AAHC One Shots (Individual/Short Stories)

Love on the Brain

An alternate ending to 2x04

Monday

After a day from literal hell, the shelter in place order has officially lifted. JR decides to hang back and spend some time with Celine before she leaves campus, while Damon decides to head back to the dorm. As cell service returns, Damon's phone is receiving a few messages, mostly from his mom, which draws his attention once he finally decides to take a look at his phone. Since Keena was supposed to come to the school today to meet Celine, he needs to talk to her and she needs to talk to him. Initially, Damon was a bit frustrated that Keena didn't show, but he understood that the situation would be difficult for her. Meeting the woman who your husband cheated on you with and who is also the mother of the child you thought your husband adopted at random is a lot to fully process, accept and heal from, but that's the least of her worries right now. She just wants to know how Damon is doing.

Damon takes a deep breath as he gives Keena a ring on his way back to the dorm. She cries with relief hearing his voice and immediately apologizes for not showing up. "I should have been there with you today. I'm so sorry that I didn't come."

Damon reassures her. "It's really okay. You had a valid reason for not showing up. I know that the situation is hard, plus none of us could've ever foresaw this happening."

"Well that doesn't matter. I'm in town, so I'm going to come see you tomorrow once everything dies down."

Damon becomes a bit emotional and starts tearing up a bit. Keena can hear his voice trembling. "I would actually love that. Today was rough and we haven't actually seen each other since before Christmas."

"It's definitely been too long. Let me figure some things out and I'll text you later. Love you!"

"Love you too ma." Damon hangs up the phone, putting it in his pocket and continues walking toward the dorm. There is a lot of silence on his walk back, but he can hear all of his thoughts running a mile a minute.

Meanwhile, Simone has just left the common area where Nate, Keisha, and Nico are still sitting. It's super busy with the many friends reuniting and congregating, but after the day Simone has had, she just needs a moment to decompress by herself. She heads to her dorm room, opens the door, tosses her bag on her desk chair and flops on her bed face down. She inhales deeply and then screams into the bed. Suddenly, her phone rings. She takes another deep breath as she lifts her head up, then she drags her body out of bed to grab her phone out of the side compartment of her bag. It's her parents calling to check in on her. She puts on her happy face and voice to briefly chat with them. She doesn't want them to feel super worried. Simone has finally talked to Amara, Shay, her parents and her besties. Now she can finally wash the day off of her.

She grabs her scarf out of her nightstand, wraps her hair, grabs her shower shoes from under the bed and slides them on. She grabs her shower caddy, towel, and phone, then she heads to her door. When she opens the door, to her surprise, it's Damon standing there just about to knock. Simone was slightly startled by his presence, but mostly shocked to see him standing there.

Damon immediately sighs with relief when he sees her, but then recognizes the slightly startled look on her face. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

Simone shakes the look off of her face and steps back gesturing for him to come in. "It's okay. I just wasn't expecting anyone to be right there as soon as the I opened the door. You good?"

As Simone is talking, Damon walks in swiftly. His thoughts are running a mile a minute, so he doesn't hear her question. He stops in the middle of the room, placing his bag on the floor. Turning around, he looks her in the eyes saying, "You good?"