Damien's eyes opened slowly...where was he? He felt a thick fog in his head. What woke him? Did he have a nightmare? It was chilly, a humidity was in the air. Something was leaning into his side, he rubbed his eyes hoping to clear his blurry vision. When the blurriness faded away, his eyes settled on the frail frame of Alice. The memory of falling asleep outside slowly came back to him. He got up slowly, setting her down on the ground gently. She seemed to be sleeping so well; he noticed that there was dew clinging to her fur and clothes. He stretched, sleeping sitting down had made some of his muscles tight. He shook the dew of his clothes and scooped up Alice, making his way down the hill towards the house. In the middle of the orchard, he stopped...something was bothering him..he sniffed the air and his ears twitched listening for anything. His tail twitched irritably, what the hell was bugging him? Damien felt like someone was watching him...but so far he couldn't see or hear anything. Maybe he was just being paranoid cause of his dad. He began walking towards the house quickly, seeing the first orange rays of light on the horizon. As he got inside, he realized he didn't know where Alice's room was. 'Dammit, now what do I do?' He didn't want to wake her so he just laid her on the couch instead, pulling a blanket over her. She groaned a little, pulling the blanket more tightly around her. He reached out and touched her face with his paw, but pulled away quickly realizing what he was doing. "What am I doing?" he whispered to himself.

He walked to the back door, looking out at the orchard and the rising sun. Being here felt so peaceful, but it felt temporary. His fathers message was pretty clear, it meant that he wanted to finished what he started all those years ago. "What are you doing up so early?" he wheeled around, surprised to see Alice's dad.

Damien smiled, sheepishly, "I usually get up early in Zootopia, but it's usually loud. I was enjoying the peace."

Her dad nodded, "Yep...you'll get plenty of peace here. I was about to start irrigating, you wanna help?" he grabbed a vest out of a closet.

Damien smiled and nodded, he had never really irrigated other than helping water plants in the greenhouse at the school. As they headed out and towards a shed; her dad asked him questions about home, and he never lied. For once he wanted to please someone, for them to trust him, and it baffled him cause he didn't know why he was trying.

They worked most of the morning till the rising sun made it too hot. On the way back to the house, they conversed freely, but then her dad asked the one question he didn't want to answer. "Son if you live with your grandma, where is your mom and dad? If you don't mind me asking."

Damien stopped walking for a second. Could he tell him? Would he be able to? It haunted him so much...The snow, the chill of the air, the feeling of cold needles stabbing his lungs as he ran, ran from the monster. Red...red everywhere. "Damien?"

"Huh?" he snapped out of his trance, looking at Alice's dad. "Uh my...mom and dad split up..and my mom got..sick. In the end, my grandmother took me in." he felt bad lying...but he still couldn't come to terms with the truth, couldn't talk about it. He began walking towards the house again, hiding his shaking paws.

Alice woke up the couch, which she knew she hadn't fallen asleep there. She remembered falling asleep, leaning on him. She also remembered the song, and how it had left a strange feeling between them. The last thing on her mind before she fell asleep was feeling his paw on hers and his tail wound around her. As she got ready for the day, she played the whole night over in her head. What did that mean for them now?

She helped her mother with getting breakfast ready for everyone, letting her mom know that Damien doesn't mind eating vegetables. "Hey mom do you know where Dad is?"

"Your dad went early this morning to go and irrigate the orchard, I actually think Damien went with him." she said.

Just as she finished saying that the back door opened, revealing both Herman and Damien, who were both covered in dirt.

Alice ran around the counter to hug her dad, "What do you think of Bunnyburrow so far?" she asked Damien, smiling up at him.

He smiled back, "I could get used to it."

Her mom came up to him, putting her paw on his arm, "Thank you for helping out Herman, I usually go to help him but I was tired this morning, and irrigating is usually a two person job."

Damien smiled widely, "It really isn't a problem."

He took a shower and watched the dirt wash down the drain, leaving the water a brown color. Damien suddenly saw it turn red, in shock he looked up at the shower head and it was blood, thick hot blood rushing over him. He shook his head and shut his eyes tight, opening them again he saw just regular water. He sighed in relief.

Alice thought that she saw something in Damiens eyes before he went to go and shower. When he walked up to the table now wearing some jeans and a plain white t-shirt, she scooted to the side. "Damien can I talk to you about something when we're done eating?" she asked.

He gazed at her intently, trying to read her. "Yeah, sure." he avoided her eyes, she could always read him like a book. As he sat there he wondered what she thought about last night...and if he should tell her about why he was really here.

They never ended up talking cause right after they finished eating, both went their separate ways to go help around the farm. It wasn't till evening they met again on the porch. Alice sat on the steps, watching the sun set. Damien sat down next to her, tired. "Dad making you work hard?" she asks, gently elbowing him.

"Yeah." he says, not elaborating.

She looks at him. He looks so tired. "Hey you okay?" she asks him.

"Yeah I am." he still doesn't look at her.

She looked around, seeing if anyone from her family was around. She reached up and touched his face, surprised he didn't flinch away. His eyes met hers. She could see some sort of turmoil in them. "Damien...what's wrong?"

"Nothing...it's me. Something's wrong with me.."

"Why do you say that?" she asks.

"Cause I...I'm haunted by my past and no matter how much I run from it...it's always there. And there's you." he said standing up.

"Damien-" That's when they both heard a yell, from the orchard.

He looks out towards the top of the hill, but couldn't see anything, "Alice is your dad in the orchard?" she was silent. "IS HE?!" he yells, starting to run.

"Yes!" she says, starting to run after him, but is stopped with him grabbing her shoulders.

"No! Stay here, get your mom. Please stay here. I'm gonna go and see what-" they hear another yell, this one more a cry of pain. Her heart beats faster in fear.

"Shit! Get your mom and call the police!" he runs into the orchard towards the yells, pushing himself harder when he hears another cry, hoping that he was wrong about what he thought was happening.

As Alice runs inside to tell her mom, she knows that Damien knew more than her cause he seemed so afraid, he was hiding something from her, but right now all she could hope for was that he would make it in time...

Dear readers: sorry I haven't posted in awhile, my computer broke and on top of that I moved but now I will continue writing and posting. hope you like it!