Returning The Favor
When Dan gets home it’s way past bedtime. If he still had one, that is. He stumbles and when he falls he fights with a carpet he didn’t even remember buying in the first place. And suddenly he ends up in the couch, sighing happily when he hits the cushions.
He is almost falling asleep when he feels something wet in his hand. He opens his eyes and he’d had probably screamed if he was a girl, but instead he only stares at the dog - he also didn’t remember buying it - licking his hand like there was no tomorrow.
And since his eyes are now open, he takes a look around the place. He sees a flag that is neither from Denmark nor from England. He sees several flowers around the living room. Real flowers. And finally he looks at the goddam carpet.
“Where the fuck am I?” He asks the dog, who will not answer but continue to wet his hand. Dan pets him for a while, trying to remember what had happened that night.
Pepe wanted to celebrate something, and then Steven thought they should celebrate it too, and Jamie, Lucas, Dirk. Dan doesn’t remember why he went along, he just remembers a pair of eyes saying “Please?” and feeling unable to say no.
So they went to a nightclub where Dan drank a lot to forget those said eyes, he smoked a lot too and all the while Steve would complain about the smell of his cigarettes, what would make the feeling of smoking even better.
And Skrtel was there too, he remembers. He was right by his side, drinking and smoking as much as him, never competing but always following Dan.
In the end, Dan didn’t forget the eyes. He just blocked them whenever they appeared. And for that he shagged a girl or two and he remembers a bet where he had to kiss Skrtel. He remembers the laughs, the incentives for “More tongue!”, he remembers Steven saying something like “You all complained about me and Xabi and now this?!”, but he also remembers the pair of eyes after he let go of Skrtel to go throw up at the bathroom.
And while throwing up, Dan realized that was the first time he regretted doing something.
The last thing he remembers was feeling gentle hands pulling his hair back. And now here he was.
He was just getting up to find the owner of the house when Fernando appeared in just track pants. The Spaniard smiled softly with his eyes and motioned for him to go upstairs. That's when he realizes where he is.
“Come on. Let’s sleep.”
Dan got changed, cleaned himself up, and (finally) brushed his teeth. When he laid beside the Spaniard all that Dan could manage was a weak “Good night.”
They would wake up tangled again but this time Fernando would wake him up with a kiss on the cheek and a cheerful “I bought pancakes!” and Dan would have to stay for breakfast.