Her Saving Grace

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I made it through today just like I do every other day, on autopilot. I don't even feel like myself anymore. Being on autopilot is the only way to keep from having a panic attack just being in the hallway and not getting any sleep is not helping. I have most of my classes with Matty but the ones I don't, I have with Caroline so I always have someone I trust with me. Once school is over, Caroline takes me home and I see Damon sitting on my steps. "What's he doing here?" Caroline asked. "He walked me home last night and stayed on the porch until Matty got home. He was here this morning to check on me and said he would be here this afternoon." I tell her. "Charlie, don't get too close to him, okay?" she says and I look at her with a 'seriously?' expression on my face. "Care, you know I can't get close to anyone after what happened. Trust me." I say before hugging her and getting out of the car and watching her drive away.

I walk up to the steps and Damon stands once I get close. I walk to the door and walk inside. I know he has to be invited in so I say, "You can come in." He smiles at me and walks into the house. He follows me into the kitchen and I sit at the island while he sits on the other side. "How was school?" he asked. "It was okay. It's a little hard for me being there but I have to go." I say. "Hard how?" he asked. "I pretty much have to zone out in order to just get through the day without going into a full blown panic attack." I tell him and it seems so easy to talk to him for some reason. "Matt said something this morning about you sleeping. Are you not sleeping?" he asked and I looked down at my hands. "Not really. Everytime I close my eyes I see it happening all over again and I wake up not being able to breath. I usually only get an hour or two a night. Some days I don't even know how I function." I tell him and he says "It will get better. You know that right?" I just look at him and shake my head. "No it won't. It's been six months and you are the first guy other than my brother that I have been able to be in a room with where I am not panicking and looking for a way out of the room." He gets up and moves to the side of the island that I am sitting on and places his hand on mine and says, "That's improvement isn't it?" I just look at him and nod my head. Maybe it is. "You wanna watch a movie?" I asked him and he nods his head yes.

An hour later, we are sitting on the couch and watching a movie. Damon is on one end and I am on the other. He pulls my feet into his lap and starts to rub my feet. Next thing I know, I feel him picking me up and carrying me to my bed. As he carries me, I feel myself curl into him and when he places me on the bed, he pulls the covers over me and starts to leave. "Damon?" I whisper. "Yeah Char?" That's the first time he has called me anything other than Charlie and no one calls me that. "Will you stay?" I asked. Walking back over to the bed, Damon takes off his shoes and climbs under the covers with me. He pulls me closer to him so that my head is laying on his chest and I feel him with his phone in his hand. "I texted Matt to let him know I was staying tonight." he whispered. "Thank you, Damon." I whisper. "Good night Char." he says and I drift back to sleep.

I wake up the next morning and am still laying on Damon's chest. This was the first night that I have slept all night and not had a nightmare or a panic attack. I open my eyes and start to raise up and Damon pulls me back down. "It's Saturday. Go back to sleep." he says and I chuckle. I get up and go to the bathroom before getting back into bed with him. I turn my back to him and he curls up behind me, pulling me into him and suddenly I feel this incredible warmth come over me. How can someone I barely know make me feel more safe than my own brother? I drift back off to sleep and next thing I know, it's noon and we are waking up again.

We get out of bed and head downstairs to see Matt and Caroline sitting on the couch. Caroline and Matt had recently started dating and I was glad to see the two people that I loved more than anything together and happy. "Hey guys." I say and they both look up at me and see Damon behind me. "Hey Charlie. How'd you sleep?" Matty asked. "I slept. Actually slept." I tell him and he smiles. Caroline gets up and walks to me and we head into the kitchen while Damon sat on the couch next to Matty. "Why is Damon coming downstairs with you?" she asked. "Because it would be rude and a little illegal to keep him held hostage in the bedroom?" I asked and she smiled. I was sounding like my old self again. "You look like you really actually slept." she says. "Caroline, I have not had one night where I didn't have nightmares or panic attacks. This was the first one. I can't explain how I feel so safe with him. But I do." I tell her. "So, if you are feeling better, does that mean you will go to the dance now?" she asked and before I could answer, Damon came into the kitchen and said, "Yes it does." I look at him shocked and shaking my head no and he walks over to me and makes me look at him. "I'll be your date. If it gets to be too much, we will leave. Okay?" he asked. "Okay." I say simply and Caroline jumps up and down squealing. An hour later, Damon has headed back to the boarding house with the promise to be back tonight so I can sleep and Caroline left to go see her mother. "Care to tell me how Damon ended up in your bed?" Matty asked me. "It's not like that. He was here when Caroline brought me home from school and I invited him in. We were watching a movie and I dozed off and he carried me to my room to tuck me in and I asked him to stay. I don't know what it is Matty but I feel safe with him. I didn't have any nightmares or panic attacks last night. None." I tell him and he smiles softly. "I don't like you being around him but it seems like you are better when he is around. But if he hurts you Charlotte, I will kill him." he says and I laugh a little.

As promised, Damon knocked on the door just before Matty left for his shift at the Grill. Matty lets him in and he comes into the kitchen to see me finishing cleaning up from dinner. "You want to go do something tonight?" he asked. "Depends on what you want to do?" I asked. "I thought we could take a walk. Nothing too exciting." he tells me. "Yeah. Let me get my jacket." I get my jacket and we head out the door. Walking away from town, we are at the little path at the side of Wickery Bridge. It leads to a clearing and I am a little sceptical about going back there alone with him. "Are you okay?" he asked. "Damon, I can't go back there." I say and tears start forming in my eyes. He is in front of me in an instant and pulling me to him. "It's okay. I just wanted to show you something." he says "Damon, that's where..." I started but before I could finish, he kisses me softly on the lips and whispers, "I won't let anything happen to you." I nod my head yes and he intertwines our fingers and leads me down the path. We come to the clearing where I was raped and he feels me tense. Pulling me closer to him, we walk farther into the clearing and there is a blanket there with a picnic basket sitting there. He helps me sit down and pulls out two bottled waters and some fruit. I am sitting next to him on the blanket and he has his arms around me. "Are you okay?" he asked. "I will be." I tell him. "The reason that I brought you here is because you need to face what happened. And someone told me once that to face it, and take back your power, is to do something positive to overtake the negative." I look at him and he elaborates. "This is where you were attacked. So, us coming here, spending time here, having a picnic and just being together, that is how you take your power back. Show yourself how strong you are and that you won't let it control you. I will be here beside you the entire time. I won't let you get hurt again." he tells me. I lay down on the blanket and Damon lays next to me and we just look up at the stars. "Why are you helping me Damon?" I asked without looking at him. He sits up and hovers over me slightly and, as he caresses my face, he says "I feel drawn to you. I just feel this pull telling me to protect you. I like being around you, Char. It's like, when I am around you, I want to be better." I smiled slightly and leaned up a little to kiss him softly. The kiss deepens but he doesn't make any move to go any farther and for that I am grateful. When we look at the time, it's almost midnight and Matty will be home soon. We pack up and head back to my house and, as promised, Damon lays with me until I fall asleep. I spend the rest of the night in his arms finally getting some much needed sleep.