You seem Star Shaped. (Blur/Oasis)

Chapter Forty-One

"Do you want to go out for dinner with Jamie?" Damon asked me quietly, drawing my attention from the TV to his, bruised, face.

"Third wheeling you two? No thank you" I told him with a laugh, he screwed his face up but I knew he couldn't argue. They'd only been living together for a few weeks but they'd come such good friends already.

"I'm being serious Lyla, you've not left the flat all week" He told me with a raised eyebrow "Jamie'll start charging you rent soon"

"I'm not going out there with all those fucking cameras waiting by the door" I scowled, turning my attention back to the television, Damon and I had had this conversation yesterday and the day before that, and the day before that.

It had been a strange week, photos of Liam and Damon fighting had made the front page, alongside me comforting a bloody Damon and Patsy doing similar to Liam. It wasn't difficult for the press to put two and two together and work out they were fighting about me, which meant it was all eyes on me. Of course, what none of the press knew was that I was actually camped up at Damon and Jamie's place. This meant that there were poor photographers sat outside of my abandoned flat scratching their heads, waiting for me to appear. I hadn't been at my flat since we got back from Devon, so they should really quit whilst they were ahead but, of course, I wasn't going to tell them that.

Whilst all eyes were on me, that didn't stop the paparazzi aimlessly waiting for a photo of Damon. He'd been out a few times, but with so much covering his face it was hardly worth the photos they desperately took. Jamie had never experienced paparazzi camping by his door and he found it bloody hilarious and actually quite exciting at first however, by day three the novelty had well and truly worn off, so it was easy to imagine how we were now all feeling today, on day seven.

"I'm not taking no for an answer love, you've got to get out" He told me firmly, placing a hand on my shoulder to try and bring my attention back to him.

"I'm afraid you'll have to take no Damon, what the fuck are they gonna say when they realise I've been here all week?" I told him with a shake of my head, as far as I was concerned I was stuck inside until the fuss died down.

"I'll just tell them you've been on nurse duty" He told me with a wink and a wiggle of his eyebrows, I laughed as I put my head in my hands to try and hide it "Then I could buy you a nurses costume, you'd look fucking brilliant"

"In your dreams Damon" I scoffed, though I couldn't help but laugh along with him. There was nothing I loved more than just being alone with Damon, feeling like we were in our own bubble that no one else could reach.

"You know that you need to leave the flat tomorrow, don't you?" He asked me gently, I spun around from the tv and stared at him, shaking my head.

"No I don't" I told him, my eyebrows furrowed in confusion as I continued to shake my head.

"Yes you do, we're in the studio" he told me, widening his eyes as he laughed "I'm sorry love but there's no way you can get out of it"

"I can't, I can't Damon" I objected, shaking my head as I held onto my hands to try and get them to stop shaking.

I'd gotten so used and so comfortable with being inside that the thought of leaving was far too overwhelming for me and that's without the thought of all of those paparazzi making it so much worse for me. I was safe here, there was no guarantee I'd be safe out there.

"Hey, it's okay Lyla, nothing bad is going to happen to you, I promise" He whispered as he pulled me into his chest, placing gentle kisses on top of my head.

"I can't Damon, you're meant to still be with her, I can't, I can't walk out of here" I stuttered, screwing my eyes shut as I tried to stop my tears from falling. I felt like my heart was going to explode out of my chest and I was about to vomit the entirety of my stomach up.

"Friends are allowed to stay in each others flats you know" He reminded my gently "I promise you, it'll be okay, you just have to ignore them"

"It's not going to be okay Damon, they'll follow us and they'll they'll they'll get in our faces and I can't can't cope with that" I worried, shaking my head as I spoke, I was letting the tears flow freely down my face now, there was no point in me trying to hide them from him.

"What's happened darling? You're never normally this upset by the journos" He quizzed, his eyebrows furrowed into a frown as he stared at me.

"Everything was so nice in Devon, I felt safe and normal but now everyone's watching our every move and I can't cope with that" I told him quietly, bringing my thumb up to my mouth to bite on the skin around it.

"They just want a photo of you love, I bet they'll leave as soon as they see you. You can do one photo, I know you can" I shook my head again, brining my knees up to my chest as I laid on my side and rested my head on Damon's lap.

"But that's not right Dames" I whispered, a small smile growing on my face as he started to gently stroke my cheek.

"I know, but for now, it's just where we're at"

It wasn't long before I heard Damon gently snoring, I carefully wriggled out of his grip and stood up, looking at him with a smile on my face. The swelling had gone down now but he was still badly bruised, he had a black eye on his left eye but thankfully his nose wasn't broken, just badly bruised. I wasn't surprised he was asleep, he hadn't been sleeping very well recently. He spent every night tossing and turning next to me, he always thought I was asleep but I never was, worrying about him always kept me awake. He'd had a few horrible panic attacks this week, he told me that me being there, just talking to him and keeping him company, made them finish so much quicker. They were awful for me to watch  and I had apparently only seen the better ones, so it made my heart hurt, thinking of him alone and terrified.

I aimlessly walked over to the piano Damon had set up in the corner of the lounge, as I sat down I couldn't help but wonder what my parents would have made of this. I'm almost certain that things wouldn't be as bad for me if they hadn't died, but of course, that wouldn't have made any difference to the press, they didn't even know that they had died, so it was hardly like they treated me any differently.

Damon's mum, Hazel, had phoned him a few days ago, she was screaming and shouting down the phone at him, telling him what an idiot he was for getting in a fight. Though, she went silent and almost thanked him, almost told him she was proud of him when he told her that he was only sticking up for me. I think Hazel had always had a soft spot for me, she saw the little girl who aimlessly followed Graham around but was also incredibly headstrong, I was never afraid to tell someone if I thought they were treating me wrong, even back then. I have so many fond memories of Damon's house, his sister Jessica was only a few months younger than me, so we were immediately close. She had always wanted a sister and I often needed a break from Damon and Graham. Even back when I was eleven or twelve, there was only so long I could listen to them talking about rubbish before I snuck off to Jessica's room.

"I always forget how good you are" I heard Damon's raspy voice come from the sofa, I turned my head to him and smiled. I had been so engrossed in my thoughts that I hadn't realised I had started playing.

I enjoyed playing piano, it was something I never got to do anymore. Once upon a time, back when we were still Seymour, I used to play keyboard during our performances but the record label said they'd only sign us if I just stuck to singing, the instrument ruined the girl look apparently. I wasn't particularly happy, but I had to keep my mouth shut, it was for the greater good after all.

"Yeah, shame you don't let me play more" I responded with a laugh, every time we recorded an album I suggested allowing me to play something on it, but it was always quickly shut down. I think that they were secretly intimidated by me being able to play their instruments better than them.

"We'll record you playing something tomorrow and we'll get it on the album, promise"