Rich Brat [M!reader + Damian Desmond] (platonic)

11

"Damian, I'm not sure you should be reading books like that,"
You cautioned after seeing the cover of the novel.

He scowled,
"I can read whatever I want!"

"But it's-"

"Who are you to tell me what I can or can't read?"

You shrugged,
"Okay, have it your way then,"

There was a reason you warned him about that book, and he'd soon come to understand why. You were honestly baffled how he'd gotten a horror novel seeing how rare those were in the area, and you questioned who would even give a child a book like that.

You were sure that any other day the boy might've heeded your warnings at least a little bit, but it seemed that he'd gotten worked up by his little crush at school and was being extra emotional.

Knowing what would happen later in the night, you prepared your room accordingly.

~•~

Damian really should've listened to you. He knew the book would be scary, but he thought he could handle it! But the things he read in that book... he didn't know if he'd be able to sleep that night, especially not in the dark.

"Goodnight Damian, sleep tight,"
You said before turning his light off and shutting the door.

He decided the best course of action would just be to shut his eyes tight and try to ignore every little creaking sound in the house. It didn't work at all.

Every sound made him shiver, and not even hugging his plushie helped.

So what'd he do? He ran all the way to your room with his eyes shut, too afraid of the chance he might see something scary on his way there.

He barged inside before jumping onto your bed, opening his eyes when he knew you had the lights on.

"You see why I told you not to read that book?"
You asked.

He nodded, throwing his pride aside while fear coursed through his veins.

"I made you another tent, you can sleep there again,"

Like before, you'd made a tent out of some spare blankets. But this time, it was on one half of the bed, and not in the center like it was previously. This way, you'd still be able to sleep in your own bed and keep the little boy from being too scared.

Without saying a word to you, he entered the tent, pulling the blankets over his shoulders before letting his eyes close again.

You moved to turn the light off, but stopped when you heard him clear his throat.

"...can you keep the lights on?"

You sighed,
"As you wish, Damian,"

You pulled an eye mask out of your bedside cabinet and put it on before getting into your blankets and getting ready to sleep.

"Goodnight, Damian,"

You pulled the sleeping mask over your eyes, and slowly began to drift off to sleep.

Having the lights on in your cozily decorated room helped a lot with staving off the fear, though there still was a little bit of uneasiness lingering within the boy.

So after he made sure you were asleep, he wiggled his arm underneath the tent you made, reaching for your hand before grabbing onto it.

That ended up being enough to get him to sleep.

~•~

Oh lord you wanted to cry from the cuteness you were witnessing. His little hand was grabbing onto yours!

You were glad to be of assistance to the little boy, and hoped it was a sign that he was starting to trust you more.

You missed having someone to hold hands with, it was always so comforting, it never really mattered who. You'd always hold onto his hand, trying to give him some sort of comfort in the daunting world. It was the least he deserved.

Wait, who were you thinking about?

That didn't matter now, Damian was waking up!

You quickly shut your eyes, feigning sleep as the boy awakened.

Noticing his hand in yours, the boy quickly retracted it, a sense of embarrassment burning his neck. Did he really hold hands with a commoner to fall asleep?! How could he have let that damned book affect him so much?!

Oh but it was so comforting to hold your hand. He'd seen how other kids would hold hands with their parents, and knew he'd never be able to do anything like that. Maybe you'd be good enough.

He held your hand once more before laying back down, stifling a smile.

_______________________

I was horrible with handling scary things as a child ☠️