys have sex?"

it's dan's turn to laugh at addie's repulsed expression. "yes, it was nice, loud, anal gay butt sex," dan says, stringing together the words that he knows will disgust addie most.

she gives a horrified expression, before choking out the words, "did you wear a condom, at least?"

"no, why would i--" he pauses once he realises addie looks like she might throw up. maybe now isn't the best time to explain his bedroom preferences. "i'm joking. we didn't have sex."

addie lets out a relieved sigh. "what night then?"

"it wasn't a big deal, he was sick and we slept together - in the same bed, i mean - and he said he didn't want me to leave and we kind of cuddled and it was cute, i don't know, i'm probably reading into it too much."

"aw, that's so cute! i need to meet this guy. you sound absolutely smitten."

"no, i don't," dan grumbles, looking at his feet again.

before addie can tease him some more, dan notices out of the corner of his eye, charlie knocking someone over. before he can say anything, addie is running over. he reluctantly follows.

by the time he arrives at the scene, addie is helping the guy up while charlie rounds in circles around them.

"she's usually very friendly, i swear. you must've just gotten in the way of her ball. i'm so sorry."

it takes a while to register that dan actually knows the guy who is now rubbing at what seems to be a sore spot on his head.

he blinks a few times. london was so big, what was the likeliness of ever seeing him again. like 1%? he's got to have the worst luck in the world.

"pj?" he finally says.

"dan, was it?" pj asks, turning to look at him.

"you guys know each other?"

dan gives a minute shake of his head, which addie ignores.

"i'm dan's sister, addie, nice to meet you, pj," addie introduces herself, shaking his hand. "again, i'm so sorry about charlie, she doesn't usually jump on people."

"your dog's a girl and you named it charlie?"

addie laughs, "it's short for charlotte."

"oh," pj grins at addie. "like i said, it's alright, don't worry about it. see you around dan."

dan nods, before pj turns. they watch his retreating figure.

"who was that?"

"yeah," dan answers absentmindedly. he wouldn't tell phil, would he? like bumping into someone isn't that significant. of course he wouldn't tell phil.

(phil)

"hi, phil, i've got news," pj says as soon as i answer the phone.

"what is it?"

"you were right."

"i know, but about what this time?" phil laughs, stretching as he stands up.

"dan isn't a complete loser who never goes outside. saw him in the park today."

"oh yeah, he said he was going with his--"

"sister. looked like they were having a real blast as well."

phil takes a moment to replay dan's words in his mind. dan had definitely assured phil, multiple times in fact, that he was meeting a friend he hadn't seen in a while. "were they?"

"yeah. his sister seems nice, name's addie."

phil nods although he knows pj can't see him. addie was definitely the friend that dan said he was meeting.

"maybe i judged him too harshly."

"i don't think you did."

there's nothing phil hates more than a liar.

**a/n is anyone actually enjoying this? i feel like it's a bit slow and boring. i'll probably update again tomorrow if you leave me a motivating comment lol**

🔮rachel