Chapter 203: Home Is Where You Are
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His expression shifted, something in it starting to crack open. I pulled back just enough to meet his gaze, wanting him to see the truth in my eyes.
"I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you, Damien."
For several seconds, he just looked at me, and I let him, standing still under the weight of his gaze instead of filling the silence like I usually did.
Then it seemed like some invisible tension broke.
"I trust you."
"Good."
"More than anyone." He said.
My heart did this ridiculously dramatic flutter that felt like it belonged in a bad romantic movie.
His face relaxed a bit at my explanation, the last remnants of his cold control melting into something softer.
I cradled his face gently, my thumbs brushing his jaw, and then I noticed a faint mark, barely visible under the apartment lights, it looked like a bruise from a hard impact.
A mix of worry and anger shot through me.
Worry for the thought of him getting to some kind of accident while he was away, and anger at the thought of someone purposely trying to hurt him.
His sister? His parents? Some random cousin or maybe just someone that knew him?
Why the fuck would anyone even want hurt someone as precious as Damien?!
Sure he could be a pain in the ass sometimes, but no one was allowed to hurt him no matter what he did.
But I kept my touch light and figured we could talk about whatever happened with his family later, when he was less upset.
For now, I just held him steady and let the quiet stretch out between us.
Damien tried to lighten the mood like he often did when things got too heavy.
"So does this mean you’ll finally stop hitting me with pillows whenever I annoy you?"
I rose an eyebrow in confusion, what would he even ask that?
"Not a chance, as long as you keep being a pain in my ass." I replied.
He chuckled, a warm low sound that settled somewhere under my ribs.
The laughter faded as I grew serious, all the previous fear, longing, and relief blending into one clear feeling. I leaned in and kissed him softly at first, lingering, then pulled back just enough to whisper against his lips.
"I really don’t care much for Jeremy. He’s just a friend... a strange one at that. The person I like is you." I whispered.
For some reason, saying that I liked him had become easier the more I said it out loud.
He chuckled quietly, the sound low and slightly rusty, like it hadn’t been used since he walked in with bloody murder in his eyes.
The laugh was so genuine that I couldn’t help but smile.
"There," I said. "That’s better."
"What is?"
"You laughing instead of looking like you want to kill someone."
"I wasn’t going to kill anyone."
"Sure." I drawled, sarcastically.
"I wasn’t."
"Your face said otherwise."
He rolled his eyes, and I chose to take that as a win.
Then he smirked and pulled me into another hug, tighter this time, like he was trying to make up for two days of emptiness with a single embrace.
I smiled against his shoulder.
For a little while when we broke apart from the hug, neither of us spoke.
Damien stared into my eyes for what felt like forever, the silence stretching until a slow, honest smile spread across his face.
Then he kissed me deeply, one hand tangling in my hair, the other at the small of my back, pulling me close.
The kiss started slow, almost cautious, before turning into something more urgent and relieved, our mouths moving together, tongues sliding, the warmth between us growing as we pressed tighter.
I could feel the slight tremor in his hands as he held the back of my neck, the last visible crack of everything he’d carried through the weekend.
Each time we paused for air, he pressed our foreheads together, grounding himself in the simple fact of being connected.
"I missed you so much," he murmured against my lips before kissing me harder, his words soft yet rough all at once.
We got lost in each other, barely pulling away as we made our way through the dorm toward the bedroom, stumbling against furniture and giggling quietly whenever one of us almost tripped.
As we kissed, thoughts washed over me...how much I’d missed him, how just a couple of days apart felt like losing my mind in the empty apartment, and how right this felt, especially after the earlier jealousy and the weight of the things he still hadn’t fully said.
The dorm started to feel warm again for the first time since he left, the familiar spaces coming back to life now that he was back.
At some point, I realized the earlier roughness had been less about anger and more about Damien needing to feel me, to know I was still here and still his after everything.
That realization made me kiss him deeper as we finally crashed onto the bed together, still entwined, still kissing, and the earlier tension melted into pure need and reconnection.
Damien’s hand moved into my hair, his fingers curling gently through it as he kissed me back like he’d been waiting all weekend just to do so.
The kiss deepened gradually, all the anger from earlier melting into something warmer and steadier. His other hand settled on my waist, pulling me closer until there was hardly any space left, until I could feel the last of the tension finally leave him completely.
I breathed against his mouth. "I missed you too."
He smiled, that rare, unguarded grin he only seemed to show me. I kissed him again before he could say anything else.
His arms tightened around me as we slowly moved further into the room, neither of us particularly caring about the furniture or how I nearly tripped over the rug.
Maybe the weekend was just two days.
But lying there in Damien’s arms, I couldn’t help but feel like it had stretched into two months.
A weekend had never felt so long before.
I barely survived that shit.