Priceless
Chapter 1
It was a brisk night in Baltimore, but at least it wasn't raining. Damien Crowley silently thanked God that wasn't the case, as he had no umbrella. He was wearing his leather jacket, a white shirt, blue jeans, and black boots. He leaned against a lamp post and sighed, taking the toothpick out of his mouth as he ran his other hand through his black hair. "Friggin' A," he said to himself in his New Jersey accent he'd picked up from his years in Trenton. That was when he saw it.
A lone figure was sitting on the front steps of the nearby burger joint, and Damien swore that he heard crying. The figure was definitely female.
"Ah, Damn it," he muttered, walking over to her. He was a hard young man, from a hard place, but that was his weakness… girls crying.
"Hey," he said gently as he got closer. "Why you cryin'?"
She looked up. Damien, frankly, liked what he saw, except of course for the pain on her face and the tear tracks. She had blonde pigtails and grey eyes, and somewhat pale skin. "My heart hurts," she said thickly, "my soul hurts, I'm in so much pain… my life is over… and I want to die."
Damien sat next to her and made himself comfortable. "If I can ask, of course," he said softly, "why would a pretty girl like you wanna kill herself?"
She sniffled. "My life," she said thickly, "is over. My own mother hates me because of the guy I was seeing, who by the way broke up with me, saying this was his fault."
Damien shook his head. "He shouldn't have done that," he commented.
She hung her head, sighing shakily.
"I can't just leave you like this," Damien said gently. "Come here."
She fell into his arms, crying hysterically as he held her close, rocking her gently for about two hours… or at least what felt like two hours.
"I can't live like this, I can't!" she sobbed.
"Shhhhh, hey," Damien said tenderly. "Don't… don't cry."
"Don't leave me," she whimpered.
"No one's leavin' you, sweetheart," he whispered. "Not me."
"How can I even take this?!"
Damien smiled, an idea forming in his head. "You… you got friends, right?"
"Just… just one."
"And… he's nice right?"
"Oh he's a she," said the girl, starting to cheer up, "and she's the nicest!"
Damien smiled a bit wider. "Nice enough to, I don't know… convince her mom to maybe… put a roof over your head for a while?"
The girl gasped. "Maybe," she realized.
"There's the lightbulb," said Damien, holding up a finger. "Feelin' a bit better?"
"I've got some hope," she admitted.
"Better to have some hope than a downward spiral of despair," said Damien gamely. "You… you at least have your stuff?"
The girl nodded.
"Call this friend of yours and see if she's up for at least keepin' ya for the night," he suggested. "I ain't got much on me; wasn't plannin' to spend much… but I can spare a nickel." He handed the girl the nickel and smiled.
"Thanks," she said. "I'll be right back."
When she returned, Damien noticed she was grinning. "Well?" he said.
"Her mom's coming! She'll be here in, I think she said ten minutes."
"Great!" said Damien. "Try to have fun, yeah?"
She giggled, the sound far more melodious to Damien's ears than crying. "I'll try," she said.
"I'm in this area often," Damien said, "preferably when the place is open. I was just here at this hour 'cause I needed to get a walk in before goin' to sleep. My house is close by. I bring this up 'cause, well… I'd like to see you again. Hopefully when you're happier."
The girl smiled, nodding. "Yeah," she said. "What if I just… oh… happen by here tomorrow? Gee whiz, looks like I'm lost."
"Whoops," said Damien, smiling, "I just happened to see you outside the place and accidentally offered to buy you lunch. Ah… I'm Damien, by the way… Damien Crowley."
The girl smiled gently. "Penny Pingleton," she said softly.
A short time later, the car arrived. "Thank you," she said softly, squeezing Damien's hands. "So much."