Little Moments in Time - A Phanfiction

Chapter 2

It was only a short bus ride to Louise's flat. Probably less than a fifteen minute walk, but with the backpack Louise was lugging around, he understood her decision to take the bus. Dan generally had a hard time in these situations making conversation, and generally settled for awkward smalltalk followed by even more awkward silence, but with Louise he quickly learned that this would not be a problem. She filled all empty moments with new stories about a cute puppy she saw earlier that day, or the guy she kissed at the party last week who she's been hoping will text, to the teacher who totally unfairly marked her down for being late because she HAD to stop at that yard sale where they were selling homemade dresses! 

Dan would be lying if he said he wasn't overwhelmed, but it'd also be a lie to say he wasn't enjoying himself. This was the longest he had talked to someone in a long time, to be honest, and he enjoyed the feeling. Louise was clearly very passionate about things in her life, and he liked watching the fire light behind her eyes as she delved deeper into a story. Honestly, it wasn't more than a five minute bus ride, but somehow he had learned more about her in those past five minutes than he felt he knew about himself.

He reflected for a moment back to his project, and the main reason he had agreed to go to this party. Yes, Louise was nice, and fun, and very VERY different from himself, but he wasn't sure he would be able to keep up with her. Maybe. Either way, though, he was happy to have made... what was she? An acquaintance? A friend? He felt weird calling her a friend, as they had just met, but she was closer than anyone else at the time. Oh well, labels had never really been Dan's thing, and he wasn't going to get hung up on whether or not he had a new friend, there was a much more pressing issue.

Walking up to the building, he realized he and Louise had very different ideas of what an apartment was. This was its own building. It looked to be a duplex, two stories high, and fairly large. He wondered how a college student could afford all this.

So... how many of you live here?

"Oh! Well there's me, my best friend Zoe and her boyfriend Alfie, Tyler, Phil and me! And I mean people are always crashing on our couches and everything. We all chip in for rent and rent out the entire building, and when people come over, we have a box they can put some cash in for the booze fund for the next party! To be honest though, it just goes towards our rent, and Tyler pays for our booze out of pocket. Though he makes Alfie buy the booze himself because Alfie looks older. Not that it even matters here! OH! I forgot to tell you, Tyler's American! He's not quite twenty one so I think he's just paranoid and forgets that it's legal here! It's funny how Americans...."

Dan zoned out a bit as Louise went on to debate with herself the pros and cons of an older legal drinking age, and instead focused on admiring this house. He wouldn't lie, he was jealous. He hated dorm life. Being shoved into a tiny room surrounded on every side by loud obnoxious teenagers was hell to him. This was a much nicer neighborhood, and he envied the space they must have. 

The minute Louise opened the door, all thoughts of the house left his mind as he realized he had not at all prepared himself for meeting so many new people.

"HELLO EVERYONE, I'M HOME AND I BROUGHT A NEW FRIEND, EVERYONE COME MEET DAN!" Louise called out immediately upon entering the house. Dan almost clapped his hand over her mouth. He would much rather slowly and naturally meet everyone one by one than be affronted by them all at once, trying to juggle six conversations at the same time. Not to mention the inevitable interrogation about yourself that comes with any group meeting one singular person. Dan hadn't prepared for this.

"Why hello there! Wait... let me guess. Dan?" A shorter boy with bright mint colored hair swooped up a full two inches off his scalp came up, and shoved a hand forward, to which Dan hesitated only a moment before taking in his own hand. He had intended on it being a simple hand shake, but the shorter boy raised Dan's hand to his mouth and brushed his lips against Dan's knuckles. "It's a pleasure." he said with a wink. Dan jerked his hand back, and glanced at Louise, completely unprepared for this kind of introduction.