IPNOTIZZANTE - Damiano David

Coraline

After getting only four hours of sleep, Amelia had groaned once again at the sound of her alarm and got out of the bed feeling grumpy and nauseous. She could never get adjusted to not having enough sleep, and this time, her overthinking was to blame. She quickly showered and put on her ripped jeans and black turtleneck, then applied some light makeup. She put her hair up into a ponytail and went to the hotel restaurant for some breakfast before leaving to the arena. She was hoping to have some peace during breakfast, but her hopes had been ruined when she had noticed that Victoria and Thomas were waving at her from their table.

"Come sit with us!", she invited the girl.

Amelia could see the smiles on Vic and Thomas' faces, but since she could only see the back of Damiano and Ethan, based on their postures, they were completely exhausted and not willing to socialize much. Amelia had picked out her food and slowly walked up to the band's table. "Hi guys. Good morning.", she greeted everyone.

"Good morning, Amelia.", they've all responded.

"What happened to you guys?", she asked Damiano and Ethan while she was taking her seat between Vic and Thomas and opposite of the other two.

"We got completely destroyed last night.", Ethan's voice sounded hoarse. "Plus, we couldn't sleep."

"Sorry to hear that.", Amelia lowered her gaze and started eating, since she had noticed that Damiano didn't even care to look at her.

Here it goes again... The rollercoaster of Damiano David's emotions. One minute he's sweet and talkative and the second he is grumpy and narcissistic.

After breakfast, they've taken the bus to the arena and started with the interviews for that day. Amelia was patiently waiting on the side until the end of all of the interviews and then led them to the practice room where they have gathered their things and then went to the main stage to practice their performance in front of the other contestants. Amelia was purely impressed by the song and Damiano's vocals, but also Vic and Thomas's movements and Ethan's energetic drumming which had not been expected after his state that morning. She had realized that they were something really special and they had the potential of becoming worldwide stars.

They've ordered lunch at the practice room and the guys insisted for Amelia to join them again, and this time she had no chance to protest since Thomas and Ethan had practically dragged her inside and locked her in. They were sharing two boxes of pizza and drinking sodas.

"I'm actually impressed by the room that we got, it's huge!", Victoria said. "  You definitely need to come over tonight."

"And we are not taking 'no' for an answer.", Thomas continued.

Once again, Damiano just looked at her and didn't say a word, which gave Amelia the impression that she was not welcome at all. "Sorry guys, but-"

"No, no, no.", Thomas cut her off. "Be there, right after dinnertime, 8.30."

Amelia sighed. She had realized that she couldn't really win over the three of them.

Finally, Damiano had spoken to her. "You should come over, we'll have some drinks and snacks."

The girl had just looked at him with a puzzled look, since she was trying to understand what kind of a game he was playing.

"And weed.", he added, with a smirk on his face.

"Fine, I'll be there.", she agreed.

"Yaaaay!", Victoria clapped happily.

As promised, at 8.30 P. M. Amelia had found herself knocking on their door with a bottle of Hennessy in her hand. She had figured that, if they wanted to drink, she could at least get one bottle as well. She was surprised to see Damiano opening the door and giving her a flirtatious smile. At this point, she was annoyed by his childish behavior.

"I'm here.", she just walked pass him and greeted the rest of the group.

"Hello.", they all greeted her as well. "Sit, we were just playing truth or dare."

They were all sitting on the floor, forming something similar to a circle with an empty bottle of wine in the center. She sat down next to Victoria and Damiano sat right opposite of her, evidently tipsy already.

"Okay, Ethan, spin the bottle.", Thomas directed.

The bottle had spun and landed right between Victoria and Ethan.

"Truth or dare?", Victoria asked.

"Truth.", Ethan responded.

"Who is the prettiest female contestant this year?", she asked.

"Easy. Efendi.", Ethan smiled.

"True, true.", Thomas agreed.

"I thought you would say me, you prick.", Victoria slapped his leg.

"You're not an individual artist, stfu.", he responded while laughing.

The game had continued and a few rounds had passed, one with Amelia giving a dare to Thomas to do a head stand for 3 minutes, then Thomas gave Ethan a dare to run shirtless through the corridor and scream how hot he is, then Victoria and Damiano had to dance to a whole song. It was Amelia's turn to spin and the bottle landed between her and Damiano.

"Truth or dare, Amsterdam?", he had asked her in a deeper voice than usual.

She had noticed that he was trying to provoke her a bit. "Truth."

"What's your favorite Maneskin song?"

"Ooooh, good one.", Thomas commented.

"It's easy... Coraline.", she responded and grabbed the bottle then put it on her lap. "I'm bored now, let's do something else."

She could notice that Damiano was mysteriously staring at her when she had responded to his question and felt has if he was about to say something to her but couldn't.

"I need a smoke, you coming with me?", Ethan asked.

"Sure, yeah.", Amelia was just about to follow the three when she was pulled back by her hand.

"Wait.", Damiano said. "We need to talk."

"About what?", they were now alone in the room. The three had taken the guitar and decided to continue the party on the balcony. "About you ignoring me professionally ever since you got here?"

Damiano was stung by those words, since he had no idea that she had minded his behavior. "No. I didn't want to do this."

"Do what, Damiano?", she was standing in front of him, faces so close that if both had made the smallest efforts to move a bit forward, they would kiss. "I have never done anything bad to you and here you are, acting like a complete douchebag!"

Seeing her visibly upset made him feel things that he actively avoided feeling, but his guilty conscience with a dose of alcohol had worked and he found himself hugging her tightly." You're right. I'm sorry. "

She returned the hug and felt relieved now that she could feel his body pressed against hers and feel his scent. "Don't do this to us, Damiano."

He caressed her hair, just like in October, in Amsterdam, when she was falling into his arms and seeking protection, like a small child, hurt by the chaos of the world. "I'm so sorry, Amelia."

When they had finally let go of each other, he took her hand and led her to the balcony, where the rest of them were already playing the guitar and singing some of their most famous songs.

"Damiano, wanna join in?", Vic had asked, strumming the chords gently.

"Sure. But I need to request a song.", he replied.

"Which one?", Vic asked, already preparing herself.

"Coraline.", he said with a smirk and then looked at Amelia, who was smiling at him.

The melody of the guitar had soon filled the empty space between the conversation and Damiano had started singing, giving Amelia chills all over her body. She loved that song since it was the first one that she could remember from the concert and the one that she really felt connected to.

The whole time he had sang, he was looking straight into her eyes and she couldn't help but put her arms around his neck and sway with him gently. They were dancing in the middle of the balcony of their hotel room, singing and laughing with their friends, and the night couldn't have ended better for any of them.