Let Me In

Let Me In [Chapter Three: Everybody Hurts]

Chapter III: Everybody Hurts

I stared at him, he looked so vulnerable. His eyes were piercing me and pleading me.

“Come in” I couldn’t let him out there after all.

“Thanks…” It was barely a whisper. What’s wrong with him?

He stepped inside and I quickly looked for a towel and handed it to him.

“Do you want to take a shower? You’ll catch a cold…” I guess I didn’t hate him as much as I thought. Let’s be honest, I doubt I would really be able to feel hate toward somebody.

“No, thanks anyways” He answered shortly.

“Come with me, I’ll give you dry clothes, you need to change” I made it sound like an order, so he couldn’t say no.

“I doubt your clothes would fit me” He said in an attempt to lighten the mood.

“Yeah, I doubt that too” I agreed smiling slightly, why was I smiling? Never something coming from Damon’s mouth would make me smile, or so I thought, “Ollie left some old clothes that he rarely uses here; I think I can get you something”

“Oh, ok. How’s him by the way? When is he coming?” He was trying to make small talk.

“He’s doing great apparently, we talk every Saturday. He’s coming for Thanksgiving I think” I answered while going inside my brother’s room. He was in college; he wanted to become a lawyer. Oliver was 6’1 tall and I knew Damon was around that height. “How tall are you?”

“6’2” See, I’m good at guessing heights and ages too. I took a pair of old jeans, a green day’s t-shirt and clean socks. Then I blushed in a dark shade of red.

“Um… do you need um… boxers?” He looked at me amused. I waited for him to answer.

“No, its ok, I think mine are dry, don’t worry about it” he smiled at me. Not a smirk, not a grin, just a smile.

“Ok, I’ll leave you alone now so you can change” I turned around and walked through the door, I was about to close it when I stopped to ask him “I’m going to make myself a cup of coffee, do you…” He already had taken his shirt off, “…want one?” Come on, do it. I was waiting for him to smirk and say something like “I’m hot, aren’t I?” but he simply nodded and smiled again. “Ok”. I sprinted towards the kitchen. Why was my heart beating so fast? It’s just a boy, a shirtless boy whom I hate, or at least dislike. And that’s it.

After a couple of minutes Damon appeared in the kitchen wearing my brother’s clothes. He didn’t look half bad in them. Truth is, no matter what he wore, he always looked good. I placed the steaming mug in front of him on the counter and sat in front of him. He stared at the black liquid for a while and then tuned his gaze to me.

“Do you hate me?” He asked bluntly.

“Does it matter?”

“It does to me” I contemplated whether I should tell him or not. “Please…” he said. He sounded tired. I felt a knot in the pit of my stomach.

“No… I don’t know. I thought I did, but I don’t think I could ever hate anybody. I can’t stand you, that’s for sure” I answered honestly. He flinched slightly.

“Why?” Why? Why? Is he serious?

“Well, how about the fact that you ruined my life three years ago? Ha? I was made fun of for almost two years thanks to you! You were mean even when you knew I trusted you, you were my best friend Damon! And you treated me like I was a worthless and insignificant piece of shit just to get new cool and popular friends. So what do you want now? You practically rule the school all by yourself; can’t you just leave me alone now that I have my life on track again? Do you need to see me begging for mercy to feel satisfied and happy?” I was gripping the counter tightly. “What do you want!?”

“You”

I tried to understand, I really did, but what is he talking about? Please say something about me being gullible, laugh and tell me you’re fucking joking, come on!

He got up from his sit and made his way around the counter until he was standing beside me.

“Nicole…” He put a hand on my shoulder and I flinched, “Nicole, look at me” I reluctantly turn to my right and locked eyes with him. He looked sad and it somehow made my heart ache. “I’m really sorry for what I did, but at the moment I thought it was the right choice…” I didn’t say anything. He leaned down and pressed his forehead against mine. I felt weird with the proximity; I wanted to pull away so badly but decided against it.

“How can being a jerk to your best friend be the best choice?” I spoke slowly. I was on the verge of crying but I didn’t want to cry in front of him. He exhaled and his warm breath hit my face, we were so close.

“I don’t think I’m ready to talk about that” He said pulling away, he looked uncomfortable. “I just… I please need you to stop this, stop ignoring me and stop hating me, please, I can’t take it anymore” He sounded truly broken. But I wasn’t able to trust him that easily, he made sure of that.

“I don’t know. Why should I trust you again, you really hurt me before and I don’t want to go through the same, I can’t” I said, I felt my eyes water and draw my head backwards to try and put the tears back to his place. I can’t cry right now, I won’t. Suddenly, I was pulled into a tight embrace. He hugged me. Damon Ferran hugged me.

“I know. I wish I could take it all back” He said and started to stoke my hair. I could hear his heart beating like a maniac. Being in his warm arms felt so… nice. I slowly placed my arms around his torso and he sighed. “This feels good” he said after a moment.

“I know”.

Just then, the phone rang. We immediately let go and I went to the living room to pick it up. It was my mom. She told me she had to stay at the hospital for the night, she was scheduled for an emergency surgery just twenty minutes ago. She told me to call a friend to stay over the night so I wouldn’t be alone. I wished her good luck and hung up.

“Is everything ok?” Damon asked from his spot, leaning against the door frame. I just looked at him for a moment. He was gorgeous. He always had been, even when we were kids. Whenever he would smile, these cute dimples would appear on his face, his hair was always messy but it looked sexy on him. He was lean and muscular and he had the most mesmerizing blue eyes I have ever seen, on cloudy days like today, they would turn a darker shade of blue, almost grey.

“Yes, my mom has to work all night at the hospital; she called to let me know” I answered while sitting on the couch, the phone still in my hand. He slowly approached and sat beside me. We both zoned out, each of us in their own world. I would’ve thought I was alone if it wasn’t for the sound of his steady breathing. I stole a glance at him and nearly jumped off the couch, he was staring at me intently.

“I should go” he said all too soon.

“Hmm” Was all I could master up. I didn’t really want to be alone. Not that I was scared, but I was pretty much a mess at the moment.

“Do you want me to stay?” He asked after a few minutes passed.

“Yes”.