Chosen (Damiano David & Victoria DeAngelis)

Chapter 15

Damiano was very distant again, as she noticed. They had all gathered in Ethan's room and were now watching some sort of horror movie. Victoria liked evenings like these...it was a very relaxed atmosphere and she absolutely loved horror movies, so it was perfect. She was sitting in Ethan's bed, next to Damiano. He looked normal but he kept his distance and seemed tense. It had to have something to do with the phone call, right? That couldn't be a coincidence. She grabbed her phone and texted him because she didn't want any attention on them: Hey...you alright? He looked at his phone and a few seconds later, she got a text back: I'm fine. She didn't believe him. By now she knew she could trust her feelings and it was very clear to her that he wasn't okay. She decided to leave him alone for now though because as long as he was sitting next to her, he couldn't do anything to himself. She was pretty tired and almost fell asleep while watching the movie, so eventually she decided to go. Damiano joined her and so, they walked to his room together.

She woke up because she heard the door. At first she was freaked out...who would come into her room at night? It took her a few seconds to get oriented, realizing that she was in fact in Damiano's room instead of her own. She looked at her phone...it was only 2.30. She just wanted to go back to sleep but when she rolled to her side she realized that he wasn't lying next to her anymore. She immediately went into panic mode...where was he...the door...she had heard a door. Did he leave? Was he in the bathroom? She jumped up and went to the bathroom but it was empty...the balcony...he had cried out there a few times, so maybe he was out there again. She immediately went outside and fortunately he was actually there. This time he wasn't crying...she could tell that. He was just smoking, looking broken. It must have been hard for him to constantly act like he was okay when he was actually not. She sat down on the small table, reaching her hand out for his cigarette which he handed to her. "You scared the hell out of me, Damiano...", she inhaled the smoke and gave the cigarette back to him. "I'm sorry...I just couldn't sleep." She nodded, looking up at him: "Are you okay?" He looked at his hands, finishing his cigarette: "Yeah...Yeah, I guess..." She sighed and grabbed his hand, pulling him closer to herself: "You're lying...and you know that." She then gently wrapped her arms around him and to her surprise he immediately relaxed...it seemed like he really needed that right now. It was still a little weird but way less awkward than before... she got used to being so close to him more and more.

She was still very careful while touching him but she slowly started to rub his back. At first, he tensed up a bit but after a few seconds, he relaxed again, seemingly not used to comfort like that. "Do you think the others know, Vic?", he asked quietly, holding onto her a bit, looking for support. "No...no, I don't think so...I understand that you don't want them to know but even if they did, I think they would support you...you have nothing to be ashamed of.", she spoke in a very assuring and soothing voice. "Guys shouldn't be depressed, Vic...guys are supposed to be strong and don't cry." She sighed a little, gently brushing through his hair: "I know that's what we are told as children but that's bullshit. Boys do cry and you have the same right to be depressed as anyone else. I promise you, I will never judge you...no matter how much you cry or do things to yourself. I'll always have your back." He pulled away a little, finally smiling a bit: "That means a lot to me. I know, seeing that was hard for you yesterday...and...well...I'm sorry about it...I never meant for you to find out." She still had her hands on his lower back, kinda holding him: "I'm glad I did, Damiano...I really am...and if I had the possibility to turn back time and change it, I wouldn't." That was actually true...of course it had shocked her and it had been a horrible experience but in the end she thought it was better than him having to go through it alone.

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

As promised, I will update a bit more often over the weekend, so you will get another chapter in a few hours.

As always, I would love to hear your opinions in the comments...and I would also like to thank you guys real quick because we have achieved some votings :) That's all thanks to you.

Thank you for reading and stay tuned for the next chapter.

- Thalia