We sat together for a while in silence. It was nice to just have him back again, after two weeks of the frustration of him avoiding me. I'd missed the comfort of his musky scent and his soft hair.
I didn't know what my decision to stay with Dameon, whatever the circumstance, was going to begin - especially because of the whole Imprinting situation - but I knew it would start something. My life just couldn't stay uneventful for very long. But for now, everything seemed to have gone back into place, and it felt good.
It had started to get dark when Dameon broke our silence.
He sighed. "We should probably get back now... I mean, your dad will be wondering where you are. And the others..."
I nodded into his side. I definitely didn't want to worry Chris. Not that he would mind that much that I was out with Dameon.
I started to get up, and he helped me to my feet. My legs felt stiff after sitting still for so long and I felt a little dizzy. I wobbled a bit and almost fell over, but Dameon caught me. His reflexes must have gotten faster. That, or he just knew how clumsy I was. He lifted me up in his arms and carried me through the trees.
Just before we reached the edge of the forest, Dameon put me back on my feet, but he kept an arm round my waist so I didn't fall again.
He helped me climb into my truck, but he seemed reluctant to let me drive myself home.
"I'm sorry I can't come with you, but the others..." He quickly glanced towards the house.
"I'm fine. Really. I can get myself home just fine." It wasn't like I was drunk. I hope he wasn't planning on being ridiculously overprotective.
He finally gave in, mainly because Jessie tapped on the window and told him to come in. He cast me a glance before he ran into the house.
When I got home, Chris was watching the TV in the front room. He looked up as I came in and, probably after seeing that I looked relatively cheerful, smiled.
"It go well then?" He asked, half-turning back to the TV.
"Yeah. We sorted everything out. Sorry I got back so late"
Charlie's attention was turned back to the TV and he just nodded and muttered something unintelligible in response. I figured that was my cue to leave.
I went upstairs and got ready for bed, my head full of what had happened today. This morning felt like days ago. Everything had changed in a matter of hours.
Were me and Dameon destined to be together? I know our friendship was easy, natural, but I'd never seen him that way. To me, he was just my best friend; almost family. But if imprinting was about finding a soul mate, did that mean we would end up together anyway? That nothing could keep us apart again? I liked the idea of that; of him not being able to leave me again the way he had these past weeks. But what did it mean for me? Would I naturally start to see Dameon that way? Or would I have to make myself?
So many questions were rolling around my head. Questions I didn't know the answer to. Questions I would only be able to answer in time. I guess, for now, I should just make the most of what I knew and what I had, and only worry about the future when it was time to.
I fell asleep wondering where Dameon was now. He'd told me that they ran patrols at night, so they were bound to be out running right now. I just hoped, wherever they were, that they were safe.
I was in the forest again. I was searching, as usual. Stumbling through the forest, looking. I knew what was coming; the realisation, and then the awaking to myself screaming.
But tonight was different. Just as I was about to realise there was nothing to look for, there was a rustle behind me. I spun round in confusion, yet knowing, as you do in dreams, that whatever was behind me was not the thing I was looking for. But then a large figure stepped out of the shadows, and it was Dameon.
When I saw it was him, I wasn't scared or searching anymore. I just ran to him in relief and fell into his pleasantly warm embrace
