Solacium

Ch 33: Blake

I was not prepared for what happened.

When Damian pulled me to him and pressed his lips to mine, I froze in shock. What was even more shocking than the unexpected kiss, was how not awful it actually was. His lips were surprisingly soft as he moved his mouth against mine, and the sheer gentleness of it all took me off guard.

As I sat frozen in shock, Damian took the cue to deepen the kiss. His hand moved from the back of my head to cradle my face, running his thumb against my cheek. Pressing his mouth more firmly against mine, I suddenly felt the smooth metal of his piercing trace my lip and I snapped back to reality. The realization of what was happening, and with who, hit me like a truck and flushed my face red with anger, confusion, and a myriad of other things I didn't even want to begin to explain.

Placing my hands on Damian's chest, I shoved him back; hard. His dark eyes widened in shock at my action, and our gazes met just in time for my fist to collide with his nose.

"Agh!" He grunted, his head jerking back with the force of my punch. My hand throbbed painfully from the impact, since I was too flustered with anger to remember to position my fist correctly. Letting out a curse, I cradled my hand, glaring at Damian who now held his nose. Blood had begun to spill from between his tattooed fingers and down to his black shirt while he fumbled with his breather.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" I snapped, wiping my lips with the back of my hand before slipping my own breather back over my face.

"A lot, apparently..." He muttered. His voice was muffled from holding his nose. My eyes narrowed into a glare as I watched him wipe the blood from his nose.

I blew out a frustrated breath. I had a number of theories as to why he had spared my life that night in the town, but I had never expected it to be because of this...

"Oh, you don't look happy at all," Damien said after a moment. "Was it really that bad?"

Pulling myself from my thoughts, I glanced over at Damian who had moved closer to me to search my face. His red hair had been tousled slightly, falling on his forehead as he watched me. His gaze made me flush with anger once again.

"You can't just kiss people!" I shouted incredulously, shoving him so that he fell backward on to the grass with an oof.

"I'm sorry, I thought you knew I liked you," He grunted, sitting up to wipe the grass from his clothes before glancing up at me.

"You what?!" I shouted incredulously, making Damian wince.

Damian ran a hand through his hair and shrugged. "Ever since I saw you under that truck I admired you. Why else wouldn't I expose you that day?"

"I can't believe this," I muttered more to myself, putting my head in my hands. A thousand emotions rushed through my head, making me feel queasy. The whole situation was entirely confusing and infuriating.

"I'm sorry, it wasn't my intention to upset you. Was it the kiss? Was it too rough?"

I looked up at him. His expression seemed genuine, as if he was seriously asking me that.

"Please, for the love of God, just stop talking," I said quickly, standing up as my mind raced. I couldn't think straight and his frantic apologies were not helping.

This time Damian did actually respect my request and stayed silent. Instead, he opted to watch me, following my movement with a worried and pensive expression. He looked genuinely guilty about upsetting me, and the whole thing was just too much. So, I chose to do the only thing I knew how to do when I didn't fully understand a situation; avoidance.