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"Have a good day and come back soon!" the cashier exclaimed with way too much glee at this time in the morning. Dan suppressed a yawn and nodded, then grabbed the plastic bag and made his way out of the store. A look on his phone discovered that it was only five past eight. Why did he have to forget his parents' visit anyway? They had told him that they'd come over for brunch for weeks now and he had still forgotten to buy the necessary groceries until today. Now he just had to get back to his flat and prepare a meal that was so good that his parents would forget about the university situation they actually wanted to talk to him about.
There was nothing he less wanted to talk about. Wasn't it his choice if he wanted to take a gap year? After all Dan did still have that part-time job at the cinema and together with his savings that could be enough to pay rent. But no, his parents wanted to have a discussion to make sure that 'it is a well thought out decision' and that he was 'aware of all the changes that would be happening' if he actually decided to go through with it. If you asked Dan, they just wanted to convice him to continue the mind-numbing boringnesss that was getting a degree in law.
Lost in his thoughts, Dan didn't notice the dog walking in front of him before it was too late and in an attempt to not hurt the adorably tiny animal, he performed a dive that his secondary school PE teacher would have been proud of. What he hadn't considered however, was that he was wearing the probably least appropriate attire for physical activity: skinny jeans. After checking in a reflective shop window next to him, Dan realized that he had, in fact, ripped open the backside of his pants. Of course he was wearing his whitest pair of underpants, contrasting brilliantly with the black of his jeans.
Dan had no idea what to do. The walk to his flat would take at least ten minutes and there was just no way he could cover his butt with the plastic bag of food without looking crazy. He didn't have a sweater or jacket either, since it was bloody boiling and who in the world carried a sweater around in this weather?
The man walking the dog he almost killed did. He was the first person Dan saw when he looked up to find a rescuer. Of course, there also was a clothes shop right around the corner but in the exact moment Dan started to walk towards it, Dog Man - not that he was a mix between dog and man, but since he didn't know his actual name, Dan decided to stick with that - turned his head and Dan forgot how to breathe. Dog Man's skin was porcelain-like, his lips rosy and his hair black like the night sky. And maybe it was a completely stupid idea but before he could help himself, Dan had already walked up to him and tapped him on the shoulders.
Dog Man was slightly startled but then turned around and holy cow, his eyes were bright blue and without doubt the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen. After a few seconds of silence, Dan realized that now he had to say something and settled with a hopefully steady: "Hi." Dog Man looked only slightly amused before he answered.
"Hi, can I help you?"
"Oh, uh yeah, you see-" Oh crap. Why had Dan not thought of this? How in the world was he supposed to say I ripped my pants in an attempt to not accidently kill your dog but now everyone can see my underpants and it's really embarrassing and I don't have anything to cover it but you have a sweater and I would like to ask if I can borrow it so as to not let this day be added to the Incredible Series of Embarrassing Moments I Had to Endure without sounding completely insane? But Dog Man still waited for an answer so Dan had to give him one.
"Okay, so, I just tripped and I kind of sort of ripped my pants-" he started to stutter and blush, when Dog Man suddenly snorted but willed himself to continue.
"So I wanted to ask if I can kindly borrow your sweater?" Dog Man raised his eyebrows but didn't answer.
"To tie it around my waist so it covers the rip?" Dog Man frowned.
"Because I have to walk for another ten minutes?" Dog Man looked pretty grumpy by now.
"And people would be staring?" The only way Dog Man could be looking less amused was if he was Queen Victoria.
"I'm really sorry to bother you, I'm just gonna go-" Dan said as he felt a blush creeping up his neck but Dog Man interrupted him.
"No, it's alright, I was just messing with you. You're cute when you blush." Dog Man said while grinning and poking the tip of his tongue between his teeth in a way that made Dan blush even harder. Then Dog Man proceeded to take off his sweater and give it to Dan, who quickly tied it around his waist while thanking Dog Man continuously.
"The name's Phil by the way." Dog Man - Phil - said, holding out his hand.
"Dan" Dan answered and shook the other's hand.
They had almost made it to Dan's flat when Phil looked at him and grinned.
"We've been walking for almost ten minutes and I haven't noticed that shirt?" Dan smiled in response.
"You like Muse then?"
"Like? I love them! Been my favourite band since I was old enough to appreciate good music." Phil chuckled and they continued talking like they had known each other for years. By the time they arrived at Dan's flat, they had somehow managed to briefly cover the themes of music, video games, TV shows and were just starting to talk about anime.
"This is my stop." Dan joked, immediately cringing internally at the bad joke, but Phil laughed anyway. "Thanks. For giving me the sweater and stuff."
"No problem." Phil said while Dan untied his sweater and gave it to him. They awkwardly shook hands and Dan just stood and stared at Phil's back while the other man was walking away, getting smaller and smaller.
Just when he had reached the end of the street, he turned - making Dan blush because he had been caught staring - and shouted: "Give me a call sometime!" before waving and turning around again. Dan was just about to wonder how he was supposed to do that when he noticed a small white slip of paper that Phil must have dropped.
020 7946 0723 - Phil xx