Chosen (Damiano David & Victoria DeAngelis)

Chapter 45

He stiffened before abruptly pulling away from the hug. "What do you mean Ethan knows? What does he know? Why does he know? Fuck...you told him didn't you...god, I should've never trusted you.", he sounded completely freaked out and even though he probably tried to he didn't sound angry. Nevertheless, his last words hurt a bit. She got up, now standing next to him, trying to keep calm herself: "Woah, stop right there. Take some deep breaths and let me explain, alright? Good...I didn't tell him anything. That night, when I went on my walk and you panicked, he followed me. And he asked me about you...he said he doesn't know what is going on but he noticed that I am staying in your room...he also saw some of your scars once...and he heard us...the night that I found out." He seemed a lot more shaky now than just moments earlier: "No, no, no, no, no...he can't know...he saw the scars? Fuck...Vic...Vic...what am I gonna do? He's gonna judge me...he's gonna tell everybody...he's gonna hate me. What if he keeps finding other things? What if he finds out the whole truth? I'm fucked...I'm completely fucked." She gently grabbed his hands to calm him down a bit...his palms were sweaty. "Angel, I know you're really freaked out right now but try to think straight. It's Ethan. He doesn't judge people easily and last time I talked to him, he didn't hate you. He was just very worried and offered his support if it was needed. He said he doesn't need to hear the details...he would never force you or me to tell him, okay? And how do you think he's gonna find out about the rest? Other than what you're doing to yourself, the things you went through aren't visible on your body, so as long as you don't tell him, he won't know. And even if he did find out, I'm absolutely convinced that he would still be supportive. So, try not to worry too much." He nodded, though he didn't look too convinced. "And just so you know, I would never tell your secrets to anyone...ever.", she was referring to what he had said before. Of course, she wouldn't blame him for his words but she couldn't deny that his trust issues had really gotten to her. He seemed ashamed, looking to the side in order not to face her: "I know...I'm sorry..."

That night, they didn't return to the hotel. It was about 4 AM and they were still just sitting by the bridge. It was peaceful and there was no need for them to go back. They weren't even tired...at least Victoria wasn't. He was sitting next to her, his head resting on her shoulder while she caressed his upper arm as she had her own wrapped around his shoulders. "Angel...we really need to end this tour. It's not gonna get better...you're really not in any condition to do concerts.", she was really worried about him. He nodded a bit: "I know you are right...but we can't do that and you know that just as well as I do." She sighed heavily, now lighting a cigarette for herself: "Yeah...yeah, I know but it's frustrating." He didn't respond to that. She exhaled some smoke, watching it dissolve in the air. How were they supposed to finish the tour? It was only a few more days but if everyday was going to be the same as that one, they were completely fucked. What they really needed was time. Time for themselves...time to work everything out. But they didn't have that. Maybe Thomas was right and she was selfish but Damiano was her priority...and even though she loved Maneskin more than life itself, she would give it up for him if that was the only option. Maybe those feelings she had for him had been there all along...she had just never let them take over as much as she did now. Maybe that was good...maybe it wasn't. She honestly didn't know. He didn't seem to be upset about it...maybe he even had the same feelings for her but on the other hand, she had probably made everything more complicated by kissing him. But what's done was done...there was nothing she could change now. She didn't even know if she would change something if she had the chance to. In her opinion, everything always happened for a reason, even if it didn't make sense immediately.

"Come on, Angel...we gotta go. It's almost 7 and we should probably have a talk with Ethan and Thomas. After all, we disappeared without a word yesterday.", she decided once she realized that the sun was already rising. She got up and reached out her hand which he accepted immediately...as if holding hands was something they had done all their lives. The walk back to the hotel was pretty quiet, though he seemed nervous, maybe even anxious. He was smoking one cigarette after another, his head constantly lowered and she could feel the sweat of his hand in her own, though she didn't let go. It wasn't a pleasant feeling to have someone else's sweat on her skin but she honestly couldn't care less. "What are we gonna tell them, Vic?", he asked quietly, grasping onto the illusion that she always knew what to do, which she didn't. "We're gonna keep it simple.", she decided, acting confident, as if she was absolutely positive that this was a good idea. "There's no use in making up big lies...we're only gonna get caught in them. We're gonna tell them that you and Carla broke up...they don't need to know the reason. We're gonna say she was the one to end things...that way we can explain why you freaked out. And the rest stays the same: We ran away into the woods, we went swimming, got lost and spent the night sitting on a bridge." He looked at her from the side: "Do you think that will work? And...do we tell them EVERYTHING we did?" She blushed a bit, though she hoped he wouldn't notice because of her hair being a bit messy: "It has to work. It's as good as it's gonna get...everything else would be a big ass lie and then we would constantly have to watch our mouths so we wouldn't contradict ourselves. And...no...we can leave...well...the more private stuff out." After that, there was silence again but she could feel that he was extremely tense. She was too but she tried not to show it. If they walked through the hotel door, there was no going back and what really scared her was that she had no idea what the others would do or say.

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

So, I decided to make this a series now, so there will definitely be more than two books to this story. I really hope you will read the sequels as well because we are slowly coming to an end with this first book. But don't worry, I will inform you about how everything is going to go on in an extra Info chapter :)

How do you think Thomas and Ethan will react to everything? Is it a good idea to explain things like Victoria has suggested? Let me know in the comments :)

As always, thanks for reading.

- Thalia