I stared at Damien in shock. He stroked my cheek; his brown eyes a deep chocolatey colour. They swam with emotions. My chest heaved with a silent sob, and he hugged me gently again. This time, I nestled willingly against his chest.
"It's okay." He murmured softly in my ear. "I've got you. I'm not going anywhere."
I froze with those words and stared up at him again.
"What…?"
He placed a finger on my lips, hushing me.
"I mean it. I won't leave you. That's if you want me with you."
"Are you asking…?"
"Siobhan, I really do like you. I've seen you many times before you saw me in the café. I've always secretly been hoping that you'll see me. But you never did until yesterday. I've dreamt of going out with you for a year, maybe more."
I could feel my jaw hanging open, and couldn't shut it. The fact that someone actually wanted me, it was too much. I burst into tears again.
Looking back on it, I actually feel sorry for Damien. One minute he was confessing his heart to a girl who had just been in hysterics, then the next she had burst into tears again. The confused look on his face made me laugh through my tears. I had to cough before speaking again.
"Sorry, it's just that no one's ever really wanted me before…" I could feel my cheeks burning. Damien chuckled softly.
"No one's ever wanted me either."
"We match then." I smiled gently, and he placed a kiss on my cheek.
"Yes." He murmured. "We do."
The rest of the afternoon passed in a warm, fuzzy blur. Damien kept hold of my hand, as if he was scared I'd vanish and leave him alone. I was perfectly happy to hold his hand. We wandered along, perfectly happily. As it drew closer to the end of school, we headed back through the streets to the café. We were the first ones there. We sat side by side in a little booth, and talked and laughed together. It felt good to be happy again. It had been almost three years since I had been truly happy. We could hear voices outside and stopped talking. People from our school flooded in and stopped and stared at us. Both of us glared at them, daring them to comment about us. They didn't/ they moved to their seats and ignored us. It suited us fine as we ignored them too.
By the time it was five o'clock, I knew I had to leave, but didn't want to.
"I'm going to have to go." I told Damien sadly. His expression fell hundreds of miles.
"Don't go." He whispered, "Stay here. With me."
"I can't…" I whispered, "My foster parents will be expecting me. And no doubt there'll be a bomb about to go off…"
"I'll walk you home." There was an edge to Damien's voice that said no matter how much I argued, he wasn't giving in. I smiled. I was glad he was going to come with me.
"Come then." Damien stood up and offered me a hand. On taking it, he pulled me to my feet. I tucked my arm through his, and we walked out the door.
It was a pretty silent walk to my house. I was fretting over what my parents would say, and Damien was singing softly to himself.
First
breath born come alive learn to kill
Bloodfest awaits to feed your
hunger
Dark side has no rival test your faith in blood
Night
hides the hunting packs a feeding frenzy
I'll kill you and
your dreams tonight
Begin new life
Bleed your death upon me
Let
your bloodline feed my youth
I was happy to listen; he had a good voice. As we entered my street, I slowed, and Damien looked across at me.
"Which house is yours?"
"That one…" I whispered, pointing.
He eyed the house, and said calmly,
"Nice shack."
I couldn't help chuckling. I led Damien up to the front door and stopped.
"You'd better go now… They'll kill you…"
"Let them try." Damien growled. It was then the front door flew open.
Lyrics copyright to Slayer