Flame Inside ✿ Damien and Matthew

Chapter 17

(This comes from Damien's special episode, City Lights)

One and a half years after Diana

Thalia could never understand why, but whenever she found herself staring up into the sky at night, she always found herself lost in the moon's glow. The white and silver light just seemed to capture her attention, no matter how many stars peeked out of the darkness of space. It was impossible to tell how the moon was able to have this magic spell over her, but it was a spell she didn't think much of. After all, she had someone in her life to fill her thoughts with.

Damien had become her everything: her sun, her stars. He was so precious to her and she couldn't dare to think of letting him go. Thalia wanted to cherish him for the rest of her life and her heart solidified that promise in her chest. He was the first person she would see in the morning and the last person she would see at night before going to sleep.

Her heart gave a gentle thump in her chest as she opened her eyes and stared at the man lying beside her, his hair ruffled from sleep and his cheeks pink in peaceful slumber. How on Earth had she gotten so lucky? Still, she was happy to know that she had finally found someone who made her feel absolutely happy and she could only hope that she made him feel the same way.

Thalia hummed lightly with contentment, causing Damien to ask lightly, "What is it?"

"I love you." She told him gently, a soft smile pulling at her lips.

A simple smile and chuckle never made her feel so light as he replied, "And I love you... I love you so much."

Thalia cuddled close to Damien. It was mid-afternoon, almost night, and Damien wasn't up for writing his children's book and Thalia didn't have a shift at the Pink Lady Café, so they settled on watching a movie in bed before dinner. However, Damien held her closer than he usually did. She didn't complain. It was just something she noticed and didn't really care to acknowledge as significant at the time.

However, what he said next surprised her, "Let's go to the city."

"What?" She questioned, confused on where this was coming from. She furrowed her brows. Why did he want to go to Chicago, especially midway through the afternoon?

Still, despite her confusion, Damien smiled down at her with a hopeful gaze, "Can we? The city is much prettier at night."

Thalia squeaked slightly in her throat at how cute he was. She couldn't say no to him. Damien carried an innocence in his eyes that always convinced her to say yes to his small requests. Besides, it had been a while since they had gone to the city. Some Windy City air was due for taking in. The city lights were always lovely to behold. Thalia grinned, "Sure. Let me get dressed and we'll head out."

It took them a bit to get dressed, especially when Damien was oddly very insistent on Thalia wearing a sleeveless deep red dress that had a gentle sparkle to it, and drive to the city. Damien had got James to teach him how to drive when they got together and now Damien was able to get them anywhere they needed without much difficulty.

While Lake Shore Drive was still a terrible expressway, they were able to get to the Loop by dinner. They parked in a lot and began to walk around the city, taking in the sights of the Magnificent Mile and stopping in some new shops for a peek. It was exciting to see some of the Anderson Toys being displayed in the windows of toy shops. Damien and Thalia couldn't have been more proud of the company and Damien's brothers working behind it, after both Emma and her cousin Mika relinquished any entitlement to the company.

"Damien! Look!" Thalia had to stop and point at a window display. Posed in a beautiful dance pose were two dolls– a boy and a girl– in front of a beautiful spring sky. There was even a toy tree and fence to decorate the foreground. She was very certain it was designed for tourists, yet it seemed so out of the blue.