𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐄, damiano david

━━𝟑𝟗.𝐇𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬

Damiano's hands were intertwined with mine as we walked inside together.
The little dog from earlier came running towards us, Damiano bent down and picked it up with his free hand.
"This is Chili," he introduced the dog to me and I grinned. Damiano had already sent me some photos and videos of Chili.

We joined the others in the dining room, Sophia, Vic, Ethan, Thomas and Jacopo were sitting at the dining table.
I hugged Thomas, whom I hadn't seen until now, and Damiano put Chili down to greet his brother.

"You knew they were coming?", Damiano asked Jacopo, who nodded, his laughter resembling Damiano's.
"Unbelievable-", Damiano said, then he hugged Sophia and leaned against the wall next to the dining table, watching me as if I wasn't real at all, just a mirage.

"How long do you want to stay?" Vic asked me and I grinned, "Well, if it's not too much trouble, maybe half a year or so," I answered amused and Vic squeaked excitedly, Damiano's eyes widened, "Half a year?" he asked and took me in his arms.

I laughed against his chest, "Yes, half a year.", I confirmed, Vic cheered and the others seemed to be happy too.
"But now you have to explain how and why," Thomas ordered and looked at Sophia and me in turn, waiting.

"Coraline can do that best, she had the idea," Sophia said and pointed at me. Damiano sat down on the last free chair and pulled me onto his lap.

"Well, I've been thinking about the whole thing with my father, about Damiano wanting me to report him so badly, and I realised that that would be the right decision. Also, I'm miserable at uni because I've missed too much and I can't concentrate with everything going on, so I'm just repeating the semester," I explained the short version.

The others were surprised but excited that we would now stay with them.
"You don't know how happy that makes me," Vic grinned, drumming on the table.

"I'm going to go home again. Mum and Dad want to invite Cora and you for dinner next weekend, Damiano," Jacopo said and I laughed when Damiano said, "Mum and Dad knew too? I can't believe it, I was on the phone with Mum this morning and she didn't say a word!".

The band decided not to rehearse until tomorrow, so Damiano helped me carry my two huge suitcases up the stairs to the small bedroom he owned.
I unpacked my things and put them in the wide wardrobe while Damiano helped me.

After we had cleared everything out I went to take a shower, I always felt nauseous after a flight, so the cold water was pleasant on my skin.

I came back to the bedroom and Damiano was lying on the bed, there was a bottle of Coke and a bowl of fruit on the bedside table, "I thought you might be hungry," he said and I smiled, that was really cute.

I lay down with him and ate some of the fruit, his fingers stroking my back, which was only covered by a thin top. "It doesn't feel real yet that you're here," Damiano murmured and pressed his cold lips to my naked skin.
"I know, I can't quite believe it myself yet either," I answered honestly and turned so that I could look at him better. 

His face was above mine, his brown eyes looked down at me and once again it felt like they were boring into my soul. I didn't know how I could ever resist those eyes, but I didn't want to.

Our lips met and fireworks exploded inside me. Whenever he kissed me like that, in that slow, intense way, it felt like we were kissing for the first time.
I loved the feeling he triggered in me.

In the next room we heard Sophia's laughter and grinning we broke away from each other to listen to Sophia's suppressed scream, "What the hell?" I muttered, but she screamed louder and Damiano and I laughed.

"Ethan please let my sister live!", I shouted and Damiano laughed again, he grabbed my waist and hugged me closer, "Don't worry, I'm fine!", Sophia's scream came through the wall and I giggled.

"This could get interesting. The six of us in the same house for half a year, help-", I muttered, although secretly I couldn't imagine anything better than spending my time with the five people I loved most in the world.

"It's going to be great, believe me," Damiano murmured and I grinned, "Yeah, I know."
We kissed again, but at some point Damiano released his lips from mine because there was a knock at the door.

It was close to midnight and I sat up a little, Damiano's body was still over mine.
"Yes?" he asked and Vic pushed the door open, she grinned when she saw us, "Thomas made cocktails, do you want some?", Vic asked me and I nodded quickly, "Absolutely, but please don't give any to Sophia," I said.

"Too late, she and Ethan are already downstairs," Vic laughed and held his hand out for me to grab.

I jumped off the bed and took it, Damiano following me, his expression amused. He was shirtless, as he almost always was, his skin was tanned and I kept getting lost in the sight of his tattoos.

Downstairs, Thomas was in the living room, where he had set up a small cocktail bar on the coffee table. Ethan was sitting on the sofa and Sophia was running around outside in the garden, she seemed to be playing with Chili because he was barking loudly. Fortunately, the nearest neighbours were a few hundred metres away and no one complained.

I grabbed a cocktail from the table and went outside to Sophia. She chased Chili, who was running away from her with a toy in her mouth, laughing boisterously.

When I went back inside, the band was talking about an upcoming interview. Tomorrow at noon they had to go into town and do an interview with a big Italian radio station, the day after tomorrow they had a photo shoot with the Italian Vanity Fair and were consulting on how and when to plan everything.

"I can go shopping tomorrow while you are gone," I offered because Ethan doubted they would have enough time to stop at a supermarket on the way back.
"Honestly?", Ethan asked, "That would be great", I nodded, "Sure, no problem. You just have to tell me what we need," I said.

Then I said, "You wouldn't happen to know if my father still lives in the same house as before, would you?", I asked cautiously.
Damiano frowned, "As far as I know he still owns the house, but he moved to another part of town after you left," Damiano said and I nodded quickly.

"Why do you ask that?" he then asked me and I shrugged my shoulders, "I thought I'd drive by, maybe take a look at it when he wasn't living there anymore," I replied lightly.
"You shouldn't do that alone," Damiano decided and I could tell from the looks on the others' faces that they were thinking the same thing, 

"Why not? If he's not there, nothing can happen."
"Still, I don't feel good about you going back to that place alone," he sounded very serious, "If you want, we can go there together at the weekend," he offered a little more conciliatory. I swallowed, "Yeah, sure, we'll do that," I said, "But it's not really that important, I don't really have to go," I decided. Chili barked again outside.

When Sophia came into the living room with the little dog in her arms, the mood relaxed again, even though I still felt the need to visit my father's house. Alone. Somehow I had the feeling that I had to do it alone to be able to come to terms with it.

I put the thought out of my mind and decided not to think about it again today. Today I didn't want to worry about it, but I was happy to see the others again.

Thomas turned up the music and we drank more and more alcohol. At some point Damiano threw Vic into the pool and she shrieked loudly, it wasn't long before we were all in the pool.The refreshing water ensured that I sobered up to some extent again, but it didn't dispel my high spirits.

Damiano put his arms around me from behind in the water and kissed my neck. I closed my eyes, the shouts of the others in my ears.

"I missed you so much," Damiano murmured against my ear and it felt as if we were alone in the garden, as if the cries of the others had died away.

"I missed you too," I replied with a dry throat and let him hold me. I wished he would never let go of me again.