Sin City: The trip of a lifetime

Chapter 9: What Did I Miss?

  "House meeting!" Brendon called. Everyone took a seat on the couch as Brendon stood in front of them all. "Alright! As you know, we're all going to be living together for a while. Is anyone objecting to that to start?" Everyone replied with a 'no' in unison. "Great! Now, we need to decide on rooms. We have three bedrooms to split around the four of us. Would anyone like to volunteer to buddy up? I personally would like to offer up my room. I don't mind sharing—" "I'll room with Damien." Naomi interrupted Brendon. "Huh?" "I'll share a room with Damien." "That's nice Angel but you don't—" "I didn't object yet, did I?" Damien said, leaning back on the couch. "What chapters did I miss here?" Ash asked. "You could always just room with me" Ash said. "I know, but I'd really like to spend more time with Damien." "When did you two get so buddy buddy?" Brendon asked

   "When you leave two people and a ton of weed home alone all day, you learn a lot about each other" Damien said, flopped back on the couch still.

   After finishing breakfast, Naomi and Damien decided to play games together. "Ever tried smash bros?" Damien asked holding out a controller. Naomi took a seat next to him and grabbed it. "It's a multiplayer game. Brendon loves it. We play together when he's off work." "Never heard of it? How do you play?" Naomi asked, tilting her head to the side. Damien looked at her plump strawberry lips. He moved his gaze back up to her light brown eyes. He explained the directions to her the best he could, then left to get a bag of chips. "We're gonna need those." "Alright, how many rounds?" Damien thought for a moment. "Maybe just three to start with. Best two out of three wins, ok?"

   As they started the round, Naomi absolutely destroyed Damien. "Aww, really? I won?!" "That's because you chose Donkey Kong" Damien said, facepalming. "What, he looked strong enough." Naomi straightened her back, popping out her chest some as she did so. Damien quickly looked back at the screen. "A-alright then. I'll be able to get you this time. I'll be Bowser."

   "Who's the skeleton dude in the corner?" Naomi asked innocently. "We don't talk about him." Damien said in a flat tone. "Okayyy" Naomi said with an eyeroll. "I'll be this little mushroom dude." "Oh, toad? Let's see how this goes." Once again by some magic, Naomi beat Damien. "I thought you said you've never played before." Damien said, shocked at how a noob managed to beat him twice. "Don't underestimate me, Mr Holerrick." Naomi said, grabbing some chips.

   "Yeah, ok Nemo." "Nemo?" "You know, the movie about the little clown fish? 'Don't touch the butt!'" Naomi laughed. Damien grew to enjoy her laugh a lot. "You remember I haven't been to the movies since I was a child, right?" "It's a kids movie! You just remind me of the fish!" "So, I'm a clown fish?" "Yea, you both defy many expectations and come out on top"Naomi's face went pink. "Not like that! Damien said. He looked over her smooth skin.

   'Stop it. You just met this girl. You can't be getting attached-' "Something wrong?" Naomi interrupted his small spiral. "No, no. I'm fine. You uh, you won the game. Two out of three." He stood up and stretched. "What next?" Naomi asked, standing up with him. "When it gets later, I'll make us lunch. For now, how about I get the stuff from the closet?" "Sounds good to me!" Naomi plopped down on the couch and waited for Damien.

   He brought down a bong this time and a small grinder. "Oooo fancy! I like it!" Naomi said with a big smile. It was a clear glass bong with little blue stars on it. "Yeah? Got this last Christmas. One of the best gifts I've ever gotten." "Nice!" Damien poured in the water and took some out of the grinder.

   "Is this gonna become a new story time ritual or something?" Naomi asked. "What do you mean?" "Us sitting down together like this." "Oh" Damien said, thinking it was rather obvious afterwards. "Is that what you want?" "I actually... wouldn't mind sharing the Naomi Oliver story with you." "Oliver huh? Cute" Damien said without thinking. "I'm cute?" Naomi said, flashing her eyes at him. "Yeah. You've got a cute little name. Goes with your height. Small and adorable." Damien said before lighting it and sucking in the smoke.

   "Hey! Are you calling me short?!" "Maybe" he replied blowing out. "And that's why I kicked your ass in the game." "Hey! I let you win those." "Sure, and you think I'm tall." She grabbed the bong and hit it hard. "Fine. You're not small and adorable then." "Thank yo— hey! Damn right I'm adorable!" Naomi lowered her eyebrows and crossed her arms. Damien laughed and got the bowl of chips from the other room. "Yeah, you're real cute alright." He said before eating a Dorito. "Heh... thanks. You're not just fuckin with me right?" "I said what I said. Now pass"

   A couple hours passed with Naomi ending up in what she learned had become her new favorite spot. She sat next to Damien and he put his arm around her, watching tv. She laid he head back on his chest as they shared a drink. "Hey" she said looking up at him. "Hm?" "I have a kind of dumb question." "Shoot." "What does it mean when you feel the most comfortable around someone, more than you've ever been in your life?"

   Naomi put her head back down on his chest. "You trust them with your life." Damien said, shrugging and putting his head on hers for a split second, before thinking it over and lifting up. "Is that what it means?" "Well, to me at least. Some other people might say you're falling for that person." Naomi tensed a little before moving out of his arms and setting next to him. "Something wrong?" "I'm just gonna go to the bathroom."

   Naomi walked into the bathroom and locked the door before slumping onto the floor in front of it. 'Oh no. No no no. You just feel close to him because he protected you. You don't like him. You can't. That's... weird. I've never liked anyone before. He feels different though. He's nothing like the pigs on the street. He's warm and smells nice.' Naomi got up and splashed cold water on her face. "Get your shit together, girl. He's just a nice guy doing a nice thing for you. You can't let something like feelings get in the way". She walked out of the bathroom and sat next to him.

   "Everything ok?" Damien asked as she leaned the other way. "Yep, I'm all good." She said with a smile. "Can I tell you a story this time?" "Whatever you want" Naomi said as Damien muted the tv. "Alright so, back in my Junior year of high school, I had a girlfriend. Her name was Nina. She had dark blue hair and big blue eyes." Naomi nodded along while Damien told his story. "We we're together for a while. I loved her the best I could. Found out she was nothing but a cheating, lying bitch." "Oh no. I'm so sorry", she put a hand on his shoulder. "I haven't had a partner since her. But through that experience, I learned more about myself. I came out as bisexual to my brother a year later. I've never done anything like what you do with people. You were right. I haven't even kissed anyone besides Nina. The last time I had someone in my arms, I had to find out she was also in the arms of another."

   Naomi put her head down. "But, I think you and my brother may have a point. I might need to start putting myself out there more. It gets lonely without someone to hold, you know?" "Damien I... I'm sorry you had to go through that. I don't think I've ever really had a crush of sorts. I don't fully understand love. I just know that when you find someone you like, everything just feels right." The room went silent.

   "Can I hold you tonight?"