He hears her sniffle before she utters the three words that he's been longing to hear. "I love you." I love you, Damien Fox. All of you.
"Heck, you two should be considered official by now!" Miku is laying on her stomach on Genie's bedroom floor, her hands under her chin. "Even if neither of you have asked the question, it's obvious to everyone that something is going on between you and Damien." her mouth curves into a smile as Genie says something back.
"Shh! He might hear from Shinji's room!" Genie whisper-yells at the younger girl. Miku sits up and pouts at the older, crossing her arms over her chest.
Genie lets out a sigh and giggles a bit before speaking again. "I just, don't want him to feel pressured to ask anything, ya know?" she looks down at her hands and starts fiddling with the hair tie around her wrist. The same one that she lent to Damien during his first day in dance class. I would hate to lose him over something so trivial...
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How? "Are you an underground pro-gamer or something, bro?" Jake's eyebrows start to furrow, and a pout appears on his face. "You've won every single game so far!"
Shinji giggles at Jacob's words towards Damien. My baby is so adorable when he gets aggravated. He takes his hand and lightly pats Jay's head, causing his pout to morph into a small smile.
The wavy-haired boy just shrugs a bit and gives a smug smile back. "Nah, mate. Just started playing this game today." his smile turned into a happy grin, his eyes shining with glee. "Thank you for the compliment, though." A pro gamer? Me? Not in my wheelhouse of what I'd like to do in life. No harm to people that like it though!
The grin fades and his eyes dull as his mind starts to wonder to the events he always tries so desperately to bury in his mind when he's around others. Why do I have to think about it now, of all times? His thoughts are interrupted by someone poking him in the ribs, a look of concern in their dark eyes.
"Hey, you alright?" Shinji tilts his head quizzically. "You spaced out for a few minutes there." Jacob then speaks up.
"You do know that we're your friends, right? You can tell us what's on your mind, we won't judge you...much." Jake feels a smack on his arm, his boyfriend glaring at him. "Okay, okay! We won't judge you at all." he glances at Ji as he grimaces a bit.
How can someone so tiny hit so hard? He rubs his bicep where Shinji had hit him, ruffling the said boy's raven locks with his other hand and smiling.
Damien looks over at the couple, his heart wanting so desperately to tell them the things he went through on that dreadful day. But he hasn't even mentioned it to Genie yet.
I should tell her first, I don't want her to feel like I kept it from her. His eyes glaze over as the memories from that day come crashing down on him, like a tidal wave dragging him underwater to drown.
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His mother's icy blue eyes stare at her son, Damien, and her daughter, Azalea with as much love and adoration as any parent could muster up. Her lips curl up into a bright smile as her eyes go back to looking at the stoplight, waiting on it to turn green. They are my world; I would give away my life for them.
"I can't wait to get to the park so Azalea and I can see who can get across the monkey bars the fastest!" Damien grins over at his twin sister and lightly bumps into her, causing her to laugh and put a playful smirk on her face.
"We're 16, Damien! Aren't we too old to be on a jungle gym?" Azalea giggles at her brother, ruffling his wavy hair and grinning back.
Damien shakes his head and crosses his arms over his chest, pouting. "We're still kids, ya know!? Kids play at the park all the time. Since we're, again, still kids, we aren't too old. No one is too old to have fun, sis!"
I hope he keeps that bubbly mentality his whole life. Such a sweet boy. Mrs. Fox smiles at her son's words as the light turns from red to green. She double, triple, and even quadruple checks to make sure no other vehicles are coming before she puts her foot on the accelerator pedal, their car moving forward.
They didn't make it to the park that day.
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As Damien's tired eyes slowly flutter open, he groggily glances around the room he's in. He realizes that it isn't his bedroom and starts to freak out, his breathing becoming shallow and fast. Where am I?
He tries to sit up but hisses in pain, grabbing his abdomen. Why do I have bandages around me? Then the images come flooding into his brain, causing his breathing to get even more labored and tears to start streaming down his face.
A flash of something white, maybe grey. A loud crash of metal and glass shattering. His sister's and mother's limp bodies, covered in bruises and cuts. His desperate screams at the paramedics to let him go to two of the most important people in his life, just wanting to hold them and never let go. His screaming turning into sobbing as stinging teardrops started to flow freely, his icy blue eyes that were once so carefree, being filled with anguish.
Damien is snapped out of the living nightmare by his father's soothing voice. He looks over at the chair beside the hospital bed and sees his dad, tears in his eyes as well.
"I'm so sorry, son." Mr. Fox places his hand over Damien's. "I know words won't replace what has been torn from us this day." he sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose, trying not to cry. "But just know. We will always have them with us."
Damien's tears are still flowing as he stares back into his father's eyes, the realization slowly sinking in. He's the only family I have left now.
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"GENIE! WE NEED YOU IN HERE LIKE, YESTERDAY!"
YOU ARE READING
The Fox and The Wren
Teen Fiction"Why is she shutting me out? I know for a fact that something is going on; it's not about just being tired. I thought we were getting closer after that night, but the exact opposite is happening. I wish I could read her mind, know what's going on in...
