Chpt.7

Damian waited as patiently as he could at the airport with Colin by his side.

"So where's she coming from again?" Colin inquired, looking out the window, waiting for the plane that Livy would be on.

"Azerbaijan." Damian answered curtly. Colin chuckled and gave him an incredulous look.

"Is that an actual place or did you sneeze?"

"It's a place." Damian grumbled. He wasn't in the best of moods. It was cold, with snow everywhere, he was wet from said snow, and Livy's flight had been delayed for three hours.

Colin's talking wasn't helping much because when he was grumpy, Damian preferred to sit down and keep quiet. However all Colin wanted to do was talk.

"So how's Livy been? Have you kept in contact with her while she was in that Azer-something-or-other place?" Colin inquired and Damian shook his head.

"No." he said shortly.

"Why not?"

"She couldn't bring any technology. It was a complicated matter."

"Is that why you're so pissy? Because you haven't been able to talk to her in a while?"

"No!"

"Yeah… okay." Colin said sarcastically.

Damian was silent, trying to calm himself. He really did miss Livy, and when she told him that they couldn't speak for a while since she wasn't going to be able to bring any technology, he almost didn't let her leave. However, he could never force her into doing anything she already made up her mind about.

He was irritated how the weather was getting in the way of seeing her after so long.

"Don't worry Damian. She'll be here soon." Colin smiled.

Damian sighed but his head perked when he heard the airport announcement come up.

"Flight 180 has arrived."

Damian quickly stood to his feet and watched as people filtered out of the plain. His eyes the settled on a girl with braided blond hair wearing a turtle neck and long sleeves along with a fuzzy hat.

"Livy!" the girl's head turned and smiled at the site of Damian. She ran towards him but quickly stopped short of his open arms. He was ready to embrace her, but was surprised by the small peck on the cheek he received instead.

"Damian, I missed you!" she exclaimed as Damian slowly lowered his hands, realizing that Livy didn't want him to embrace her.

Why? Why doesn't she want me to embrace her? Have I done something wrong? Did she want me to somehow visit her? Is she even happy to see me? Is she just saying that she missed me to be polite? Damian's mind was buzzing in panic.

"Livy great to see you again." Colin grinned, and Livy smiled at the boy.

"It's great to see you too." Just then, a larger figure loomed over Livy. It was Jason.

"God, you again." Jason grunted when he spotted Damian. He then looked at Livy. "Our ride is waiting for us. We have to go."

"I would like to take Livy out for maybe something to eat." Damian informed. Livy's eyes softened.

"Damian, I appreciate that you came here, but I really need to rest. Tomorrow we can spend the entire day together. I just… I just really need to rest."

Damian noticed how tired Livy looked and nodded.

"Of course." Damian went to hug Livy, but she flinched when his arms brushed against hers. He quickly brought his hands to his side and then kissed Livy on the cheek. He then whispered in her ear,

"I will call you tomorrow. Sleep well, Habibti."

"Thank you Damian. Love you." Livy grinned, then followed Jason out into the crowd, leaving Damian and Colin behind.

"She looked tired." Colin sighed.

"She was acting different." Damian's voice was full of worry. Colin smiled and shook his head.

"I'm sure she was just so tired she's not like herself."

"Of course." Damian nodded, but he sounded doubtful.

~*~*~*~*~the next day~*~*~*~*~

"Thanks for taking me out for dinner." Livy smiled as she and Damian held hands and walked through the city.

Damian was happy that he got to spend some time with Livy after she had been away for so long, however she had yet to hug him, and when he went to initiate the embrace, she flinched.

"I enjoy our time together. I… missed you." Damian informed, as he and Livy started to walk through a park.

The park was relatively empty aside from several drunk men, that were too tired and cold to bother them.

He sat on a bench, and Livy followed in suit.

"Livy, I-" Damian spoke as he ran a hand against her shoulder to her neck. He knew from the past that she enjoy the pressure of his hands on her body when it came to her shoulders and neck. However, Livy quickly pulled away from him.

"Livy, what did I do?" he questioned.

"What do you-"

"What did I do?" Damian's voice was a mix of frustration and sadness. "Every time I try to caress you or embrace you, you pull away. I have missed you and all I wanted was to feel you in my arms, but you don't seem to want any part of it."

Livy quickly wrapped her arms around Damian and whispered,

"I'm sorry. That was selfish of me." Damian hugged her back, but when he looked at her face, he noticed the grimace of pain.

He quickly pulled away from the hug and looked Livy seriously in the eye.

"What is wrong?" he questioned, and Livy let out a long sigh.

"I don't want you to worry about me every time I go somewhere else." She informed quietly and Damian rolled his eyes.

"Tt. No matter what you say or do, I will always worry about you when you go somewhere else." He stated.

Livy was silent for a moment, the rolled up her long sleeves, revealing an arrangement of large blue, green, purple, and black bruises. She then rolled down her turtleneck to show the dark bruises on her neck.

"What happened?" Damian whispered, his eyes glued to the dark spots on her neck. Spots he knew came from being choked.

"We were up against some pretty skilled guys. I got a bit over my head. It… I…" Livy looked like she was having some difficulty speaking. "I was lucky I didn't die." She finally informed in a small voice.

She held her breath, waiting for Damian to scream at her and call her stupid and she really didn't want to get into a fight about it. However, she wasn't going to back down if he started shouting at her.

Damian slowly leaned closer to Livy and lightly placed kisses on the bruises on her neck, kisses that were soft and gentle.

"Damian…"

"You scare me." Damian whispered. "But I know you're stubborn, so I can't force you to stay here, where I can make sure nobody ever does this to you."

"You know me so well." Livy chuckled, but her lips were swiftly captured by Damian's. They kissed gently, and it was tender. Livy closed her eyes and brought her hands up to Damian's shoulders, while Damian was able to put his hands on Livy's cheeks. A place where she wasn't bruised.

When they parted, Damian looked her in the eye.

"Is the man who did this to you dead?" he inquired, and Livy nodded.

"Yes." She looked at him without regret, but she knew that this was usually where an argument broke out.

The two had very different opinions about killing.

Damian was silent, and he lightly traced the bruises on Livy neck. He then whispered,

"Good."