Heal Me

Chapter 27

  

As Evangeline laid back on Damon's bed and decided to tell him what had happened to her four years before, she had the gut feeling that after she would be done with the story of her past, things would not be the same between them. She was certain of that.

 

What she did not know, though, was whether the change that would occur would be either good, making the bond they had even stronger, or unwelcome. And this last thought and the fact that Damon watched her insistently, his ever so deep eyes greedily taking in all the frowns and dimples and contours of her face, were unnerving her enough to let hesitation creep up through her words.

 

So, after opening her mouth to speak several times and then closing it straight after, Evangeline felt the bed dip next to her and Damon's scent hitting her nostrils, making her eyes shut tight. She was so ashamed of what she was about to tell him.

 

"Eva-" he called her name, resting on his left side, propped on his elbow. Something was deeply wrong and he felt it.

 

"I'm okay." she replied quickly, not looking at him to notice his eyes narrowing and his lips forming a tight line.

 

"Uhm... it's not really much to tell, although I remember everything..." she began quietly. "About, erm, four years ago, my father got promoted and he was so happy and proud of his efforts that he decided to celebrate properly. So our parents threw a sort of party and they invited over a few family friends and some of dad's co-workers."

 

Damon just furrowed his eyebrows in concentration and listened; he wanted to understand her for he felt that it was the least that he could do for her. And right in this moment he realized just how thankful he was for her simple existence. Evangeline had really changed him; the girl who was now right next to him, the girl whose small, red scarf was still in one of his pockets, the girl who was about to tell him something he believed to be very painful just because she was determined to show him happiness and peace enough to agree to the deal, the girl who was the first person to insist so much and care so much and love so much... she had changed his alone and numb old self.

"So, uhm..." her voice gained his full attention. "There was... this man... he was really nice to me from the moment he stepped into our house... Too nice." her words slowly lost their intensity because her throat went dry and a headache began to blur her thoughts. Evangeline sucked in a breath and, wetting her lips, she pushed herself to continue, even though she felt as if the words had literally got stuck in her throat.

"At first, we were all in the same room together and, when the others left, he..." her voice wavered and she stopped for a moment, making Damon frown even deeper.

 

"H-he came up to me and, uhm, he said I was beautiful and...h-he..." she stuttered, looking at anything but him. And yet she felt him tensing up beside her and opening his mouth with a gasp of surprise. Evangeline hoped he figured it out, because she was too ashamed to say what he had done to her.

 

"He... raped you!?" Damon growled out, his jaw clenching and unclenching in anger. Now everything fell into place: Brandon groping her at the party and causing her a panic attack, her reactions after that... They all made sense now.