Chapter Text
Three Fridays had passed since the last time Dan had shared the same corridor with the mysterious listener of his show. Three Fridays was long enough for him to no longer pretend it was just a coincidence. At first he thought maybe he had arrived at the studio building too late that day. After the second he considered the possibility that he might simply be on holiday. By the third he had become hyper-aware of the fact that he was hinging his entire mood for that evening’s show on whether or not he would spend five minutes awkwardly interacting with a stranger first. He almost began to feel embarrassed at how he had allowed himself to build so much emotion around a man, whose name he didn’t even know.
He sighed as he leaned his head back against the window of the tube carriage. The motion of the train buzzed through his skull just enough to dampen his thoughts to a more manageable hum. He told himself, for what felt like the hundredth time, that nothing had actually happened. No promises had been made. He had simply mistaken familiarity and routine for meaning. His own loneliness had tricked him into assigning a heavier weight to their brief connection. Get a grip Dan. He’d lost count of the number of times he had told his listeners not to overthink things like this. Yet, here he was falling victim to the same fate. He cringed to himself as he made his way up the escalator to the London streets above.
By the time Dan reached the entrance all thoughts of curious glances and tousled blonde hair had been carefully packed away. He scanned his access card and powered through the corridor towards the lifts without any urges to linger, just in case. After collecting a coffee from the on-site cafe, Dan made his way along the hall towards his assigned room. Something wasn’t right. The door to the studio was always left open when not in use. Right now it was closed. The ‘on-air’ sign above the door wasn’t lit, however. He double-checked the time on his phone. It was earlier than he usually managed to arrive, but the room should be empty by now. He peeked through the glass in the door. The studio lights were dimmed, but he could see the shape of someone sitting in the presenter chair. As he watched them spin the seat gently side-to-side, Dan suddenly realised it was him. The stranger. Without thinking his hand flew to the door handle, but he caught himself as his fingers met the cool metal.
For a moment Dan did nothing, his mind completely blank. He felt torn between his desire to confront the man and the quieter urge to just leave things as they were. He’d finally managed to get this guy out of his head, and now here he was in Dan’s space. His stomach leapt with a mixture of hope and anxiety. But it was pulled down by that feeling of embarrassment again. He let his hand drop from the door handle. Something else began gnawing away at the back of Dan’s brain. Why is he here now? Has he been in there before? The idea felt unsettling.
Curiosity got the better of him as he knocked softly. Dan held his breath before the door opened.
“Hi,” the stranger gave a small smile.
There was no discernible hint of surprise in his voice. It was as if he had been expecting Dan to arrive at any moment. Dan wasn’t quite sure what that meant, but he felt his shoulders relax as he exhaled. He had forgotten just how blue those eyes were.
“Hi. Sorry, I… this is my studio,” Dan felt himself wince internally as he stumbled over his words.
“Oh yeah, I was just keeping it warm for you.” The man smiled, bigger this time, and Dan couldn’t help but notice how his tongue poked through his teeth. His heart felt as though it was flipping over in his chest at the sight.
“We really ought to stop meeting in doorways all of the time, it’s probably bad luck or something,” the man said, as he stepped back into the room to make space for Dan to join him.
As Dan entered the studio he couldn’t help but feel the tension in the air. He knew this room well, many late night hours had been spent here. But a stranger being in this space had transformed it into something wholly unfamiliar. Dan needed answers. He needed to know that this wasn’t just coincidence.
“So, what were you doing before I interrupted you?” Dan asked. He watched as the man settled back in the chair again.
“I thought I left some papers here somewhere…” The man had begun slowly spinning side-to-side again, “And I was curious to see what kind of set-up you have for your show.”
“Oh.” Dan was surprised at how casually he had acknowledged being a listener of his show, again. “To be honest, I mostly leave that stuff to my producer. I don’t really know how a lot of the technical stuff works.”
The man had paused the movement of the chair to meet Dan’s gaze. His expression was hard to read. When he spoke again, Dan could tell he was choosing his words carefully.
“I could teach you. If you wanted me to, that is.”
“You’re a producer.” Dan hadn’t meant it to come out as a statement, but the information had caused some of the mystery and intrigue surrounding this person to clear up inside his head.
“Hmm… in a way, you could say that.”
The man had dropped his eyes from Dan’s. He pulled open one of the desk drawers and began gently digging through it. Dan couldn’t help but feel like there was something else behind that response. He also couldn’t help but to follow the shape of that face with his eyes. He leaned back against the wall musing over the bump in that nose. The perfectly defined cupid’s bow of his lips…
He was broken from his trance as the man pushed the drawer closed and raised himself from the chair.
“I don’t think they’re here, I should let you get set-up for your show.” There was that smile again.
“Shit, the show!” Dan exclaimed. He had let the time completely slide out of his mind. He began to move towards the chair, before stopping himself. The man was standing in front of him, now mere inches away. That same aroma of amber swirled around Dan’s thoughts.
“Oops, I didn’t mean to keep you from your loyal fanbase.” Dan detected just a flicker of that mischievous grin, as the man stepped sideways out of the narrow space between him and the chair.
“Can’t have them thinking I’ve actually got a life,” Dan replied, chuckling at his own self-depracation.
“Exactly,” the man’s eyes softened as he gazed at Dan, “it’s not like there’s anyone else you’d rather spend your Friday evenings with, right?”
Dan paused for a few moments as he considered the implication of that, but before he could scramble together a response the man let himself out of the studio, closing the door gently behind him.
Dan stood there blankly before sinking down into the chair in exasperation. The seat felt warm through his jeans. He scolded his mind before it could even entertain any thoughts about that fact. He spun himself around until he began to feel dizziness creep in, savouring the sensation of making his body feel the way his brain had for the last five minutes. What the fuck was that? How had he managed to go from completely clearing his mind of all traces of this guy to pondering how those lips would feel against his in such a short amount of time? His daydream was interrupted by his producer opening the door suddenly, bringing with them warnings of lateness and runtime limits.
After an hour or so, Dan had settled into the usual groove of his show. For now he had banished all thoughts of cute blonde men spinning in his chair to the back of his mind. Thankfully none of his callers were seeking advice about unrequited crushes this weekend. He was grateful, he needed all the help he could get for avoiding letting slip any personal anecdotes on that topic. As he worked his way through the listener requests on Facebook, another comment from the station’s official account popped up. He’d be lying if he said he hadn’t hoped one would have appeared. Deep within the web of connection he was mentally building between himself and the stranger was the previous song request. He had found himself listening to it on more than one occasion over the past few weeks whenever he wanted to recapture the way he had felt in that corridor. Logically he knew that it was just a coincidence, but this time he didn’t avoid queueing up the request. His voice felt warm and relaxed in his mouth as he introduced the track.
The xx - I Dare You.