The Deal

Chapter 20 - The Cavalry Has Arrived

{You don't talk to no one don't you look at nothin'~ focus on me look into my eyes.

You're Mine - Phantogram}

Chapter 20 – The Cavalry Has Arrived

"So what's up?" I asked casually, leaning back against the rotting frame of the playground only to miss it entirely and have to save myself from falling by clinging to the wooden stilt and swinging around it like Quasimodo.

Smooth.

Flushing from embarrassment – and sunburn – I righted myself and glanced over at Damon – only to see him smiling at me.

"Graceful," he quipped, "For someone who took a trip to A+E two days ago, you seem to have recovered your vigor."

The sun caught in his eyes, turning them the colour of the ocean and distracting me greatly from what he was saying. I wished I didn't notice these things about him – he was enough of a drawcard without having eyes the colour of the sea during a thunderstorm.

"Shut up," I snapped, rolling my eyes when he only began to laugh. Ignoring the weird feeling in my chest at the sound, I grit my teeth and ploughed on.

"Enough already! What did you want to talk about so badly that you practically ambushed me? On a Sunday, no less."

"Ambushed you?" He repeated. "Hey, I come to these games all the time. Whereas you, on the other hand, have never even set foot inside the school gates on a weekend - are you sure you're not the one following me?"

I snorted over his insinuation, even though he  had it half right.

"Whatever," I sighed, dismissing it with a wave of my hand. "Can you please get to the gist?"

He looked at me with those damn eyes, any trace of humour vanishing from them as his gaze flickered down to my stomach.

"How are you?" he asked. "I've wanted to see you ever since Friday, but I thought it would be best if I steered clear for a few days."

"You couldn't wait until Monday, huh?" I said drily, wrapping my arms around my middle and ignoring the bulge of the bandage under my shirt. Hopefully it wasn't noticeable. "I'm fine though, thank you. None of my organs have burst through my stitches yet, so all's going swell."

Again he smiled, only this time it didn't touch his eyes.

"I'm glad to hear it."

I swallowed nervously, hugging myself a little tighter as we lapsed into silence. It wasn't uncomfortable - just heavily charged. I could never quite switch off with Damon around, and I wondered briefly if he ever felt the same way.

"So," I began, clearing my throat and shaking myself out of my thoughts. I didn't really know where to begin. "What happens now?"

He looked at me.

"With what?"

"With the fighting," I said, attempting to smooth down any stray hairs that might have sprung up from my head. Humidity has that sort of effect on me. "Are you still planning on swinging by mine or should I-"

"That's over," he said sharply, cutting me off mid-sentence. He looked away abruptly when I gaped at him.

"What?" I said incredulously.

"You're not coming with me anymore."

"Because of what happened last time? Come on, Damon, we've come so far. We're so close to the finish line. You have to take me!"

"I don't have to do anything," he snapped, his stormy eyes locking onto mine. "Do you realise how close you came to dying that night? If that that prick had dug his blade in a little deeper, or caught you a few inches higher, you wouldn't be alive right now. You honestly expect me to disregard all of that and just simply take you back?"

I frowned.

"We can't let the bullies win, Damon," I stressed, puzzled myself over why I was fighting his decision so hard. "And what will happen to you - if you go, they'll come looking for you again."

"Probably," he shrugged. "But it doesn't matter. What does is making sure you aren't involved in any part of it. The mistake was mine in bringing you along in the first place, and now I'm learning from it. Getting you involved in my shit was wrong, and I'm not about to drag you back into it. In their eyes, I forced their hand, and if you're there with me you'll just end up as collateral. Again."

He looked determined to keep me away - I can't say that I blame him. But it's not like he planned on getting jumped in a parking lot.

"Listen, Damon-"

"No," he said, more forcefully this time. "I mean it Anna. I feel shitty enough already without you begging me to take you back to where it all happened."

"But you said you liked my company," I muttered, feeling utterly pitiful as my defiance against him wore out.

"I do," he sighed, looking pained. "And that's exactly why I'm not letting you back there. How will I be able to enjoy your company if you're dead?"

I didn't say anything, knowing that he was right and that if I continued to push my case it would be a waste of breath. I didn't even want to go back to that stupid hell-hole – I mean, I wasn't completely insane. But the thought of Damon going it alone had me worried.

As I was pondering this, I sensed Damon move closer, and when I looked up at him I almost choked.

"Look," he began, "When all this is over, and the tournament is done, I want to see you. Not because I have some other half-assed plan that I need your help with – but because I genuinely want to. I like you, you know that already, and I don't want things to go back to how it was before. I know it's wrong to ask this of you, especially after everything I've done; but fuck it, I'm selfish by nature and for once in my life I want to do something that could make me happy."

My brain turned to soup. I could no longer feel my limbs - I was limbless. He was looking at me so intensely, yet so earnestly, and it was all I could do not to collapse right there in front of him. A memory of that kiss flashed through my mind; a momentary lapse in judgement on my part where my frustration got the better of me and I succumbed to something I'd promised myself I would never do.

Had that been the turning point in our strange façade? When, if ever, had our play acting turned into something more?

Damon's eyes were searching mine, as if trying to discern from my shell shocked expression what my feelings were - but before I could form a coherent response his gaze flickered from mine to look at something over my shoulder. His eyes hardened, and he took a step back - away from me. When he met my gaze, concern ghosted over his expression before disappearing.

"We have company," was all he said. Blindly, I turned around, still struggling to process what had just been said between us when my eyes landed on someone familiar making their way towards us through the crowds.

Oh my god.

Warren.