MEANWHILE:


Dan

Atari's couch was so comfortable, even if it was ratty and smelled like and old folks home and perfume. I had my feet propped up on their table, my shoes long abandoned. By this time, the glass furniture was more like a garbage bin with shoe prints and wrappers all over.

I was a bit self conscious around Atari, to be completely honest. I felt like she deserved better. I didn't feel like "Sexiest Lad" at all. Shave off my hair and you have nothing. I hope she didn't think that I was annoying.

The girl that I was so beset with was in my company, reading. I was trying to read, but it's fairly difficult to do so when an extremely attractive and amazing girl was touching your thighs. It would be a bad idea to get a boner with her head on my lap. I still couldn't concentrate, even with the consequences in mind. God would that be embarrassing. Atari had her wide eyes trained on the pages, sucking lightly on her lip. Every time that I tried to start a conversation I got shushed. If I tried to continue it, she'd hit my arm. It better have been a good plot line or I have some serious complaints.

I set my book down and began playing with her hair. I don't know how girls do it, but their hair is always so fucking soft. My mum taught me how to braid when I was little, but I couldn't exactly remember how. Her hair is going to be so tangled by the end of this. LOL YOLO.

"Dan. What the bloody fuck are you doing?" she asked me, still reading.

"Trying to braid your hair," I responded.

"Dan. Dan. No. That's. Ow. Fuck. Stop pulling at my hair!" Atari was moving around on the sofa, trying to get out of my grasp. Her face was buried deeper into my lap, making my focus turn to mush. I couldn't remember how to talk, much less fix her hair. I was laughing at her frustrated expression. "I hate you."

"You don't hate me, you love me," I said, making her blush. She was so cute.

"Nope. I hate you. Forever in a pit!" I chuckled at her answer and bit my lip. This girl doesn't know what she does to me.

"Is that book any different from the twenty seven times you've read it?" I asked with a smirk. She rolled her eyes and stuck out her tongue. Cute...

"Yes. This book is magic."

"Really?" I asked.

"Yes. It turns into whatever kind of book you want it to be." Her response was a bit delayed due to the fact that she was still reading.

"So it could be smutty fanfiction if you wanted?" I questioned.

"Definitely, Dan. I'm just reading a fic about Captain America." Her answer was facetious, spilling of sarcasm. She adjusted her legs on the other end of the couch, making Soup purred and curled up against Atari again. I'd be jealous, but I already had her head on my lap.

After a while of silence, my fingers getting tired of messing with her hair, I broke the quiet. "So are you a Nerdfighter?"

She looked up at me, a straight expression on her face. "You're lucky that I was done with that chapter... thing..." Atari set her book down to rest on her lap before responding. "I don't consider myself one, mostly because I don't want to be one. It's not that I don't like them, it's just that they are a little intense. And I don't want to be part of that drama. I have Nerdfighter friends that are always stressed, and I don't want to be like that. I am a fighter for nerds, but I don't want that label. The Vlog brothers are fantastic, and I love John's books, Doctor Who, and Harry Potter, but that doesn't mean that I'm a Nerdfighter, you know?"

"Yeah, I think that makes sense. God knows that I'm not a Nerdfighter. I respect the fact that they are so close, but I'm not going to be one myself," I said. "Now, as much as I hate to even think of removing my head from near my crotch, I'm starving. So please move." A rose colour spread over her face as she got off of the couch.


Atari

"I really should get to uploading that video soon," Dan said as we tried to scavenge for food in the kitchen. I came across some left over pancakes from yesterday's breakfast. I was actually really excited.

"Yeah, why haven't you done that yet?" To be honest, I wasn't to worried about it. I mean, I'm proud of him and everything, but I don't want to fight for him with one. million. other. subscribers. They're anonymous people, just sitting behind their computer, freaking out over someone that they've been trolling for the past who knows how long. And they're so pretty. I focused my attention back to Dan.

"I've been hanging out with you guys. And I think that I might finally upload the Vegas video."

"Really?" I set down the food and spun to see him.

"Yeah, but it's taking forever. And I like to procrastinate."

"I know. I hope that's not the only reason that you're over, eating my food," I said.

"Sorry to break this to you, but it is. I don't really like you." Dan's face was dead serious, but he was looking at me with twinkling eyes.

"Yeah right. You loooooooove me," I taunted, jokingly. We laughed and I hid my face behind a curtain of hair. I changed the subject. "So what does your shirt mean?" He had on a black shirt with a glowing circle on it. He looked up at me, a mildly horrified expression on his face. "Is it a band?"

"You don't know what this is for? Have you ever seen The Ring?" I could feel his voice judging me.

I hesitated. "No. What's it about?"

"Holy shit. Oh fuck. I'm going to go get the movie. You make some popcorn. We are watching this film right now. Right. Now," he said, leaving the kitchen. His hurried footsteps were heard throughout the apartment, the door slamming not even ten seconds later.

Relief washed over me. Finally. He came over right as I looked like crap. Now I can feel comfortable in different clothes instead of the ones that I shrugged on when I heard the door open. While the bag of popcorn made little bursts of sounds, the microwave on the preset time, I swapped my apparel. So maybe leggings and a giant Fall Out Boy shirt weren't really "attractive," they were definitely comfortable. Side note: FALL OUT BOY IS OFF OF HIATUS OH MY FUCKING GOD THE FEELS. Whoa Okay, it's all good now. I needed to celebrate.

Hung outside of the door to the kitchen was a calender, taped up with artist tape that Micah has a bundle of. A few years ago, she made about four or five calendars for one of her classes using the photos that she took during the year. So now she has up until 2015 in calendars. Otherwise, I would never know the date. For some odd reason, she crosses off the days that have past. A big x is made on every passed square. Valentine's Day was only a week away. I hate that holiday. She even drew little hearts around the day, little smiley faces inside of the 14. Ironically, in her sloppy handwriting, she had written "National Single Awareness Day."

The door swung open, hitting the wall. "I'M HERE, IT'S OKAY. I have brought the movie. Got the popcorn?"

"Ummm... I remembered the fact that the bag was indeed inside of the microwave, but didn't remember to actually take it out and put the popcorn in a bowl."

"Oh God. I give you one job! This is why we can't have nice things. Okay, go put this in the DVD player and I'll figure out the popcorn. Over and out," Dan said, running over to the kitchen. His butt looked mighty attractive in his sweatpants that were slung low on his hips. "Atari, I know that I'm really sexy, but you can go into the living room. I'll be right there," he said sarcastically when he got to the door.

I blushed and left for the lounge with the film in my hands. The Ring. There was a scary looking girl's face, masked with blood and greasy hair. I hate horror movies. I'm such a weakling. Put me in front of 48 zombies and I'll be chopping off heads and slashing at bodies like no tomorrow. I can win at any supernatural video game (not only the genre, but also the TV show, if there were any video games about the TV show). But I can't control the actors in films.

Dan came in, a bowl of buttery popped corn in a bowl and two Diet Cokes. "I can't believe that you don't have any regular Coke. Diet is shit," he stated. "Did you get the movie to work?"

"No, Dan, it's not like the menu is on the screen or anything." Sarcasm dripped from my tongue.

"Well press play!"

"Christ! I'm getting to it. Calm your tits." I pressed the play button on the remote.

"I won't. These can't be calmed," Dan said, making me laugh. Then the movie started.

And by the end, I concluded, that I am a total wimp. My head was in Dan's chest, my legs pressed flush against his, my arm had a vice grip on his, and small shrieks were let out every now and again. I need to compose myself.

Only once the credits were rolling did I notice my position on Dan. His breathe fanned over my neck, his fingers toyed with mine. "You okay?" he asked, his voice was quiet and personal.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine. That was a good movie. Scary, but good." I pulled back from him, immediately missing his warmth. His arm slid from it's spot around me and his face fell just a bit. I looked at the time. "Whoa. When do you think that Micah will be getting back? It's already nine at night."

"Don't be a protective older sister. Let her stay out late for once." I stuck my tongue out at him. "You're so mature, Atari."

"And you're not," I reciprocated.

"Are you hungry? I'm hungry. Let's go to the store and get some comfort food, cause I have one million subscribers!"

"Fuck yeah!"


I hated the tension sometimes. For instance, on the tube, there was such an intense amount of people, that there was no space between any of our bodies. Instead of doing something like, I don't know, like push people so I had space, I just pressed closer to Dan. Then again, I didn't have much of a choice due to the others that insisted that they must by all means get right where there was no room. There were too many girls with exposed skin to handle. I felt like I was being pressed up against on purpose. Dan was about a head taller than me, his chin at my forehead. He was perfect height in my opinion.

We were breathing the same air, and I looked up to see his brown eyes clouded with an unrecognizable emotion, his bottom lip between his teeth. I hid my blush under my fringe of dark brown hair. Someone behind me stepped back into me, making me step forward, closing the two inch gap between Dan and I. I wanted nothing more than to brush the hair away from his eyes. Or kiss him. Or something. Anything to break this extreme awareness of our surroundings.

The tension only built. It was stupid things, like our hands brushing when we walked next to each other on the pavement, our shoulders touching. I wanted to grab hold of his hand so hard that I break my wrist. I liked being so close, getting those jealous looks from the other girls on the street.

And grocery shopping was easy. We both walked through the store and put what we liked in the basket. But there was this unspoken agreement on what we were eating. Breakfast for dinner was like an instinctual move. Bacon, eggs, and crumpets were the only things on the menu. I used to go shopping with Ben, but never like this. Dan poked me, made fun of me a bit, danced around the produce isle, and we just generally made complete fools of our selves. It wasn't about some stupid crush, it was about spending time with him. I liked how he talked with his hands, throwing around the food. I liked him. I liked being around him. Not to quote any books or anything, but in that moment, I felt infinite.


We ate together in the lounge, watching Insidious, where I was once again a total wimp.

"So, I don't know if Micah mentioned this, but she kicked me out of my own apartment for the night," Dan said while we went to clean up the dishes.

"She what?"

"Well, I didn't really want to be there for whatever they had planned."

"Hey now-"

"HEY NOW THIS IS WHAT DREAMS ARE MADE OF," he sang. I sighed.

"Dan. No. But I guess it makes sense, I'm just happy that it wasn't at this apartment."

"So can I stay here? I don't take that much room."

"Sure. Why not. Omg. I can like do your nails and we can watch Jersey Shore and do facials and like talk about boys. IT'LL BE A SLUMBER PARTY." He stared at me. I could practically hear him saying "fuck off." This got me giggling, leaning on the counter for support.


"So I'm just going to crash on your couch."

"Sounds good," I said, carrying a couple blankets to the lounge. He took them from my arms and wished me a good night. I said the same and climbed into my own bed.

But then my mind seemed to be on hyper alert. I felt like Samara was going to climb out from under my bed, or I was never going to wake up once I fell asleep. No matter how much time I spent laying in bed, counting sheep, rolling about, or thinking quietly to myself, I couldn't fall into slumber.

So, tea seemed to be the only reasonable answer. At two in the morning, I went to make myself some tea, trying to not wake up Dan. But, like the tired, immature girl that I am, I accidentally hit the toaster on my way to turn off the light, crashing it against the coffee maker and sending them both flying onto the floor, creating a large bang.

Then after about ten seconds of standing there, my hand over my heart, I said the first thing I could think of. "Shit."

I heard distant shuffling from the other room and footsteps. "What the fuck, Atari?"

"Sorry." I then decided it would be a good idea to pick them both up.

"So did you just decide it would be good to knock over kitchen appliances?" he mumbled incoherently.

"Yes. That's it exactly."

"What was the real reason?" he asked, picking up the coffee maker and setting it on the counter.

"I couldn't sleep."

"Want a partner?" Dan's voice was sleepy, like he was only half awake.

"Sure." Dan took my hand in his and pulled me to my room, stumbling around in the dark.

And we fell asleep, comfortably. And happily.