Chapter 7

Months passed for the group and as they did, people became more and more used to Nepeta being around. That's not to say that there weren't those who would rather have her run out of the city, but they were vastly outnumbered by those who had taken the opportunity to know the girl. It was rare to see Damien and her separated, so much so that eventually those who were against them satisfied themselves with murmurs of displeasure. If asked how they were doing, both of them would have said they were happier than they could ever remember being, and they would have meant it, too.

It was in the morning in the middle of June when Damien was woken up by someone pouncing on his bed and crawling to the pillows. "Hey there, Pet," he said with a smile as he opened his eyes to her olive ones. "You're up early."

"Yeah, sorry," she said. "I was just so excited I couldn't sleep any more. How long until we leave?"

Damien took a look at the clock. "About two hours should be enough for everyone to get showered and fed, so I'd say give them another hour to sleep."

"Don't do me any favors, bro," came Nick's voice from the floor. "Been up for about five minutes now. I'll go wake up Jackie." With that, he stood up and left the room. Damien chuckled as he heard a low moan from the other room followed by a soft thump. Nick walked back in holding Jacklyn's pillow. "She says she'll be the last to shower. What's for breakfast?"

Two hours later, they were all walking down the street. "I still can't believe that Monroe gave all of us the day off," Jacklyn was saying. "Who's going to run the café?"

"To be honest, I think he's taking the day off, himself," Damien said. "The neighborhood will survive a day without the Sit 'n Sip."

They arrived at a bus stop and sat down. "So what's at an amusement park again?" Nepeta asked.

"All sorts of things," Nick said. "They got games, rides, food. Heck, some even have shows going on. It's gonna be a fun day."

"Just as soon as we get there," Jacklyn grumbled.

"I'd stop complaining, sis," Damien said. "Here's the bus." A quick bus ride later, they were standing in front of the city's lone amusement park. They paid for their tickets and walked in, Nepeta looking around her in amazement. Damien chuckled and said, "This brings back memories. You looked this curious your first day, too."

"It's all so big here!" Nepeta squealed.

"Well, let's get started," Nick said as he led the way. They spent the day enjoying everything the park had to offer. Nepeta absolutely had to go on every ride, avoiding the water themed ones at first, but eventually enjoying those as well. As they walked through the midway, Damien won her a stuffed cat at one of the booths. Jacklyn tried out the Guess Your Weight booth, which both Damien and Nick wisely refused to speak at. Lunchtime came and went, except for a short break, unnoticed. Everyone was having so much fun, they lost track of the world around them for a while. At one point, the girls went to the restroom and left Damien and Nick to wait.

"So, things seem to be going well for you two," Nick said.

"Yeah," Damien replied with a smile. "Nepeta's great. It really does feel like I've found my soul mate. For once, I'm complete."

"Have you kissed her yet?"

Damien gave him a weird look. "Why do you ask?"

"You haven't then. Bro, I know you two are more together than couples usually are, but you should really show your affection with more than just words."

"I know, I know, but you know how I am about that."

"I'll tell you what, I'll distract Jackie tonight while you go take Nepeta on a date. I know of a gig where you two can go dancing not far from the café."

Damien rubbed his chin. "Yeah, grab a bite beforehand. That Italian place that just opened up looks nice." He looked up as the girls walked up. "So, what do you think? A couple more rides?"

The rest of the trip couldn't go fast enough for Damien. When they finally made it home, Nick was whispering in Jacklyn's ear. "Hey, Nepeta, why don't you come with me to my room," she said, taking the troll by the arm. "You've got to see something."

When they had left the room, Damien gave Nick a questioning look. Nick shrugged. "I forgot to mention it was a somewhat formal event," was all he said.

"I better go find a good tie," Damien mumbled with an amused grin.

For the next two hours, Nick kept Damien held up in his room with just the comments that he didn't want to spoil the surprise. Occasionally from the other side of the door they would hear a squeal of excitement followed by Jacklyn quickly shushing. Finally, Jacklyn poked her head in and said, "All right, she's ready."

Damien stood, smoothed out his blue slacks, and straightened his green tie. "How do I look?"

"Bro, you're asking the wrong guy," Nick said with a grin.

"You look fine, Damien, now get out here," Jacklyn said impatiently. Obediently, Damien walked out of his room and froze as he gazed in amazement. "I'm glad you chose the blue slacks. It makes the two of you match."

Nepeta looked down bashfully as she stood there. Jacklyn had let her borrow her light blue dress and matching shoes. "Wow," was all Damien could say. Nepeta blushed a dark green and smiled.

"You better have more than that to say, bro," Nick chuckled. "Then again, maybe the cat has your tongue on this one."

"You two had better get going," Jacklyn said as she got behind Damien and gave him a push. "That took a bit longer than I expected so you'll have just enough time to get to the dance." Damien smiled and offered Nepeta his arm.

"Yeah, we should get going. Are you ready?" She nodded and took his arm before giving Jacklyn a grateful look. Then they left.

They walked down the street, arm in arm, neither daring to say anything in fear of ruining the moment. It was all Damien could do to not stare at the girl he had come to love in so short a time. "You really do look amazing," he finally said. "I don't think I even remember Jacklyn having that dress."

"Thanks," Nepeta said, quietly. "I just wish it didn't keep my tail down."

"I will admit, the tail being missing is a shame, but it's not like it's gone. Look at it this way, this is only tonight, then you can get back in your comfortable clothing." She smiled and leaned on his shoulder.

"Damien, thank you," she said, "for everything. I can't remember the last time I was this happy."

"Well, the night's not over yet," Damien said as they came in sight of the dance.

Someone had strung up lights all across the street from the streetlights and there were tables set up on the sidewalks. There were already people dancing to a slow song, so Damien took Nepeta's hand and led her to the dance floor. A few people looked up as they passed, but no one said anything as he put his hands on her waist and she put hers on her shoulders. They danced in this embrace for what seemed like minutes while songs came and went and the other dancers took breaks here and there. None of this mattered to them. To Damien and Nepeta, they were the only two on the dance floor at any time. Soon, the music stopped and people started to take down the tables.

Damien looked at his watch. "Are you hungry?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said with an embarrassed giggle. "What did you have in mind?"

"There's a place we can grab a meal around the corner from here. They've got some pretty good steaks."

"What are we waiting for?" she said with a grin.

A short walk later had them sitting in a steakhouse waiting for their food. "So, you've been here for a few months now," Damien said. "What do you think of our world?"

"It's nice," Nepeta purred with a smile. "So much more colorful than mine. It's all greys and reds there."

"I bet it still looks cool. I mean, you've got the…lususes? Lusii?" Damien waved a hand dismissively. "You've got multiple lusus running around looking pretty awesome, if I'm to judge from your description of Pounce. Your friends sound amazing, if not a little crazy. Let's be honest, though, crazy's not a bad thing."

Nepeta giggled. "No, no it's not. It's purrfect. Look at us."

Damien nodded with a smile before their food arrived. They ate in silence, each glancing up occasionally to catch the other staring warmly and laughing quietly, before the meal was finished and they left. As they walked along the brightly lit streets, Damien found himself staring up at what little stars he could see when he had a thought. "Hey, let's not go back just yet," he said. When she looked at him curiously, he grinned. "Follow me."

He quickly lead her to the biggest hill in the park and they sat down looking up at the night sky. "Wow, the stars are so different here," Nepeta said breathlessly as she took them in.

"I guess they would be," Damien said with a nod. He started pointing out constellations that they could see and telling stories that he and Jacklyn had been told about them from a young age. "But you want to know something?"

She looked at him questioningly and he couldn't help but smile. "To be purrfectly honest, none of them shines brighter than you do." He leaned in close and they shared a passionate kiss.

The next morning, Jacklyn had left for the café early with Nick, while Damien was supposed to work the lunch rush. The entire morning, he and Nepeta couldn't stop smiling at each other. Neither had said a word when they returned to the apartment the night before, because what words could be said that their actions hadn't said already? Jacklyn and Nick hadn't even asked how the date went after seeing the two of them.

Eventually, the time came and they left the apartment, Nepeta wearing the clothes she had arrived in and skipping slightly while Damien chuckled at her antics. Along the way, everyone stopped and talked warmly with them and it was obvious that Nepeta had come to fit in better than anyone expected. When they finally arrived at the café, Damien held the door open for Nepeta before following her in.

"Hey, bro!" Nick greeted him from behind the counter. "Where's Nepeta?" Damien didn't say anything, shocked as he was at what he had seen. Just as she had passed through the door, she disappeared without a trace. If he hadn't seen it, he wouldn't have believed it.

"She was just in front of me," he said, running back outside to see if there was some trick someone was playing. After an hour of looking, he fell to the ground in despair, Nick running up behind him.

"Dude, what happened!?"

Damien couldn't even look at his friend and only said, "She's gone."

*looks out cautiously from behind a curtain, ready to dodge back in case of flying fruit* Uh, hi everyone. Sorry it took me so long to finish this chapter. There was a family crisis, plus NaNoWriMo, plus the fact I hate myself for writing that last bit. I don't plan on leaving it like that, not by a long shot. I promise I'll have it up quicker than it took me to finish this one. Don't give up on me yet!