Chosen (Damiano David & Victoria DeAngelis)

Chapter 8

Once again, she was exhausted in the morning. She had stayed with Damiano until he had calmed down a bit, so she hadn't gotten a lot of sleep. Now that she knew that he definitely was not alright, she would watch out for him a bit more...even though she didn't know what he was struggling with. They hadn't talked about it at all the night before. During the short drive to the concert hall, they didn't talk much. She was watching Damiano the whole time. He didn't look at her but he was wearing sunglasses, probably to hide how red his eyes were.

Again, the rehearsal went well and during their lunch break they were all just hanging out. Everything was normal...nobody would have ever guessed that something was out of the ordinary. During the concert, Victoria noticed all kinds of small things in Damiano she had never noticed before. Little shakes in his voice, a bit of trembling and how emotional he got while performing Coraline. The fans absolutely loved it and so, the concert ended with a big boom. It was perfect and she was filled with joy and adrenaline but she knew that she needed to talk to him. While she was waiting for the rest of the band, she grabbed her phone, sending Damiano a text because she didn't want the others to get suspicious: Come to my room later...we need to talk. He didn't reply to it but when he came out of the dressing room, he nodded into her direction, so she took it as a yes.

Once they were back at the hotel, Thomas and Ethan went to the bar while she excused herself to her room. She quickly took a shower and changed into sweatpants and a shirt. About 30 minutes later, she opened the door for Damiano. He looked like he had showered as well, now wearing black sweatpants and a grey hoodie. "Hey...", she greeted him a bit awkwardly and closed the door behind him. They hadn't talked at all that day, so the atmosphere was a bit tense. "Sit...", she told him and sat down on her bed while he took a seat in the chair in front of her. After about two minutes of uncomfortable silence, she started the conversation she had been afraid of: "About yesterday..." "It was nothing...I just wasn't feeling well.", he cut her off, not looking at her though. She knew him...he could never look at someone when he was lying. "You're a terrible liar. Listen, whatever it is, there is no need to be ashamed or something like that. I know you're always the happy one but you can't just ignore that you're not okay right now. And there's nothing wrong with that. Whatever it is, you can overcome it but it will be easier if you let me help." She already knew that it wouldn't be easy to gain his trust because he was a very private guy. Everybody knew that but she had never thought that he was so private he was also hiding his real feelings. It was almost like the Damiano she knew was only an act. To her surprise, he didn't protest: "You don't know that, Vic. You don't know if we can overcome it..." That statement worried her a lot...what could he possibly be dealing with that made him feel so hopeless. She put on a small smile to give him some assurance: "You are a fighter, Damiano. Nothing has ever been able to stop you or bring you down...don't let your personal demons hold you back. I understand it's hard but you can 100% trust me. Whatever it is, I won't judge you...I already told you, I don't even have to know what's going on. The important thing is that you know you can count on me and that you don't have to manage this alone...okay?" He didn't look at her, fiddling with his sleeves: "Thank you, Vic...I...I really mean it."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Hey ;)

I'm sorry, this is rather short but I will post another chapter in a few hours. I really appreciate your support guys :)

It might still seem a bit cheesy but I think that it is relatively realistic, considering that it is a fanfiction (I have read quite a few in my life and I would say that this one is a lot more realistic than many others).

What do you think? Is it too cheesy? Is it too unrealistic? Make sure to let me know.

Thanks for reading.

- Thalia