Get Out Your Damn Umbrellas

Walking through Euston Station alone was an unsettling experience. Even more so when Dan was reminded of being here with Phil six months ago, as well as how much the circumstances of his life had changed since then. Similarly to last time, he moved cautiously through the crowd wanting to avoid detection at all costs, though now it was for a different reason.

After buying a ticket at the machines, Dan went to Boots Pharmacy and got a carton of chocolate milk to keep his meds from fucking up his stomach. He considered getting a hat and a pair of sunglasses, but it was unlikely that those would help much to conceal his identity. It felt awkward and impolite staring down at the counter while his purchase was being rung up. Still, he was too scared to make eye contact with the cashier and see whether or not they recognized him.

The train ride from London to Reading was supposed to take a little over an hour. However, Dan wasn't in much of a rush to get there. Instead, he put off reaching his destination for most of the day by roaming through the surrounding cities and countryside, only venturing briefly into a few stations to buy another ticket.

It was fortunate that he spent a majority of the time on the train looking out the window and listening to music on his phone. Otherwise he would have noticed people in his surroundings muttering his name under their breath or aiming their camera phones at him to snap a picture. He did vaguely get the sense that he was being watched, but he tried to ignore the feeling and write it off as his anxiety getting the better of him. Then he got a text from Louise that confirmed his fears.

Where are you? I thought you'd be at your parents' house by now.

I'm still headed there. Dan texted back. Just taking the long way.

Sorry, I was just worried because apparently a few dumb cunts on twitter have been posting pictures of you that are geotagged in 5 different cities. Right now a bunch of people are trying to figure out where you're going and why Phil isn't with you, but the rest are all up in arms telling them to stop and that they need to learn a thing or two about basic decency and respecting boundaries.

Dan cringed and breathed a shaky sigh. Don't worry about it. Hopefully that might at least throw them off the trail in case one of them is trying to track me down.

The conversation bubble was frozen in an ellipsis for a few minutes before Louise responded again. Can you do me a favor? When you get to your parents' house, could you please turn on your location on the Find My Friends app on your phone, so that way I won't have to call you 20 times a day to make sure that you haven't been kidnapped?

Alright, I will. Dan's thumbs hovered for a moment over the touchscreen keyboard. How's Phil doing?

He had a panic attack this morning as soon as he woke up and realized that you were gone. Martyn stopped by around lunch time, though, and since then he's been doing a little better.

Please just tell him that I love him.

The sun was beginning to set by the time Dan reached Reading Station. Of course, it took another fifteen minutes by bus to get to the stop near the street his parents lived on. With his bag over his shoulder, Dan moved as fast as his feet could carry him the moment he stepped off the bus, not only because he felt physically ill at the mere thought of running into someone he knew from this town, but also because he really didn't want to still be outside by the time it got dark.

Before long he was walking right up to the front steps of his parents' house. Even as his physical inertia slowed to a stop, his heart seemed to quicken its pace.

This was not a place Dan particularly enjoyed existing in even at the best of times, and it certainly wasn't the place he felt like running to when the world was collapsing around him. These front steps were basically the event horizon for the black hole that lived in his head. Despite no longer living here, even a short visit always felt like being sucked back into the past.