Little Moments in Time - A Phanfiction

Chapter Eight

Dan slowly walked out of Phil's room, shutting the door behind him. He hated this part, but he knew it was necessary. If Phil was going to be helping him with this project, they'd be spending a lot of time together, and Dan had to accept that Phil had flatmates, and it'd be much easier if Dan got to know them better. However, he hadn't done a full personality one-eighty. He walked out into the living room, and took a seat in the armchair. If someone talked to him, he would respond, but this was as much as Dan was going to initiate interaction with these people he still didn't know all that well. 

"Dan!" Tyler's voice rang out, and Dan snapped his head up to meet Tyler's gaze. "Who's hotter? Miley or Zac Efron?" They were still talking about this? He guessed it made sense, it had only been about two minutes. He glanced at the clock. 

*Click*

"Um... I don't know. They're both pretty attractive I guess."

"Aww come on that's such a cop-out!" Tyler whined, turning back to Alfie. "No one can touch Mr. Efron." He said with a very serious face, to which Alfie put his hands up in surrender. 

"Okay, okay, you win."

"You have to say it."

"Zac Efron is hot."

"Uh uh uh...." Tyler held up a finger, indicating that this answer didn't fully satisfy him. Alfie sighed, fully defeated.

"Zac Efron is hotter than Miley Cyrus. You happy?" 

"Very!" Tyler's grin spread back across his face. "Louiseeeeee Zoeyyyyyyyyy can we open the whiskey yet?" he was back to whining.

"Fine..." Louise conceded, walking over and handing Tyler a handle of whiskey. He unscrewed the lid and took a shot, his face twisting slightly. 

"So Dan... what's your deal?" Tyler asked, passing the bottle to Dan. At first, Dan put up his hand, palm first to Tyler, refusing the bottle, but when Tyler's eyebrows raised as if to ask 'you sure?', Dan decided what the hell. It was the weekend, and he was trying to have new experiences and meet new people. Also, the entire time he had been tipsy the night before, he had been overly aware of his level of inebriation and attempting to remain sober. Tonight part of him just wanted to let go and let the alcohol take him where it took him without his brain getting in the way. 

Taking the bottle, Dan tossed it back, swallowing a larger gulp than he had intended. He felt the burn of the alcohol travel down his throat, and the warm sensation travel through his body and up into his head. "What's my deal?" he repeated Tyler's question. "I mean... I'm a Law major..." 

"No, not what's your major, silly!" Tyler stopped him, taking the bottle back, and downing another shot. He moved fast. "What's your DEAL? You single? Straight? Confused?" Wow. That was certainly not what Dan had expected. He didn't think he had ever heard anyone be so straightforward. It didn't even feel as if Tyler was coming on to him with this question, more like it was a question on an application, and he was being asked to check one of the boxes, or fill in the blank for 'Other'. 

Dan took his time to think of how to answer this question, as he didn't really know what his sexuality was. It had been a little over a year now that he had been researching Aromantic and Asexuality, but he was still unsure if that was him or not. Reaching for the bottle from Tyler, he answered the first half of his question, "...Single..." he didn't put much emphasis on this part of the answer, as all his brainpower was still trying to figure out how to answer the second half of the question, when he realized Tyler had given him his answer. He took another gulp of the whiskey before deciding to answer as honestly as he could.

"I guess you could say confused.  Less about the whole boy/girl thing, though, and more about if I like people in general."

"Are you telling me I'm meeting a real life furry?" Tyler's eyes went wide, and Dan almost choked on the third swig of the bottle he took to cope with the fact that he was actually telling someone for the first time ever about all of this. And not even Phil, his new friend, but Tyler, the guy who he still had no idea what to make of.