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Chapter Text

When Dan opened his eyes the following morning, he felt confusion flow from his muddled mind into his gut. He sat up and wiped his eyes, squinting from the bright light falling onto his face from the nearby window. He got a strange sense of déjà vu from the baggy black shirt and the much-too-short pajama pants he was wearing. He sat up and glanced around curiously for a moment. Murmuring, he stood up and opened his bedroom door. He gazed out cautiously, one hand ruffling his wild hair back.

He could hear running water from the end of the hallway. And there was a woman- her dark, bedhead hair was across her shoulders. She was wearing booty shorts and a tee, washing her face in front of the sink. The rest of the house seemed quiet at the moment. Dan walked over to her slowly, yawning.

The woman rinsed in the sink, then glanced up at Dan. Dan couldn't help but grin stupidly back- holy cow, she was gorgeous. Even without makeup on, her eyes were an intense blue, her teeth shiny white, cheekbones a model would die for. She grinned. "Good morning, Dan! Wow, you slept forever. You feeling okay today?" She handed him a hairbrush and moved aside, brushing her own hair.

Dan took the brush, overcome with new embarrassment. He couldn't remember the last time he woke up at a girl's house- maybe he was in his late twenties? He probably looked like a wreck. And he definitely couldn't remember the last time he got black out drunk at a party. And here was this lady- this beautiful woman- who obviously knew him from last night, and he couldn't even remember her name. Real smooth, Dan.

But he didn't want to seem like a total idiot, so he played it cool, of course. "Yeah, I'm good, thanks." He set the brush down moment and began washing his face instead. He avoided looking at her as he tried to add things up in his head. Because the math was all wrong- the house was quiet and clean. His breath didn't smell like rum and bad decisions. Hell- he was actually 99% sure he took a shower at some point last night. While he gathered his thoughts, he absentmindedly stared at the prescription pill bottles that were sitting around the sink. ~She's not hiding anything,~ he thought, rinsing his face.

He was probably going to get flack for this but he needed at least some answers. He wiped his face on a towel and looked over at the woman. "So…some party last night, huh?"

She chuckled. "Wow Dan, I didn't know you were so hardcore. Nah, the real party will be today."

"Oh?" Well, that didn't help. And where was everyone? "Are we having it here?"

"We're probably all hanging out at the Grump Space later. Figured we could all play games there and have some fun." The woman frowned at her reflection, put the brush down and walked out of the bathroom.

That didn't sound so bad. Grump Space…Dan had no idea what that meant, but he was getting déjà vu goosebumps again. But other than wondering where he was and where he'd be going next, more pressing matters were on his mind. Like this hot babe. And why he woke up in her house, in the twin bed of a guestroom. And if they…

But he had no clue how to ask that without sounding like an asshole. He had to know though- right? He tapped her on the shoulder. "Hey- so…last night…um…did we…?" He could already feel his face turning pink.

The woman raised an eyebrow. "Did we what, Dan?"

"Uh, uhm…" The words tumbled from his mouth, "I woke up in the guest bedroom." He waited for her to make the connection.

She just stared at him cluelessly. "Yeah…you sure you're ok, Dan?" She gave him a concerned look.

Dan nodded quickly, "Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Sorry. I'll go get dressed then."

The woman nodded. "Ok, I'll meet you downstairs in a bit, I gotta put my face and clothes on." She disappeared into another bedroom and closed the door.

On his way back to the guest room, Dan could hear pots and pans clattering downstairs. "Uh…" He backpedaled a bit to the closed door. He really wished he knew her name. "Hey- who else is here?"

The woman's voice answered from the other side of the door- "Arin is downstairs- my wonderful husband is making us breakfast this morning! Then we can go meet up with everyone." Dan heard the woman's footsteps in her room walk away from him.

Dan walked back to the guest room. He was feeling more lost by the minute. "Husband? Oh-kay…" He undressed and put his normal clothes back on. So as far as he could gather, nothing happened last night…so why was he here? Was he just another stupid late night crasher at this nice couple's house? But the way she looked at him before…and again, where was everyone else?
_

Dan walked down the stairs, and was blown away by how clean the house was. It didn't look like a party had happened at all. Dan looked around for people crashed out on the floor or the couch- there was no one else. He was left pondering if it was a parent's house as he was greeted by white noise and the sound and smell of sautéed onions and meat. He walked into the kitchen, where a guy was flipping omelets in a pan at the stove. His blonde streaked dark hair was in a man bun, he had an untidy short beard, and he appeared to be wearing harem pants and a Sailor Moon t-shirt. Dan tried not to laugh as he took a seat on a bar stool. "Hey," he said awkwardly, watching the man known as Arin put the omelets on plate.
Arin grinned at him. "Hey. You slept long enough, Jesus. That's okay though, it gave me time to make this for you. Remember when I said I'd make you eggs during that one Grumps session forever ago? Well, here they are. I've got French toast on the way too." Arin placed the omelet and a glass of OJ in front of Dan. "You can get started if you want." Arin turned away and began dipping bread slices into an egg mixture in a bowl next to the stove.

Dan stared at the omelet, not sure how to proceed. He looked blankly back at Arin. "Uh…What the hell is a 'Grumps' session?"

Arin was only half listening- he threw some newly cooked toast onto another plate and placed it at the bar, then looked at Dan. "There, bon-a-petit! Sorry, what'd you say before?"

Dan had enough- he was getting nowhere. He got up from the bar stool. "Sorry- it was super thoughtful of you to make breakfast like this, but I gotta go. My friend Brian is probably wondering where I am." Dan patted down his pockets. "Do you know where my phone is?"

There was a pause where neither person moved. Arin set the pan down and shut the stove off, then walked over to Dan. His face became an intimidating blank slate. "Dan…what's my name?"

Dan stepped back- he didn't wanna start anything. He raised his hands defensively. "I'm sorry- that was rude of me, I can totally finish breakfast first and then go-"

Dan flinched as the guy rushed over to him- he thought he was going to punch him but then he stopped in front of him. Arin sighed heavily out of his nostrils and stared at Dan. "Just answer me. What is my name?"

Dan gulped. "Arin, your name is Arin."

Arin looked like he was going to throw a plate at a wall. He folded his arms. "Okay, what is my last name?"

Dan raised his hands again. "I don't fuckin' know! I'm sorry- I must've had too much to drink last night-"

"You weren't drinking last night, Dan! You don't even drink! Oh my God…" Now Arin was pacing, one hand grabbing his hair as he glanced down.

The woman was suddenly there, rushing down the stairs. "I heard shouting- what's going on?" She asked, looking back at both of them.

Arin gave her a serious look. "Dan doesn't remember who we are. Call Katie right now- get the kit by the bed."
Suzy nodded and pulled out her phone, but Dan was walking to the front door. He was completely spooked at this point. "Look- I dunno what I did last night to set you guys off but I'm sorry and I really gotta go-"

"Dandandandandan…" Suzy rushed over to him and grabbed his hand as he was about to open the door. "You need to stay here."

"Why?! I'm just going to piss you off more because of whatever it is that I can't remember! I seriously think you have the wrong guy-"Dan was rambling, grabbing the doorknob.

"I don't have the wrong guy, Dan! I have…" Suzy gave Arin a quick glance then continued, "I have a really sweet guy who is confused because he drank too much last night to remember all the fun we had. And that really bums me out. And it bums Arin out too. Because yesterday was awesome."

Suzy put on the most pitiful puppy dog eyes that she could- and by God, Dan was melting right away. He let go of the door handle and looked at her. His cheeks turned pink again. ~So we did…~ In his peripheral, he thought he saw Arin roll his eyes. Dan fumbled over his words. "Ah, okay, but…but he said I don't drink, and he flipped out at me…"

Suzy took Dan's hand in both her hands. "He just has a weird sense of humor. We are kinda weird people. But can you please just stay? Have breakfast with us, and go to the party with us later. Or don't, whichever. You can call your friends after you eat. It's just…" Suzy bit her lip a little and glanced back at Arin, then at Dan. "We really like you, Dan. Please stay." She put on a soft smile. "I won't even be mad that you can't remember my name."

Dan's face turned bright red. He looked at Arin for confirmation. Arin looked down, then walked over to Dan and put a hand on his shoulder. "She's right, last night was a dope party. Sit down and have breakfast- I made it for you. Then you won't get a hangover or whatever."

Dan thought things through and nodded. "Okay…I'll stay…" He looked back at Suzy. "And, uh…what was your name again?"

"It's Suzy."

"Right." Dan slowly walked back to the kitchen. "You guys clean up really nicely after parties-" he commented as he went back the kitchen stool. It was shaping up to be a weird day.

Suzy walked back upstairs, while Dan and Arin ate the omelets, sitting next to each other in awkward silence. Dan felt that he should make up for the silence. Finishing up the eggs, he cleared his throat. "So, where's this party at?"

"It's at an office in LA," Arin mumbled. He was avoiding Dan's gaze. Dan nodded.

"Thanks. That was a really good omelet." It was at this point that Dan finally noticed white lines running down his right arm. He put his fork down and furrowed his brow. "What the-what are these from?!"

Arin took a swig of OJ. "Those are from life dude," he mumbled miserably, downing the rest of the juice.

While Dan was pulling his sleeve down to inspect the scars, he felt something pierce his shoulder. He shouted but before he could do anything else, he was out like a light, falling back into Suzy's open arms.

Arin got up and Suzy transferred Dan over to him, then carefully placed a cap back on the needle in her other hand. Arin dragged Dan over to their couch. "That was the emergency plan? Really?"

"Yup. It came with instructions." Suzy pulled a folded piece of paper from her pocket and showed Arin.

"I meant you, actually. Flirting with our best friend. Interesting improv."

Suzy ignored Arin's growing saltiness and unfolded the paper, looking through it carefully. "I thought I did pretty good, stopping him from running out the door. I'll be right back with his meds." She walked back upstairs for a third time.

After Dan was safely lying across the living room couch, Arin glanced at the unfinished breakfast that was before him. "He didn't even get to the French toast. Goddammit."
_

Dan awoke suddenly a bitter, chalky taste in his mouth, followed by a stream of cold water down his throat. After swallowing, he sat up and coughed. He looked over at Arin kneeling beside him, who had a glass in his hand. "Wh- what the hell?!"

"Take the rest of these," Arin said sternly, dropping pills into Dan's palm and handing him the water. Dan obeyed groggily, glancing briefly at the food on the counter. "I can take pills by myself Arin," he said grumpily, downing the rest with the water. Arin sighed and stood up. "No you can't, apparently. You forgot to take these last night, and it caused some problems."

Dan's brow furrowed, guilt a heavy lump in his stomach. "What kind of problems?" He looked down, realizing he was fully dressed and on the couch. "What'd I do?"

Arin headed back to the kitchen to clean up. "Nothin', man. You just didn't know where you were or who we were. But you know now, right?" Arin's look was so hopeful, it nearly broke Dan's heart.

"Of course…I'm at your house, we came back from the hospital last night." Dan said quietly. He followed Arin into the kitchen. "Where's Suzy?"

On cue, Suzy came back down stairs, this time carrying her purse and a calendar. She joined them in the kitchen and tacked the calendar to the fridge. "You feelin' ok now, Dan?" she asked.

Dan nodded solemnly. "Yeah, I think I'm good. Sorry about…earlier." Whatever that meant.

Suzy smiled at him and handed him his cell. "Here's your phone- I scheduled some alarms in it so you remember to take your meds. Oh, and here's your keys too- there's a pill container on the keyring so you don't have to carry a bag." Suzy pointed to the calendar that was filled with scribbles. "This is an additional reminder too."

"Thanks, Suz." Dan pocketed his stuff. "So…everything's fine now?" He gave Arin an uncertain look.

Arin turned around from loading the dishwasher. "As far as we can tell, yeah. I think you should stay here for a week or two before you go back to living with Barry. But we can still get your stuff from his place later."

"Okay…" Dan suddenly felt awkward, like he was invading their personal space. He looked at what was left of breakfast. "We ate already?"
Suzy mumbled something about feeding the cats and walked out of the room. Arin wiped off the counter. "Yeah, I made you eggs and toast, like…like I said I would, forever ago."

Dan grinned. "Aww, like you said you would in our Dark Souls 3 playthrough! Aww, Arin!" Dan laughed.

Arin bent over, laughing aloud in relief. "Yeah! And you fucking forgot, asshole!" His smile made Dan feel loads better.
Dan giggled sheepishly. "Damn. Sorry, guess you'll have to make more tomorrow!" The laughter from each of them was infectious and filled the entire room.

"Yeah whatever," Arin said, looking up at the clock on the wall. It was forty after two. "Listen, we gotta get ready to meet everyone at the Grump Space – we're already gonna be late. I'm gonna shower and stuff and then we'll go. You can watch TV or do whatever- just take it easy." With that, Arin went upstairs, leaving Dan alone.

Dan walked back to the couch, having nothing else to do. He skimmed through the contacts on his phone. The worry he was feeling was being pushed back by a low, steadily-throbbing headache. He glanced at Brian's name for a moment, then set his phone down on the coffee table and exhaled deeply. He bent forward, rubbing his temples.

"Fuck".