I'm so glad you all seemed to like that last chapter. Even if it was a little sad. Hopefully you enjoy this one too! Thank you all for reading!
Chapter Fourteen
He sat on her roof for a long time before he finally jumped down. He was glad that he had a walk ahead of him. He needed the walk. He needed to get his head clear. Something happened up there and it had him shaken. It had him feeling like everything was off. He wanted to blame Merle for putting crazy ass ideas in his head. But this hadn't had a goddamn thing to do with Merle. He knew when it had happened. The exact fucking moment that everything in his head shifted to some fucked up place. And it wasn't just him. It was her too. She felt it all turn upside down.
He couldn't blame anyone but himself. He had known this was different from the very start. When she was in the garage while that party raged on and he was getting her battery, looking so goddamn unsure of herself, that was what had snagged him. He'd known it too but he hadn't paid any mind to it. Then this happened. Up in her room, she had looked up at him and it felt like his chest had cracked open, exposing parts of him that he didn't know were even there. He'd felt like, for the first time in his life, someone was seeing him. The real him. And actually liked what they saw there.
He hadn't wanted it to stop either, that feeling of acceptance. That feeling that the person looking at him held all the power in the world to somehow close her fist and crush his whole being, but trusting completely that she never ever would.
He kicked the hell out of a rock that was in the middle of the dark street, sending it flying into a car that was parked by the curb. He didn't care. He wished it would have knocked the fucking windshield out. He could take solace in mindless violence.
"It's what you get, dumb fuck," he grumbled to himself. His chest felt heavy, bruised and his thoughts refused to turn away from what had just happened. If he knew what had happened then maybe it wouldn't bother him so much but he didn't know. He had no idea what any of it meant at all. And it pissed him off because he liked to have some semblance of control over his emotions. He sure as fuck didn't right now.
Why the hell had he thought it would be okay to sleep with a married woman? Oh yeah, because he had wanted her and in his head that made it okay. "How did that work out for ya, idiot?" He kicked another rock, sending it sailing through the air.
~H~
"Are you serious?" Sophia asked, eyes wide. She couldn't believe that it was over already.
Carol nodded, crossing her arms over her chest and sitting down heavily in the chair across from her daughter. "Everything's taken care of and he'll be here sometime this afternoon."
Sophia studied her mother's face carefully. "Is that why you've been crying?" She knew her mom would deny it but when she had gotten up she had known right away that her mom was upset. Her eyes were puffy and she looked so defeated that it actually made Sophia's heart hurt for her.
Carol looked up sharply. "It's allergies. I haven't been crying. Your father isn't worth crying over." She added bitterly.
Sophia's brows shot up but she didn't get a chance to say anything. Someone was knocking on the door. She was out of the chair before Carol could even blink. It was obvious that her mom was off this morning and it wasn't just allergies either, she didn't believe that one for a second. She managed to burn breakfast and then finally gave up and handed Sophia an apple. Sophia didn't complain though. She was sure it was her nerves because Ed was coming today.
She pulled the door open without looking out the window to even see who it was. She blinked in surprise and then she looked down in horror. She was still wearing her pajama bottoms with stupid hearts all over them and a tank top that had a stain on it and she didn't even have on a bra. She crossed her arms over her chest.
"Nice pants," Damon said, flashing her a grin that had her blushing even deeper.
"Hi," she said, her voice too high and her face turning red, remembering what Piper had said about the boy. He was apparently interested in her. Surely Piper was just making it up. But then again, Piper was pretty straight forward.
"Bad time?" He asked, leaning against the door frame.
She shook her head and then remembered that she hadn't even brushed her hair. She'd planned on lounging in her room all day. She hadn't known she'd get caught looking like crap by a guy that she had a huge crush on. "Actually, could you give me a second? I..."
"Who's at the door, honey?"
Sophia turned and saw her mom standing a few feet behind her, a frown between her brows.
"A friend," Sophia said, wishing he would have called.
"You want me to give you a second out here or can I come in?" He glanced past her.
"I..." she glanced over her shoulder again but now her mother was smiling at her knowingly. "Sure, you can come in."
He nodded and stepped past her once she finally moved enough for him to squeeze through. "Hey," he said to Carol, offering his hand. She shook it with a smile. "I'm Damon."
"Carol. You thirsty?"
"If you're buyin'."
Carol shook her head and turned to head into the kitchen. Sophia watched him follow her and then darted up the stairs. She threw on the first decent clothes that she could find and then ran a brush through her hair. She couldn't believe he hadn't even called to tell her he was stopping by. Who did that! She glanced at her reflection and rolled her eyes at how pink her cheeks were. "You're such a dork!" She hissed at her reflection before nearly tripping over her dirty clothes. "Good Lord!" She growled, gathering up the clothes so she could toss them in the laundry basket in the bathroom.
Once she finally made it downstairs it didn't seem like she had missed much. He was sitting at the table with a juice box. She couldn't help but laugh. There he sat, dressed in black with that leather jacket of his, sipping on a juice box.
"Hey, don't judge me. These things are good for growing boys."
Carol chuckled. "Honey, you're sixteen and over six feet tall, I don't think you need anymore juice."
"Oh, I'm not sixteen. I'm twenty three."
Sophia saw Carol's face go white.
"I'm kidding," Damon said, leaning back in his chair. "I'm seventeen."
Carol made a face at him and rolled her eyes. "You're adorable."
"I agree," he grinned.
Carol leaned against the counter as Sophia sat down at the table, trying not to do anything to make herself look stupid. "I thought you were suppose to go somewhere with Piper today? Some kind of car show or something."
He shook his head. "That's why I'm here. She had to bail and I have the extra ticket and thought I'd see if you wanted to go instead."
Sophia frowned. "I thought she really wanted to go? She talked about it all day."
He nodded. "Yeah, well, she's a Dixon and family trumps classic car shows I guess."
Sophia saw her mom stiffen from the corner of her eye. "Is everything okay?"
Damon met her eyes and then his gaze flicked up to Carol's. "Daryl showed up at the garage last night and got totally wasted. I guess it was so bad that one of the guys called Piper to come pick him up. By the time she got there it was too late."
"To late?" Carol asked, her eyes wide.
Damon nodded. "Cops showed up before Piper could. He'd dragged Dave Henderson out to the street and beat the hell out of him. I guess there wasn't shit anyone could do. There were a couple of witnesses so this isn't one of those times that Buck can sweep Daryl's temper under the rug. Well, he can but it might take a little while. He's down in Florida right now working on something."
"He's in jail? Right now? And who the hell is Buck?" Carol asked frantically.
Damon nodded. "He'll probably get out tomorrow if they can't get him out today. That's just how it works. And Buck," Damon shook his head. "Buck is Piper's grandad. Trust me, he'll get it all taken care of. He runs this whole damn town."
"How do you know all this?" Sophia asked.
Damon met her eyes. "Because my old man ain't just some biker. He is second in command. He's the VP."
"The what?" Sophia felt very uninformed.
He stood up then. "I'll tell you about it some other time. Do you want to go with me? I figure, even if you aren't that into cars there's other crap we can do afterwords. Catch a movie, go eat food somewhere. Whatever you feel like doing." He looked up at Carol, "If she can. I mean, I guess I should have asked you first."
Carol still looked distracted but she smiled. "Sounds like fun. Do you think you can have her home by ten?"
"Mom," Sophia said, unable to keep the worry out of her voice. "I thought Ed was suppose to be back this afternoon?"
Carol met her eyes. "And I told you that things were going to change around here. You aren't five. I'll take care of it. Go have fun."
"Are you sure?" Last night she had been angry because she had spent her whole life worrying about her mom. Now her mom was telling her to go and now she was standing there arguing.
"Sophia," she said, raising an eyebrow at her. "Go look at cars and eat food. No drugs, no drinking and no sex."
"Oh my God," Sophia groaned.
"Yes, ma'am," Damon said, getting up quickly.
Sophia thought her heart was going to jump out of her mouth when he grabbed her hand on his way by.
"Have fun and don't let her spend the whole day worrying about me," Carol called.
"I'll call you, mom," Sophia called over her shoulder as Damon pulled her out the door.