Both boys slept soundly that night, Cameron felt happier, he wasn't sure why, maybe it was just Damian's presence. He felt so much more comfortable knowing that Damian was there, merely inches away from him.
Cameron awoke to Damian's smiling face; he sat up startled at how close Damian currently was to him.
"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you" Damian apologised. He held out a hand to help Cameron out of bed, Cameron raised an eyebrow at the gesture but accepted anyway. "Your hairs all messy, Cam" Damian pointed out.
Cameron self-consciously ran his fingers through his hair to flatten it down a bit; he felt Damian's hand suddenly on his own.
"Leave it how it is, Cam. I like it" Damian stated in all seriousness. Cameron's hands fell back down to his sides as he smiled slightly, Damian grinned proudly at the thought of him making Cameron smile.
"Come on" Damian gestured down the stairs. "I think Mam wanted to take us out somewhere" Damian smiled. Cameron couldn't help but wonder where she was going to take them. Now that she knew about his feelings for her son he was always suspicious that she would make it too obvious around Damian.
Cameron and Damian made their way downstairs only to stop abruptly to the sight which greeted them in the kitchen.
"Shell. What are you doin' here?" Damian asked; his voice low. The girl in question simply smiled brightly at the sight of Damian.
"Well since you left our date early yesterday I wanted to spend some time with you" She eyed Cameron briefly before turning her attention back to Damian once more. She gave him a toothy, forced smile while adding "Jus' like the good ol' days" Damian winced slightly.
Damian's Mom walked in and gave Cameron an apologetic look, Cameron could tell straight away that she was annoyed, and by the look on Damian's face he could as well. Shell, however, seemed to have no idea.
"Shell asked if she could come along and she was so insistent I could hardly say no, could I?" Damian's Mom exclaimed, giving the Irish girl a smile which seemed all too false. Shell returned a smile which easily resembled a grimace.
After everyone had breakfast Shell excused herself to go freshen up whilst Cameron got up to help Damian's Mom clear the plates up.
"You don't seem happy that Shell is here" Damian turned to his father's intent gaze. "Don't you want her here?" His father asked. Damian suddenly looked sheepish.
"Well I kinda thought it'd just be me you, Mam and Cam" Damian admitted. "It's kinda like she's intrudin' on a family thing" Damian's father raised his eyebrow.
"You think of Cameron as family?" He asked, Damian silently cursed his cheeks for turning red at that moment.
"I guess so—I mean we're really close friends" Damian said simple, his father continued to stare at him.
"Why did you leave your date early?" He asked, surprising Damian a little with all these questions.
"I jus' felt like—have you ever got that strong feeling where you just know that someone's upset and they need you?" He asked, his father nodded.
"Only with your Mam" The man replied, catching Damian off guard slightly.
"Oh—I got that with Cam yesterday so—"
"So you chose Cameron over the girl you used to fawn over all the time?" His father interrupted, Damian laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his neck.
"Yeah—I guess I did" He replied with another awkward laugh.
Shell walked back in and settled in Cameron's seat next to Damian, she put her hand over his and leaned over to whisper in his ear.
"I miss you" She said, her breath tickling his ear, he faked a smile back at her but he didn't reply.
It was time for everyone to leave to wherever Damian's parents were taking him, after everyone got in the car (Damian sat awkwardly between an over-exuberant Shell and a frowning Cameron) they set off towards their destination.
The car ride was only around 20 minutes long and they had travelled deep into the countryside of Ireland. Cameron kept his eyes out of the window, purely due to the fact that Shell was currently all over Damian trying to hug him and kiss him but he also really wanted to see the countryside, it was so breathtakingly beautiful like most things here.
The car stopped abruptly and Damian's Mom turned around to catch Cameron's eye. "We're here" She breathed excitedly at him; Cameron smiled widely at the woman and moved to get out of the car.
The cool air hit him it felt so relaxing on his skin compared to the humid air in Texas. They had parked in the middle of a countryside lane; apparently not many cars come down here. His eyes suddenly caught on such a breathtaking image; it was a large tree with a carved bench in front of it. He breathed in a sharp intake of breath at the completely beautiful scene before him.
The tree was large, very large. Since it was late July it was still blossomed from spring, it had such exuberant colours it was nothing like the blonde boy had ever seen before. He felt a presence behind him and turned to see Damian also in awe at the tree, Damian caught Cameron's eye and they both simple stood there staring into each other in complete blissfulness. That was until Shell's voice was suddenly heard from next to them, snapping them out of their trance.
"Wow this place is so pretty" Shell exclaimed, Cameron rolled his eyes at the ruined moment and turned away to look at the tree once more.
"This is where your father proposed to me" Damian's Mom told her son, she looked at Cameron for a brief second "Apparently you sit under that tree with your lover, and if you get an unbearable strong feeling in your chest jus'—jus' wanting to burst out then they're said to be your soul-mate" Cameron narrowed his eyes, he's pretty sure Damian's Mom just made that up, so that was her plan now he understood why she was so annoyed that Shell was tagging along.
"Wow, seriously" Shell asked, she turned to Damian with wide eyes "Let's go sit under it Damian, okay?" With that remark she pulled a helpless Damian along with her to go and sit on the bench, leaving Cameron stood with Damian's parents.
"I don't get why Damian doesn't just tell her to go away" Damian's father remarked, Damian's Mom nodded in agreement. "He obviously doesn't want her around" He added. Cameron looked at them briefly before looking back at Damian and Shell who were currently sat awkwardly under the tree. Apparently nothing was happening and Shell was getting testy.
"How long does it take to get that feeling Mrs. M?" She yelled over at the group. Damian's Mom winced at the name.
"Shoulda happened straight away" She called back, not able to suppress the smile which was forming on her face at the thought that they hadn't felt the feeling yet. Shell stood up, blatantly pissed off, and stomped back over to the group leaving Damian sat there completely clueless as to what was happening.
Damian's Mom nudged Cameron "Now's your chance go sit with him" She told him. Cameron looked at her and then at Damian's father who gave an encouraging thumbs up. He felt sudden warmth in his stomach as he looked lovingly at both of these people; they honestly felt like family already. He grinned and nodded before making his way to Damian who was still residing on that bench.
"Got stood up did you?" Cameron remarked, Damian laughed and looked up at Cameron standing in front of him.
"Is Shell seriously angry just because this tree thing didn't work?" Damian asked, Cameron nodded with a grin.
"I'm afraid so, mind if I sit?" Cameron asked, Damian shrugged and gestured to the seat which Cameron happily obliged to sit down on. Once Cameron was seated they caught each other's eyes once more.
A warm shiver, that's what Cameron could describe the feeling as, something warm which ran throughout his whole body before suddenly stopping at his chest just feeling as though it was going to burst out at any second. His eyes delved deep into Damian's gaze, he just knew Damian could feel that as well, he could see it in his eyes. They felt as though they had to sit closer, that if they didn't the feeling could be all over and it was too good-a feeling to miss.
They shuffled closer, the feeling intensified as they felt their shoulders reach contact. Damian bit his lip, his expression much like he had the other night when they had shared that drunken kiss.
"I never forgot about that kiss" Damian mumbled, his voice sounded rough as if he had not spoken in years.
"Me neither" Cameron breathed back, the feeling in his chest was becoming more and more intense with every second they spent sat together. Damian shuffled impossibly close to Cameron and took the blonde boy's hands in his own.
"Cam…" He whispered, leaning in slightly towards Cameron's face.
Cameron couldn't even comprehend what was happening.