In Sickness and In Health

Chapter 2: Damien

A/N: Ha, the chapter title sucks. I couldn't think of a better one. If you can, tell me in a review XD
Well done to amzzz123 for guessing the code. My friend's couldn't, so I just told them :P
Hope you all enjoy this chapter!

Warnings: Mild swearing (I think – just in case there is XD)

Disclaimer: I don't own Pip or Damien, or the show South Park. Trey and Matt do (well, if I was gonna be a bitch about copyright, Damien belongs to the author/s of the Omen books and Pip belongs to Charles Dickens, so...). If I could own them, I would be rich, and famous, but I'm not.

=X=

-DAMIEN-

Well, that really didn't turn out how I'd hoped it would.

As soon as Pip had fainted, Butters and Tweek had pushed past me to check on him. I myself, jumped forward, though not as far or fast. Once we had determined that he was fine, and they had fussed over him for a minute, Butters stormed over and pointed downstairs, saying I had 'some things to explain'.

So I was sat there, trying not to look at the small cross I didn't know he had on his wall. I was fiddling with the charm attached to the leather pocket of my iPhone, the inverted cross and upside-down pentagram clinking together in the silence filling the room. I had to say, Butters didn't look as confident as he did upstairs, but he didn't seem confident when I first arrived.

A knock on the door made all three of us look up, and Tweek yelled in surprise.

"It's just us!" I heard the familiar voice of Kenny call through the letterbox, and Butters jumped up to open the door. We all walked out to greet Kenny and Craig, who I correctly assumed was the other person Kenny had been referring too. The small blondes who I'd been sat with for the last 5 minutes practically jumped on their boyfriends.

Kenny looked up at me over Butters shoulder as he received a small kiss.

"Don't you wish you had this?" he asked, wriggling his eyebrows. I narrowed my eyes.

"If your little boyfriend wasn't stood there, and I didn't know you'd get pissed at me if I accidently killed him, I'd have barbequed you for that." I threatened. Butters looked back, alarmed.

"You're rather flame-happy, aren't you?" Craig commented. I shrugged.

"Well let's get in then. I've never seen the inside of Pip's house before." Kenny grinned, wrapping an arm around Butters' shoulder and steering them both inside. When he caught sight of the cross, he snorted.

"Betcha like that huh?" he asked, gesturing. Stupidly, I actually looked up to see what he'd gestured at, and winced at the pain in my head. He burst out laughing when he saw that, and that time I actually shot a small flame at his head.

"Dickhead." I muttered, before seating myself on the couch again. He simply grinned, and patted out the strands of hair that had caught on fire.

"So how'd the happy reunion go?"

"Well, he recognised me."

"But...?"

"Then he fainted."

"Oh." Kenny laughed "That didn't turn out how you wanted it to then, huh?"

"No, not really." I scowled at Kenny as way of a warning. He grinned and made a surrendering gesture.

"What on Earth are you grinning about Kenny?"

Kenny tapped his nose and winked. Craig flipped him off, and announced he was leaving with Tweek. Tweek told Butters to tell Pip to get better soon, and left with his dark-haired boyfriend.

"Are you coming home then Buttercup?" Kenny asked, wrapping his arms around Butters' shoulders and pulling him close.

"W-well I gotta look after Pip Kenny."

"Damien's got it." Kenny shrugged, sending me a smirk that Butters couldn't see.

"Yeah, I'll stay. I can't go home anyway, I was gonna ask if I could crash with Kenny, but seeing how Pip needs someone here and you two are going back to his place..." I coughed meaningfully, Kenny grinned and I'm sure Butters went slightly pink "So I'll stay and look after Pip. No big deal."

Butters looked reluctant, but with Kenny's persuading eventually gave in. They walked out together, and I was alone in the house with an unconscious Pip. I sat in silence, and made a few flames dance around my hand, something I always do when I'm thinking.

Mainly, I was thinking about Pip, his forgiving nature and the question of if he'd forgive me or not. I could see, in all honesty, why he wouldn't. I mean, I set him on fire and set the demons of Hell on him to gain the friendship of a couple of assholes. And now I knew that all I'd needed to do was hang around till my voice broke and act like... well, the son of Satan, which I'm pretty good at considering I AM the son of Satan.

I heard a noise from upstairs, and jolted away from my thoughts instantly. It sounded like coughing and... crying? I know Kenny made me sound like I was a total love-sick love-bird going all gooey and mushy and shit, but I wasn't. As much as yes, I wanted Pip for myself, I wasn't so head over heels that I was going to change dramatically.

Plus, I had no idea how to deal with someone crying.

I headed upstairs, pretty much dreading it all the way.

-PIP-

I came around to an empty room. After sorting through various jumbled thoughts I managed to recollect what had happened; Damien had come over, and I'd fainted.

I was rather confused about my feelings about this; seven years was a long time to abandon someone. And granted, he sped up my introductions to Tweek and Butters, but I am quite sure I would have met them at some point. They had told me before they always used to talk about approaching me but being scared of their friend's reactions, seeing as it was mostly their friends who picked on me, never did.

I had missed Damien – him being my first real friend I had grown attached to him rather quickly. And though I hated to admit it, I had considered what would have happened if he had stayed – Tweek dating Craig, who was his best friend, and Butters dating Kenny, who occupied the same relationship before their dating, I couldn't help wondering if me and Damien would ever had ended up like they had. It wasn't like I terribly objected to... him, in particular. But I didn't know him well enough now and, to be honest, he was rather an asshole. He was like Craig – tough, bad-boy and attractive. I wondered why he had come by to see me in the first place. Maybe he was planning on warning me to stay away from him. That upset me, and despite myself I felt my eyes starting to water.

I heaved a deep sigh, which set off my coughing, aggravating my rather sore ribs. I was gasping for breath, my head was pounding and my chest hurt. Black clouded around my vision and I started panicking. I couldn't cry out for help at all, not that anyone could really help me, but I was alone and it was silent – either Butters or Tweek had either been in my bedroom or audible from downstairs for the whole day, and their absences made me think I was alone in my house. Frankly, it scared me.

Then the door opened, and through my streaming eyes I could see a dark silhouette. It wasn't Butters or Tweek – it was too tall, the clothing was too dark, they were too silent. The figure moved to my side, and sat next to me, patting and rubbing my back awkwardly. Though it really didn't do much to help, knowing there was someone there calmed me, and the coughing fit passed as I started to breathe easier. Trying desperately to recover some composure, I dabbed at my eyes and let myself calm down fully, careful not to start hyperventilating.

I looked up at the figure, whose extremely warm hand was still placed on my back, and jumped when I recognised it as Damien. I shifted away slightly, rather surprised and slightly scared, and the hand dropped and retreated as Damien stood.

"Th-thank you Damien." I managed.

"It's okay." He mumbled. "You want some... water or... something?" he made a kind of face, like a grimace or cringe.

"Some water would be splendid, if you don't mind." I nodded. As he headed out the door, he turned back.

"Do you mind if I like... cover up that cross on your wall? It's giving me a headache, and staring down is hurting my neck." He made another face.

"Terribly sorry. You can put it in a drawer if you wish."

"Uh... thanks." He mumbled, then disappeared downstairs again.

-NORMAL-

When Damien returned Pip was laid back on his pillows, his duvet pulled up under his arms, his hands held gently together in front of him, as was his habit. They way he held his hands was a trait that made him look both gentle and polite, and he was both. In fact, the more Damien looked at Pip and how he held himself, what he wore, how he moved and certain little habits – those ones that everyone has, but you don't notice until someone points it out – the more he realised how much his look fit exactly to his personality.

Pip's build was small and slight, and he seemed one of those naturally stick-thin people. It also made him seem scrawny and weak, but if you knew just how to truly infuriate him then he could throw a damn good punch – or ball, as Damien had been told. His skin was pale and unmarred by any sort of pock marks or spots; just a few barely-noticeable freckles which made him seem all the more innocent and untouched.

His blonde hair was straight-cut and long for a boy, reaching halfway down his neck and ending midway between his shoulders and ears. Not only was it always impeccably kept, neat and glossy, framing his face with beautiful golden strands, but one of his habits was brushing it behind one ear in a rather feminine way, only to shake it free and hang his head forward to let it cover his face, making him look extremely shy.

Another habit he had that factored into the shy part of his personality was his habit of talking quietly if you were a stranger or new acquaintance. Despite this he always looked you straight in the eyes, even if his head was tilted down so he was looking up through his lashes, his own sparkling like a diamond crystal in sunlight, a small polite smile on his lips, contrasting shy with strange confidence. And he was confident – when you got to know him. Damien guessed this was almost like a defence mechanism.

"Here's that water." Damien said after standing awkwardly in the doorway for a minute. Pip gave a small smile but remained silent other than a quiet 'thank you' when the glass was placed in his hand.

There was an extremely awkward silence in which Pip sipped delicately at his water and Damien stood, hands in pockets, kicking his left heel with his right foot and looking around Pip's blue-and-white bedroom. The walls were a pastel-ish sky blue, and even had a small wispy cloud pattern around the top. The carpet was also blue, and there were fluffy white rugs on either side of the bed. A white-painted bookcase stood in the corner, a white desk with a small laptop in another. Damien grimaced slightly.

"Are you okay Damien?" Pip asked quietly. Damien lifted one corner of his mouth and made a small snorting sound.

"Your bedroom's all sky like... it's weird, like being on a cloud." Another face "Then that made me think of Heaven." He scoffed, and looked back at Pip, who nodded thoughtfully and lifted his glass to his lips again. There was another minute of silence, before Damien announced he was going downstairs, and that Pip just needed to call if he needed anything.

As soon as Damien had exited the room, Pip heaved a deep sigh, dropping his happy facade. He set the glass down, and rubbed his eyes tiredly. After a moment of sitting with his head in his hands, the Brit decided to pack in for the night, and sleep.

Damien yawned, and checked the downstairs clock. It read 5:30. It wasn't particularly late, but it had been a long, rather tiring day. The noirette walked over to the large rucksack of belongings he'd brought along with him – like he had mentioned, he had been planning on staying at Kenny's for a week or so, until his father finally gave in and lent him the money to buy his own apartment or house – whichever he felt like. Until then, however, he was temporarily homeless, with the exception of Hell; but he really didn't want to go back and live with his father and whichever fuck-buddy was currently staying over. He'd lived through 16 years of that and had enough of it.

After setting up the sofa with a comfortable pillow and thin black duvet, Damien changed into some loose black pyjama bottoms and lay down in the darkness, before drifting off to sleep.

=X=

Words: 2,137

A/N: It's shorter than the last one, but I wanted to update ASAP!

Last chapter I said (or implied) Pip was 15, and he'd be 16 in a year. It's not true XD He's already 16, and he's waiting until he's 18. I didn't work that bit out very well. That also means that Damien's been gone for 8 years, not 7. I'll go back and change that soon. I'm still trying to figure out dates and times (like, obsessively calculating) and figuring out ages... I've decided that, for now, it's sometime in late November. That makes everyone else 16 too (with a quick date-check in my head – I know some of the characters' birthdays). Kay? Good.

Uhh... Oh yeah! Please review if you like it (even if you don't – give me tips!) I'd appreciate it, I love getting reviews!

Cya soon!

Jem