Bewitched Hearts

18. He Got Shot

A few hours later, Danny stood in the patio as she stared at Damien who looked devastated. She looked intently at him as he had his back to her and sat near the edge of the pool. She was hesitant but more than that she was scared. She wasn't scared that he might yell or get angry at her, but scared that he might hurt himself in the process.

She heard him breaking stuff and splattering them in the kitchen an hour earlier, so she didn't know how to approach him or talk to him. So she took a deep breath and walked towards him with two glasses of wine in her hands. She carefully reached him and placed the glasses down and sat beside him quietly.

She picked up one of the glasses and offered it to him. He chuckled humorlessly but took the glass anyway.
Both of them stared ahead at the pool and sipped their wine unhurriedly. It was calm and peaceful. The only sound that could be heard was that of the flowing water in the pool.

"I'm sorry," Danny spoke up first and she tilted her head to see his face. It was emotionless. It was just blank and void.

He was quiet for a few moments,
"I overreacted." He said and looked up to see her face in the eyes.

"No! You didn't. I crossed the line. It was wrong of me to ask you." She apologised, guilt laced in her voice, "The curious side of me got the worst of me."

He didn't respond to her. He just listened to her silently.

Damien's mind was a hurricane. He could not think straight when it came to Kevin. Kevin was the only mistake that he let happen in his life and that guilt fed on him every minute of every day. Kevin was supposed to be there with him. He was supposed to tell him when he was right and when he was being an ass. He was supposed to be there by his side as they solved cases together. He was supposed to be his best man, his best friend.

But all that changed when Damien lost him in front of his eyes and he couldn't do anything about it.

"Kevin was my best friend. He was my only friend for most of my life. We were like brothers. He was like an older brother I never had." Damien mumbled out and Danny perked up at his voice and glanced at him to see his expression. It was still blank.

"Damien, you don't have to-"

"I want to." He interrupted her.

Damien had no idea as to why he was telling her about Kevin but he felt like and he should. It was just his spontaneous to her beside him. He felt the need to talk to her. He wanted her to know the story and what a bad person he was. Maybe then she would leave him alone.

"I met him when I was 8 years old. He was a year older to me. I didn't have any guys to play with and he was our neighbour. We connected instantly over our craze for basketball and video games. We grew up together. He was always there for me and with me." He reminisced the old times with a small sad smile that graced his lips.

Danny listened very carefully to him. She recorded each word he said in her mind.

"You must have had a blast?" She asked him.

"Yeah, we did. We used to prank so much that our parents got upset with us quite frequently."

"You and pranks? Are you sure you're talking about yourself?" Danny chuckled.

"You didn't know me then. If you did, you wouldn't ask me that question."

"Really?" She challenged, "Tell me one fun thing you truly did and then I will believe you."

"There are so many. I couldn't possibly..oh wait I remember. So there was this teacher in our school and he was old and strict. One day he was napping in his office, so Kevin and I snuck into his office and put some sleeping pills in his lunch. He was in a deep sleep and he was barely breathing. We told everyone that he died."