Chapter 1: Moving to London
I stood awkwardly in front of the passport scan, not able to do it as I was supposed to.
"Ma'am, you need to press your passport down firmly and stand behind the yellow line. Look into the camera with a straight face.", the woman who obviously worked at the airport informed me. Of course, I haven't been to any of these scans at all, because it just so happened that I haven't been traveling by plane since I moved out of my parents' home. And that was a long time ago.
Okay, maybe not that long, I'm 24, not 42.
"I've done the exact thing, it just doesn't seem to be working.", I explained and the lady suddenly held out her hand.
"May I see your passport?", she asked. She was kind of annoyed, by the way, but I gave her the object without protest.
She looked at it thoroughly while studying my face. After a while, she handed me my passport back.
"The photo seems a bit old, maybe it can't recognize your face. But I do. You may go through there.", she told me, gesturing to the entrance to the right.
"Thank you.", I said, leaving relieved. Great. Now, that was embarrassing. And I thought the ProVision scan was a hell. I really hate being the center of attention.
After I got my bags, I got onto the tube quickly, making myself comfortable for a long train ride. It was so weird to be in this... well, metropolis. London was the exact opposite of my hometown, but in a lot of ways similar to Oxford, where I've studied. One of the things I was proud of. My lack of a social life somehow acquired me a scholarship at Oxford University, where I majored in Molecular Biology. Sounds lame, but I liked it. And now, after all these years, I'm about to do something else entirely.
Why?, you ask. Apparently, I'm suffering from an existential crisis and I need to reevaluate my life choices. What I'm doing? Currently, I'm working as a waitress. Why waitress? I wanted to get out of Oxford as fast as possible and preferably not do something that has anything to do with my subject. Waitress, it was then. But not forever.
Weirdly enough, my parents gave their blessings, but didn't seem too happy about it. Of course not. Bachelor and Master in Molecular Biology and goes off to be a fucking waitress. I was going to get a doctor title too.
My plan was now to focus on solving my personal problems. I had bought several books on happiness and fulfillment and literally threw everything I owned in the trash and replaced my belongings. New clothes, new furniture, same old piano and some of my old books paired with lots of new ones, focusing on psychology and improving oneself. Pretty drastic change, after all, about a year ago, the main topics of my books used to be biology and romance.
I thought about the 'old' times a little more, while looking out of the train's window, until I drifted off.
I woke up, when I heard the name of my destination. The train has already stopped and I jumped up panicked. I almost missed my station!
In a hurry, I threw everything of my scrambled belongings in my luckily large purse and quickly grabbed my luggage. The beeping of the doors began and I almost got caught by the deathly trap as I escaped into the tube station.
I could swear that my heart was beating twice as much as usually and maybe I tasted a little bit of blood. Academical, but definitely not athletic. Yoga, Pilates, dancing... okay, but running? Not down for it.
As I pathetically made my way to the escalators to exit the London Underground, I texted my mum and my dad that I made it safely to London and that I'll call them later. Although I very much loved them, I didn't want to keep too much in touch as long as I lived in London.
After searching for a long time, I finally found the address.
"My new flat.", I mumbled to myself, searching for the key in my pocket. The landlord had sent it to me a few days ago and my parents had already brought my furniture into the flat. I only had to unpack the boxes, which I was immensely grateful for.
I used the key to open the door, well, the first door actually. I would have to go up some stairs first until I've reached my own door. Apparently there were two flats altogether and my neighbours were living above mine. Fantastic.
I carefully made my way up the really narrow stairs and surprisingly, I hadn't hurt myself yet. Suddenly I heard two male voices above me, followed by noisy steps.
"I'll change the light bulb tomorrow, I swear!", one of the voices said. Very bubbly.
"Yeah, right, Phil. That's what you said two days ago.", the other replied. Calmer, more serious maybe.
"This time, I'll do it."
The two males were walking down the stairs quickly. If I hurried now, I could make it to my flat without meeting them. That's what I did.
Firmly, I took a hold of my luggage, increasing my pace. A lot. I was almost jogging.
"Okay, do it tomorrow, but I swear if this'll be like Final Destination I'm gonna kill you."
They were getting really close, but I would make it without any social interaction, which I clearly couldn't handle at the moment. But fate had to fuck me in the ass.
Suddenly, my foot tripped over a step, making me fall up the stairs and drop my luggage. And purse. And dignity.
My bag laid there, right next to me, my purse fell to the bottom of the staircase. I whimpered a little bit. My keys were lost and I had to deal with overwhelmingly strong pain and embarrassment. After I've collected myself, pushed my upper body of the ground to look up, only to see my two neighbours look at me in confusion and concern.
...That did not just happen.
Stuttering some words, I stood up, ignoring any pain that I've ever felt. I could feel my head getting hot, as I grabbed my travelling bag and went to the entrance of my flat, which was only a few meters away. I ignored my purse and took the key that was laying in front of one of the boys' feet, while again, mumbling excuses, and tried to escape into my safe home. But I was quickly stopped.
God, that was so embarrassing.
"Wait, you forgot your purse!", the boy with the black hair yelled, jogging down the stairs to retrieve it. Ashamed, I fully faced the other one who looked shocked, but also slightly amused.
"Finding my misfortune entertaining enough?", I joked with the brunette boy.
"Well, it is amusing how you try to play it cool.", he replied, surprisingly confident. He was, like his companion, at least a head taller than me, so I was a little bit intimidated.
"I am certainly offended.", I commented with a smile, crossing my arms. The boy next to me chuckled a bit. I went back to watching the blue-eyed boy return my purse.
"Here you go. Hope you aren't injured or anything.", he told me with a gentle smile. He seemed very nice.
"No, I'm fine.", I assured him, returning a polite smile, which probably looked like it has been forced. It wasn't.
The brunette boy and I made eye contact, suddenly, his stare became more concerned.
"You sure? I think you're bleeding.", he pointed at my forehead.
Now I felt the warm liquid dribble across my face.
"Maybe we should call an ambulance or something.", the black-haired boy said, "You could have a concussion."
"No, no, it's fine. Trust me, I know the symptoms of a concussion. I don't suffer from one."
"If you're sure, okay then.", he answered.
I studied both of them thoroughly. They seemed like polite boys about my age, really attractive, by the way. The one who gave me my purse was a little shorter than the other, had black hair and mesmerizing blue eyes, although I wasn't that much of a fan of the eye colour. It suited him most definitely. Basically, he looked like a puppy, who did something wrong.
The other one was a whole different story. He had dark brown hair, which matched his brown eyes and looked like someone my parents wouldn't like. Very dark clothing style, the other one's was the exact opposite. Colourful and happy.
Mine I'd call grey and basic, but whatever.
I was, at the moment, more fond of the guy with the red and blue shirt with stars on them. I had a thing for overwhelmingly nice people.
"Sorry, forgot my manners.", I noticed and held out my hand, "I'm Skye Cromwell, your new neighbour, I guess."
"Oh, that's why I haven't seen Mr. Churchill for weeks.", Mr. Blinding-Blue-Eyes said, "I'm Phil, nice to meet you. This is Dan."
He shook my hand firmly and after him, 'Dan' greeted me.
"Thanks for introducing me, Phil.", the brunette said jokingly, "Nice to meet you."
I'm pretty sure, the moment our stares met, he kind of judged me.
"What's that intense stare about?", I asked curiously, which snapped him out of his trance.
"Nothing really. Does that always happen to you?", he was obviously referring to my accident from two minutes ago.
"Quite frequently, yeah.", I replied honestly. I was really clumsy.
"But that's none of your business, is it?"
Damn, I didn't know where that came from. Apparently, being a bitch to my new fucking neighbours is what my brain wanted to do.
"I'm sorry?", Dan replied, very puzzled.
Phil looked between us, not sure of what he should do. I didn't blame him, I was confused myself. I didn't know why I felt the need to be impolite.
"Sorry, I... had a rough day and I'd like to be alone, preferably for the rest of my life.", I confessed with a sigh, "So please, let's just forget that this moment has ever happened. I think the part of my brain that is responsible for politeness has just malfunctioned."
I walked away without any chance for them to reply and went into my flat with my luggage.
Well, Skye, aren't you a ray of sunshine. You make friends so quickly! (Note the sarcasm.)
Hopefully, I wouldn't have to see my neighbours at all the next few days.
Carefully, I stepped around the boxes, that haven't been opened yet, to sit on my black leather sofa. This was going to be a lot of work. Lucky for me, I'd only have to work in about two weeks. I shouldn't be complaining anyway, after all, my parents pay for my flat and that is more than a lot of people can even hope for.
I felt utterly bad for being so snappy to Dan earlier, I mean, he didn't do anything wrong, did he? Sadly, my social skills are a little bit rusty.
I should apologize the next time I see him or both of them. But for now, I was too busy to even waste a thought on them.
A/N: Hello to all the people that haven't read any work from me yet! (I only happen to have one story aside from this one, but it has gained more popularity than I imagined)
I hope you enjoyed this introduction to my story. Obviously, it's a Dan/OC story, so don't read on if you don't like! I felt the need to mention this after seeing all of the Phanfiction (which is ofc acceptable!)
My English isn't the best and my writing is a little bit rusty, but still! I think it turned out good enough? Still deciding if I should continue this, so PLEASE tell me your thoughts and I recommend following or favoriting my story if you think it's good!
Thank you so much for reading and hopefully, I'm going to see you soon!