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I Lift

Light streamed in through the large window of Damien's bedroom, bathing the tousled white sheets in a shroud of brightness. Cool air blew softly across Freddie's bare shoulder as the air conditioning shut on, rustling her hair to brush her cheek. Disturbed by the ticklish feeling against her skin, Freddie stirred in bed and slowly came to consciousness. She stretched her legs out beneath the sheets, then retreated into the fetal position as she hugged a pillow to her chest. It was then that she realized that Damien was gone.

Opening her eyes, Freddie lifted her head and searched the spacious room. Aside from herself, it was empty. With a frown, Freddie climbed from the bed and took an old band t-shirt from Damien's closet, pulling it over her head to cover herself. After putting on her underwear, Freddie ventured out into the hallway in hopes of finding Damien. Maybe he had already left for his mom's place in Connecticut as he usually did on the weekends.

Cautiously tiptoeing into the living room, Freddie was relieved to see that Damien hadn't left yet; in fact, it appeared as if he was making her breakfast. Smiling at the thought of Damien's kindness, Freddie entered the kitchen and addressed him.

"Well, this is new," Freddie said happily, taking a seat at the bar. At the sound of her voice, Damien looked over his shoulder and smiled. "I thought you would have left already."

"Not this weekend. My sister is staying with my mother now, so I don't have to go back for a little bit." Damien took two pancakes off the griddle and plated them, walking over and sliding the plate across the counter to sit in front of Freddie. "For you."

"Wait, so you're staying in the city the whole weekend?"

"Mhm, and you're staying here, and I'm cooking for you." He sounded determined. 

Freddie raised her brow, suspicious of Damien's sudden change of plans, but nonetheless pleased by it. It had been a while since she had had a full weekend with him, and so she was looking forward to spending it with him, especially if that meant he was cooking for her the whole time. As much as she liked to cook, she liked a man doing it for her more.

"You haven't cooked for me since we first started seeing each other," Freddie smiled, not meaning the comment to be an accusation of any sort, but rather an observation. "I'm excited to see what you come up with."

Damien handed her a fork as he took his own plate of pancakes and took a seat on the stool beside her, "Well, it seems I have a lot of cooking to make up for then." He leaned over and kissed her gently on the mouth. "I hope this is a good start."

With her cheeks blooming with color, Freddie nodded, "I think it definitely will be."

The two of them ate breakfast together, after which Freddie insisted she help in cleaning up. Damien allowed her to help, though it didn't take long for him to sit at the bar and watch as she did the dishes in nothing but her underwear and his t-shirt. After breakfast, Freddie joined Damien on the sofa, where they began to watch a movie of Damien's choosing. Freddie didn't particularly like the film, but she didn't really mind so long as he kept holding her the way he did.

After the movie, Freddie soon realized that she had better text Harry and tell him that she wouldn't be home til Sunday night, just so he knew he had to fend for himself for food. So, when Damien got up to go to the bathroom, Freddie took her phone and set to letting Harry know of her plans. But Damien returned more quickly that she had expected him to, and so when he saw Freddie texting someone, he couldn't help but inquire after who the recipient of her message had been. 

Freddie hesitated, knowing that he would not like her answer in the least. However much she assured him that she and Harry were just friends, the fact that they were still friends irritated him. Nonetheless, she didn't want to lie, so she decided she would tell him the truth. Better him know and be annoyed than for him to find out she lied and get pissed off.