Stained

Chapter 58

I bolt upright, horrified. "What!"

A million questions run through my mind all at once, and I want to demand the answers to all of them.

One at a time, I tell myself. But I will get the answers to all of them. I will not let him brush me off this time. Not on this.

"Calm down." He sits up on the bed and throws his legs over the edge, essentially placing his back to me.

I'm not having it. I get off the bed and stand in front of him. It proves useless because he won't look at me. His head is drooped between his shoulders, his elbows thrown over his knees, and his gaze pointedly focused on my grey carpet.

"I can't calm down, Damien. You got into a car crash! What—." I stop since I'm unable to help the rise in my voice with each word that leaves my lips.

I close my eyes and take in a deep breath, composing myself. Once I feel like I have a decent grasp, I peel open my eyes with a shake of my head. "How did you crash your..." I trail off, remembering the half-empty bottle of alcohol. "You drove whilst you were drunk?!"

So much for having a decent grasp.

He doesn't answer me.

Suddenly, worry is replacing all my senses.

I get on my knees before him.

He still doesn't look up.

I place my hands on his wrists.

He only elevates his eyes to my hands.

"Damien," I call his name lightly. That partially works — He slowly raises his head, and I get a glimpse into those defeated and guilt-ridden eyes before he quickly drops them again.

Tons of dreadful scenarios pop up into my head of what could have happened. Each more horrendous than the last.

Despite my heart beating a mile a minute, I tentatively place my palm on his cheek and angle his face upward. "Hey."

He looks at me, but only for a second. It's as if he wants to but can't.

"Damien," I press on. "What ha—."

"I'm sorry," he blurts.

I am so startled by the apology I almost fall back onto my bottom. That and his bloodshot eyes.

"What?" I don't know what I'm asking, but it seems to be the only word I can currently get past my lips.

Hearing Damien apologise is like seeing him smile. Very, very rare.

'Yet he does it a lot around you.' I ignore the small voice in my head.

"I'm s... sorry for leaving you. I shouldn't have."

I shake my head. Leave it to Damien to apologise back to back for the first time — with me — for something that wasn't his fault. "Damien, you have nothing to apologise for. It wasn't your fault."

He doesn't say anything, just smiles a sad sort of smile.

I suck my lower lip into my mouth; the intensity and emotion on his face and in his eyes are tearing my heart apart. It's what compels me to lean forward and press my lips to his.

I don't deepen the kiss, and neither does he. Our lips aren't attached for long, they separate when he wraps his arms around me and pulls me onto his lap until my legs are straddling his. I press his head to my chest and run my fingers through his soft curls whilst mumbling words of consolation.

With so much palpable despair, I feel like it could consume me whole, Damien wraps his arms around me.

I'm struggling to comprehend what he must have felt after he found out I had left. I mean, we met for the first time a week ago, and our first meeting didn't exactly go smooth sailing. To be honest, I hated the guts out of him. And it didn't look like he necessarily liked me either.