Chapter fifty one
Dan immediately became the awkward, clumsy idiot he always became in large groups of people. He had told me about this side of him before, but I'd never really experienced it to this extent. Before we even found Dan and Phil's group of friends he had accidentally bumped into three people. Two other, less famous YouTubers and one of the personnel dressed as a waitress who was carrying a tray of drinks which she was about to offer us. Thanks to her balancing skills she managed not to spill any of the beverages, luckily.
Before Dan managed to humiliate himself further we located their group of friends and settled into the normal routine of greetings and introductions. Ally and I were introduced to Chis, Pj and Jack Howard to start off with.
"I'm already a big fan of all of you three" I informed them. They all responded with thank-you's and smiles. We talked, mostly the three of them and Phil and I, while Ally and Dan kind of stayed quiet. I complimented my three new acquaintances on their hilarious and creative videos. None of them were weird about the fact that I knew who all of them were from before.
After talking for a while another familiar face showed up. It was Carrie. She was one of my favorite female YouTubers and I adored her to pieces. She greeted all the boys accordingly and then turned to me.
"You must be Sarah" she exclaimed reaching out and hugging me.
"Yes, it's so lovely to meet you" I beamed in return.
"Dan where have you been hiding this beauty?" she scolded. I chuckled along with him.
"And who are you?" she turned her attention to Ally.
"I'm Ally" she introduced herself.
"She's my girlfriend" Phil finished for her with confidence and pride in his voice as he stood a little straighter.
"You had a girlfriend and I didn't even know about it?" Carrie accused "I am very disappointed in the both of you. So nice to meet you though, I'm Carrie by the way" she went on to hug Ally as well.
"Nice to meet you too" Ally agreed, seemingly more comfortable with her than with Dan and Phil's male friends.
"Do you mind if I steel these two away for a few minutes. I'll introduce them around since I know you two are shit at that sort of thing" Carrie explained to the boys before whisking Ally and I away.
Carrie led us around the room and introduced us to many smaller and bigger YouTubers, most of whom I had heard of before. I didn't watch all their videos, but I paid attention to the community. We were met with a lot of commends such as "So you're Dan's girlfriend" and "I didn't even know Phil had a girlfriend". They were all very nice and politely welcoming towards us despite their surprise.
Finally we were brought to a group of most of the female, British YouTubers. There we met Emma, Zoe, Louise, Tanya and Hazel. I had been looking forward to meeting all of these women, but I didn't know that they would all be here al at the same time. It was slightly overwhelming, but I think I handled it quite well.
Pretty much they were like I had expected them to be, Emma was sarcastic, Zoe was a cutie pie, Louse was very motherly, Tanya was very girly and Hazel was just funny. Instantly I had a sort of connection with Louise. She embraced me in such a motherly way and I couldn't help but grin. I'd never really had that type of friend before, the motherly type, but I could tell we were going to hit it off. Of course I definitely got along with all the other girls it was with Carrie and Louise I felt I walked away with the best foundation for a friendship.
"So what do you guys do, obviously you know about our jobs" Zoe joked.
"We actually work together at Starbucks" Ally replied for the both of us.
"Kind of a dead end job isn't it?" Emma asked.
"Yeah, but it's not like yours is so much more prestigious" everyone laughed because everyone in that room had that job, Emma also took the joke "Anyway that's how I met Dan so I'm not complaining" I added.
"Oh really? That's so cute" Louise pitched in "How did you meet Phil then?" she continued to ask Ally.
"Through Sarah actually. Dan got drunk at a party and I helped her get him home. And there was Phil" she shortened the story a bit. I laughed at the memory of that night.
"That sounds like Dan" Carrie laughed with me.
"It was hilarious. And here we are a few months later, Sarah's dating Dan and I'm dating Phil"
"I've never known them too well actually" Louise admitted "But I've always wanted to, Dan seems like he's similarly awkward to me. I guess I'll have to start hanging out with them, if they can bag the two of you they must be pretty nice lads"
"I wouldn't argue with you there" Ally agreed.
Soon it was time for the meal that was being served. It had been over an hour since we arrived at the party. The meal was announced and Ally and I found our way back to Dan and Phil. The four of us sat together at a table along with Carrie and Alex. We carried the conversation well, all of us pitching in.
After dinner the music was turned up and most people headed to the dance floor. Carrie and Alex were both out of their chairs right away.
"You guys want to come?" Alex turned to the rest of us.
I looked at Dan silently asking, but from the look he gave me I could tell he'd rather hang back for a little while at least. "Well join you later maybe" I announced for the two of us"
"Come on Phil" Ally cheered excitedly. Parties were her forte. Phil agreed reluctantly, I knew he was even less of the dancing type then Dan. I could tell from the almost longing look he gave me and Dan as he was dragged to the dance floor that he really didn't want to go, but was doing this out of good-naturedness.
"We should go over there later and save Phil" I joked once they had disappeared into the crowd of people who were now all swaying to the beat and jumping up and down.
"He's not really a party animal" Dan agreed a hint of sadness in his voice, but I decided to ignore it for now.
"So I met pretty much everyone" I kept the conversation going.
"Anyone you're an especially big fan of?"
"Well you know you're my favorite" I grinned at him "but I met Louise, you know Louise. I haven't watched her for that long, but we really hit it off. She said you guys didn't really hang out that much"
"No, well she's part of that group of makeup gurus, but I mean they're all nice people and stuff so there's nothing wrong with them. Maybe we'll hang out more now that I've got you around to help with all my female friends" Dan joked.
"You should, I think you'd get along"
"Sarah do you know what day it is today?" Dan asked almost conspiratorially after a slight pause in the conversation, changing the subject.
"I'm pretty sure it's the 31st of December, New Years Eve remember?" I teased sarcastically.
"Yes, that is the date, but what day is it?" he asked again.
"I really don't know what it is you're trying to get at Dan. Just tell me" I grew slightly impatient.
"It's our two month anniversary" Dan announced.
"Oh yeah it is. Happy anniversary" I cheered leaping out of my seat and sitting down on his lap in stead. Dan tilted his head upward and I leaned down to kiss his lips. My one arm was around his neck, the other placed on his chest between us. His arms were holding around me, holding me in place on top of him. We were in a world of our own and it didn't seem like anyone even noticed.
"Come" I announced breaking the kiss and getting up off Dan's lap, he let me go reluctantly "we should dance"
"Ugh" Dan grunted.
"Come on, it's our anniversary, you have to dance with me" I argued persuasively.
"Fine, fine" he agreed reluctantly and didn't even make me drag him over to the dance floor. We couldn't see the others so we just stood at the edge of the crowd for a little while, dancing on our own. The music was loud and upbeat, but Dan pulled me in, his hands around my waist and I placed my arms around his neck and we kind of slow danced. No one seemed to notice that once again we were in our own little world. We stared into each others eyes without saying anything.
"I like your friends" I started.
"You already knew you'd like my friends, you know who all of them are"
"Yes, but they could have been completely horrible in real life"
"Would I have been friends with them if they were completely horrible?"
"No, that's true. You don't seem to hang out with completely horrible people"
"Anyone else you particularly enjoyed meeting besides Louise?" Dan seemed very interested in this question. I guessed maybe to see if I liked the same people as him.
"Well I've always had a bit of a crush on Jack Howard" I teased, it wasn't completely not true.
"That's it" Dan's grip around my waist tightened "You are staying away from Jack from now on" he tickled me lightly and for once it worked.
I laughed, a little too loudly and felt slightly embarrassed "Stop" I pleaded.
Dan obeyed "I didn't think it would actually work"
"Maybe I'm getting more sensitive to your touch" I commented still chuckling.
He made a mock horrified face at me "Other people can hear you Sarah, don't talk about that in public"
"Oh shut up, I so didn't mean it like that" I punched him lightly in the rib cage "And don't you start with that jealousy thing again, we both know how that ends" I thought back to the first week or so of our relationship. Dan was very self conscious and had gotten very jealous of a waiter who was dropping me hints. In the end I had confronted him about it and made him realize that I was with him for a reason. That was some good sex.
"Exactly, I wouldn't mind reliving that" Dan looked me up and down and winked letting me know he was remembering the exact same thing I was.
"Sarah, there you are" Ally's voice came from behind me. I let go of Dan and turned around. "Come on, we're all over here" she beckoned for us to follow her. We wound our way through the crowd of people and Dan held my hand.
The others were all dancing when we reached where they were standing, in a small circle somewhere in the middle of the crowd. Carrie and Alex were just loosing themselves in the music and Phil was jumping up and down together with Jack.
Jack waved at us when we reached them "Hey guys" he greeted. I felt Dan squeeze my hand and I smiled, laughing to myself.
We joined in the dancing; even Dan didn't seem that awkward. After a while desert was announced and we all went back to our tables. The desert was delicious, some sort of chocolate cake with raspberry saws. The music started up again after we had finished eating, but a little lower this time, so people who didn't want to dance could actually hear each other. On the one wall there was now an open bar.
Us three girls, Ally, Carrie and me, headed for the dance floor again, but we didn't stay for long. We were getting tired so we went to the bar to get some drinks before going back to our table. The boys were sitting and talking and we joined in the conversation.
Before we knew it it was announced that there were only five minutes left till midnight. A buzz started filling the room and people gathered together at the windows, eagerly awaiting the spectacle to come. With one minute remaining Champaign was handed out in tall glasses.
Together everyone counted down the last ten seconds remaining till midnight. When we reached zero the whole room erupted with cheers and people wishing each other a happy new year. I was standing right next to the window and gazed up into the sky as it filled with flashing lights from the fireworks going off. Looking around I saw people hugging and kissing everywhere. Ally hugged me from behind shouting "happy new year" trying to be heard over the rest of the noise. I shouted the wish back at her and then she turned to Phil and had her new years kiss.
In all the excitement leading up to the bog count down I had lost track of Dan. He wasn't the pushiest of people. I was looking around for him when someone grabbed my hand and spun me around. Then I felt Dan's lips crash into mine. He gathered me in his arms and lifted me off the ground so he didn't have to bend down. My toes barely touched the floor and I clung on to his neck with all my strength. It was a glorious kiss, slow and passionate. When Dan finally put me down I didn't want it to end.
"Happy new year" Dan panted, a little out of breath.
"Happy new year"
