Chapter Text
It was summer. A hot and sticky time, it always was.
Dan had mixed feelings about summer. He had mixed feelings about almost everything.
Pros of summer:
• No school – yippee! No homework or stress or bullies. No awkwardly pacing the halls in between classes, trying to seem busy and wondering if his school “friends” would want to be with him.
• Sleeping in late
• Warm weather – no need to wear fifteen layers in July!
• He always got a tan in the summer, which he thought looked nice.
Cons of summer:
• No school - at school he would at least socialize a little, during breaks the most Socialization he got was with the shop clerk. All the adult figures in his life though this to be quite bad.
• Suncream and sunburns
• Warm weather – the humidity made his hair curly and poofy, which he despised.
• Boredom – soooo boredddddd
• His parents pestering him about doing things and “socialize”. When the rest of his family was home, he was not allowed to spend his days being lazy, alone, and doing nothing.
Currently Dan was laying on his back in the garden looking up at the lazy clouds drifting across the sky. Music blaring through his headphones. It was a sleepy and peaceful day.
The peace was abruptly disturbed by his father turning on the lawnmower. Gosh that man loved that lawnmower more than his own wife and kids dan thought to himself and got up from the grass.
Dan went inside where his brother was running around. His mum was in the living room, watching TV. She greeted him with a smile and spoke.
“Hi Dan, would you mind going into town to buy some stuff. I don’t feel to great, probably a migraine coming on.”
“Sure, I can do that.” Dan replied. Fuck. Town. People. People from school perhaps?
“Great! I’ll write a list for you.” his mother chimed happily from the couch.
Dan was stood smack dab in the middle of the town square with the shopping list clutched in his palm.
“okay, it’s just some shops.” He muttered to himself under his breath. “It will be fine. Nobody I know will be here, I won’t accidentally steal something and go to jail. It will be fine.”
First on the list was just normal groceries. Milk, bread, apples, and the like.
The next was a bit more difficult, his mother needed shampoo and some special suncream-makeup situation. He awkwardly asked the person behind the counter, and it went well.
Lastly was the library. Dan’s mother was on a mission to get his brother to read. Some years ago, he was subjected to the same scheme. Luckily for Dan he quite enjoyed reading and libraries.
The cool of the airconditioned building hit Dan in the face as he entered the building. Libraries are kind of nice, he supposed. Quiet and calm. No one mean from school would ever willingly set foot in a library either, which worked as a nice bonus.
Behind a computer at the information desk sat a pale boy with a raven fringe. He didn’t look much older than high school age, but Dan had never seen him before.
Dan walked to the children’s books. He was totally lost. What would his brother even like?
Unsure he decided to look for something he would enjoy. Thriller, crime, and fantasy. Those were his favourite genres. He picked out some books that seemed interesting and went back to the daunting task of picking something for his brother.
In all honesty, Dan was not super close to his brother, and the realization that he didn’t really know him hit him here, in the children section of the library.
His brother’s name was James; he was eight years old. This kind of info he knew, but he didn’t know what he liked, what he was passionate about, who he was friends with. The things that truly mattered.
Defeated and feeling a bit like a deflated ballon-man, Dan went to the information desk for some clarity and help.
“Hello, could I get help with something please?” Dan asked the raven-haired boy. The boy looked up. His eyes were a piercing shade of blue, like sapphires and the sea during a storm. The rest of his face was not bad looking in the slightest either.
“Yes, of course. That is my job.” The boy responded with a perfect customer service smile.
“It-it’s a bit strange I suppose but, I need to find books for my little brother.” Dan responded awkwardly, rubbing his neck with his hand.
“Not that strange, but sure!” the boy stood up. He was wearing a short sleeve greed button up shirt and grey skinny jeans with holes on the knees. “What does he like? Dinosaurs? Space? Hockey-”
“That is kind of the problem.” Dan interrupted. “I don’t know. . .”
“Oof, yeah that makes it a bit more difficult. . . but do not worry, I am a professional in this field.” The boy responded with a chuckle and gave Dan a pat on the back.
They went to the children’s section and the library boy immediately got to work picking out books. Some old some new. Some long some short.
He got this spark in his eyes when he was looking around for them. He really seemed to be in his element looking around for children’s books, which Dan found to be charming, but a bit strange as well.
After some time, he came to Dan with a big grin plastered across his face and his eyes met dans with an intense and happy stare.
and said “Here, this should be a nice selection. I tried to go for variety, haven’t read all of them but they seem all right.”
“How? What? Why do you know so much about children’s books?” Dan asked with a smile. The boy’s joy was infectious, and Dan couldn’t remember the last time he just wanted to smile like this.
“Oh yeah, I want to be a proper librarian, always loved recommending books to people I suppose.” He said a bit flustered and broke the eye contact.
“Well, lets get these checked out and see if any of these will resonate with my brother.” Dan said quickly.
Dan checked out the books for his brother, as well as the ones for himself.
Libraries are really quite nice Dan thought to himself with a small smile as he walked out.
Maybe he should return soon.