Chosen (Damiano David & Victoria DeAngelis)

Chapter 23

She woke up, her hand still resting on Damiano's shoulder. She blinked a few times to get the sleep out of her eyes but stayed in her position. He looked so peaceful and calm, she didn't want to wake him. She just looked at him, wondering how someone as kind and fun loving as him could be so broken. His face was relaxed, his features soft...he looked like an angel, yeah, a fallen angel.

She shook her head slightly, getting rid of those ridiculously stupid thoughts. She sat up, getting her wild blonde hair out of her face. She took a quick shower, putting on one of his shirts again, as she couldn't run to her room in just her underwear. When she stepped out of the bathroom, he was already awake as well. "Hey...", she greeted him, a gentle smile on her lips. "Morning...", he responded, his voice being raspy as he wasn't quite awake yet. "I'll go to my room and get changed...I'll be back in a minute, yeah?", she informed him and grabbed her key. He just nodded and she walked towards the door, hoping that nobody would see her coming out of his room, also wearing his shirt...that would give the wrong impression. Just before she could step out the door, he spoke up again: "Vic...bring your stuff, okay?" "Yeah...I will.", she had a smile on her face when she left the room. To someone else, it wouldn't have sounded like something special but she knew what he had wanted to say. That simple "bring your stuff" was his way of saying I accept your help, please stay with me.

That was a good first step but it also scared her. Of course, she wouldn't show him that but she was scared of making a mistake. What if he relied on her and she didn't know what to do? What if he needed help and she couldn't do anything? She wasn't an expert in any of this. She didn't know much about depression, let alone self harm. She knew some basics, yes...and the things that her common sense let her believe were true but over all, she had no idea what she was doing. Of course, she could comfort him but she was pretty sure that she hadn't seen him in his worst state yet. What if he snapped again? Would she be able to forgive him again? What if she overstepped boundaries? Would he be able to forgive her like she had forgiven him? And then, there was the self-harm... what if he cut too deep? What if she didn't react quickly enough? What if she just made everything worse? She didn't even know if she had cleaned his wounds correctly...so, how was she supposed to do that every day? Would he be able to help her a bit?

All those questions and thoughts went through her head while she was packing her stuff. Before going back to his room, she checked the hallway to make sure nobody would see her. When she was back, she quickly got dressed in her own clothes before doing some simple makeup. She made sure she had everything she needed in her bag and then just waited for Damiano. He stepped out of the bathroom, wearing black skinny jeans and a red hoodie. "Let's get going, shall we?" He sighed: "It's still so early..." "I know...that's why we're going now...the less people see us, the better." He nodded, seemingly understanding what she meant. It was a rainy day...the perfect opportunity to talk to him about how everything would go on from now on as soon as they were back. Everything looked grey outside and it was quite cold, so the streets were almost empty. That was good because if someone who knew them saw them buy bandages and shit like that, rumors would make their way around. Damiano was smoking a cigarette, probably lost in his own thoughts. It couldn't be easy for him...opening up about personal feelings was never easy...especially if it meant showing vulnerability. He was used to being the cool and happy guy...not someone who was crying. In her opinion, it was a huge step for him to let her be there for him...and as much as she knew he needed her and she wanted to help him, she was still scared.

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

Sorry, I didn't have that much time today but I hope you like this chapter anyway :)

Will Victoria be able to help him despite the fact that she isn't very experienced? Do you think she's doing okay so far? Let me know what you think in the comments :)

Thanks for reading.

- Thalia