The Golden Days Are Gone (Damien LaVey/Reader)

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 A lot of times, most high school graduates tend to miss the golden days when they were still in school. They might miss the simplicity of life back then, the lack of responsibility, or maybe even the friends they used to have. Like it or not, you'll win and you'll lose friendships in your lifetime. Unfortunately, (Y/F/N) (Y/L/N), a lonely worrywart of a monster was on the latter end of the ordeal. Due to their tendency to overthink things and to put themselves down, they cut ties with the very friends they cherished back in school and opted to suffer alone. It's not like they wanted to, though, they were just too worried about getting hurt by other people that they just...did it themselves. Was that stupid? Yes. Is it a common trait in today's society? Yes again! So, due to their flawed sense of judgment, this graduate monster was stuck going through life's struggles all by their lonesome. Isn't that uplifting?

Currently, (Y/N) was seated in a cafe next to the window, their hand resting on their cheek whilst their elbow was braced on the table. They had seemingly forgotten the beverage before them in favor of the phone they held in their free hand. Due to the amount of time they had spent staying in that same position, their arm was beginning to cramp but they seemed to lack the motivation to care at that point. Anyways, it was one of their very few days of freedom away from work and from their college classes, and they opted to waste it on doing some stupid random shit, hoping that their lives would brighten somehow. Sure, they had hobbies that they could be participating in, but today initially had a "break-the-norms" type of vibe. I guess it's easy to tell how that went. While they were lost in the explore page of some shit social media app, (Y/N) completely missed the arrival of one of the friends they had left behind long ago.. Lucky them, though, since the new arrival happened to notice them anyway.

"(Y/N)?" The lone monster jolted in their seat, the legs of their chair squeaking obnoxiously against the faux hardwood floors of the cafe. Their hands immediately lost their grasp on the phone they held as their gaze flickered upwards, (e/c) eyes widening as they met with the ever-fiery leer of their old best friend, Damien LaVey.

"..Damien?"

Before (Y/N) even had a chance to gather their composure, Damien swaggered forth and stooped over so that their noses were practically touching. Talk about an invasion of personal space.. His fingers found the collar of their shirt and he tugged them right out of their chair. Immediately, (Y/N) could feel the rage coming off of him in waves and so could the rest of the cafe occupants, as they were currently staring in the direction of the commotion with extreme interest. "Where the fuck have you been all this time?" he snarled with pure rage. Although they could have easily been mistaken, the monster within his grasp could have sworn that they saw his eyes swimming with a certain confliction that gripped harshly at their heart. However, the demon's wrath didn't waver for a moment as he continued, "After prom and graduation, none of us heard anything from you. We just assumed you fell off the fucking planet or something, but here you are now chilling it up in a fucking hipster cafe! Didn't you think about saying something? We were your friends, and you just up and fucking left!"

"Damien, please! I can explain, just let me down!"

The eyes of other customers and employees of the restaurant bore into the duo, but only (Y/N) seemed to notice. When Damien refused to comply to their request, they pried his fist from their collar, gathered their things, and dragged the angry demon out of the cafe. All the while, the man shouted protests and profanities, but he never made a move to stop his old friend from dragging them straight to their nearby apartment to avoid the judgmental eyes of society.

"Answer me, god damn it! You haven't said a single meaningful thing to me this whole fucking time!" Damien fumed, gesticulating violently as (Y/N) shut the door behind them.

"Damien," they began, and he instantly swallowed any words he was about to fire off. He took in (Y/N)'s appearance in that moment. They had changed since the Spooky High days. Their skin tone was paler in comparison, likely due to lack of sunlight, and their dulled (e/c) eyes were surrounded by dark circles. Despite their general unhealthiness, they were somewhat well-kempt, likely due to having to maintain themselves for college and work. The corners of Damien's mouth furrowed as he wondered what they'd been up to all this time. He was growing impatient for answers. "Look, I'm really fucking sorry. There aren't any adequate-enough apologies or excuses I could give that would justify what I did. But I swear to you that abandoning you guys wasn't in my intentions."