Hidden and Silent (SpyxFamily)

Ch. 17: Part Two

       The strange man left and Demetrius came out of hiding. He was aware that Mrs. Forger had a brother in the SSS, that he knew about Anya, and Demetrius wasn't about to give himself away. Yuri would no doubt find it odd that Demetrius was in the Forger's apartment, and just because Yuri Briar protected Anya, that didn't mean he would protect Demetrius.

Besides. Demetrius would always prefer to keep his secrets to himself, anyway.

Gathering his things was a simple task. He didn't have much here. The Forger's had provided him a duffle bag of borrowed things and it took less than five minutes to grab everything.

And then Yuri showed up.

It was an unwelcome interruption and Demetrius was anxious to get moving the second Yuri was gone.

Demetrius needed to get to Damian. Now. As soon as possible. He didn't trust that his father wouldn't fetch Damian back home and Demetrius was jumpy with nerves as everyone finally left the complex and piled into the car.

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Day 3.

The third day since Forger had said she wanted to be friends. The third day since she had stopped avoiding Damian. The third day since the rift between them began to seal shut again.

Damian woke and he was reminded of it. He got dressed and he was lighter. His steps were easier. His mind was relieved of a massive weight whenever he thought about her. . .

. . .

Because, obviously, Damian's friends would come to mind sometimes.

The spring in his step was automatic and every second he breathed was another second of an unadulterated and consuming peace of mind and contentedness. Like he had finally crested a dangerous, scary cliff that he had struggled and worked to climb, fearing he may never reach the top.

But he had. He had made it.

And he was. . .happy.

Damian couldn't stop thinking about it. His waking moments when he was doing something else were distracted by it. The importance of doing schoolwork was dwarfed by it. Everything was right again and Damian just. . .couldn't. Stop. Thinking about it.

"You're in a good mood." Emile commented from the floor. He sat by the coffee table in the commons room looking over his homework as the boys so often did before heading out for breakfast.

"What?" Damian looked up from his own on the couch, realizing he had blanked out on it.

"You were smiling." Ewen added.

Damian took a moment to process that, staring blankly at his friend. ". . .What?"

"You must be really confident with your answers." Emile glanced intentionally at his homework.

"Umm. . .yeah." Damian responded. It wasn't a lie. His work often had the best scores in Cecil Hall.

But the boys continued to look at him as if expecting him to say something more.

". . .What?" Damian said again, warily.

"You and Forger have been getting along lately." Ewen said evenly and Damian jolted like he'd been hit with a car, forgetting to breathe. His face burned.

"Y-y-y-yeah, so?!" He stammered, taken by surprise and inexplicably angry. At the same time, he wondered how such a phrase could sound so amazingly surreal. He. . .wanted to. . .hear it aga—