The Silence (Part 1)

Words: 3223

Summary: (inspired by an episode of DW) As soon as someone looks away from Dan they forget he exists. Dan gets a text from a random stranger - Phil, and they start talking. They agree to meet but Dan is sad because Phil will forget him the moment his eyes leave his face.

Dan glared at the barista as he asked him for the 3rd time what he'd like. Dan wrote it down and passed it to her, all too aware of the angry customers behind him. It wasn't easy being forgotten as soon as someone looked away from you. It's like you're invisible.

As soon as the barista's eyes left Dan's face and to the note, she looked confused as to how it got there. Luckily enough Dan wrote down the whole order, the table number and the money along with it. That way the drink would be paid for even if she didn't know who ordered it.

Dan took a seat at the booth he had written down and glared out the window. The only people who remembered he existed was his parents. They were the only ones who knew about his 'condition' and even then they didn't stay in touch often.

Dan was completely alone.

A different barista showed up with his drink and set it down on the table, no questions asked. Dan sighed in relief and took the steaming cup, taking a grateful sip. He didn't even have a job, his parents had been supporting him ever since he left home at 19 ... lets just say, school was interesting.

Dan closed his eyes and rested his forehead on the window. Why was he so alone? Suddenly his phone buzzed, making Dan jump in surprise. He frowned down at the phone, it could only be his parents. Dan rolled his eyes and unlocked it, frowning when he opened messages and saw an unknown number.

Out of curiosity, he opened it and raised his eyebrows at what was written: "YO PJ, so are we on for Big Hero 6?"

Dan stared at the screen in confusion. "This isn't PJ, I think you have the wrong number." He typed back. Not only two minutes later a reply came.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. :D I hope I didn't interrupt anything!"

Dan smiled, this person was polite. "No problem, I'm never busy." Dan replied, not caring how vague it sounded.

"I know the feeling, I don't like people very much. I think I'm one of the most socially awkward people on the planet." The stranger said.

Dan actually laughed out loud, "Yeah right. You haven't met me ..." he replied then felt his heart sink. No one even remembered he existed. School was lonely.

"Oh yeah? On a scale of one to ten how antisocial are you because I'd say I'm a good 9." Came the reply.

"I'm 11."

"Oh wow, ok fine. I admit defeat, I surrender - you may take me to your prison where I'll waste away my days on bread and water and thinking about what could have been ..." Dan chuckled out loud at the strangers reply.

"You're weird :)" Dan replied with.

"I hope so, normalness leads to sadness." The stranger replied which made Dan chuckle again and take a sip of his drink.

"Deep."

"IKR?"

"How did you get this number anyway?" Dan asked curiously.

"My friend - PJ, got a new phone and I guess he gave me the wrong number :)"

"That sucks, Big Hero 6 is pretty good btw."

"Don't you dare spoil it for me! >:("

"I'm not that mean :P" Dan felt this warm feeling. Being noticed and having normal human interaction felt good.

"I didn't think you were mean. :)" They replied.

"What's your name? :)" Dan asked, happy to be having a normal conversation.

"I'm Phil, nice to meet you. What's your name? :)"

"Dan :)"

"You don't seem socially awkward - but then I suppose you're hidden behind your phone screen ;)" Dan's heart beat loudly when he saw the winky face emoticon.

"You have no idea ... anyway, what sort of things are you into?"

"Well I like anime, food and the internet. I spend pretty much all my time on the internet. :)"

"I'm practically a full-time internet hobo. My best friends are the memes posted on social media sites XD"

"Oh wow, that's pretty sad! JK :P I think grumpy cat and I have a thing going on ;)" Dan laughed aloud, earning some weird glances from the surrounding people. Not that he cared - they'd forget it ever happened.

"Good luck mate, his walls are pretty hard to break down :)"

"Haha, I'll keep that in mind! ^u^ ... so what music are you into?"

"Well my favourite band is Muse but I love Kanye, Fall Out Boy, Panic! At the disco and some others." Dan typed out quickly.

"No way ... I love ALL of them. We have a scary amount in common :D"

"We certainly do :)"

Dan continued to chat with Phil the whole time he stayed in the coffee shop. When he checked his watch however, he knew the time was getting on and he needed to get out before the staff forgot he was sitting there and locked him in - it legit happened once.

"Um, Phil. It's getting late and I need to go. It was really cool talking to you :)" Dan felt sad at the thought of leaving Phil after having a genuine conversation with a human being in over 23 years (excluding his parents).

"Oh :( Well I hope we can chat again. You sound really cool and I would love to chat more ... as long as you promise that you're not a serial killer ;)"

"I promise I won't chop you up into tiny bits and feed them to my pet shark ... probably :)"

"Haha, ok. Talk later then Dan x" Dan's heart beat sped up again. What was with the 'x'? Something about Phil made Dan's heart flutter. Maybe it was because he had a proper conversation or maybe it was because they had so much in common.

"Talk later Phil x" Dan's eyes widened. 'WHY DID I PUT AN 'X' TOO?' Dan thought in alarm. He face palmed before shoving his phone in his pocket and power walking out the cafe and towards home.

~

Phil's heart felt fuzzy, there was something about Dan that made his heart race. He seemed like the perfect human being and even though he didn't know what Dan looked like or how old he was, Phil had fallen in love with his personality and it scared him that in only a few hours time he had managed to form a small crush on this stranger who he had accidentally texted.

The next day when he met up with PJ he explained what had happened. "So, you gave me the wrong number." Phil started off as they sat down in a booth, cradling their coffees.

"Oops, sorry." PJ chuckled and took a sip.

"Yeah, I ended up texting a complete stranger." Phil laughed and took his own sip.

"Oh god, were they nice?"

"Actually ..." Phil trailed off, wondering if he should tell PJ how he felt towards someone he didn't really know.

"Spit it out." PJ raised an eyebrow.

"Well we got talking ... and he was really nice. His name is Dan and-"

"Whoa hang on Phil, now don't go blindly trusting this person! You haven't agreed to meet him have you?" PJ asked in disbelief.

"What? No, no! I'm just saying we had a very long conversation and he seems like a nice guy. I mean, we have so much in common and-"

"Do you know what he looks like?"

"Well ... no."

"Do you know how old he is?" PJ asked, with a skeptical look on his face.

"No, but-"

"Well then, he's a serial killer." PJ stated. Phil chuckled and shook his head.

"He is not, he promised me he wasn't. Besides it's not like I'm going to meet up with him after a few hours of texting. I'm not stupid." Phil defended.

"A few hours? You sound like you're in love with him!" PJ chuckled. Phil blushed.

"I'm not in love with him! He's just nice." Phil said a little more quietly.

PJ's eyes widened, "Do you have a legitimate crush?" He smirked.

"N-no-"

"You so do. The blush you're sporting totally proves it!" PJ laughed, pinching Phil's cheek. Phil yelped and in the process of pulling away, he knocked his coffee over.

"Shhh-iles!" Phil exclaimed and jumped up as hot coffee spilled over his jeans.

PJ was laughing hard. "Even now you won't swear." He shook his head and smugly took a sip of his own coffee.

"Ugh PJ!" Phil complained and swiped off the small amount that had dripped onto his right jean leg. "I'm getting another coffee." Phil grumbled and huffed whilst standing in line. Soon enough the line shortened and it was only him and the man in front.

"What would you like sir?" the barista asked him. Phil couldn't see his face - not that he was paying attention.

"A caramel macciato." the man sighed. The barista nodded and looked to the cash register before looking at the man again.

"What would you like sir?" She asked again and Phil frowned, did she mean him or the man? However the man seemed to grumble before handing her a napkin with his written order. Phil frowned at the strange interaction. Phil watched as the waitress looked down at the napkin in confusion, along with the money for the man's drink. The man shook his head before turning round and walking to a booth.

"What would you like sir?" She asked in annoyance, clearly not having a good day.

"Oh um, vanilla frappe please." Phil rushed out.

"That'll be £3.15 please sir." She sighed and Phil dug the change out of his pockets before handing it over. Quickly, he rushed back to his own booth with PJ.

"So ... this mysterious texter. Have you spoken since yesterday?" PJ asked, interrupting Phil's train of thought.

"Um, no."

"Do you want to?"

"Well, yeah."

"Then do it now, if he likes you then I'm sure he'll be wondering why you havn't texted him back." PJ winked and Phil blushed once again.

"Fine, but stop taking the piss!" Phil warned and took his phone out, going to the contact which had recently been changed to 'Dan :)'

"Hey, how are you? :)" Phil texted.

"Simple." PJ nodded in approval.

~

Quickly, Dan whipped his phone out when it buzzed and grinned when he saw a text from Phil. Okay, so maybe he had been waiting for their next conversation. He kind of craved it. Acknowledgement made him feel happy and talking to Phil made him feel human.

"Hey, how are you? :)"

"I'm good thanks ^u^"

"That's good. So, what are you up to right now?"

"Waiting for the barista to remember what I ordered." Dan replied.

"Oh dear, must be a bad place XD" Phil teased.

"I think so. Everyone tends to forget about me anyway :("

"Oh Dan, if we ever met, I'd never forget you. You sound like an amazing person :)"

'Yeah right.' Dan mumbled in defeat and felt relief when a different barista finally came over with his order. She gave him a flirty wink and handed him the cup. Dan smiled politely and took it from her grip.

"If I had known you ordered I'd have put my number on the cup." She said flirtily and twirled a lock of hair.

"That's sweet, thank you." Dan replied, a little awkwardly.

"I get off work at 6, wanna meet then?" She asked, leaning against the seat and showing off her cleavage.

"Sure." Dan smiled charmingly. She beamed and turned to go before walking away. Dan shook his head - she wouldn't remember a single word of their conversation.

~

"I think so. Everyone tends to forget about me anyway :(" Phil showed the text to PJ who frowned.

"That's so sad." Phil sighed and quickly typed a reply.

"Oh Dan, if we ever met, I'd never forget you. You sound like an amazing person :)" there wasn't a reply for a while and Phil was feeling agitated about his answer. He wanted to know more about Dan and he wanted to help him and become friends. Somehow he had just a cast a spell over him. Finally though, Dan's reply came. "Thank you Phil :)"

"No problem :) By the way Dan, how old are you? I never got to find out."

"I'm 23, how old are you? :)"

"I'm 28, oh god I'm a dinosaur D:"

"Haha, no you're not :)"

"Phil, you've been grinning at your screen for five minutes, what are you two talking about?" PJ asked.

"Just playful banter." Phil smirked a little.

"Jesus just marry him already." PJ chuckled and Phil sent him a flat look.

"Do you want to see Big Hero 6 tomorrow then?" Phil asked, putting his phone down for a second.

"I'd love to, should I bring Chris?"

"Of course." Phil smiled before turning back to his phone.

~ One Month Later ~

Phil was completely head over heels for Dan. They had been talking for ages and everything about him seemed perfect, even though he still didn't have a face to the name Dan was perfect in his eyes. He had been working up the courage to see him in person and wanted it to be soon.

He swallowed the lump in his throat before getting his phone out and bringing up Dan's contact. "Hey Dan x"

"Hey Phil x" Came Dan's reply not only a minute later. Phil's heart fluttered at the use of 'x', it had just happened. One day they started to use it and it stuck and every time each of them sent it, a flutter would go through their hearts.

"So ... I want to ask you something ..."

~

Dan frowned. "Shoot :)"

"Well ... we've been talking to each other for over a month now and ... well I'd really like to meet you in person :) We just have so much in common and I'd like to talk to you face to face x"

Dan's heart thumped wildly in his chest. He groaned and hid his head in his hands. 'Of course he'd want to meet me at some point. How could I be so stupid?' Dan thought to himself. He wanted to see Phil - of course he did, but even if they met, as soon as Phil looked in different direction or his eyes came off Dan's face for a second - he'd forget.

"I'm not sure Phil ... you don't want to meet me. I'm not worth it :/" Dan tried to urge him.

"You so are! Please! I want to see your face, you're one of my closest friends believe it or not ... and I'd really like to meet you in person x" A small smile graced Dan's lips and he bit his lip. It felt nice to be called someone's best friend.

"... ok fine. Meet me at the park tomorrow at 1.30 x" Dan gave in. He knew this would be the last time they had interaction. It made Dan sad but he felt happy that he got to see Phil's face at least.

"Thank you!!! I can't wait to meet you ^u^ <3" Dan smiled.

"I can't wait either :)"

~

Phil sat nervously on a park bench, anxiously tapping his knee. He felt beyond nervous to meet Dan. He was terrified he'd not turn out to be everything he hoped for and was terrified at the thought of being cat fished. He'd be so disappointed if he turned out to be some creepy old man - not to mention terrified.

His fear continued to escalate as the seconds rolled by.

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Phil's phone buzzed and he gulped when he saw the text. "I'm here, where are you? :)"

Phil's palms were getting sweaty so he wiped them on his trousers and quickly typed in a reply. "By the fountain on a park bench. Just look for someone with black hair and blue eyes :)"

Phil kept looking at his screen in case Dan replied and tensed when he saw a shadow loom over him. "Phil?" A voice asked - a voice which sent a shiver down Phil's spine. He gulped, looked up and froze.

Dan was gorgeous. His eyes were a warm coffee brown and were so inviting. His skin was a peachy colour which looked like a faded bronze tan. His hair was a mocha colour which swept across his forehead to the left. It was a similar cut to Phil's which swept to the right. He had a tall but slim build with a little muscle on the arms. Little details like his handsome dimples and black studs made Phil weak at the knees. How could this person be so perfect? He felt himself fall completely.

"U-u-um, y-yeah. I'm Phil." He breathed. Dan smiled a little before sitting next to Phil, who couldn't take his eyes off Dan.

"It's nice to finally meet you." Dan smiled.

"And you." Phil chuckled, feeling nervous. Did Dan think he looked okay? Was his hair on point? Did his breath smell? He was suddenly very paranoid around the beautiful human being. However, what Dan said next crushed him a little.

"Look, Phil ... it's nice to meet you and everything and I think you're amazing but ... well after this we won't speak to each other ever again, okay?" Dan sighed, meeting Phil's eyes.

"What do you mean? Why don't you want to talk?" Phil asked with a little fear laced through his words. Dan shut his eyes and ran his fingers through his hair.

"It's complicated and you've done nothing wrong. It's all me okay? I tend to get left behind and Ijust don't think you should get involved with someone like me." Dan sighed, looking sadly at his shoes. Dan quickly reached out and grabbed Dan's hand making both of them blush.

"D-dan, I want to help you. I want to be friends, please tell me why." Phil pleaded. Dan held Phil's intense gaze for a moment before he closed his eyes, breaking it and shaking his head.

"I can't, it was lovely meeting you Phil Lester ... now forget I ever existed." Dan smiled sadly and jumped to his feet, quickly walking away.

"DAN WAIT!" Phil called.

"Phil ..." Dan said, turning around. "Look at the sky." He smiled sadly, as if knowingly.

"What, why?"

"Just do it." Dan spoke calmly before walking away. Phil frowned in confusion and looked up at the sky ...

He sat back down on the bench, frowning. He tapped his jean leg and bit his lip nervously. Twenty minutes went by and he couldn't stand it any longer. "Hey Dan, where are you? :)" But there was no reply ...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Silence - Part One. I hope you guys like it :D

Russian translation by : https://ficbook.net/readfic/5780418/14854419#part_content
AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13494810/chapters/30947316

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